Reflections on “Dancing with Jesus: the Apostolic Conga” I Corinthians 12: 27-31

The "Dancing with Jesus" preaching series is almost complete, just one more week.  I enjoyed preparing and preaching this sermon.  

 “Dancing with Jesus: the Apostolic Conga”; I Corinthians 12: 27-31;  August 27, 2023; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp

Two more weeks of dancing - then, we start our fall preaching schedule.  Don’t forget that next week, our worship will include the Ritual of Reaffirmation of Baptism

I Corinthians 12: ²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Introduction:  When I was in high school, dances seemed to be exclusively meant for couples.

Only couples on the dance floor.

If you did not have a date, there was not much point in going to a dance because you would just be sitting or standing alongside the wall.  I figured the odds of me finding a dance partner once I was at the dance we close to zero!

after graduating from high school, I worked in Corsicana, TX, and attended Westminster Presbyterian Church there. 

I’m not sure whose brilliant idea it was, but they asked me to teach Sr. High Sunday school and serve on the Christian Education committee.  At the time, I did not realize it was a preview of my life to come - teaching Sunday school and going to committee meetings!

Teaching the Sr. high Sunday school class led to being asked to chaperone at the local high school dances.  Maybe to redeem my own high school dance memories, I agreed to be a chaperone.

I arrived at the Homecoming dance with flashbacks to my own high school dances.  

the kids from Sunday school greeted me and introduced me to the head chaperone.  She told me my duties, which included making sure no kids were going in and out of the gym to the parking lot and making rounds to the dark corners of the gym.

As I began observing the high schoolers at a dance, I realized dance protocols had changed since my high school days.   

the dance floor was not filled exclusively with couples, but lots of groups on the dance floor dancing together.

Groups of girls; groups of guys; groups of girls and guys; a mobility-impaired high schooler surrounded by several dance partners. 

there seemed to be no concern over having one partner with whom you danced exclusively;   everyone on the dance floor was a partner in the dance.

so too, our ministry as the body of Christ invites into partnership with each other, indeed, an abundance of partners.

move 1. The Apostolic conga reminds us that we are connected to each other.

a.  Consider the task before Paul.

1. First, he proclaims the resurrection of Jesus Christ and invites people to lay claim to that truth.

2,  But that is not enough.

he also invites those who come to believe in Jesus Christ to do the work of Christ in the world. 

b. Thus, the image Paul uses of the body of Christ.

1. Individual parts needed to make the body function.

2.   first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 

3.  Not one of those people is enough; 

not two;

but All different types of people and skills are needed to do the work of Christ.

4. When we danced the apostolic conga it was a line of different people, 

different gifts

all joining together for one purpose.

c. Sometimes it is hard in the English language to know whether someone is talking about you, as in you as an individual 

or you, as in the plural, a group of us.

1. Biblical scholars point out that in vs. 27 when Paul writes to the Corinthians,

when Paul writes to us: “Now you are the body of Christ.

You “is a big emphatic YOU! (in the plural not the singular to underscore once again this many-membered body).” 

2.  Not one of us, but all of us.

3.  Paul does not mean that the body of Christ is “some assertion of privileged status, but rather a  recognition of our responsibility for mutual care for the members of this body. (James Boyce

Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Greek, Luther Seminary; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-1-corinthians-1212-31a)

d.  Being part of the body of Christ also means we are connected in ways beyond just those people whom we can see.

1.  Did you notice that Dr. Allen joined in the conga line

 (Okay, I asked her to, but I am sure she would have joined us anyway), 

2.  but she can join us in dancing with Jesus because the body extends beyond our own congregation here at St. Andrew.

it extends at least to Austin

at least to other communities of believers in the United States.

at least to other communities of believers around the world.

We are connected in Christ to the host of believers because Christ’s work demands all of us.

or as Paul says it in the opening verses of this letter:  To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

b.  In fact, we understand our connections even beyond our present time.

1. The apostolic conga line extends back to those who have come before us

imagine stretching back to the beginning of creation;

Imagine stretching beyond our time into the future when those who follow us will continue working as the body of Christ.

Imagine that line of people, connected to God and continually shaping and being shaped for their work as the body of Christ.

move 2:  Body of Christ is a place of transformation.

a.  As you may I have noticed through the years, I read Milton Brasher-Cunningham’s blog on a somewhat regular basis.  He grew up in the mission fields, spent some time in Waco, and became a chef, is married to a UCC minister, and is one himself.

1.  he loves music and cooking and often makes theological insights in these two areas.

