Sermon August 30 2009

Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
“The Voice of Love”
Each one of us is known in particular ways by particular people. Those who love us, husband, wives, and lovers know us and reflect that identity to us—hopefully the most intimate relationship we have. Parents reveal the view of us that is probably one of the most long-term reflection we have—but I’ve noticed that it is sometimes limited in scope. For example, with my mother a favorite food could never change, once you loved spiced grapes in green Jello at 5 years of age, you always love spiced grapes in green Jello. We are sometimes known by friends whose knowledge of us might rival that of a spouse, and hopefully we are honest in those relationships, too. And we are known by friends who are mere acquaintances—those who see the barest reflection of our public selves. There are multitudes of combinations of those who know us—hopefully we know ourselves well enough that each person we meet knows an honest version, if not a completely intimate version of ourselves.

Those who can speak to us honestly and reflect what we say and do are those we can trust to love us honestly. We can be free in those relationships, free to be honest and still be loved.

Wendell Barry wrote a poem about that kind of reflection.
Look in
and see him looking out.
He is not always
quiet, but there have been times
when happiness has come
to him, unasked,
like the stillness on the water
that holds the evening clear
while it subsides
– and he let go
what he was not.
It seems to me that the reflection he writes about reveals the perfect law—the law of liberty that we hear in the epistle James 1:25 “those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.” In other words, those who hear and do are those whose inside and outside match. In Wendell Barry’s words, “he let go what he was not.” What do we see when we look in the mirror? Do what we feel and what we do and what we are match? Let us be willing to move toward that kind of congruity.

I’ve heard of an exercise that is suggested for those who don’t find much of worth in themselves. One is told to look into a mirror and, being as objective as possible praise one’s self for what one can see. “You have beautiful eyes; you have beautiful hair; your nose is perfect for your face, etc.” Rather than looking into the mirror and seeing what one doesn’t like, one is encouraged to see the gift that God has made—God obviously likes the eyes God gave and the nose God created. God likes the dimples in those cheeks and the twinkle in the eyes God made. In the reflection that we see and affirm, we are encouraged to live as that beautiful person—not falsely, but truly. In the freedom of a real reflection of who we are, we can really hear that God made us and actually live like we believe that we were not only made by God, but redeemed by God from the slavery of self-delusion and sin through Jesus Christ because we are loved. That is the reflection we are called to see—that reflection of liberty and freedom.

The law of liberty is freeing us to be the whole person God has called us to be rather than the law of limitations that tells us what cannot be. The law of limitations narrows who we are rather than broadens to include all that God made us to be. Instead of only taking a narrow view of who we are, why not broaden our view to include the best that God intends? Let us listen for the voice of love giving us the freedom to live as that love calls us to live.

The most apparent voice of love in the biblical witness is that of the Song of Songs or the Song of Solomon as it is also known. In it, most modern biblical scholars, hear a song of erotic or what we might rather call romantic love. The poetry of this book of the bible is written in the voice of a woman described only as the Shullamite woman in chapter 6. One scholar, Renita Weems, also describes her this way from the portrait described in all 8 chapters. “She is headstrong, passionate, gutsy, and willing to risk the approval of those around her to pursue her own happiness. The feisty, unnamed woman in Song of Solomon is every woman who prays to God for a soul satisfying life, only to turn around and find God forcing her into situations where she must come to grips with her role in making her prayers a reality.”

The woman who speaks throughout this book actively seeks out her shepherd lover and talks about sneaking away with him for rendezvous—she describes his, well, “romantic” words to her with sexual frankness. There have been those through the ages who have wondered why the bible includes such a book. There are also those who have decided that it is an allegorical story in which God is the lover and the church is the woman pursued, yet it is still frankly erotic poetry about physical and romantic love.

My understanding is that it helps the bible reveal the full spectrum of what it means to be a human being—the woman’s frank, open, talk of love, passion, desire and longing remind us that we aren’t just spiritual, rational creatures. We aren’t just high-minded Sunday morning people with proper pretensions. It reminds us, among other things, that sexuality is as old as creation itself—and that God created that part of us, too.

