Loving God, we thank you this day for the gift of love and ask that you would help us to know the depth of your love for us.  Fill us with your Holy Spirit, and empower us to live as friends of Jesus, for in his name we pray.  Amen.

    How many of you can remember being at a worship service where there was a reading from the Song of Solomon?... (Was it on a Sunday morning?)... In the Revised Common Lectionary, there is one reading from the Song of Solomon in the three year cycle, and since it is read together with three other readings, sermons based on it are relatively unlikely.

    Compare this to Origen, who was a third century Christian and is considered to be one of the Church Fathers.  In Origen’s lifetime, he preached many sermons based on the Song of Solomon, and even wrote a 10 volume commentary on it.  So why the difference?  Why would Origen find enough material there for many sermons and ten volumes of commentary while we hardly ever hear about it?  Any theories?...

    At its heart, the Song of Solomon - or Song of Songs, which is its Hebrew title - is all about love.  The insert in our bulletin today speaks about physical, passionate love - which is certainly there in this love poem.  However, for 2000 years the Song of Solomon has also been viewed as an allegory.  As part of the Hebrew Scriptures, it is viewed as an allegory of God’s love for Israel, and for Christians it has been viewed as an allegory of Christ’s love for the Church.  I tend to agree with the commentators who say that it doesn’t have to be one or the other.  It can be read both as an allegory and as a celebration of faithful and mutual love between a man and a woman.

    The thing is that the relationship described in the Song of Solomon seems to be an exceedingly healthy one.  Both the man and the woman speak, and the love that is there is definitely mutual.  In fact, the woman actually speaks more than the man, as a sort of antidote to those times when women were silenced.  It is also love that is both faithful and self-giving.  The language used is full and robust, and some of the words used suggest a reversal of the curses that were brought down in the garden of Eden.

    For example, in Genesis 3:16 the woman is told, “your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”  However, in the Song of Solomon, the woman speaks, using the same word for “desire”, and says, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me” (7:10).  The curse has been reversed.  At the same time, even the ground is cursed in Genesis, as the man is told that it will produce thorns and thistles and he will need to work hard to grow food (Gen. 3:17-19).  However, in the Song of Solomon we hear about the flowers appearing, and the time for singing coming, and the fig trees and the vines producing blossoms and fruit (2:12-13).  Even humanity's relationship with the earth seems to have been restored.

    The kind of relationship that is described is, indeed, a gift of God.  It is a reminder to those who are married of the delight that can be found in a relationship that is mutual and faithful and loving.  However, the wisdom contained in the Song of Solomon is not only for married couples, for it is also a reflection of the love that Jesus has for each one of us.

    Two things in particular seem to point us to Jesus.  The first is the verse in today’s reading that talks about love that is “strong as death” (Song 8:6).  The second is another verse from Song of Solomon where the woman talks about the man as both her beloved and her friend (5:16).  Both verses have pretty strong echoes of the gospel reading that we heard today.

    We hear in the Gospel of John that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends (Jn. 15:13).  There are any number of situations that come to mind where somebody might do this - in some cases for friends, and in some cases for family members.  And how many parents are there who wouldn’t hesitate to put themselves in harm’s way if it would save their children?

    And then we stop and think about Jesus giving his life for ours.  In the gospel of John it describes those who do what Jesus commands as friends of Jesus for whom he would give his life (15:14).  However, the apostle Paul recognizes that we were pretty far away from being friends of Jesus at the time that he died for us.  In fact, Paul insists that Jesus died for us “while we still were sinners” and even enemies of God (Rom. 5:8, 10).  In his mind, this is what shows how much God loves us.

    In Jesus, we definitely see love that is stronger than death, and it is love for each one of us that led Jesus to the cross.  It is also in and through Jesus that we find the restored relationships that are reflected in the Song of Solomon.  Certainly, it is through Jesus that our relationship with God is restored and we are set free to live in God’s love.  At the same time, our relationship with God always is reflected in our relationships with others, and it is because God has first loved us that we are able to love one another.  Even our relationship with creation, which was mentioned earlier, is restored through Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 8:22; Mk. 16:15).

    Interestingly enough, I came across a chapter in a book this week by M. Craig Barnes (The Pastor As Minor Poet) that talks about having a life-giving relationship with Jesus as the key to being able to be married or not married and be okay with your status either way.  He describes how some people are so tied to the idea that they have to be married that there is no room for a healthy marriage relationship.  In his experience the healthiest (and the longest lasting) relationships are where both partners know that Jesus is the Saviour, and not their spouse.  They are free to be married, or not to be married, and either way the source of their life and their love is Jesus.

    This is important, too, for those who are single, or widowed, or divorced, or somewhere in between.  While some have made it sound as if marriage is the only option and the ideal for those who are Christian, biblically speaking, there is plenty of room for not being married.  In fact, Paul, in at least one instance, counsels against it, advising marriage only for those who can’t control their urges (1 Cor. 7:9).  And so, there is room in the body of Christ for those in all sorts of different family situations.  None are either more or less loved by God.

    And so, may all of you, no matter what your family situation, experience the love that God has for you through Jesus the Saviour.  And may those of you who are married find the same delight and friendship and love for one another that is reflected in the Song of Solomon.  For to have this kind of mutual and faithful love is indeed a blessing – one that is well worth our time and effort.  Amen.

Pentecost 10 (NL summer)                Song of Solomon 2:10-13; 8:6-7
August 2, 2015                        John 15:12-17
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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