I agree with the Scripture, where it says that, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” I agree with that, because we know that some things are fine, in their place, but they are not appropriate in other places. There is a time and a season for everything, which also means that some things are just not appropriate at certain times.
You do not shout, “Fire” in a crowded auditorium, for example. There is a time to alert people of danger, but you do not create more danger by blurting something out without considering the circumstances. You do not shout, “Fire” in a crowded room.
You do not, or will not, if the City Council has its way, use your cell phone while you are driving. There is a time and a place to make those urgent calls, but not while you are driving down the street where I am driving! It’s dangerous and it will soon be illegal, and I for one say, “Hallelujah”. There is a time for everything, but cell phones and driving don’t mix.
You do not, I hope, do what some of the people in this church do – wander in and out of this room, at leisure, even when the Bible is being read or prayer is being offered. I keep on saying that we ought to respect the word of God enough not to distract others from listening, and we ought to value fellowship with God enough not to disturb others while they are praying. But my wife tells me that just this last Sunday, during prayer, there was a tap on her shoulder. Someone outside wanted to speak to her. Couldn’t that have waited another couple of minutes? You all tell our church folks, won’t you, that there is a time and a season for everything, but prayer time is prayer time and not meet-people-in-the-hall time!
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. And there are also moments which are not appropriate for certain things. Would you think that dancing might be one of those things which is not always appropriate? Would you suspect that it might not always be the right time to dance?
Well, the preacher of Ecclesiastes says, in one of his lines, “There is time to mourn, and a time to dance.” A time to mourn, and a time to dance. Which of these is it time for now? In this hour, which is the appropriate thing – to mourn, or to dance?
I did not know Vera Byars. She was not a member of our church, nor had I met her. But she was a neighbor to several of our church members, and I have listened to their witness and to the witness of her sisters. I have heard many things about her. You have spoken about her gracious, calm, and patient ways. You have described her as an exceptionally giving person. You have written that she had a zest for life and an inner joy. All of these things are wonderful. But the one thing that has stuck in my mind most vividly is this from one of her sisters: “Vera loved to dance. Vera was a fabulous dancer. She could dance almost any kind of dance. Even when she was very small, she tried to dance. Vera was a dancer.”
Let me work with that for a few minutes. Let’s test whether this is a time to mourn or a time to dance. “Vera could dance almost any kind of dance”. What might that say to us today?
I
Could Vera dance ballroom-style? Could she encounter people, up close and personal, with the kind of intensity that ballroom-style dancing involves?
You know, when I was a teenager, my parents decided that I needed some social graces, and they enrolled me in a ballroom dancing class. I frankly do not remember ever having agreed to that, but back in the 50’s you did not question your parents’ judgment. So I went. But I hated just about every minute of it. I hated it because I was clumsy, as most 14-year-olds are; I despised it because I couldn’t get it – the teacher played a record and asked me if the rhythm was waltz time or foxtrot time, and I swear I could not hear any beat whatsoever – but most of all I abhorred ballroom dancing because I was shy around them. You know, them. Girls. That I was actually expected to hold a girl’s hand and put my arm around her waist – that was really painful. I hated it, but I managed it, because there was in this same class a distant cousin, and she felt the same way. So we just made beelines for one another at every dance and protected one another from having to get close to anybody else!
Ballroom dancing means closeness. It means touching. It means intensity. Vera Byars knew ballroom dancing. Oh, I don’t actually know whether in her dancing history that was one of her moves. But I know that she knew how to be close to people. I know that she knew how to care for people. I know that when someone knows how to give to others and care for others, when someone knows how to attract and nurture children – I know she is doing spiritual dancing, ballroom style. Up close and personal. There is a time to dance, and Vera found the time, ballroom style. She cared for people. “Vera could dance almost any kind of dance.”
II
What else? What other sort of dance did Vera dance? This may seem a little far-fetched, but did Vera dance the minuet? Or did Vera attempt the ballet? Oh, I know minuet is old-fashioned, and the ballet takes a lot of skill – but is it possible that Vera danced the minuet or pirouetted through the ballet?
