Dancing in New Creation’s Light

Thanks Alwyn for capturing in words in his post Dancing in New Creation’s Light how our offering of thanksgiving and worship unfolded during last night’s 6th anniversary celebration for BLC.

“Hard to believe it’s been a year since Bangsar Lutheran Church’s (BLC) 5th Anniversary.. Last night we celebrated her 6th, a sweet evening of thanksgiving themed after creation, dancing, light and resurrection.

At the start, in typical much enjoyed BLC creativity, Sivin read from the creation account in Genesis 1 and during his reading, at the appropriate times, the small altar at the front was slowly furnished with :

…candles (“Let there be light”),
…water poured from a jar (“Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water”),
…sprinkled earth and a budding plant (“Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land…”),
…two balloons one bright one dark (“God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars”),
… a photo of a dove (“let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”), and
…toy animals[!] (“Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals”).

In World Cup history there’s this term, “total football”, popularised by Holland in the late 70s’, where every player is expected to be a striker, a defender, a mid-fielder and so on (of course only one person can catch the ball).

Likewise, if there’s one church which understands the importance of engaging virtually all the human senses holistically in worship and the reading of God’s Word, it’s BLC. Such “total worship” was also witnessed in Soo Chian’s mesmerizing dance to Ezekiel 17:22-24 (“I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain”). There’s prophecy in motion if I’ve ever seen it.

Sivin then led us on a quick history tour of the past 6 years, his first slide photo being the state of the bungalow before it became The Father’s House (BLC-ians’ affectioned term for the venue). Everything looked simply torrid, lots of broken tiles, overgrown grass, dirt all over. And the only tenants were two dogs. An apt representation of the pre-creation ‘chaos’, the God-forsakenness of the world (and, sadly,our lives) which is our Lord’s mission to redeem, repair and resurrect even at cost to Himself.

It was very clear from the slide tour that God has bathed Sivin and his little church with new light (sometimes, literally!), new growth, even new goals and new dancing (there was a great video of children, those whom we grown-ups can emulate faith-wise). In a word, God has given new life to an area which, six years ago, was a symbol of decay and abandon. That piece of land, that house, now reflects new creation, its members seeking to reflect the shine of Jesus all around (“We just want to be like Jesus” is one of the guiding mottos).

Reading the new footprints story, Sivin invited us to dance with God and His people and, in the missional tune, to teach the world this new dance, this music, this drama which is God’s new world for those who would believe in His Son.

Paul Long then closed with a magic show involving a candle (“You are the light of the world”) later crushed (“But don’t just point out the faults of people”) to become salt (“You are also the salt of the earth – mingle, be part of your world, learn from it and share yourself to it”) and glowing red (“You are both light and salt”). Like much of the agenda last night, words can’t – and shouldn’t, IMO – suffice to capture what went on.

The prayers and gifts for the fathers (I guess it was a football, I was half-right) plus the sumptuous dinner capped a reverent evening. Thanks again, BLC, for role-modelling the kind of community even God can, and perhaps never ceases to, celebrate with holy hip-hop.”