Sunday Yr B Sunday between Jul 10-16
2 Samuel 6: 1-5
The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
1 David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 2 He and all his men set out fromBaalah of Judah [a] to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, [b] the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, [c] and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs [d] and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. 12 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 down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 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. 17 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 [f] before the LORD. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. 19 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.
Psalm 24 (New International Version)
Of David. A psalm.
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. 3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. [a] 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. [b] Selah 7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory. Selah Ephesians 1:3-14 (New International Version) Spiritual Blessings in Christ 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[a] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[b] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11In him we were also chosen,[c] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Mark 6:14-29 (New International Version)
John the Baptist Beheaded
14King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,[a] “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” 16But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” 17For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled[b]; yet he liked to listen to him. 21Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” 24She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. 25At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
“Did you see where David danced in the Bible?” Carrie asked James at youth meeting. “Well, it was kind of a parade, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but when you read it, it sounds like he was soooo happy…he had happy feet like that movie about that penguin that couldn’t stop dancing.” Carrie added.
“So, what of it?”
“Can you imagine having the pastor dance around in a bathing suit at church?”
“No,” James sniggered. “Now that you mention it, No, nada, not at all, never ever could imagine it.”
Carrie giggled. “It would be funny.”
“Funny? It would be hilarious. Why would a pastor ever want to dance around in church?”
Both James and Carrie stopped laughing and looked at each other.
“I can’t see being that excited about going to church. I guess that is sad, really.” Carrie pondered.
James thought for a moment, “I can’t imagine getting all worked up over God either. I wonder what David saw in it. What does the passage say?”
Carrie read aloud, “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.”
“Wow. It sounds sort of frenzied, doesn’t it? It was a huge party wasn’t it? Our church parties are boring. I wonder what we could do to make church so fun that we would feel like dancing with all our might, don’t you?”
“Why don’t we plan something? We could call it a David’s dance before the Lord.” Carrie looked around the hall of the church.
“Cool. Should we have everyone wear a bathing suit?” James chuckled.
“Let’s ask Pastor Elizabeth, she may have some ideas for making it fun.”
“It was fun for King David because he was excited about God’s ark coming to town. How do we make it exciting for people?”
“Well, if God’s ark was coming to town, it’s kinda like Santa is coming to town.” Carrie snickered.
“So, what’s your point?” James bristled.
“People like Santa because he brings gifts. Maybe if we were bringing gifts, people would get excited.” Grinning, Carrie pretended to carry Santa Claus’ bag.
“David was excited by God, not gifts.”
“Yeah, that means people will have to get excited by God. We need to focus on why God is good for us, don’t we?” Carrie paused before continuing, “David had a clear idea. I don’t think most people do. That’s why they aren’t excited by God.”
“They want God to do something for them.” James nodded.
‘Ask not what your God can do for you, but what you can do for God…sort of thing?” Carrie paraphrased.
“We need space for God, a God space—that’s what the ark was…if we get focused on a space for God, maybe we can dance like David with all our might.”
“Space for God and a David Dance. Sounds like a plan.” Carrie began writing reminders to herself.
Daily prayer: Almighty God, you are great and awesome and we take you for granted. Help us find space for you in our lives so we want to dance like David did before you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Memorize: 2 Samuel 6:14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might,
