What if the Hokey Pokey Really Is what It’s all About?
A Sermon by the Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams on the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (B), October 31, 2021.
In a San Mateo, California neighborhood, at 4:00 each day since the pandemic began, something extraordinary happens. People come out of their homes and gather in the street to sing and dance with each other. “You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out, you put your right hand in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around, that’s what’s it’s all about.”
The Hokey Pokey. You remember it! We all grew up with it. I always thought it was a song written specifically for young children, but when I did a little research on-line, I discovered that it started out as a communal dance for all ages, in the 1800s, way before the Macarena or Electric Slide. And the fact that most people know it is why the person who organized the 4:00 Hokey Pokey meet-up picked it. Everyone could come outside, be safe, and also be together to do something fun that would take them out of themselves, help them connect with their neighbors and put them in a different head and heart space. They even did it on Christmas Day. One lady said “You know, I had my Christmas dinner by myself, but first I went and danced and it made me feel a whole lot better about things. I knew I wasn’t alone.”
Now, I’m sure we all feel far too sophisticated to do the Hokey Pokey in church this morning, (although I do think it would be fun) so I’m issuing a coffee hour Hokey Pokey challenge. I just wonder if we have anyone brave enough to get it going out on the patio. It could be really fun and I’m totally down to join in. Just say the word.
So the deep existential question I pose this morning is this, “what if the Hokey Pokey really is what it’s all about?” What if? The Hokey Pokey goes body part by body part, “You put your right hand in, your left hand in, your right foot, your left foot, you head, until finally your whole self.” And that of course is the aim of the Christian spiritual journey. To put our whole self in. To be all about what God is about, justice, peace, love, healing for ourselves and for the world. And to follow Jesus whole-heartedly, without reservation into the very heart of God. Jesus is the Lord of the dance.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” In Deuteronomy today, Moses reminds the people, just as they are about to enter into the land that God had promised them, the land flowing with milk and honey, that they are to always be oriented toward the One in whom their lives find their purpose and meaning, the One from whom all blessings flow, the Lord their God, the One who brought them safely out of exile in a foreign land into their new homeland. This passage is foundational in the Jewish faith. It is called the Shema. “Shema” is the Hebrew word for “hear”. “Hear, O Israel”. Moses says that they are to recite these words over and over and over again. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” They are to teach them to their children. They are to bind them on your hand, fix them to their foreheads. This passage is the basis for the Jewish practice of wearing phylacteries, little black leather boxes, on the arm and forehead, containing the law written on parchment, as a physical reminder of the closeness of God and the commandment to love God completely.
Jesus affirms the Shema in the Gospel today and also expands it- he insists that love of neighbor is part of loving God. And just as Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land, and reminded them of their call to be centered on God, Jesus leads us into greater and greater life as we follow him, loving God and our neighbor as ourselves. That is what the Christian spiritual journey is all about, asking God to transform our hearts and our minds so that we can love whole-heartedly. It’s a process, a process of becoming more and more invested in God’s work in the world as we mature in our faith. God wants all of us- our right hand, our left hand, our whole selves. And that is what stewardship is all about. God wants our talent. God wants our time. God wants our treasure. Why? Because God wants us to be all in. God’s mission in the world needs all of us. And God’s work in and through Saint George’s depends on all of us.
And next Sunday, on All Saints Sunday, we are all going to be invited to put our 2022 pledges of treasure on the Altar during the offertory. Bob Clarke and Josh House mailed our pledge cards to us yesterday, so that we can pray about them, have conversations with our partners and spouses about them, and then bring them back next Sunday. And we are all asked to be as generous as we can. Why ? Because we worship an infinitely generous God, a God who calls us to be generous. And because it helps us live out God’s purposes in this place. When we make a pledge it says we are invested in our mission of “Growing in God’s love to promote justice, healing and reconciliation.” We are all at different points on our generosity journey. The important thing is to do our best to take the next faithful step. We start by coming to church, then putting an offering in the plate, then making a pledge, and then striving to increase our pledge each year, as we are able. The same is true about offering our time and talent. And the funny thing is, it clarifies our priorities and increases our sense of purpose. How we choose to spend money is an expression of our values. How we choose to spend our time and use our talent says a lot about what is important to us. God meets us where we are and God also challenges us to take that one next step, until we put our whole selves in. The Hokey Pokey really is what it’s all about.
When we come together on Sunday morning, something extraordinary happens. We sing, we pray, we listen to the words of Scripture, we share communion, together. We realize we are not alone in this world. God brings us out of isolation into community. And then we go back out into the world to share that joy with others.
One of the scribes asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment greater than this.”