God,
you are the pure essence of love. You delight in us.
Help us to lean into your presence in this space today and
find new ways of proclaiming, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.
Amen.
So Song of Songs is interesting because is it an erotic love letter from a woman to her lover?
where he gets to talk a little bit occasionally too, or is this an erotic love letter between
humanity and God? And when it comes to the history of biblical interpretations,
there's been times when it's swayed in one way or the other, where it's like, no, it doesn't say
anything about God, so it's not about God at all. It's only about human intimacy. Why did it even
get in there? And then... Well, if it's in the Bible, it has to be about the divine.
And so it clearly is this. And so let's interpret all of these images to mean particular things in
ways that the text hasn't fully given us the information. So let's fill the gaps.
And so as we stand between those two options, is it a love letter between two people or a love
letter between humanity and God? I'll say, yeah. Yeah,
you all know me well enough that even people are saying yes for me, right? So some interesting
backgrounds on this text. The passages we're looking at, the first chunk,
is definitely from the woman's perspective. And the second is debated as to whether it's the
lover's perspective or her perspective. It probably is hers,
most likely. And so we get... dialogue between two lovers who don't live together and are
expressing their deep physical desires for each other through poetry. And if there's anything that
makes more rigid understandings of intimacy squirm,
it's all of that. The text does not play well with how we have developed understandings of what
relationships should look like.
And it didn't even play well with expectations of the time. Because as the children's book opened
with her being black, she is a black Shulamite woman. She's an outsider on the margins of Jewish
society. And if we remember from Deuteronomy and a lot of the Deuter- I can never say it.
The history that's inspired by the Deuteronomist. which is like 1 and 2 Kings, Joshua, and Judges.
The bad thing is marrying foreign wives because they make you worship a different god. And so this
is standing in complete contradiction to a good chunk of the Hebrew Bible,
which says you don't marry outsiders at all. That's not allowed. And so we can already see that
there was conflict as to why this should even be in the text in the first place.
And yet there's still great, rich observations that we can get. Three things that I noticed is that
if you read enough of this, it is very sensual. There's a lot of using all of the senses when it
comes to vision and smell and taste. There is not a single sense that is left out of this text.
And all of this sensuality is rooted in the physical bodies of the two people. And even just
there's other crowds that have commentary because, as we know, when there's a relationship between
two people, there's commentary from crowds. And it is also dripping with nerdy theological
references. So when I was looking at this text, it might have even been last summer,
I was... Thinking about how this was essentially like some nerdy theologian trying to flirt.
Because it's like using creation references in order to like flirt with another person.
Throughout the poem, there's this interesting subversive equality.
In a society where women weren't allowed to have power, the woman gets the first and last word of
this text.
We have... portrayed throughout it this reciprocal desire between the two lovers and
within all of that there's this demonstration of what love can look like in its purest form because
there's no material benefits so many of the other relationships that are outlined throughout the
text are transactional relationships they like family trade gets this and then they can have this
and then we can there's a whole bunch of hot messes when it comes to what relationships look like
especially in the torah when it comes to power dynamics. And so this stands in a way that presents
the subversive equality between the man and the woman. It also gives us an ethic of intimacy.
There's no forced roles upon the two. Neither one of them is expected to do any particular thing,
which makes this text work really well because it kind of stands across cultures pretty easily.
Because sometimes in some cultures the hunter was the man and in some cultures the hunter was the
woman. And so the fact that no one's ascribed any particular roles is kind of perfect because it
can cross cultural bounds quite well. And we also get this ethical understanding of what does it
mean to have a healthy... self-image, to really know their rootedness,
their worthiness of being loved. And they're not arrogant in any sense.
They're just expressing their pure love for one another.
So since this is church, I'll start with the what does this mean for our relationship with God?
So if we're talking about a relationship with God that is super sensual,
and rooted in our physical bodies, that is weird. It's not normal for our culture.
And if we've got throughout the text all of these nerdy theological references, this shows a deep
and intimate knowledge of the divine and all of the things that God has been up to.
And it's also interesting because since the text doesn't say this is God and humanity,
we don't know which character is which.
