Journey Lessons for August 30th 2009
The Lesson of Love
Hebrew Scriptures: Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Hebrew Scriptures: Psalm 45
In Song of Solomon we have a song of passion and desire for each other, a poem of love. Many times this has been interpreted in spiritual terms, but it is also seen by certain interpretations (feminism) as simply the desire of erotic love. What is wrong with seeing as both ways? Would this be a normal Jewish interpretation of these passages?
In the 45th Psalm, we have what has been considered a Wedding song or ritual for a wedding ceremony. It is a public event in which each is committed to the other. It is supposedly the only Psalm directed to another human being. It is grand and eloquent.
Christian Scriptures: James 1:17-27
Christian Scriptures: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15,21-23
James admonishes that real faith requires action. After James lays the foundation for faith in God himself and the endurance needed to stay faithful, he then responds that real faith is equated with real action. In other words, one is not possible without the other?
In Mark we have the telling of the disciples being criticized for not properly following the ritual hand cleaning required by religious law. Jesus responds that if the heart is not in the practice of the faith the external signs mean nothing.
Comment:
I believe all four verse selections have a theme here today, It is the theme of passion that is necessary in all of our living practices. In the Hebrew scriptures there is a synthesis between the Psalm and Song of Solomon. There must be passion in a marriage or it may only be an empty ritual in the end, no matter how great and impressive the ceremony. This follows the synthesis of the physical and the spiritual which were more accepted as the proper model of the human in the Hebrew scriptures than it has been interpreted in the Christian.
For Jesus and James, in the Christian scriptures we have the interpretation of the necessity to have a faith that has real action from the heart. It is important to show with the hands our respect for God in ritual but the gestures are empty unless those hands are reaching out to the needs of our fellow human beings.
I once heard someone say that “every story is a love story.” Simply put, where is the passion, the personality, your personal action in expressing the Love of God to others? Is it merely trapped in the illustration of ritual or does it freely express itself in true passion for others? Whether meeting human physical needs or the spiritual concerns of another, the story should always be one of love.
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