3 Ways God Turns Our Mourning Into Dancing

Over and over again, God has turned my mourning into dancing. That’s one reason I identify with the psalmist who says these exact words in Psalm 30: 

Oh Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning … You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever (Ps. 30:3-6, 11-12).

A Way Home

The “mourning” described so poignantly here is about loss. It’s about coming under God’s judgment and knowing if God is against us, we are bereft, and there is no aid for us whatsoever. So when mourning is turned into dancing, we experience celebration, provision and inclusion. We’re no longer outcasts but are brought into communion with Him and with His people. 

When I read these verses, I feel an extraordinary level of deep peace, reminding myself that God has provided a way home. I have a way home. You have a way home. In the midst of those places where we experience the mourning and the shame, God comes and speaks life. So that for all of us who know what it is to be broken, and know that in the Savior there is no fear— that there is, in fact, mercy—we find a way home.

A Way In

But what does “mourning into dancing” look like in practical terms? I had a conversation with a rector who is feeling bereft. He serves in one of the highest crime areas in all of central Florida. Most of his congregation have moved out of the neighborhood because they fear for their safety. The only people who are left are poor and can’t get out. Who would want to buy their homes? Even if they have no mortgage, they have no equity. 

And so they’re stuck. They can’t go anywhere. And so this tiny flock of people drive in from other parts of central Florida to worship with this church. But after that, and certainly before dark, they all flee. I heard lots of stories about attempted break-ins and drug deals in their church parking lot. It’s a crime area, a war zone.

So where is the word of redemption for them? Where is the “You have turned my mourning into dancing” for them? It seems to me what God asks of us, if we really do believe that there is real dancing because we have been redeemed, a place in God’s power and life, is to, with real courage, begin to step into even that neighborhood. Because if we find our way in, what we’re really saying is first, there are limits in my redemption, so I have to take care of myself. And second, even worse, we’re saying, “That kind of demonic power is too strong.” Because it is demonic. But Jesus Christ came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8c).

A Way Forward

And so, will there be people who will walk into that neighborhood to bring the good news? That’s the challenge of the no-shame, the mourning into dancing. You see, it’s not merely the fact that I somehow feel better, and I have peace in my life where before what I knew was nothing but shame and fear. It is that, but it is far more than that. 

It is, in fact, an empowerment for declaration, a way forward. An empowerment to be there, even in the midst of the worst and most difficult situations. An empowerment to be there, based on God’s mercy and power. And a willingness in the midst of that to say, “God, how do you want your kingdom to come in this neighborhood? And how can I be a part?”

Without a way home, a way in and a way forward, what we have in that little church is a dying enclave. We often pray the following: “Stir up your power, and with great might come among us.” As we look at God’s power to turn our mourning into dancing, we will pray this prayer. We will have the freedom to walk in the very boldness with which he has conquered the sin and death in our lives. And we will worship Him.

Has God turned your mourning into dancing? What did he do? Share this blog and your response on Twitter. Please include my username, @revgregbrewer. 

(This post is an adaption of Bishop Brewer’s sermon on December 15, 2016, in the Bishop’s Oratory of the Diocesan Office, Orlando.) 

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.