The Love Of His Heart

Song of Songs 2:11-17
The Man: Look around you: Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone! Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world’s a choir—and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios. Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Come, my shy and modest dove—leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing. The Woman: Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden. My lover is mine, and I am his. Nightly he strolls in our garden, delighting in the flowers until dawn breathes its light and night slips away. Turn to me, dear lover. Come like a gazelle. Leap like a wild stag on delectable mountains!

Some friends of mine decided to get married. They figured their enamor for one another was reason enough to get hitched. They selected this passage from the Song of Songs which talks about love and passion as their wedding text. At this point, they had much to learn about each other, about love, about marriage, and about God.

Besides the fact that they're dear friends, what makes their wedding so very memorable to me is not so much the wedding itself. Rather, it's the rehearsal dinner. Or should I say, the aftereffects of the rehearsal dinner.

Once the groom arrived at the rehearsal, (an hour late, he had to finish his round of golf...you see what I mean about having much to learn?) we got started and things began to go much more smoothly. Fun was had by all as we practiced the steps they would take down the aisle. And as two people in love should do, they looked deeply into one another's eyes and practiced the vows they would say the next day in that same spot, with a whole lot more fanfare and pomp.

As I tell every couple I'm going to marry, "Look, as long as you both show up tomorrow, and I show up, we can always grab a couple of witnesses off the street and still have a wedding. Everything beyond that which goes smoothly is gravy. If the cummerbunds all match, if the dresses all fit, if all who are supposed to show up actually show up--that's all gravy...a bonus. What will live long after tomorrow is not the wedding, but the marriage."

In literary terms, what we're talking about here is called foreshadowing.

It was the chicken. For the rehearsal dinner, we had these very nummy baked chicken breasts. We were in a dimly lit room, candles glowing, champagne flowing and as I cut into my chicken breast, I thought I noticed a slight shade of pink, indicating to my father-who-is-a-butcher-trained eyes the chicken was not fully cooked. And if you know anything about uncooked chicken, you know better than to eat it.

I convinced myself that such a fine restaurant would make sure the chicken was fully cooked. In fact, not only did I eat one under cooked chicken breast...I went for two.

And it was around two in the morning that I realized the error of my ways as I made my way rapidly through the dark to the bathroom to purge myself of the poisonous food I had ingested. In fact, I kept on purging until around nine. It was an early afternoon wedding as I recall. I was beginning to question my ability to perform my friend's wedding. By ten, I was able to hold down a can of Coke. A quick burst of caffeine and sugar energy, giving me the illusion of strength. I gently gulped down a couple of more cans and voila. I deemed myself ready to perform the ceremony.

The wedding went off without a hitch. The groom was on time. I'm certain he'd have been offed by some member of the bride's family, if not the bride herself had he been late. I made it through. I was only woozy a couple of times, but a deep breath or two and I was fine.

Their marriage started off in the middle of a spiritual winter. It was faced with challenges. In fact, the wedding itself almost didn't happen because of a late groom and a very ill pastor. The winter which faced their marriage was bitter and foxes were hungry and roaming, ready to pounce.

Some say the Song of Songs is about God's example of how a love relationship ought to be: passionate, caring for one another, and filled with love. I think that's probably true.

Others say it's about God's relationship with us. Does it weird you out to think that God wants to have a passionate relationship with us? It kind of did me at first. Until I started to grow deeper in my relationship with God, I had only the agape love understanding of God. Agape love is that sterile "I love you in God's way" kind of love we used to joke about as kids. It's an altruistic love which serves the other, not the self. Agape love is only a subtle shade of God's love.

The Song of Songs speaks in the terms of eros love. It is the love of passion. And I believe that God is passionately in love with us. Read the passage from the Song of Songs again, but this time, hear God saying the words of The Man to you and respond back to God with the words of The Woman as your prayer.

God: "Look around you! Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone! The dark times of waiting and wondering are past. Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world’s a choir—and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios. Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Come, my shy and modest dove—leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing. I want to hear from you. I want to hear your voice. I want to hear about your day. I want to know your fears and calm them. I want to hear your hurts and soothe them. I want to see your dreams and help you to realize them. I want to dance through life with you, every day a celebration. Won't you talk with Me? Won't you share your heart with Me...give it to Me?"

You: "Then You must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden. You are mine, and I am Yours. Nightly You stroll in our garden, delighting in the flowers until dawn breathes its light and night slips away. Turn to me, dear lover. Come like a gazelle. Leap like a wild stag on delectable mountains! I would gladly give You my heart, but I am afraid of the foxes who prowl, waiting to pounce upon me when I am vulnerable."

God: "I understand your fear, dear one. Yes, the foxes are out there and they are always ready to pounce. But as long as you walk in our garden with Me, their attacks will be nothing in the face of My love for you. The Evil One is always waiting, watching for any sign of weakness. And he will continue to prowl in the bushes, trying to distract you from Me."

You: "I will try. I will try to surrender my fear to You, dear One. I will try to trust in You only as we walk together in the garden. And I will try as well to talk more with You."

God: "That is good to hear."

You: "I have a question for You, Friend."

God: "Yes, My dear one."

You: "Why is the winter so long? Why do you allow the foxes to prowl?"

God: "That's two questions. But I will answer them because I love that we are talking. Why is the winter long? Because it teaches you to trust Me. It teaches you that our love for each other must be strong enough to carry us through the winter times of life. It teaches you that our love cannot simply delight in "good feelings." Your love for Me must go deeper than that. To be faithful when times are tough is true faithfulness. To be faithful when we delight in one another isn't that difficult is it? And why do I allow the foxes to prowl? Because I know our love is stronger and because I allow you to choose. It's quite a powerful gift, isn't it? The gift of choice. But without it, your love for Me wouldn't be love, would it? I must allow you to choose the path of the Fox, or the path that I have prepared for us to walk on together."

You: "You must trust me an awful lot."

God: "It is because of my passionate love for you, dear one."

You: "I love You."

God: "I love you, too."

Be WILD For Christ!

Pastor Shane