Service and sermon. July 5, 2020 Leighmoor Uniting Church
-Rev Barbara Allen
Suggested hymns:
TIS 135: All things bright and beautiful
TIS 137: For the beauty of the earth
TIS 129: Amazing Grace
TIS 604: Make me a captive Lord
TIS 585: I heard the voice of Jesus say
Bible Readings:
Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67 (Isaac and Rebekah)
Song of Songs 2: 8-13 (romantic love)
Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30
Prayers of Adoration, Thanksgiving and Confession
Creator God,
we give you thanks for the richness of life.
During these challenging times may our souls be nourished by your gifts
-of creation
-of family and friends
-of church family, church history, and our church tradition.
In Song of Songs we hear words of romantic love. We give you thanks for the love we have received during our lives-be it romantic love, parental love, love for and from our children, love from our friends, our colleagues, our neighbours, from our animal companions.
Love that makes us feel special.
Love that gives us a glimpse of the love you have for each one of us, your creation.
As we dwell on the beauty and scope of your love
we confess that we have not always shown our love to You
-to others
-or to ourselves.
Forgive us for neglecting those who are on the fringe of society, those who are lonely, those who are the ‘forgotten.’
Forgive us when we feel overwhelmed by the crisis of covid-19-help us to keep praying, to keep loving-to have HOPE.
Help us to bring comfort, joy, and hope to those who need it, especially during these trying times, when the ways we would normally reach out to show love-such as in a hug, or with a handshake-are now forbidden.
Forgive us when we have given up, saying it is all ‘too hard.’
You never give up, you never proclaim ‘it is too hard’…neither should we.
In a time of silence, we remember other things for which we seek forgiveness.
God is love.
Through Christ our sins are forgiven
(thanks be to God).
Take hold of this forgiveness, and live your live in the power of the Spirit.
Amen.
Sermon
‘O tidings of comfort and joy,
comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.’
No, it is NOT Christmas in July (and don’t get me started about THAT tradition!)
BUT
sentiment, or emotions we associate with the Christmas Season, could be the title of today’s sermon.
Today’s readings are much brighter than last week’s Bible reading from the Old Testament, from the Hebrew Scriptures.
-the near killing of Isaac by his father, Abraham.
It was necessary to tackle the dark stories of the Bible,
-to acknowledge the dark tales in our own lives
BUT
Today, today we have some lightness, some comfort, even some deep joy.
In the continuation of the story in Genesis, we have a love story-of Isaac and Rebekah-and much needed comfort for Isaac after his mother Sarah, had died:
‘He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.’(Gen 24:67)
‘Love, love, love.
All you need is love…’
-from the pens of Lennon and McCartney, and from the Bible!
Song of Songs is also part of today’s lectionary, speaking of romantic love:
‘The voice of my beloved!
Look, he comes,
leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.’(Song of Solomon 2: 8-9)
Ah, the Mills and Boon of the Bible! These days we probably wouldn’t describe our romantic interest as a ‘gazelle.’ I wonder what an Australian equivalent might be?
A brumby? A roo?
Back to Song of Songs– enchanting poetry. It may not make it on today’s Hallmark Card, or as an instant card on the internet, but for the times-it was sheer beauty.
Over the centuries, this book of the Bible, which, by the way, doesn’t mention God, has been a source of embarrassment. Why was it included? Was it a mistake? Why do we have a book about physical love in the Bible?
To compensate for what was seen as a mistake, or, if not a mistake- meant to mean something else, scholars came up with explanations. From the 2nd century AD, some Jewish writers wrote that this scripture was a symbol of God’s love for his people Israel. Later, during Christian times, from about the 4th century, these poems were viewed as allegory, describing Jesus’ love for us, the church, his bride. This idea is pivotal in the Book of Revelation.
In Revelation 19: 7-8:
‘’Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.’
And in Revelation 21: 1-2:
‘’ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.’(Rev 21: 1, 2)
The church was viewed as Christ’s bride. In Catholicism becoming a nun meant to become a ‘bride of Christ.’
Some of you may remember the ABC series with that title, about 20 years ago. (I just did a check on Google-it came out 29 years ago-and is now available to watch on ABC iview).
In the series, a young woman growing up in the 1960s, walks away from her fiancé, to join a convent, after feeling she has received a call to become a nun.
In some female orders, when the postulant receives ‘the habit’, becoming a novice, she has a wedding, or a marriage ceremony-dressed in white with a veil, to symbolize her marriage to Christ. She then receives a habit, and wears a white veil. This ceremony is described by Karen Armstrong, in her autobiography Through the Narrow Gate**:
‘The congregation waited breathlessly. Then right at the back of the procession a single file of five young girls entered the church dressed as brides…The sunlight shone through the tall windows, catching the prim white dresses and making the gauzy veils seem like diaphanous haloes…Each of them looked steadily at the altar where their bridegroom was waiting for them. Invisible, but present to the eyes of faith.
Each family had eyes only for their own daughter…In all their minds the implied comparison with a secular wedding was present. That was an event they had all looked forward to…’
In some religious orders this practice has been modified, or phased out.
