<html><body><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> The second part:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> She got her way.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Or course, Herod was far from guiltless, but Herodias, like Michal, put her own sense of security over everything else. Both of them valued their own power, even over God and the worship God seeks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Just as we can question the love of David and Michal, so we can bring into question the love of Herod and Herodias. They seemed to be so self-centred, power-hungry individuals who had no time for anything like God and religious practice and propriety.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Elsewhere, and at an earlier time, God’s prophet Joshua said to the people, “Choose whom you’ll serve and worship, but I and my family will serve God.” <sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> That’s always the question. There’s nothing wrong with dancing per se, just as there are many other things which engage us which don’t threaten our being. It’s the reason or the manner of dancing and other behaviours which can give a positive or a negative connotation to it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Behind the dances in both lessons today, however, lies the whole question of power, of control, of manipulation, of using other people and abusing them, in order to attain one’s own goals, regardless of what’s right or helpful and productive.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Again and again, God finds ways to confront us, not necessarily belligerently or aggressively. Yet sometimes what we see and hear <b><u>IS</u></b> disturbing. Yet God is <b><u>NOT</u></b> a killjoy. Through our own lives, and needs, and desires, as well as through those of others, whom we may not even know; through all sorts of nudges and smiles, God asks us not only whom we will serve, but how we will serve. Will we put our own will before anything and anyone else? Will we imagine that everyone and everything else, including God, takes second place to us? Or will we imagine, as people have through the ages from David’s time to our own, that if we <b><u>CAN</u></b> do it, then it must be O.K.?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I was reminded of Robert Kennedy’s visit to South Africa in 1966. It was fraught with danger. It was fraught with apprehension, both on the part of the authorities grimly holding on to power in South Africa and the U.S. State Department.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The South African authorities made it clear they would not offer Senator Kennedy any security, many State Department officials were convinced his trip was ill-conceived and doomed to fail. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“In his <a href="http://www.rfksafilm.org/html/media/american/evil.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration-line: none;">speech</span></a>, Robert Kennedy spoke for those who were not free to speak. His gave hope to anti-apartheid student activists who had felt alone in their quest for racial equality, and he showed them how their efforts were connected to other civil rights movements underway around the world.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> He said, “‘</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background: white;">It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Each time that someone stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he (or she) sends out tiny ripples of hope … those ripples build a mighty current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance … That is the source of all greatness in all societies, and it is the key to progress in our time.’” <sup>4<o:p></o:p></sup></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> God comes to us as individuals who make up groups and societies. God asks for our complete dedication, no matter what the cost. It may bring about a breaking point with another individual; it may bring about danger. But God asks us for such a commitment to all that is holy that we’ll be willing to risk anything. Such is the worship God desires.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> This isn’t to say that God is unaware of the risks of faithfulness. Sometimes, because we don’t always think things through, we make the mistake of not telling people how important our commitments are. If we don’t share what is in our souls with those among our friends and family then not only can this lead to pretty severe misunderstanding, but it can serve as a poor witness to what we hold most dear. However, there may come a time when, as we saw with David, an individual <b><u>HAS</u></b> to act according to conscience, no matter what.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Is this easy? No, and some of us here may be able to attest to that. Yet, perhaps in a small way, perhaps in a more visible one, we all may have to follow our instincts to have a Davidic, a Robert Kennedy moment, in which we say that <b><u>NOT</u></b> to witness would be to damage our immortal souls, as well as the lives of who knows how many others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> And sometimes, we need to weigh carefully what we do and with whom we associate, because of the danger into which we may fall – as Herod, Herodias and the others found themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> It’s not that God doesn’t want us to enjoy ourselves, whether through dancing or through any other activity. It’s simply a matter of God saying that life is not simply about what you and I do; it’s also about how you and I do it, and how others will be affected by it. <b><u>CAN</u></b> we look at our behaviour and our speech and say, “Not only did I not hurt anyone, but I actually helped someone.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Go ahead, then, dance! Enjoy the dance of worship and life! But watch where you put your hands! Seriously, watch what you do with your hands!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">NOTES:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><h3 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333px;">[1]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> <a href="http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/michal-bible"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">J. Cheryl Exum, . "Michal: Bible." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive</span></a> in </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michal"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153);">Michal - Wikipedia</span></a> </span><cite><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-weight: normal; font-style: normal;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michal </span></cite><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></h3><div><cite><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-style: normal;"><br></span></cite></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Michal"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); text-decoration-line: none;">Michal - All the Women of the Bible - Bible Gateway</span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 102, 33);"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Michal">https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Michal</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Joshua 24:15</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Robert F. Kennedy, South Africa, 6<sup>th</sup> June, 1966. See <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-06-06/rfks-ripple-hope-speech-still-touches-world-50-years-later">https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-06-06/rfks-ripple-hope-speech-still-touches-world-50-years-later</a></span></p></body></html>