At The WELL this week we are continuing our series on worship called Unquenchable. I am really excited for teaching this week because it’s a topic that is close to my heart. I am teaching on 2 Samuel 6 – it’s the passage where the Ark the Covenant comes back into Jerusalem. When it finally gets there, David strips down to his underwear and starts dancing. What a great picture, the most powerful man in the world, in his underwear dancing. I can just picture President Obama doing the same thing… well, maybe not.
It’s interesting to me that David’s worship was a totally spontaneous response to the presence and goodness and grace of God. It wasn’t about a song, it was about presence. I also love that David is totally free to express his gratitude to God in whatever way he felt. But, the main thing about this passage that stands out to me is that the king was willing to be made a clown. His wife Michal looks on in total disgust, thinking to herself, “you have humiliated me and your whole family.” I mean, when you look at it objectively, he DID! The move was absolutely ridiculous. The king became a clown.
Isn’t that the heart of the gospel? The fact that a king became a clown? Jesus Christ, maker, sustainer, breath of life, lamb of God, almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing… becomes a clown. The incarnation was enough. I mean when you are God, becoming a human is becoming a clown. But the cross. That’s full fledged clown gear! That’s tye-dye wig, balloon animal making, dancing clown. Here’s the kicker… unless we realize the extent to which Jesus went, we won’t become true worshipers. When we see the sacrifice that Jesus made, the transformation from king to clown, it causes something inside us to well up with worship, because we recognize that he made that unbelieveable move for you and me! Man, I hope to paint that picture for our students this week, and my prayer is that their hearts would be captured and they would truly worship… worship the king, made clown, and made almighty king again!
