Um, the Emperor has no clothes. And he's dancing.

**Video note-sometimes when you are in front of a crowd and you are passionately celebrating, people laugh at you.**

The Bible is full of some great stories-some inspire, some reveal sin, and some are just awkward when you stop and think about it.

One of the stories that is a bit awkward always comes up when you talk about passionate worship. It's from 2 Samuel 6-what's happening is the Ark of the Covenant is being brought up to Jerusalem after being in the enemy's hands and David is so passionate about the Ark coming back that he can't stop sacrificing, singing, praising and dancing before God. It's a huge celebration, with many of the Israelites taking part in the festivities!

We know that something happened with David's clothes because of the exchange between him and his wife Michal at the end of the chapter. She was angry with him because he had "exposed himself" to the maidens that were there while he was dancing and singing. Scholars believe that although David probably wasn't completely naked (wearing a linen ephod, at least), he probably wasn't wearing very much and because of the spinning and dancing he either took some of his clothes off in the process or because of the intensity of his sweet moves, his robes exposed too much of his legs (a no-no for the king). And honestly, who wants to see that? :) (I wish I could post a picture of my JV basketball uniform here).

What's even more interesting is that in the exchange between Michal and David, God takes David's side! We don't usually question this story because it's biblical, but many evangelicals would probably do what Michal did if it happened today. Imagine if (insert dignified person here) was dancing and leaping so much during a national celebration or church service that clothes came off. How many of us would do what Michal did and say that it was inappropriate?

And in our modern church settings we usually stay far away from this example of worshiping God. But what if in a church service a time was set aside for dancing and celebrating what God had done? Not couples dancing, but joyful spontaneous jumping around for our salvation! Would we be able to dance like David danced?

I think God was most pleased in David's embrace of vulnerability over dignity. David was so passionate about God that he wasn't afraid to publicly lay aside his dignity (e.g. pride) in celebrating and worshiping God. Something spiritual happens when we embrace vulnerability and lay aside our pride before the Lord. Over and over, there are biblical examples of God intervening on behalf of His children, but almost without fail it wasn't until someone stepped out in faith and became vulnerable that God moved.

Sometimes vulnerability means leaving your safe zone. Sometimes it puts you in the cross hairs of gossip and finger pointing. And I'm pretty sure the point of the story here isn't for us to wear less clothes during worship. :) But maybe, just maybe, God is asking us to become vulnerable, lay aside our pride, and to step out in faith.

Watch and see-He'll move.