I have a lovely, quirky book by the late Ross Quinlivan, who was a cartoonist and comic writer. Not long before he died, he wrote How I got engaged to God.*
It is about a girl who thinks she has a calling to be a nun-but she isn’t sure which order she should approach. The book idea came about after a conversation a friend had with Ross, lamenting the fact that there wasn’t a handbook to encourage people to enter the religious life, unlike with most careers presented at career nights at secondary schools. This little book is a beauty!
It is set out with illustrations, and short captions. The opening page is of a young lady lying in bed, thinking ‘I don’t even own a pair of rosary beads!…And I’ve just had my ears pierced!’
The caption is:
‘Sally Hansen (21) decided to become a nun. It didn’t happen on one particular day or even in a certain month; it was something that had been in her mind for a long time-perhaps years-like a jelly that hadn’t quite set.’
So- allegory or reality?
Physical love-is a gift from God. Song of Songs doesn’t have to symbolize anything else. It is part of life…it is how we create life. As a church, or as Christians, we have a history of saying this is unnatural, something to be ashamed of, there has been a tendency to be prudish. Nowadays though, most Christian scholars accept these verses from Song of Songs for what they are: beautiful love poems, a celebration of love between humans.
‘Male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply”…And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.’ (Gen 1:27-28, 31)
-a gift from God.
And from joy…to comfort. Scripture from Matthew 11. I will confine my discussion to the final verses:
‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heaven burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
(Matthew 11: 28-30)
These verses often bring comfort, and are heard during hard times
-sometimes uttered when a loved one is dying- to comfort the one dying,
-said at a funeral-to comfort the mourners.
Precious words-part of our Bible treasury box.
These words could be seen as a panacea, a cure for all problems, or even a glib way to bring a quick-fix of comfort
BUT
We need to look at them carefully.
This is paradoxical grace:
‘Make me a captive, Lord,
and then I shall be free…’
Now-just remember the yoke is for working-it doesn’t say that the yoke is lifted, or removed, which would make more sense, in terms of resting.
Yoke me to work…which becomes rest.
Let us enter into this passage with our emotions…let us write ourselves on to the page.
We have ALL carried heavy burdens…we may STILL be lumbered down with baggage:
The day is hot…and getting hotter. Not a good day for heavy work. You are finding it tough, dragging your weighty bundle.
As you drag your burdens up the hill, stumbling along the rocky path, tripping over straggly, stringy tree roots, you realize that you are yoked to another. The thick, lead crossbar weighs heavy on your shoulders, as you strain upwards, your enormous cart-filled to overflowing with many items…regrets…shame…missed opportunities…words left unsaid-or sharp words said…love lost…love never found…ill health…unemployment…fear…
The road is long, and tortuous, the trip slow, as time-trapped as Sunday afternoons used to be in the past. You are conscious of the other next to you, but you are blinkered, and cannot see the one partnering the pulling, or carrying, of the load.
Finally you reach the top of the hill, your feet starting to bleed because of the many jagged rocks and stones.
You come to the dumping place…where you can finally get rid of the heavy load. As you stumble, kneeling because of exhaustion, your face washed by tears and sweat…you feel the heavy cross bar lifted from your shoulders. As you look in front of you, you notice that the wagon, which is heart-shaped, has been turned around by the other, who has also emptied your load-dumped your many worries and burdens-at the foot of the cross.
Your cross bar resembles part of the cross in front of you.
And that cross bar changes from shoulder-bruising, weighty metal, to the comforting, healing arms of our Lord-
For HE is the other ox, yoked to you
-an unfair pairing-for you are weak, struggling under the weight of many things, sometimes even of your own making, or your own imagining
-and He is strong, oh so strong!
SO this is the one who carries you through as you struggle
-who works beside you, taking the weight of your pain, of your load, so you may rest
The one who comforts you
-the one who loves you with GREAT JOY,
-who IS love.
Amen
*How I Got Engaged To God, Ross Quinlivan (Wildcat Press, Sydney, 1981)
**Through the Narrow Gate: A Nun’s Story, Karen Armstrong (Pan Books, London: 1981), pp: 141-142
Prayers for others.
Loving Lord,
we pray for the world.
We pray for the many countries weighed down, not only by the Covid-19 virus, but by other burdens as well
-places struggling through civil wars
-regions coming to grips with drought, with famine.
-areas in our own country slowly recovering from bush fires
-for those confined to refugee camps
-for those in prison, and for their families on the outside.
We pray for other nations. Today we pray for Hong Kong, and give thanks that we have the freedom to express our political views, as well as to practice our religious faith.
We pray for world leaders, including our own.
We are citizens of a hurting world. When we are overwhelmed, remind us that You are in charge, and that You love this messy earth, complete with its flawed human beings.
We take comfort from the words you taught us to pray:
‘Our Father in heaven…’
Amen
Dismissal and Blessing
We were created in love…for love.
We are in lockdown-but our prayers and our best wishes for others extend beyond blockades, barricades, and barriers.
We are yoked to Love, and together we work to comfort, love, and bring joy and hope to others…and to this world.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
-Rev Barbara Allen, July 5, 2020 , Leighmoor UC