Is humanity the woman? who gets the first and last word, or is God the woman who gets the first and
last word? And since their relationship is of equals, that also is weird and uncomfortable.
And from there, it's even weirder for anyone to think about our bodies,
our physical bodies, and all of the pleasure and joy that we can encounter them,
all of the ways that adrenaline can pump through our system, and all of the ways that our bodies
don't do the thing that we used to be able to do are all ways of being in relationship with the
divine.
Which also means that any theological system that tells us that our bodies are the enemy is counter
to the theology that's being gifted to us in the Song of Songs. That our body is instead a gift
from God that is meant to be enjoyed. It is meant to be enjoyed in relationship with God and
relationship with others.
And a perfect illustration of like how uncomfortable this makes us. A lot of times when we think
about this deep physical intimacy, some of us think about our first kisses or maybe even watching
your children or grandchildren enter into their first relationship. And when you watch someone
younger than you do that, you realize how definitely awkward first kisses probably are.
But they don't seem awkward when you do it, right? And so there's this weird understanding of like
with this deep, joyful intimacy that we can see our teenagers around us entering into at times.
And like the sloppy, awkward first kisses, right?
And in 2005... John Mark McMillan wrote a song, How He Loves.
It is quite good, and it's eight minutes long, so that's why I'm not going to do it today.
And the whole thing is about God is jealous for me,
that love's like a hurricane. I am a tree bending beneath the weight of his grace and mercy,
and just being surprised by the full depth of God's love for him. And it gets to this...
where he says, so we are his portion and he is our prize. We can kind of see the Song of Songs
language in this already. So people that are biblically literate would be like,
this is going somewhere that most people aren't ready for. And so he keeps going,
drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes. If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, and my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
and I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way he loves us.
Now, just a few years later, David Crowderband covered it,
and that version became a little bit more popular. And when he did it, he asked for permission to
change exactly one line. Any guesses on what part from that bridge he wanted to change?
He was uncomfortable with the idea of heaven meeting earth like a sloppy wet kiss.
And so instead, David Crowderband changed it to heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss.
Hitting the surprise part of it, right? And then that became a great theological debate.
And it's still kind of an interesting theological debate because if you're hanging out in
ecumenical spaces where people will do different, more worship songs,
a very common question that I've been asked, and maybe it's just because I went to seminary and
stuff, is, are you a sloppy wet or an unforeseen? Which is like a weird sentence on its own,
right? And so now whenever they did this song at camp a few weeks ago, and when they started
singing it, because they actually had someone playing the guitar and singing it, I was like, I
wonder which version they're going to do. Like, I'm always excited waiting for the bridge. And
regardless of what they say, I go back to my foolish high school and college self that Deborah and
Brian knew and just like full energy proclaim sloppy wet kiss. which is like not the thing that
anyone's expecting from me because I'm substantially more reserved than I used to be.
But that's the reality is that we get so uncomfortable with the idea of a love that we are
connected to God that is the same thing as these sloppy wet kisses that we see teenagers getting
into. Like save that for somewhere else. That's not something that you do with the divine, right?
We are society.
sees teenagers making out and tells them to do what?
To get a room, right?
Because we're so uncomfortable with physical intimacy that trying to say that we should do that
with God makes us probably even more uncomfortable.
Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Toddlers give you sloppy wet kisses,
which is a whole different level of like, what could that possibly look like? And the reality is we
get both, right? We have Jesus saying like, whatever you do to the least disease you do to me,
right? And so like we learn and tells us to have faith like children. And so like what children.
The only thing they know how to do when they are professing their physical love for family is
sloppy wet kisses, right? It's the thing that we've known, our bodies have known how to do this,
but we've forgotten what does that mean to be in that relationship with our God.
So in the same sense, we've get this, what does it mean to enter into a loving relationship with
the divine that is not about power imbalance, but is being invited into the relationship with the
divine as co-creators and co-deliverers of those working alongside God for the redemption of the
kingdom of heaven and the redemption of all things. What does it mean to enter into divine love
that takes it seriously when we pray on earth as it is in heaven and know that that's not a thing
that God does? by God's self, but it's a thing that God invites us into relationship to do with
God. And this ethic of intimacy, intimacy with God involves mutual self-offering of love and
healthy self-image.