Twenty years as an information specialist at the Superior Court, and still they spoke of her as patient and calm? That impresses me, let me tell you! I think about trying to work here in our little church office. The phone is ringing constantly with people looking for information. They want to know our address, they want to know our fax number, they want to know when the Sunday service starts – even though we publish all of those things frequently. They want to know the pastor’s name and how to spell it – now, folks, if you cannot spell “Joe Smith” on your own, you have problems! But people want all kinds of information and they want it now! They are demanding!
If Vera Byars could invest two decades as an information specialist, handling demands for information far more complex than what I have just described, then I tell you she knew how to dance a spiritual minuet – graceful, careful, respectful. She knew how to dance a spiritual ballet --precise, delicate, a delight to behold. The gift of grace under pressure – that tells me that here was a lady who knew who she was, who was in command of her own soul, and who understood that she could shape how others felt just by a deep quiet in her own heart. Oh, praise God for Vera, dancing the minuet and the ballet. Calming others by her own deep calm. There is a time for that. “Vera could dance almost any kind of dance.”
III
Still, I am not sure I have answered the issue I began with. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” “A time to mourn and a time to dance.” Is this the time to mourn or the time to dance?
Vera, that fabulous dancer, could dance almost any kind of dance, they say. Ballroom, yes; I don’t literally know whether she danced ballroom-style, but I see spiritual ballroom in her, that ability to get close to people. And minuet and ballet, yes; again, I don’t literally know whether she had any exposure to those forms, but spiritually, if she could remain calm and patient, disciplined and careful, she had the essence of those styles. But I want to conclude by suggesting another style, too.
Could Vera tap dance? Could she dance that most exuberant, uninhibited, over-the-top style of dancing? Again, you understand, I neither know nor care whether, physically, she tap-danced. I am using that as a word picture for joy and excitement – for that zest for life about which the family speaks. I am thinking of a person who just plain found joy in living, who did not permit herself the luxury of being depressed, but who simply, each day, went about with anticipation for that day and with eagerness for all it might bring. Like the tap-dancer whose feet move at an impossible speed, and who must be heard as well as seen to be enjoyed, I envision Vera Byars as giving ample testimony to the wonder of life and the joy of living it.
You tell me that she professed Christ at an early age. You tell me that she knew and loved the Lord. You tell me that she leaves a legacy of strong faith. I see and hear the tap dance in all of that. I see and hear the tap dance of joy. I see a woman for whom family was such a source of joy; as a young woman she had helped care for her younger brothers and sisters, and all of you have remained close. The tap dance of joy! I hear of a person who made and kept friends well. The tap dance of joy!
Vera, that fabulous dancer, could dance almost any kind of dance – the intimacy of ballroom, the carefulness of ballet, the exuberance of tap. And so, to return to Ecclesiastes, is this the time for mourning or the time for dancing? What time is it, “A time to mourn” or “a time to dance”?
Brothers and sisters, we may grieve for a while, but thanks be to God, we have something dance about! There is a time to mourn, and doubtless you’ve been doing that. But there is also a time to dance. “Weeping is for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” For the Lord Jesus Christ is the foretaste of glory divine. He took on death so that we would not have to die. He took on death and defeated it, so that whosoever lives and believes in Him will never die. Do not stay in grief for your sister Vera; for God so loved Vera that He gave His only son, so that when Vera trusted Him, Vera received everlasting life. This is not a time to mourn. This is a time to dance.
Do you know the song that Sydney Carter wrote about forty years ago, “Lord of the Dance”? Do you know these lines? Writing of Jesus, Sydney Carter sing:
1. I danced in the morning
When the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon
And the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven
And I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem
I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he
2. I danced on the Sabbath
And I cured the lame;
The holy people
Said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped
And they hung me on high,
And they left me there
On a Cross to die.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he
3. I danced on a Friday
When the sky turned black -
It’s hard to dance
With the devil on your back.
They buried my body
And they thought I’d gone,
But I am the dance,
And I still go on.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he
4. They cut me down
And I leapt up high;
I am the life
That’ll never, never die;
I’ll live in you
If you’ll live in me -
I am the Lord
Of the Dance, said he.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he
Oh, it may have been a time to mourn, but now it is a time to dance. It may have been a time to grieve, but now it is a time for leaping and shouting and dancing, a time for joy. Joy is coming in this glad morning. And Vera – weep not for her – Vera could dance any kind of dance. Vera is going to dance all over God’s heaven.
