Collect O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. First Reading 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the LORD. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes. 1
The Gospel Mark 6:14-29 King Herod heard of the demons cast out and the many who were anointed and cured, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him." But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the baptizer." Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. Let's start this morning with a pop quiz. What am I describing? It began in 1970 with a weekend event held at the Grant Hotel that managed to draw 300 people. Today, the event is attended by nearly 130,000 people who come from all over America and beyond to listen to panels and workshops, preview upcoming feature films and video games, attend award ceremonies and best of all dress up for the Masquerade, the event's very own costume contest. What I am describing is today one of America's biggest conventions and it is held right here in San Diego, this weekend. In case you are still lost, the event I am talking about is Comic-Con International. Head on to downtown and the convention center and you will see Jedi Masters 2
walking past other extra-terrestrials, comic strip heroes, computer game villains, and lots and lots of people celebrating what can only be described as the height of 'geekdom'. For me, what is best of all about this event is that people are unashamedly living it up in the height of geekdom. People leave their homes and hotel rooms across this city dressed up in all manner of outfits and make their way to the convention to celebrate who they are without apology or reservation. And so, in honor of this annual celebration of geekdom, I offer you the 'Gospel according to Comic-Con'. Just imagine, if you will, a Church whose membership celebrated who they are with similar such joy and abandon. What would Easter Day be like if we really got dressed up? I'm picturing giant-sized Easter Eggs, brightly colored outfits and yes, why not, ten-foot tall Easter bunnies. And what would the other Christmas party the non-office variety be like, if we really went to town? Indeed, what would it look like to party as if we really did believe with all of our being that the Lord of time and space had come to us in the form of a little child? At the least, people might get curious. When I look at Jesus Christ I see a human being fully alive, a man who was never afraid to live. He ate with those whom others shunned sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, the outcasts, the unclean, the foreigner. Moreover, not only did he eat with them, he touched those who were not supposed to be touched because his society had decided that they were untouchable people, and he called out of people possibilities of new life and hope that had otherwise been abandoned. In 3
many ways, he was not what people would have considered to be a 'respectable man'. As we saw in last week's gospel, he was rejected as an upstart by his own townsfolk and in this week's gospel we see what happens to his rabble-rousing, camel-skin wearing, wild berry-eating friend, John the Baptist: he gets eliminated by the powers that be. Yet, despite the best efforts of the powers of this world, even the attempt to quell the fire of his life on Earth with a state criminal's death on the cross, Jesus' is a life that refuses to die. His is a light that never burns out and can never be extinguished. In many ways, this Jesus truly is King David's Lord, the king of the king who danced when the ark of the covenant came into Jerusalem. Now you have to understand, it is an Englishman who is talking up the exuberance of Christ and David here. I come from a country that has to work at letting its hair down. 'Don't be too loud, too brash, don't show-off, or blow your own trumpet' were the words that I heard growing up in England. I think this is part of the reason why the British who live here like it so much in America. Here, being exuberant, being celebratory, being 'big' is a good thing. Of course, there are exceptions to that, and it may be that historically at least the Episcopal Church is one of those exceptions. The 'frozen chosen' has been a label that has sometimes been attached to Episcopalians. It is almost as if at times in our history we have had to add to our tagline that hangs on the sign by the sidewalk here 'The Episcopal Church welcomes you' the addition, 'no, really, we mean it'. Monica Furlong, a 4
contemporary commentator on church life, has said this, 'I like the Anglican tradition because I can come to church and be left alone.' To be honest, for me that kind of sentiment doesn't really work. I am a selfconfessed evangelist. Not in the sense that I want people to see the world exactly as I see it, but in the sense that God is real and so is pain and disconnection and existential loneliness, and I happen to believe that a life that finally awakens to God is a life that is better than one that never does. In other words, I believe that the Christian story and the community life and the real presence of God in our lives is something worth sharing. And I think, as much as the Episcopal Church is part of a tradition that might have done a good job at 'leaving people alone', that the time has come to press the defrost button and thaw out some of the 'chosen frozen' feel to our church. I think that the time that we now live in calls for us to be a church that embraces more of the convention that is happening downtown at Comic-Con than the one that has been happening in Indianapolis at the General Convention of the national Episcopal church. We don't need another session to debate our polity, and our rules of order, and where we should house our national church offices, we need a gathering of the weird and the wonderful, the strangely costumed and the strangely warmed, and we need to go out onto the streets of our communities and invite the people whom Christ is already meeting on their way to party with us and us with them. 5
So, my friends, if we are to be a church that still has a place in the public square at the end of this century at least as much as we do here at the beginning of it, then you and I will need to dust off those dancing shoes and learn to waltz and tap, to swing and jig, to hula and jive, to polka and salsa, to tango and fandango. The Lord of the dance calls us to dance a new life into being in the lives of his people and he calls us to make a dance floor of this world such that we and others might know with him what it is to really live. As we will sing at the end of this service, 'When the Spirit of the Lord comes upon my heart I will dance like David danced'. So, come, Spirit, come. Your people are ready. This first two thousand years has just been the chance to limber up. Let the dance begin. Amen. 6