THE SACRED DANCE

One of the words frequently used by the early Church to describe the Triune Godhead was the Greek word “perichoresis.” The word, defining the relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is made up of two words, “peri” (around) and “choreuin” (to dance). The early Church saw the relationship of the Trinity as the dance of God—the three members of the Godhead flowing together in joy and harmony as they celebrate the creation and celebrate all those who have chosen to be in God’s family.

The “perichoresis” is the eternal dance of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit sharing mutual love, honor, happiness, joy and respect. God’s act of creation meant that God was inviting more and more beings into the eternal dance. When sin came, people began stepping out of the dance to go their own way, stumbling and struggling instead of moving with the grace and rhythm of the Sacred Dance. Through His Son Jesus, God entered creation to restore the rhythm and beauty of the Sacred Dance.

Jesus is the one who has been sent to open the way for all to follow and to come into the Sacred Dance. In plain terms, Jesus is the Lord of the dance.

 Charles Wesley put it this way:

Our concert of praise

To Jesus we raise,

And all the night long

Continue the new evangelical song:

We dance to the fame

Of Jesus’s name,

The joy it imparts

Is heaven begun in our musical hearts.

(Hymns and Sacred Poems by Charles Wesley)

Over 2000 years ago one man in a tiny insignificant country in the eastern Mediterranean began a dance of life that was so different, so daring and compelling that at first people just stared in amazement. But then he was joined by just two followers, Peter and his brother Andrew, but it wasn’t long before others came to join with the Lord of the Dance, Jesus Christ.

A few years later on the inauguration day of the Church on the Day of Pentecost, it was no longer just a handful of followers—on that day 3000 joined in the Sacred Dance. In the years that followed thousands more would come and then millions would join with the Lord of the Dance.

As followers of Jesus we follow Him in the dance—He leads and we follow. We are followers of His!

When He is leading and we are following, there is a peculiar and powerfully compelling attractiveness to what we do. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the sacredness of the perichoresis, others are attracted to the life in us, to the dance that we are dancing, and they want to know: “What is that dance and how can I join in?”

In trying to illustrate this, I came across a video that in a rather amusing and inspiring way shows what happens when one person takes the risk and begins to dance where others can see them. Please take the time to watch the whole video; it lasts only three minutes. The video was made in 2009 at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington State. The guy is a lousy dancer but he doesn’t care because he’s celebrating—then one other person joins him and then watch what happens.

(Be sure to turn on your speakers.)

This silly video is an illustration of what can happen when just one person abandons himself to the Lord of the Dance. In the act of abandonment, our dance becomes attractive to others as they recognize the genuineness of our actions.

Every person has a dance . . . every life is a dance! Some dance only to the music in their own mind and of their own making. Some dance with the devil—but everyone dances! Do not waste your dance!

When we follow Jesus and let Him lead, then He takes us into the Sacred Dance—and it is the Sacred Dance that makes life meaningful and compelling!