This past week, one of my Facebook friends posted a video of Dick Van Dyke who is about to turn 99. The background music for this video is “All My Love” which is an amazing song performed by Chris Martin of Coldplay.
The video features Van Dyke as he answers questions about his life and career…and he dances! You heard me right. This nonagenarian owns the dance floor!
If you have not seen it already, do yourself a favor and watch it. You may want to have a box of tissues handy. Not because it’s sad, but because the 99-year-old performer is filled with such joy and gratitude about his life, you can’t help but feel all the feels. You see clips from his movies, candid photos from his life, and memorabilia from his performances that are iconic!
And yes, at 99 years old, Dick Van Dyke dances barefoot to the song Chris Martin wrote and performs.
The aged performer has lived an amazing life to be sure, but his life isn’t without tragedy. He lost a granddaughter who was 13 years old to Rey’s Disease, and a series of other conditions that claimed her life. He struggled with alcoholism earlier in his career and went through a messy divorce, one that he would later acknowledge was his fault. He was in a pretty serious car wreck years ago and recently he had to be evacuated from his home due to wildfires.
Yet, he still dances.
At age 99, Van Dyke continues to do what he loves, bring joy to the masses and make people laugh. He persists in delivering to us just “A bit O’ magic” as his character Bert says in Mary Poppins.
I admire people who have been through some of life’s greatest disappointments like divorce, the death of a loved one, personal struggles with addiction, and failure, yet they are able to experience joy and pass that on to others.
In Luke chapter one, Mary doesn’t dance, but she does write a song. She begins by singing:
“My soul exalts the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant;
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” Luke 1:46-48
The word “exalt” means to glorify or celebrate. The word “blessed” carries connotations of happiness. This celebration is over the news of her son Jesus and how His life would change her world and ultimately ours forever.
If you look at the conditions in Mary’s life, you may wonder, “How can she accept this news with joy?” Mary is a young girl in a small town that is under Roman control. She is not from an affluent family and she is about to be a pregnant teenager. She will face the possibility of divorce, not knowing how Joseph will respond, and the rumor mill in Nazareth. Mary and Joseph will have to leave their homeland and will ultimately have their baby in a stable in a foreign land. They will live under the fear of the threat of Herod’s murderous rampage.
Mary also faces the challenge of knowing who Jesus will grow up to be and the conflict and opposition that He will face as the Messiah.
How can this be good news that causes great joy? (Luke 2:10)
Here are two possibilities.
The obvious one is that the hearers had been waiting for the Messiah for a looooooong time! They had been waiting for Jesus because when He arrived, His reign would begin. In their minds, when His reign began, Rome’s reign would end.
However, this was not the kind of king Jesus would be. He would not be a political figure, even though his ministry caused quite a stir among the politically savvy. He would not be a military leader, even though His kingdom would be unstoppable and transcend borders. He would never have a throne, a crown, or a castle during His rule. He wouldn’t even have a place to call home (Matthew 8:20). He was a homeless King with no powerful allies (that they were aware of).
His reign would be different.
He would rule in the hearts and minds of the people who would trust in Him. The world would be turned upside down because the love of God would transform lives in a radical way that would result in serving the “least of these”.
His reign would begin and end with love and forgiveness.
His work on the cross would signal a defeat of evil and the forgiveness of sins. That forgiveness would allow God’s people, and everyone else, to have access to God.
That access to God would bring the joy of acceptance, belonging, and love.
Secondly, another cause of joy would be the example that Jesus left us. His life was lived in love for God and for people. It would be a shining example of how love could persevere over hatred and pain. His love would shine in opposition and even apparent defeat.
A love like that would never fail or end (1 Cor 13:7-8). To see a love like that in action, is an inspiration and a cause of great joy. A love like that could bring peace to anyone who might be in its orbit! That love is ours if we only accept it as a gift.
Last week we learned that if we are at peace with God, ourselves, and others we can experience joy.
That is good news…for ALL people.
Once you experience God’s eternal love, you can see love persevere in the most dire of circumstances and you cannot help but feel joy and peace. When you have peace with yourself and others you can’t help but experience happiness and elation. I love this quote:
“Peace and joy are twin blessings of the gospel; as an old Scots preacher put it “peace is joy resting; joy is peace dancing”. FF Bruce
What?!! Did you catch that last line? “Joy is peace dancing.”
When I watch Dick Van Dyke dance, it brings me joy. I can’t help it. But why does it have that effect on me? I’ve seen hundreds of people dancing on TikTok or other social media outlets. I’ve watched “Dancing with the Stars” before (I said what I said). So what’s the big deal? It is because he is 99 years old and still dancing! That’s a lot of life lived but it is also the quality of life that he has.
That brings tears to my eyes. Tears of joy.
He is someone who has seen a lot, and chooses joy over sorrow. When a person experiences tragedy and doesn’t grow bitter but chooses to see good in the world still. People who make mistakes in life, admit it, are at peace with it, and embrace happiness over doom and gloom, they give me hope! It makes me want to dance. Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ve been told by my kids, my dance moves are hard to watch.
If anyone experiences severe disappointment in life, and dusts themselves off, picks up their hat and cane, and does a soft shoe…those are my people!
Sure, there are a lot of things we could draw attention to that are wrong in this world. Just watch the news, or maybe it’s better that you don’t. Just take my word for it.
But a life of joy is a choice.
Let’s choose joy over bitterness, hope over despair, and love over apathy.
If we can choose Jesus this holiday, we can follow His example. Even though He faced opposition, He chose joy over despair throughout His life and His darkest moments.
His life is an example of love expressed in service and peace that is dancing.
That is a cause of great joy to me this Christmas.
Choose joy today and in the year to come!
Matt
“As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” John 15:8-11
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