2. A few years ago, he blogged about the thought of fiddlehead ferns. 

I do not know much about fiddlehead ferns, except you have to clean them very well or you can get sick when eating them.

 To clean fiddleheads before you cook them, you put them in water  (which makes sense), and, here’s the chef’s trick, you rub them up against each other. 

The dark outer layer – dirt, skin, whatever – comes off leaving a beautifully bright green skin that sparkles in the sauté pan. 

They don’t clean up well one by one; they have to rub up against each other to be transformed (donteatalone, 9/3/2007, Milton Brasher-Cunningham, http://donteatalone.com/fiddlehead-faith/ 

b.  Church is for finding and adoring God in community:  with others, through others, because of others, in spite of others.  Only by finding this place of human interaction focused around the need for the spiritual was I able to recognize God in other people, and so, in myself.  Without community, how would I share. Who would I help?  How would I learn to accept help?  Would I learn to serve others without others to serve?  And could I know how if I wasn’t taught? To what would I, a human being, belong to if not to a group of human beings?”   Nevada Barr, Seeking Enlightenment Hat by Hat (191)

1.  Paul uses the term “new creations” to describe what we become when we give our lives over to Christ.

2.  Even as we join together in the work of Christ transforming the world, we ourselves are changed.

3. Changed by being in relationship with those around us in the body of Christ;

changed by the ways we are challenged;

change by the ways we are nurtured;

changed by the ways we join together to go into the world in the name of Christ.

Move 3:   Paul says strive to be the body of Christ,  “And I will show you a still more excellent way.”

I finish with a  story from the chili cook-off in Terlingua, TX.  

years ago, there were three brothers - Les, Don, and Larry Eastep.

Les was an 11-time grand champion of world chili cook-offs;

Larry competed but was not quite the same level as brother Les.

Don, was not much of a chili chef, but enjoyed going with his brothers to competitions.

One year, Larry qualified, but couldn't go to Terlingua, Texas, to compete in a chili cook-off, so Don, went instead, and signed in as Larry, including getting his pot to submit his chili.

Except Don didn’t cook any chili.  But, we wanted to be involved in the competition, so he spent his time visiting the competitors and managing to get a cup of their chili, which he took back and put in his pot.

eventually, he had a big enough sample to turn in for the competition.

He won. Larry was too stunned i the moment to protest. "I was afraid if I would have said something at the time, a Texas lynch mob would have come after me," he said later.

 Other cooks protested, since they didn't see Larry cooking, so he quickly 'fessed up and turned the trophy over to the runner-up. Judge Tom Nall called Eastep a "rotten, no-good scoundrel" who is banned from future competitions.  (I first saw this in the Washington Post, then read more about it here https://squirrelcookoff.com/people/chili-cook-off-cheater/) 

the chili from all the cooks was the best.

Conclusion: The body of Christ dances the apostolic conga, a dance that needs all of us.

Reflections on “Dancing with Jesus: the Ascension Swing”; Mark16: 14-20; Ephesians 1: 15-23

When I laid out the summer preaching series, I thought this was going to be one of my favorite weeks.  it did not turn out that way for me.  part of the problem was I had preached one of my favorite Ascension Day sermons on May 21 (you can look at the blog if you want), so I felt a bit hamstrung in preparing this sermon.  It was one of those weeks when I never found a rhythm for the sermon.  

I should have built off of Dr. Rigby's comment about Calvin saying that Jesus got up from the right hand and walked around some. That would have been a really good entry point for the sermon and been a better use of that comment. 

“Dancing with Jesus: the Ascension Swing”; Mark16: 14-20; Ephesians 1: 15-23;  August 20, 2023; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp

Mark 16: 14-20  Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. ¹⁵And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. ¹⁶The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

Introduction:   Tuesday, August 15th, some of the guys from the Wednesday morning Bible study went down the Ranger game (good game, by the way).

As we talked between innings, one of the guys asked me if the Ascension swing this Sunday was going to be about Mary’s ascension, since August 15 was Mary’s Ascension day,  or if the sermon was going to be about Jesus’ ascension.

the question caught me off guard.  I didn’t know that Mary had an ascension story.

so I did some research the next day.  Sure enough, in the Roman Catholic calendar, August 15th is the Ascension (or Assumption) of Mary Day.

They had some biblical references that supported their argument for Mary’s ascension, but I did not find it compelling evidence.  I’m not ready to preach about Mary’s ascension. 

(read here if you want more info - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary)

Hard to imagine Jesus’ ascension, but we do have several biblical texts that describe it or comment on it.

So let’s reflect a bit this morning about Jesus’ ascension and what it means to us.

