Sermon – 7/6/03 The Rockette
Experience - Galatians 3:3
Listen to Audio Sermon
The Rockette Experience
“Are you so foolish?
Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the
flesh?” (Galatians 3:3)
My wife Genevieve and I were in a dance studio
at Radio City Music Hall, in New York City. She participated in
“The Rockette Experience” along with a number of younger ladies,
most of whom want to be actual Rockette dancers. All were
experienced in jazz, tap and ballet.
Genevieve was raised to dance, loves to dance,
and wanted to be a Rockette since she saw them on Broadway at
11-years of age. This was her opportunity to be a Rockette for a
day. Right before the dance class and “Mock Audition,” we were
given a guided tour of Radio City Music Hall. The entire experience
lasted from 9 AM to 2 PM.
At the moment, they were practicing a tap
sequence, which like the other dances being demonstrated, were
actual Rockette routines. A piano player named Ken was accompanying
the dancers during the class and audition.
One of the 36-Rockettes was teaching the steps,
along with the body, arm and hand movements of the “numbers”
involved. The sound of tap shoes on the wooden floor was, at times,
deafening, and I noted that the closer the steps and movements were
to one another, the more fascinating it became. When each of the
steps and movements became one, that section was pronounced “Perfect”
by the Rockette in charge. She led, they followed, and as the
various sequences became a coordinated whole, it was indeed
“Perfect” in all its ways. Ken the musician had a continually
delighted look on his face, but especially when the dancers were
functioning together.
In a similar manner, you and I are at our best
when we are coordinated by the leading of our Lord. All over the
world, in varying contexts, we are to be “dancing” together in His
Spirit, to the “music” of the One who loves you and me.
Susan the Rockette said, “Tap
is all about precision,” as she proceeded to again
demonstrate the correct way to perform a specific dance sequence.
She also said the Rockettes are of great character; professional on
and off the stage, because they carry the Rockette name. In Christ,
we carry the Name of our Lord.
Christianity is all about faith in Him. We are
to be filled with His love. Our walk with Him will include a high
regard for the written Word of God and we will long to pray in the
Name of our Lord and be led by His Spirit. Our faith, love and
responsiveness –He leads and we follow, trusting in Him.
Life is about responding to His Spirit,
moment-by-moment, recognizing that He knows the next “step” we are
to take in this world. Interestingly, like dance steps are authored
by choreographers, “faith” itself is
authored by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2). “God
is love” (1 John 4:8) and it is HIS love that is needed by
this hungry world. We are to be workmen who correctly interpret His
written Word (2 Timothy 2:15), and we are to “pray
without ceasing” as encouraged in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
All of the Christian life is carefully
choreographed by our Lord, and it becomes more-and-more apparent
that we must look to Him. In Galatians 5:16, Paul said, “Walk
in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
The inverse is also true: Walk in the Spirit and you will discover
the will of God. You are offered HIS faith, HIS love, and you will
hunger for His Word. You’ll be drawn to pray, and all will come
through the urging of the Spirit, Who patiently directs you and me.
The wonder of the “Rockette Experience” was
beauty expressed through unity, as directed by Susan, the Rockette
instructor. From God’s point of view, His people are beauty
expressed through unity as we respond to His Spirit. We don’t see
ourselves as unified, but we are, even when our outward activities
apparently differ from one another. Your hand may be doing
something different from your foot, but both are under one direction
and both are functioning for the good of the body.
I was impressed with the Washington, DC and New
York subway systems. Both are mostly underground, with electric
rail cars that stop, start, and then suddenly hurdle forward in many
directions. And yet the differing directions accomplish a single
goal – they get passengers where they need to go. You and I don’t
see the unity within diversity which we call the “Body of Christ,”
but God does. As in our Scripture today, the “flesh” (our humanity)
is insufficient for understanding – we must “see” through the Spirit
of God.
We look at the chaos and uncertainty of life
and all too often, that is all we see. But God is working
wondrously all around us, and it’s time to look to our “Instructor,”
the Holy Spirit of God, who enables us to “see” as God sees. F. B.
Meyer, a wonderful teacher of a century ago, said, “Dare
to trust Him; dare to follow Him! And discover that the very forces
which barred your progress and threatened your life, at His bidding
become the materials of which an avenue is made to liberty.”
Paul the Apostle compared the “works
of the law” with the “hearing of
faith” in Galatians 3:2, asking, “Are
you so foolish? - Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made
perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). Nobody wants to be
foolish and it is indeed reasonable to follow God. I encourage you
to trust in Him now and follow His Spirit – forever.
The Rockettes dance in beauty and in unity, as
all who pay the admission price can see. The admission price to
“see” in the Spirit was paid through the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. You merely have to receive Him. Life begins in the Word of
our Lord, who gives us His Spirit, leads us in understanding,
teaches us how to respond and imparts to His people the very
character of God. Gradually, as we look to Him who leads, we learn
to think, love, act, pray and trust – We “dance” as He leads you and
me.
Will you begin in His Spirit right now?
Lord, I trust in You. Forgive me that so many
times I have not followed You. Let me “see” with Your Spirit, that
I may understand Your written Word and trust in You more. Help me
to think, love, act, pray and trust, as you lead me. In Jesus
Name. Amen.
