Sunday, September 6, 2026

Scripture: 2 Samuel 6:12-22

Sermon Title: “Inside Out: Joy”

Tomorrow is Labor Day, and I don’t know if it is as much down here in Florida, but up North, Labor Day is kind of the last hurrah of Summer. It’s usually the last weekend of the summer that the outdoor public pools are open, and everyone is having a cookout. Down here, we’re also having cookouts, but our pools will still be open after this weekend. It’s a fun day, usually joyful. Especially for many kids who have been back in school for a month, it’s the first holiday of the school year. I know my girls are excited and feeling joyful about no school tomorrow. If we have any teachers here, you might be feeling joyful about no school tomorrow too.

These last few weeks we have been in a series called “Inside Out,” Inspired by the Disney/Pixar movie “Inside Out,” which follows a girl named Riley and all her variousemotions. We have been looking at various emotions and places in scripture where we see these emotions. Sometimes it was just regular people, sometimes it was Jesus himself experiencing an emotion. I hope this series has been a good reminder that emotions are a normal part of being human.

I’ll admit we’ve discussed some difficult emotions. Some weeks have been more difficult than others. We’ve talked about fear and anxiety, anger and disgust, sadness, and embarrassment. And the week we talked about sadness, I even experienced fear and worry thinking, “is this message too depressing?”

But today, we’re ending on a high note. Today, inspired by the fun of Labor Day weekend, a day off from school and work for many, we’re talking about the emotion of joy. And if Labor Day doesn’t bring you that much joy, maybe it being week 1 of College Football brings you joy. Either, way, we’ve saved the emotion of joy for last.  

So here is the character of Joy in the movie and here are some top quotes in the movie from the character of Joy.

“A little sparkle goes further when it’s shared with others.” – Joy, Inside Out

“Celebrate tiny victories — they build a brighter inner world.” – Joy, Inside Out

“Joy’s job is to remind us what matters in the present.” – Joy, Inside Out

“Find reasons to smile even through small cracks of difficulty.” – Joy, Inside Out

I want you to take a moment and think about what are some of the memories that have brought you the most joy in your life. For many, its weddings, and the birth of a child or grandchild. For some it might be a favorite vacation, seeing a beautiful sight that you had been dreaming about forever. For some it might be the day you bought a house or got hired at your dream job or got a promotion. It might have been the joy of ringing the bell and hearing your cancer treatments were done and no cancer remained. It might have been cheering on your favorite team in a National Championship Game.

Think about how you felt in that moment. What that joy felt like. You might even have a smile on your face now as you think about it. Those big, joyful memories are gifts from God.

And while we tend to think about big memories, I want you to also think about what the small, everyday moments in your life are that bring you joy. For me, it’s bike rides in the morning with my kids to go to school. Or sitting on my couch curled up with a blanket and reading a good book. Maybe laughing with a friend brings you joy. Or biting into a homecooked meal or baked good. Maybe it’s walking your dog or going for a walk along the beach. Maybe its even worshipping here on Sunday Mornings or going to a Bible Study or serving in some way here at Tomoka UMC. And those small, everyday joyful moments are gifts from God as well.

Joy is not only an emotion that many of us like to experience. In scripture, joy isdescribed as a Fruit of the Spirit. This means as people who are followers of Christ, who have the Holy Spirit at work in our lives transforming us, we should be a people who experience the joy of the Lord and share that joy with others. As followers of Christ, we are called to a life of joy. Joy should be a fruit that is present in our lives.

Now to be clear, this doesn’t mean if we experience all these other emotions we’ve been talking about, we’re a bad Christian. Not at all! But we should be experiencing joy and helping others to experience joy. We should be people of joy.

Joy is mentioned about 250 times in the bible. And there’s many places we could look at joy, but today we’re looking at a scripture of David dancing with joy before the Lord. Verse 12 tells us, “So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.”

Now for those who aren’t as familiar with the Old Testament or maybe it’s been a while since you’ve read from the Old Testament, you might need a reminder on the ark of God or the ark of the covenant. These words can be used interchangeably. “The ark of God was a national treasure in Israel and was symbolic of God’s presence among the people. It was normally kept in the tabernacle. By bringing the ark to Jerusalem, David demonstrated that both the people of Israel and he as their king were submitted completely to God’s rule – unlike during Saul’s reign. David also demonstrated his desire for God’s close presence and blessing.” (Life Application Study Bible)

Now this might seem a little weird for us today, but I want us to think about, what are things that maybe symbolize God’s presence to us? Maybe a cross, or communion and the communion table, or a baptismal font. The ark of God, or the ark of the covenant was even greater than this for the Israelites. They believed it housed the actual presence of God.

And earlier in this scripture, before David’s dancing, they had tried to move the ark, buthadn’t done it the way they were supposed to, and a man was struck dead. So then David waited and had the ark stay in the house of Obed-Edom for three months.

