Dance of Joy
a sermon based on Ephesians 1:3-14
by Rev. Randy Quinn

It happens every time we go out to dinner with my parents. We have a nice meal, and when it’s over, we ‘fight’ over who is going to pay for it. Sometimes I grab the bill too quick for Dad to realize I have it. Sometimes he takes it out of the server’s hand. And even when I have picked up the tab, Dad will often throw a $50 bill on the table. It’s the tip," he’ll say to provoke me into letting him pay. It’s one of those dances that we all do.

I didn’t realize the real significance of it, though, until the first time our son-in-law was my dance partner. I found real joy in being on the ‘other side’ of the table when he picked up the tab. But it also made me realize that this ritual really serves two functions. It’s not only a way of expressing our appreciation; it’s also an expression of independence. It explains why even on those occasions when I know I will not be paying the bill, I feel compelled to be a part of the dance.

And I know you all know the kind of dance I’m talking about – you’ve probably witnessed it or participated in it before.

We often operate as if there is a similar dance of faith.

Sometimes we enter into a dance with God as we try to please God with our activities.

Sometimes we think that we can express our appreciation by coming to church or by serving on a committee or by making apple dumplings.

Sometimes we pick up the tab without realizing that it was paid in advance.

And when we begin to do that, we get dangerously close to denying our dependence upon God’s grace. You see, God invites us to participate in a different kind of dance. It’s the dance of grace. And in this dance, we are the receivers. The gift is given to us.

During the Reformation, people like Martin Luther wrestled with the concept of grace. Prior to the Reformation, the common understanding of grace was the whim of God on the Day of Judgment. Most people lived in fear of this ‘grace’ because there was no way to ascertain how God would respond to them.

They simply would die, meet their maker, and be judged. At that moment there would either be grace or there would not be grace. Nothing they could do would change how God would respond at that moment in eternity. It was simply God’s whim of the day to grant life or condemn to death. No wonder they call it the Dark Ages!

When I graduated from college, I was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy along with several of my friends and classmates. Some of them had volunteered for Nuclear Power School and began careers involved with Nuclear Powered Submarines. Part of their selection process was an interview with Admiral Hyman Rickover.

Admiral Rickover was a living legend at the time. He was the engineer who pushed Congress and the Pentagon to use Nuclear Power and then served as the head of the Navy’s Nuclear Power program for the rest of his career – or maybe more accurately – for the rest of his life. He had promised a safe use of Nuclear Power and stayed in the Navy to keep his promise. He retired, under protest, with almost 50 years of active service, and died a short time later.

Everyone who served aboard US Submarines during his ‘reign’ has a story to tell. There are stories about his interviews with each candidate for Nuclear Power School. There are stories about his visits to Nuclear Powered ships and submarines. Some of them are even true!

Rickover had so much authority within the Nuclear Power Program that whatever he said was taken as the final word. Needless to say, when he visited one of ‘his ships’, he came to inspect. And if things weren’t just the way he wanted them, the Captain was ‘fired’ on the spot.

As a Supply Officer, I never had an interview with Rickover. And I was fortunate to never have him visit one of the ships I served, either. But I did know that there existed a list for Supply Officers in the event Rickover came to visit.

The list had items that he had asked for in the past which a prudent Supply Officer would make sure were available. The list included things like seedless white grapes as well as the color of blankets he liked on his mattress when he went to sea.

Nuclear Power trained officers lived in fear of this man. His interview stories were told and re-told. It seemed that Rickover would always test people with the most unusual questions and tactics. In one interview, he had the candidate sit in a chair in his office while the Admiral wrote some notes. No words were spoken. No eye contact was made. The chair had one leg shorter than the others, so the candidate was uncomfortable as Rickover continued to work. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Admiral let the man go.

Days later, he learned that Rickover had accepted him into the program. Everyone agreed that the system was not fair. Some very competent people were turned down because the Admiral didn’t like their answers or attitudes or posture. Rickover acted like a lunatic at times and the candidates were the ones who suffered. But what he said was the final word. So everyone did what Rickover said.

(In all fairness to Admiral Rickover, the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program has an impeccable record in terms of safety. Whatever he did seems to have worked.)

To the people of Marin Luther’s day, God was very much like Admiral Rickover. And to people I served with in the Navy, Rickover was very much like God. But Marin Luther and the other Reformers couldn’t accept the idea that God was so subject to whims and began to study with a different set of questions and to listen with a different set of ears. What they eventually heard was a radically different form of grace. It was a grace that is experienced in this life – on a day-to-day basis. It’s the kind of grace that Paul is celebrating in our text today.

You can’t tell from most English translations of this text, but our text for today is one VERY LONG sentence in Greek. Eleven verses long, in fact. The New International Version uses seven sentences in their translation; the New Revised Standard Version uses six – and some of them are rather long!

Whenever I use long sentences, I find that it’s from one of two things: either I’m trying to capture a multitude of ideas with one thought or I’m so excited that I’m just running on from one thing to another.

I think Paul is doing both here.

He has some important things to tell us, and he is excited about their implications. It reminds me of when our daughter Melissa was learning to crawl. She would see something she wanted and in her excitement her legs would go faster than her arms and she’d collapse onto the floor. Then she would rock back and forth in what we called her ‘beached whale impression.’

Paul is so excited about God’s grace that he can’t find words to fully express it. So he falls all over himself as he begins to weave poetry and hymns together in way that makes our heads swirl!

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance . . .

Eph 1:7-11 (NRSV)

It’s the kind of excitement that makes you want to get up and dance! You’ve probably seen the video clips of people who ‘win’ the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. The people who ‘win’ are seen jumping up and down with excitement. That’s what Paul is doing with words. He’s jumping up and down with exuberant joy.

And what about us? Why not us? Too often, I’m afraid, we’d rather find a way to pick up the tab ourselves. We’d rather express our independence than celebrate the gift we’ve been given.

Dr Lloyd Ogilvie tells the story about a man who nearly missed out on a gift because of his intense need for independence. A lawyer asked Ogilvie if he knew where he could find this man who had once been active in a church Ogilvie served. It turns out the lawyer was trying to settle his father’s estate – which included a significant inheritance for the man.

But the son had slipped out after the funeral because of the broken relationship he had with his father. He slipped out before he could learn the extent of his father’s love for him. Meanwhile, the man had been living in near poverty.

Our inheritance from God is more significant than money. Not only have we inherited eternal life through Christ, we can also experience abundant joy in this life! God has done all the work. God has come to us. God has offered to us a gift. God has picked up the tab. Grace abounds! And all that’s left for us to do is to dance. It’s a dance of joy. It’s the dance of celebration.

Earlier this month, my niece was married in Denver. The reception included a dinner and a dance. It was more than a dinner. It was a feast. And it was more than a dance; it was an evening of dancing. It was a festive occasion filled with great joy for the nearly 200 guests who were in attendance.

But no one offered to pay the tab. No one fought over the bill. We all knew that this was a gift that we were meant to enjoy.

That’s the kind of joy God invites us to share here in the church. We serve, not to earn God’s pleasure but in response to God’s grace. We don’t try to pick up the tab. We simply find new ways to celebrate. Thanks be to God. Amen.