Fellow-Redeemed in Christ’s blood,
In the weeks before our daughter, Emily got married ten years ago, my wife and I took ballroom dancing lessons. If you have done that, you know the key is keeping in step. The instructor latches on and guides your feet to keep in step with their feet.
The Holy Spirit has done just this when he called us to faith in Christ. We saw it moments ago. The Spirit has won Katelyn’s heart, latched on to her. Now the Spirit will guide her feet to keep in step with his. That is what we do as Christians. “Since we live by the Spirit, we keep in step with the Spirit,” Paul wrote to the Galatians.
In other words, Life in the Spirit is Like Dancing. It means to keep in step; it brings joy and satisfaction.
Life in the Spirit is not an abstract. It is the reality of my life every day especially in relationship to others. My life in the Spirit is my life as husband and wife, parent and child, boss and employee, fellow Christian with fellow Christian and even with enemies. A former Lutheran pastor has written an excellent book about marriage with the title, Marriage is Like Dancing. You can draw your own conclusions about plagiarism here, although Solomon says there is nothing new under the sun.
Dancing is just such an excellent metaphor for life in the Spirit because it means to keep in step. The Apostle defines the opposite of keeping in step by exhorting, “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Provoking and envying define conceit. Provoking evokes the picture of teasing or bullying, or pushing someone around. The word literally means to challenge to combat. Envy leads to boasting and ambition. These are the characteristics of one who seeks unfounded respect and vainglory. It is someone whom we might characterize as “an empty suit.” Conceit is the manifestation of life out of step from the Spirit who knows nothing of these things.
Life in the Spirit is being gentle, especially when I approach my neighbor who has been “caught in a sin.” If I think sin does not happen in me, chide them for sin, or envy them for their sin, that same sin or some other sin may tempt me too. Rather, with a deep sense of my own guilt and sinfulness, I reproach with gentleness. With a deep appreciation for my own forgiveness, I approach ready to forgive. Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit Paul listed just sentences before he wrote these words. When you are dancing, you have to be gentle with your partner.
When you are dancing, you have to concentrate on your own feet and not worry about your partner’s feet. Finally, you can only test what you are doing. Then you can correct your missteps or take pride that you are doing it right; pride in the sense of being glad it is going that way. Paul describes my life in the Spirit that means to keep in step, “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry his own load.”
On the one hand, with gentleness we carry each other’s burdens in our concern when sin gets the best of them. On the other hand, each of us carries my own burden of honest self-examination to avoid provoking, and envy and is happy when I can do that.
Think also of a soldier. Not unlike dancing, the soldier marches in step. There is even march music. He or she must carry their own pack and care for it while they also gently lift up a fellow soldier who has stumbled; lifts them up without harshness or thinking I am something special or better because I have not stumbled out of step and fallen.
Life in the Spirit is like dancing in another way; it brings joy and satisfaction.
Those many hours Nan and I spent at Arthur Murray were well worth it. What joy and satisfaction we had in having our steps work together on the dance floor at the reception. The time and money were worth it because I was able to dance with my daughter without tramping all over her feet. I guess you could say we reaped in results what we sowed in the lessons. We gave many compliments to our instructors for what they had given us.
Paul had given the Galatians much instruction in God’s Word especially the good news that “in Christ Jesus you are all the children through faith.” 3:26 Paul was not looking for compliments. He does tell the Galatians that they should share all good things with him and others who had worked among them. There is no one more important and necessary in life than those who teach us God’s Word. Our instructors are worthy of our respect, honor, and support on whatever level they teach us.
One of the truths Paul taught the Galatians and teaches us is that “God is not mocked.” The word means to try to outwit someone and ignore what they say. If someone takes that view of God’s Word, they will receive the corruption that leads to destruction. If you sow to the works of the flesh, sin, then you will reap the results of such sowing, corruption in eternal death.
Learning and following the steps of the foxtrot, waltz and others are often tiring and frustrating. The temptation is to give up, take the easy way out, not care about the joyful and satisfying results of sticking with it. So it is with life in the Spirit. Paul exhorts us, “Let us not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the household of faith.”
Life in the Spirit is like dancing. The Holy Spirit gave us that new life through the Word of Christ that forgave our sins and worked saving faith in our hearts. When we keep in step with the Spirit as he guides our feet with God’s Word we will reap joy and satisfaction at God’s time for the harvest. “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”[Philippians 4::5] Amen. <SDG>