It invites us into entering to the categories of the mystics where we don't escape reality,
but instead
enter into our imagination and our heart in prayer and engage our full selves in prayer.
We also see that longing for God is necessary for a healthy soul.
So now the part that is probably equally uncomfortable for some people,
what does all of this mean for our relationships with one another? Well, if the text is super
sensual and rooted in our physical bodies, that means that we have to be respectful and
understanding of our physical bodies in any relationship. Not just with the divine,
but in how we navigate relationships with one another. How we co-create love with other people,
regardless of whether it's a sexual intimacy or relational intimacy, because we all have many
different people in our lives that we love in different... And so we are invited to bring our full
selves into that relationship.
And Ellen Davis, who wrote this beautiful little book that's just like taking these great,
rich Old Testament texts and looking at them for a modern generation of wisdom,
but I think it was written in the 80s, but it's still... It feels modern still. She says, like the
love of God, profound love in another person demands devotion of the whole self and the steady
practice of repentance and forgiveness.
We're invited into these relationships where we're not forcing roles upon one another, but we can
enter into love with one another where we can care for one another, share with one another, be
curious about one another. This mutual self-offering of love,
helping us each foster healthy self-images of ourselves and of others.
Ellen Davis also gives us a beautiful definition of intimacy when it comes to what the Song of
Songs is inviting us. She says, intimacy is the means whereby human life in this world is
sanctified.
She goes on to talk about how emotional and physical intimacy are the ways that we are able to be
able to care for one another. If we think about one of the most intimate moments in the Gospel of
John, it's when Jesus strips his clothes, wears the clothes of a slave,
and kneels down and intimately washes the feet of his disciples.
Caring for one another, especially if we talk about caring for one another's bodies, towards the
end of life, is a very intimate thing.
In the same sense, this also affirms all of the joy of sexual relationships, which usually the
church has been good at saying, we don't talk about that. Now, since this is worship, I won't talk
about that too much, but it invites us to really rethink if our boundaries and conversations and
talking to one another are ones that come from the divine and from the biblical texts or ones that
come from our culture that tries to privatize everything.
And so once again, if we are looking at this relationship between one another and between the
divine as connected to the same wisdom we see in woman wisdom who delights in creation,
we
should also delight in God. delight in each other, and delight in all of creation,
taking the time to pause and notice when the birds are singing and taking the time to pause and
notice the great things about other people, even strangers, as we go through the world.
It radically calls for us to deepen our prayers for peace.
Because if our bodies matter, then the lived bodily presence of everyone across the world matters
too. And it guides us to understand that so much of our planet's suffering is really not because of
any sort of particular thing other than our inability and our lack of love.
Our lack of treating all of God's creation and all of God's children as worthy of love and
protection and care.
So the Song of Songs is a phenomenal text.
And if you get the time, totally read the whole thing, because I probably could have just read the
whole thing, but then we would have just been sitting here fanning ourselves by the end, and we
don't have the pew fans that you get donated from the funeral home here. I did look this morning
for like $17. I can get kits and have the kids decorate pew fans for us, but it's a little too
late, right?
But... Our hope is that we can enter into a time where we can deeply love the divine,
deeply love one another, and basically not allow shame to withhold any love that we have for
people. Because honestly, it's a little embarrassing to talk to a stranger and be like,
I really like your hair. It feels awkward. Right? And so in the same sense that this is inviting us
to a... openness to all that God has created.
So let us pray.
God, we are able to delight in your creation because you delighted in us first.
Your love captivates us in ways that make us curious and notice all of your creation around us.
Help us to foster joyful relationships. that allow people to bring their full bodies into the
relationship with honesty and a lack of shame.
Help us to deeply know one another in the same way that we seek to deeply know you.
May each day be a day where we get to know you and those around us just a little bit more so that
we can gain a deeper understanding of how your love is moving through this world.
so that we can then, empowered by your Spirit, go off to love boldly, serve joyfully,
and lead courageously. Amen.