This short book contains the voice of a loved person from beginning to end—and it is unique, too, in that it speaks with the voice of a woman from beginning to end as she describes her love and the words and actions of her shepherd lover. We are reminded in this book that genuine love creates a freedom in us to be who we are—that, to me, is the theological basis for this book in the biblical canon.

While the love that is expressed is not the love that exists between all people—it is a particular kind of expression, it reminds us that love can be frank and honest with the beloved because love guides our words. We can learn, from this book, how important and wonderful it can be to be authentic with all the people we love, including spouses and lovers.

When we love someone or many “someones,” when we share love within a community of common belief and faith, we can honestly share our fears without exaggeration. And we can live accountable to one another without fearing that that accountability will be used as a weapon. I remember saying to someone once that I want to be accountable for my actions—and I was looked at like I was crazy, this person didn’t believe me. Now, I don’t want to be criticized just for the sake of criticism, but I do want to hear and see how it is that my actions are honestly perceived by people. For example, I rarely intentionally hurt people, but I don’t doubt that sometimes what I do is hurtful without me realizing it. I believe that’s true about almost everyone. With the voice and intention of love, can we express those hurts to all those we love and who love us?

The love that is expressed in the New Testament letter called James and the love of the Song of Solomon are different kinds of love—no doubt—yet love in all of its forms calls forth the best from the beloved. Each calls lover and beloved to treat one another well and with kindness, with honesty and hope, with passion and excitement—though with different goals in mind.

In each of these places, the voice of love expresses the desire for the fullest kind of life to be lived—not in activities that destroy, but in action and purposes that build and promote life. The rosy blushes of love and the decidedly less romantic words of righteousness and doers of God’s word still echo with the sound of loving relationship calling forth the delight that God enjoys in all things God has created.

The voice of love speaks from a place of enjoyment. When God calls to us as beloved and we call to one another in expression of that love—God can revel in the love we receive and bear toward one another because it is the most faithful reflection of God’s image in us. With love as the purpose of our choices and action, God knows—and we do, too—that we are more likely to be who God wants us to be. When we fear, which often leads to hate, or are motivated to act out of greed, envy, or obsessive desire we move away from the image that God has created in us. When fear, greed, envy or desire govern us, we don’t express love, but the twisted notion that our sincere and honest self is not what God wants.

The voice of love can be distorted by us because of past experiences like abuse or neglect, by disease or addiction that changes how we perceive or by choices we have made that have pushed those we love away from us. The voice of love from another human being is rarely expressed in exactly the way we need it to be. We can dwell on the limitations of those we love—or we can accept the love we are given by the imperfect spouses, lovers, friends and family members, even with their limitations. Love means saying you’re sorry and knowing that someone will forgive you—and it means hearing true remorse and forgiving.

The voice of love between human beings is never spoken or heard with perfect ears, yet with the love of God in our lives we can move and be flexible in those relationships because we know that we are love with a perfect love by one who knows us inside and out. We can hear the voice of love in the sound of rain falling softly on the field—even when we’re pretty sure we’ve had enough of it—because we are aware that God loves the world that God has created. We can hear the voice of love as we begin to understand the relationships within nature, those of birth, life and death—even in those times when we are forced to mourn the death of loved ones. Love means an honest willingness to face the cycles of birth and life and death with an eye to the everyday miracles instead of the denial of reality.

Let us find at least one way this week and each week to listen for the voice of love in our lives—whether the perfect love expressed by God or the somewhat more flawed love that another human being offers. Let us make an intentional attempt ourselves to reflect those we love in our words, inviting them to hear the love we have for them in whatever form it takes: as friend, acquaintance, husband, wife, father, mother, grandparent, child or grandchild. In other words, show others your love this week—if in no other way that in a very real belief and knowledge that you are truly loved.

In the name of our loving God: creating, redeeming, sustaining love. Amen.