Move 1: I sort of like the idea of the swing dance representing Jesus’ ascension.

a.  As if the resurrected Jesus dances his way off the earth and into heaven.

1.  the story we read in Mark just tells us that Jesus was taken up into heaven, but if we read the parallel story in the first chapter of Acts, we are told that as the disciples were watching,  Jesus “was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” Acts 1)

2. I can see that lifted up as a swing dance.

3. Jesus joyously leaving earth and going to heaven.

b.  HIs ascension clarifies and emphasizes that Jesus defeats death forever.

1.  We can imagine Jesus joyfully swing-dancing his way to heaven as if to say, “Death could not keep me in the tomb, and now I’m still alive, dancing all the way to heaven.

2.  the Apostle Paul puts it a little less flamboyantly when he writes to the Romans:  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Romans 6:9)

3. The ascension matters because it confirms that Jesus’ defeat of death is not a one-time thing, but a permanent change.

4. God reigns over life and death is ascension into heaven is proof.

5. So maybe there’s a dance move or two in Jesus’ step and he moves on to heaven.

Move 2:  The Gospel of Mark, which we read this morning, adds to the ascension story this fact - Jesus ascends to take his position at the right hand of God.

a.  Jesus, at the right of God for eternity.

1. I heard Cindy Rigby preach on the ascension once, and she noted that the great Reformer John Calvin said Jesus got up and walked around every once in a while, but his place is at the right hand of God.

2. the position of power.

3. The position next to God where Jesus can whisper in the ear of God.

b.  What might Jesus whisper?

1.  Perhaps words of intercession as he intercedes on our behalf.

2.  As Paul tells the Romans and tells us: Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.^* (Romans 8: 34)

3. Christ speaking to God on our behalf.

4. Christ calls God’s attention to us.

c.  In some ways, Christ’s position at the right hand of God changes our relationship with God and how we approach God.

1.  the all-powerful God might seem intimidating, or distant, or unapproachable by us.

2. But there is Jesus, 

our friend, 

the one who lived among us, 

the one who died for us, 

sitting right there talking to God on our behalf.

3. With Christ at God’s right hand, we can dare to approach God, knowing that Christ is there for us.

Indeed, we might imagine ourselves swing dancing as Jesus ascends because of the joy we have that Christ has gone to intercede for us.

Move 3:  Swing dance is a partner dance, which reminds us that the ascended Christ - Jesus has partners

a.  The Putnam County 25^th Annual Spelling Bee is a fun musical that takes place at a spelling bee.

One of the spelling bee contestants was a well-composed overachiever named Marcy Park. She was a polished speller, spoke six languages, and was fluent in dance, fencing, karate, color-guard, etc. Marcy’s character was a Tightly Wound gal if I’ve ever seen one.

As the Spelling Bee competition neared an end Marcy was called upon to spell a challenging-to-most-people word. She paused, and cried out to Jesus, praying for a more difficult word. 

Lo and behold, Jesus appears.  Sometimes the musical has Jesus coming down an aisle to the stage;

other times, Jesus appears with a fog machine going on stage to have a conversation with Marcy.

often, Jesus is dressed as one might depict the ascended Christ - in white clothes, trimmed in gold.  Very heavenly. (https://www.katiemreid.com/2014/11/ponderings-from-the-putnam-county-spelling-bee/)

Jesus discusses Marcy’s prayer request with her in person.  

I won’t spoil the scene for you, but the scene is an imaginative way of seeing how the ascended Christ, in this case, answers prayer in person.

b.  In the biblical text, the story does not unfold with the ascended Christ coming back to earth to continue his mission.

1.  No, the work of Christ continues with Jesus’ disciples and followers continuing his work.

2.  In Mark, we hear Christ telling his followers that they will be the one to proclaim the good of salvation to all the world.

3. Mark also lists specific tasks like casting out demons for them to do (that’s a whole other sermon!).

3.  In the Gospel of Matthew, we remember Jesus telling the disciples to go into all the world baptizing and teaching.

4. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we read this morning, we are told that God put God’s great power to work through Christ, who will be at work through the church, which is Christ’s body here on earth.

5.  Jesus’ ascension dance includes a partner because Jesus’ ongoing work demands that we act as the body of Christ is the world, proclaiming the good news of salvation through the words we speak and the acts that we do.

6. Jesus as the right hand of God orchestrating the work of his followers here on earth.

Conclusion:  so the swing dance reminds us that we are partners with Christ:

partners in life;

partners in death;

partners in resurrection;

and partners with the ascended Christ in his ongoing work in the world.

Ephesians 1: 15-23:   I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. ²²And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.