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Sermon - 02-14-2016 - Dancing with the devil
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 2016 LUKE 4:1-13His name is Matt Harding, and he dances. Boy, does he dance. Truth be told he’s not very good, like I am a reliable judge, but what he lacks in styleand grace he makes up for in enthusiasm - and in geography. Because in 2005, 29 year-old Matt Harding quit his job as a videogame designer, telling his boss that he didn't want to spend the next two years of his life writing a game about killing everyone. Then he withdrew his life savings and travelled the world. Dancing. And for the next seven years he travelled and danced, traveled and danced. It wasn’t elegant, It wasn’t agile, it wasn’t polished. But it was, in a more profound way than mere aesthetics, exquisite. He made a series of videos of himself dancing in over seventy countries on every continent, in front of some of the most cherished landmarks, and always joyously joined by local people. If, like 90 million other people, you watch any of his videos on YouTube, and you must, then you will not be able to stop yourself smiling. You will feel better afterwards, I guarantee it.
His name is Jesus, and he, too, dances. You can watch his video in the Gospel lesson today. He dances with the devil. This is not a pleasant 2 dance, an attractive dance, a dance any of us would enjoy. Frankly, it is hard to watch. This is dancing with the stars, gone seriously twisted. He dances on the top of the Temple while his partner urges him to leap off and win a world of fans. He dances in space, surveying all the wealth, power and glory of the nations, and imagining owning all of it, as his sidekick invites him to bow down and worship him. He dances in the desert, while his companion points at a stone and remarks how similar it appears to a loaf of bread, oh, and by the way, was that your stomach I just heard. You must starving.
Dancing in the desert. It’s not pretty, it’s not joyful, it’s not carefree. It will hurt your feet, it will test your resolve, it will ask deep, painful questions about who you are you and who your God is. Dancing in the desert will get inside your head and mess with you. You will feel.... (Read the full Sermon here: Dancing with the devil.pdf )
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By The Rev. Dr. Duncan H. Johnston, RectorFIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 2016 LUKE 4:1-13His name is Matt Harding, and he dances. Boy, does he dance. Truth be told he’s not very good, like I am a reliable judge, but what he lacks in styleand grace he makes up for in enthusiasm - and in geography. Because in 2005, 29 year-old Matt Harding quit his job as a videogame designer, telling his boss that he didn't want to spend the next two years of his life writing a game about killing everyone. Then he withdrew his life savings and travelled the world. Dancing. And for the next seven years he travelled and danced, traveled and danced. It wasn’t elegant, It wasn’t agile, it wasn’t polished. But it was, in a more profound way than mere aesthetics, exquisite. He made a series of videos of himself dancing in over seventy countries on every continent, in front of some of the most cherished landmarks, and always joyously joined by local people. If, like 90 million other people, you watch any of his videos on YouTube, and you must, then you will not be able to stop yourself smiling. You will feel better afterwards, I guarantee it.
His name is Jesus, and he, too, dances. You can watch his video in the Gospel lesson today. He dances with the devil. This is not a pleasant 2 dance, an attractive dance, a dance any of us would enjoy. Frankly, it is hard to watch. This is dancing with the stars, gone seriously twisted. He dances on the top of the Temple while his partner urges him to leap off and win a world of fans. He dances in space, surveying all the wealth, power and glory of the nations, and imagining owning all of it, as his sidekick invites him to bow down and worship him. He dances in the desert, while his companion points at a stone and remarks how similar it appears to a loaf of bread, oh, and by the way, was that your stomach I just heard. You must starving.
Dancing in the desert. It’s not pretty, it’s not joyful, it’s not carefree. It will hurt your feet, it will test your resolve, it will ask deep, painful questions about who you are you and who your God is. Dancing in the desert will get inside your head and mess with you. You will feel.... (Read the full Sermon here: Dancing with the devil.pdf )