Rev. George
Miller
July 18, 2021
Solomon
4:1-4
There is a tradition that’s
been part of my life for over 15 years.
Every week as the sermon is being co-created with the Holy Spirit, the
same CD is played.
It’s a compilation of songs
by Keith Sweat.
After 15 years the sound of
the same CD has created an ethereal space in which ego can disconnect and the
sermon seems to write itself.
It wasn’t until the time of
today’s composing that I realized something- every song on that CD is a love
song.
Titles like “When I Give My
Love,” “I’ll Give All My Love,” and “Can We Make Love.”
Love, love, love.
Is there a stronger power in
the world? Is there anything more longed
for, desired, and treasured?
Love.
This morning we continue being
in the garden with these two lovers as they profess their deep desire and
appreciation for one another.
It’s a sensual, pleasurable
experience, but one that also radiates a revolution.
Why?
Because this is the only
book in the entire Bible in which we hear the narrative voice of a woman.
Both man and woman, woman
and man share words of affection for one another, but guess what- the woman has
way more lines than the man.
She is actually the star and
he is the supporting player.
More than that- the woman is
black. She has been kissed by the
sun.
In Chapter 1, verse 5 she
says “I am black and beautiful.”
The woman is black and lovely
and her lover loves everything about her- her eyes - like doves, her hair -like
goats, her teeth, her lips, her cheeks, her neck, her breasts.
The narrator mentions 7 specific
parts of her body. 7, which in ancient
days was used to symbolize perfection.
7, which just so happens to
be the days of creation.
7 ways in which she is beautiful. 7 ways in which she is praised.
Friends, think of how powerful
this book is.
At a time in which there has
been so much disrespect shared and so much hate stated, here we have a sacred
text,
in which a woman, a black
woman, is lifted up, is praised, is portrayed as perfect, complete, whole.
After all, isn’t that what
we all want?
Don’t we all want to be
seen? Don’t we all want to be
complimented?
Don’t we all want to be acknowledged
as the beautiful, handsome, amazing people we are?
Don’t we all want to hear “You
are perfect just the way you are?”
Here, in today’s scripture
we experience that.
There’s no Left Shark. There’s no tope. There’s no tragic mistakes.
Today is all about your
eyes, your hair, your cheeks, until time ends and the shadows flee.
How wonderful that we have
such a scripture because it is a reminder that our bodies are valuable, and that
our bodies matter.
Our bodies matter to
ourselves, our bodies matter to those who love us, our bodies matter to God.
No wonder God came to us as
Emmanuel. To walk with us, to talk with us. To attend weddings. To sip wine.
To eat bread.
To reach out and touch the ostracized. To be reached out and touched by the
ill.
To meet as at wells during
the hottest time of the day. To be with
us on the shore. To feed us on the
mountaintops.
To walk with us in the garden
and when we are on the lonely Road to Emmaus.
Today we are reminded that
the body is beautiful. Our bodies are
beautiful.
And we are loved, and in the
eyes of our Creator, we are perfect.
For that, let us say, “Amen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment