Sep
26
2017
The Joy Dance
Posted in Worship 2 Comments
I was a few cars back but I saw him.
Three other cars were in front of me.
There was no place we could go.
We had to stay where we were.
I did not mind a bit.
It was as if I had a front row seat.
The whole thing made me smile.
I had a front row seat to joy.
We were driving behind a trash truck.
Even though it is officially fall, the temperature feels like summer.
Two men were standing on the back of the truck.
I actually felt sorry for them because of the heat.
The driver stopped at each house so they could pick up the trash.
They dragged the heavy trashcans across the street and lifted them up to the back of the truck.
They shook a few trashcans that still had some stubborn trash stuck to the bottom.
The two men made a good team.
The car behind the trash truck kept inching over toward the center line.
I could discern the impatience of the driver by the frequent movements.
Even though there was nowhere to go, the driver found a way to get around the truck.
The two men had to wait until the impatient driver passed them.
It was one man that made the waiting all worth while.
He was smiling.
He was dancing.
He was moving as if he was in an aerobic class.
His joy was undeniable.
Despite the heat, despite the smell that must have been overwhelming, he was joyful.
I was so thankful that I got to witness his joy dance.
The other man seemed nonplussed by his actions, which made me think he has done this before.
If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. (Martin Luther King Jr.)
Do you ever think about the workers that keep life running so smoothly for us?
Do you ever think about those who do the jobs that not many of us would want to do?
Do you ever wish that you could shake their hand and say, Thank you?
Do you ever imagine what life would be like without them?
There is the person who collects the shopping carts even in the rain.
There is the janitor who cleans the bathrooms in public buildings.
There are the maids who take care of hotel rooms for the guests who stay there.
There is the busboy or busgirl who clears the dirty dishes from the restaurant tables.
The man on the back of the trash truck had a spring in his step.
He was light on his feet.
He had a joie de vivre that was contagious.
He exhibited sheer joy on the back of a trash truck.
As I watched him, it made me think.
Is my joy contagious?
I am in circumstances far less grueling than that of the man on the back of the truck.
Can people see my joy?
The man on the back of the trash truck challenged me.
The impatient driver may not have even noticed him.
The drivers in front of me may have used that time of waiting to check their cell phones.
The man’s co-worker may be quite used to his joy dance.
I never want to get used to it.
In fact, I want to see more of it.
Often, a joy dance is misunderstood.
Some observers of a joy dance are skeptical.
Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. (2 Samuel 6:12-23)
King David did a joy dance when the Ark of the Covenant was being brought back to Jerusalem.
King David was leaping and dancing before the Lord with all his might.
His wife, Michal, was watching him from a window.
She saw David’s joy dance and despised him in her heart.
That often happens with a joy dance.
A joy dance is not completely understood.
The joy is not shared.
Instead of joining in, there is contempt or scorn.
We should do a joy dance before the Lord much like David.
The loving kindness and tender mercy of our God is something to dance about.
If we are in Christ, our salvation is worthy of a joy dance.
We will be misunderstood by all except the One from whom our joy comes.
Lord Jesus, may the joy I have in You be evident to everyone.
Let me never be embarrassed to exude the joy of the Lord.
Let me do a joy dance that is undeniably because of You.
Let me love You with abandon.
How delighted I was to witness a joy dance as I waited behind a trash truck.
How thankful I am for the man on the back of the truck.
I am thankful not only for the important job he does, but for the lesson he taught me.
Anyone want to join me in a joy dance?
Love this! I’m all in for the joy dance!
Diane,
Sounds like a plan!
Blessings, friend!
Gina