Isaiah 6:1-8; Romans 8:12-17
(Isaiah 6:1-8) In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. {2} Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. {3} And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." {4} The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. {5} And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" {6} Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. {7} The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." {8} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!"
(Romans 8:12-17) So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- {13} for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. {14} For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. {15} For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" {16} it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, {17} and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
So, what do you see going on in this picture? How long would you guess they’ve been dancing partners? Do you think the movement, intention, even attitude of one partner affects the other? What if one let go at the point in which this picture was taken? Could it even be called “dancing” then?
Each one’s part in the dance depends on the other. There has to be an incredible amount of trust on both parts in order to be able to do this dance. You could say that each one’s very identity in the dance is defined by the other.
There’s a word for this kind of “dancing” relationship that I’ve tossed around a few times: perichoresis. It’s probably the best way to describe the Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit. Each one’s identity comes out of the relationship with the other two persons of the Trinity. The Father’s identity is dependent on the relationship with the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son’s identity is dependent on the relationship with the Father and the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit’s identity is dependent on the relationship with the Father and the Son. Like a dance. Each person of the Trinity equal, each defined by their relationship to the others, each trusting, and together moving.
This is who God is. The Trinity, moving together like a dance. How significant that we are created in the image of God. We are created to be in a perichoretic relationship with God; to have our very identity dependent on our relationship with God. Without that trusting, dependent, dancing relationship, we are not living as fully and completely as we were created to live.
God initiates the dance. God comes to us. God meets us in our world, where we are, as we live. God loves us, moves around us, dances with us. It’s in this relationship that we are saved.
Paul understands that our hope, our life, is in this relationship. So Paul uses family language. If we are led by the Spirit (in the dance) we are children of God. When we cry “Abba! Father!” It is that very Spirit of God dancing with our spirit as children of God. As children of the Father, we are then brothers and sisters of Christ. Relationship. That’s the image of God into which we are created.
As people caught up in a dance with God, people whose very identity is now shaped by this relationship, we are sent (Isaiah 6:8) to join God in dancing with the rest of the world. We enter into a relationship with the people around us, so that through this relationship the life we’ve received from God becomes part of their life too.
God is all about relationship – it is the nature of God. As people who’ve been created in God’s image, we are all about relationship too. With God, with one another, and as children of God, with the world. We don’t convince the world of anything. We don’t argue or have theological debates. We simply be who we are – it’s the relationship, the dance, that makes the difference. It’s only through this dancing relationship that love is known, that forgiveness is received, and that life is made new. God is dancing with us. And because we are led by the Spirit of God, we now join God in dancing in the world. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Enter the relationship. Know God deeply. Join the dance.