Moving Worship Piece

One of the most moving worship pieces for me at the Willow Creek conference was Jarrett Stevens poem "David's Dance Party USA". Poetry is one of those artsy deals that either moves you or leaves you unaffected. It might even depend on your mood. It might depend on the reading. But this one, though a bit pop affected, did move me.

How long have we been living under the reign of King Saul
Under the slow tightening grip of this seemingly endless fall
Where God’s presence seems to have all but faded
Where his beauty seems so antiquated compared to world of the now
The world that somehow packed God away in the corner
And I know it seems absurd,
but he’s piled there under too many words
and the echo that we thought that we heard exists only in our limited imagination
So, imagine a nation
Formed by his hand, yet ruled by one man,
who could never seem to understand
where his power actually came from.


But there’s a threat to this king
A vision unseen
A new kid on the scene
Who has gone down to rescue the all but forgotten Beauty
He says it’s his duty
An obligation of sorts
To bring back the source of all that is life and meaning.
Meaning - he’s on the road
Not quite sure where it goes
But hoping he knows
What his heart has been trying to tell him


That it’s in this journey we find
That on the road we’re defined
That it’s not just all in our minds
But in our hearts like we’d secretly expected
This is where David was corrected
And connected the dots
That God can’t be kept in a box
Or confined to clever talks
But that in fact God walks
And moves
And grooves
And he’s inviting you
and I to Try
To Capture and Create
To Act and not to Wait
In Poem on Page or Paint
Don’t hesitate
It’s not open for debate
In David’s case it’s too late
He’s already dancing right on through the gates
And it looks like he’s only wearing his boxers


Now we see a true king returning
The fire of God brightly burning
The crowds hearts deeply yearning
To undo all their systems of learning
That through the years have caused great advance
But have never caused anyone to dance
Or join the great romance of a God alive in his people
So let’s burn down the steeples
And build us a dance floor
Right here where we used to keep the doors
That for so many years kept the cognitive in and creativity out
So Shout
And Sing
This is the thing you were created for
Nothing more
Than to worship your God with utter abandon
To put your hand in
And stand in the gap
Created by religion
And every other “ism”
That keeps you from truly being alive
From ever feeling the vibe
Not just to survive but to thrive
In the body in which you’re living
To use the gifts the Creator has given


Brothers and Sisters,
The invitation is on the table
To dance like David if you’re able
In the first ever ad campaign for Hanes
Or maybe it was Fruit of the Loom
Doesn’t matter, Just give me some room
so I can get up and do my thing
Maybe I’ll sing or maybe you’ll write
until the wee hours of night
taking sheer delight
in the overwhelming audience of one.
You see, this is where it gets fun
When it’s just you and Him
And you worship on a whim
Unconcerned with how it fits in
Or how it will set up the sermon,
For this one thing is for certain:
Love has come to town
Never again to be bound
By things that seem so sound
No, he’s dancing all around
And this simple truth resounds:
If you want to follow God,
You’ve got to get down!

link