So now, David is again, moving the ark, the correct way. And it’s a day of rejoicing, symbolizing that God’s presence is with them. And verses 14 and 15 of today’s scripture truly captures David’s joy. “David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” (2 Samuel 6:14-15, NIV)

When we think about joyful celebrations in our life, dancing is common. There’s usually always dancing at weddings. I have college football on the brain, so sometimes we even see athletes dance when they score a touchdown. I can remember the wide receiver Santonio Homles who played for Ohio State always dancing in the end zone when get got a touchdown. And I believe he did the same when he later played for the Steelers in the NFL. Excessive Celebration even became a penalty in football I think because of him and other players. There are times in our lives where we can’t help but do a little cheer or even dance.

I’m not sure Methodists are really known for dancing in our faith tradition. There are more charismatic faith traditions where dance is a part of worship. While we might not think of dancing as a part of worship, we see dancing a few times in scripture.

The first place we see dance in scripture is in Exodus after the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt and cross the Red Sea. “Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing.” (Exodus 15:20, NIV)

Psalm 149:3 tells us, “Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.” (NIV) Dance can be a form of worship. Dance can be a way of expressing joy about what God has done.

And that’s exactly what we see happening in today’s scripture with David. He is rejoicing about God’s presence being in the ark and bringing the ark to Jerusalem. He is so overjoyed about what God is doing that he can’t help but dance before the Lord.

And then we see Michal, daughter of Saul, and also David’s first wife, and she is not happy. The scripture explains, “When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.” (2 Samuel 6:16, NIV)

She even comes out and greets David and tells him how bad he looks for dancing.

And then David responds to her, “I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.” (2 Samuel 6:21-22, NIV)

Last week we talked about embarrassment. And here we see Michal seems embarrassed by David and his dancing. She even tries to shame David for the way he is dancing. But David is not ashamed. He is dancing before the Lord.

Sometimes in our joy, in our worship, people will try to shame us or embarrass us. But joy, especially experiencing joy in the Lord is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. In the Kingdom of God, there is no Excessive Celebration Penalty for rejoicing in what God has done in our lives.

And I want to be clear as well. Joy and happiness, are not exactly the same thing. Happiness is based on our circumstances. Joy is a more inner state, not based on our circumstances. We can be going through a very difficult time and still experience the joy of the Lord because we have experienced God’s presence in our lives.

Have you ever known someone who is going through such a difficult time, maybe an illness or grief, they’ve just been through much and they still have this inner joy in them? That’s the joy of the Lord. Its not based on circumstances, but who God is in their life.

My hope for all of us is that we will be a people who have experienced God’s goodness, grace, mercy, and hope, and presence, that we have experienced the joy of the Lord in our lives. This doesn’t mean we don’t experience difficulties. It doesn’t mean we don’t experience so many of the other emotions we’ve talked about. Emotions like anger, disgust, fear, anxiety, sadness, embarrassment, and even more. But it means that our life is not defined by these emotions and experiences. But our life is defined by who God is in our life.

Our scripture this morning came from the Old Testament, but when I think about joy in the New Testament, the most joyous thing that happened in the New Testament was the Resurrection which we celebrate on Easter Morning. After the pain of the crucifixion, Jesus was resurrected from the dead. This is what our whole faith is based on. Death has been defeated. It’s what we gather every Sunday to celebrate, that Jesus is Lord. And this should bring us immense joy. We are a faith of hope, life, mercy, and grace. And we are a faith of joy.

In John’s last chapter when Jesus appears to the disciples when they are fishing, Peter’s response is to jump off the boat and swim to Jesus. I can’t help but think this is utter joy to see his Lord. Just like David dancing before the Lord. For Peter, dancing before the Lord looks more like jumping off a boat.

What does worship and dancing before the Lord look like for you? How do you express your joy about what God has done in your life?

Now some of us might like to dance, some might have 2 feet left and hate dancing. Joy is not about literal dancing. When you have experienced the joy of the Lord, when you have experienced God’s goodness in your life, what might “dancing before the Lord” look like for you?

For some, dancing before the Lord might look like sharing with others about the goodness of God in your life. It might look like evangelism. It might look like sharing your testimony with someone. For others dancing before the Lord might look like serving. You have so much joy in your life, and you have experienced the goodness of God, that you can’t help but want to serve. This might be through singing in the choir, playing bells, or serving on a committee behind the scenes. It might look like teaching a Sunday School class or volunteering to make a meal for Dinner Church. For others, dancing before the Lord might look like giving. It’s recognizing that God has blessed you financially, and you can’t help but want to share that blessing with the Church so that others may be blessed as well.

Our series has been called “Inside Out” and we’ve been looking at emotions. But we serve a God who wants to transform us from the Inside Out. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God wants to make us into people who look a whole lot more like God. May we be transformed from the Inside Out, so that even our emotions look more and more like the emotions of God. That our hearts would break and be angered by the things that break and anger God’s heart. And that our hearts would dance and rejoice in the things that bring God joy.

May we be a people of joy, a people who have tasted of the goodness of God and are not ashamed to share the joy of the Lord with others. Let’s not be afraid to worship God fully with all that we are. May we live lives rejoicing and dancing before the Lord.

Amen