The Heart of Love

September 2, 2012 Song of Solomon 2:8-13 James 1:17-27 Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost Year B “The Heart of Love” Your mind is here with me When I was in high school, there was a song that used to come on the radio, Your Body’s here with me, but your mind is on the other side of town. – your messing me around. (give some more of the lyrics….., The O'Jays Your Body's Here With Me (But Your Minds On The Other Side Of Town) (Chorus 2x) Your Body's here with me (But your Mind is On the Other side of town) Your Messing me around I thought you told me you straightened out your life When We agreed to try it one more time It Would be my job to work and protect you And you would make our home life sublime But I keep hearing you crying after midnight While the whole world is still And I know the Reason You hurt to come home He gives you plenty thrills But I'm the one who pays your bills (Chorus 2x) Your Body's here with me (But your Mind is On the Other side of town) Your Messing me around you Never denied it but kinda hurts me bad Cause you never ever call my name All I tried to Do I just can't break through I just can't make it Feel the same I did all I could do To hold you close Did my very Best to Love you Straight up and down It's Getting plain to see Your mind just not for me When you get the urge to get down You go to the other side of town (Chorus 4x) Your Body's here with me (But your Mind is On the Other side of town) Your Messing me around I Cant Make it feel the same Your Body I'm THe one who pays the bills He's the one who gives you thrills Obviously, this is a song about a relationship. A relationship that has gone sour and stale. It is a story about a couple who had decided the give their relationship a chance. And yet the woman has someone else. And even though she is still in the relationship, the man realizes that her heart is just not in it. What does this song have to do with church? A song from the Ojays is probably not something that you would expect to hear at church on Sunday morning. God’s name is not mentioned anywhere in this song. But that is okay today, because neither of the scriptures this morning mention God or Jesus. Scriptures no mention of God The Song of Solomon was not written by Solomon, and scholars agree that it is not even about Solomon. This book is a collection of love poems, probably not even about the same person. At times, the poetry gets pretty intimate, and a little racy. The bible may be all about love, but we don’t like to get that close to the subject of love. A passionate, healthy, almost sexual type of love. Why is it in the bible, to remind us that if our minds are in the right place, and we are in love with God, then we can see the God in anything. Even in the midst of a love song. James is our second scripture. One of my favorite books, because of James blunt advice. You won’t find Jesus name mentioned anywhere in these 5 chapters. But it does contain practical advice on what it means to live on earth. It mentions the church, but it also seems to realize that the church is made of people. People who may strive to go to heaven, but still live on this earth in some difficult and confusing circumstances. It is not about eternal life, but about everyday life. Beginning of journey of wisdom For the next few weeks, we will spend some time with the wisdom literature. Reminding us that the beginning of our love affair with God is being able to listen to the wisdom given to us by God. When we are not paying attention to the call of wisdom. Our bodies might be here in church, but our spirits our out there in the world. We are depending on God to pay the bills, but looking to the world to give us our thrills. Sin happens in a broken world We live in a world that is controlled by divisions, brokenness, and fragmentation. When we look at all of our lives, there are disagreements, arguments, places where we are torn between two sides of an issue. We are most likely to sin when we are broken It is when our souls are torn and broken that we are most likely to sin. The temptation to sin comes to us all of the time, everywhere. Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when… they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent). James’ message to us is that temptation is a part of life. We are all going to go through some sort of temptation in or lives. That temptation has the potential to distract us from our focus. Temptation not from God We can blame temptation on a lot of things. A 4-year old girl was caught by her Mom standing on a stool in the kitchen eating cookies. Her Mom had told her that she was not to be eating those cookies until after dinner. When caught red-handed and confronted by her Mom, she said “Mom, it’s not my fault, honest! I climbed up on that stool because I just wanted to smell them, and my tooth got caught!” We might blame temptation on a lot of things, we can blame it on our circumstances, we can blame it on the devil. But James tells us not to ever blame temptation on God. God would never do that to you. God will always love you. God is the lover who will always care for you, who will always be good to you, who will always pursue you. And when you decide to give in to temptation and walk away, God waits for you. There are a lot of things in life that will change, everything in life changes, but God stays the same. Our text in the song of Solomon speaks of a lover who leaps with vigor and energy in search of his live. But the woman is not available. He has to coax her out. Arise, my fair one, come away says the lover. Temptation is a part of our lives, but God calls us away from all of that. God calls us to be in relationship with him. When relationship gets old But I am sure that we have all been in a relationship that has gotten old and stale. A relationship that we no longer pay attention to. A relationship where we are going through the motions, but our heart is not there. Our body is here in church, but our mind is on the other side of town. And even in that state, God’s relationship never goes old for him. He is constantly pursuing you, trying to get your attention. Through prayer, God is listening to you, and asking you to listen to him. The heart of any good healthly relationship is the ability to listen. The most important thing that and child wants from a parent, is for you to listen. The most important thing that any spouse wants is to be paid attention to. The most important thing that a relative in a nursing home wants – is company. God desires the same thing for you. Christian just going through the motions There was a Christian doctor, who went on a mission trip to Honduras. Before he left, he went to church, but it didn’t mean anything to him. He was going through the motions, but it had no meaning. But when he went to help the people of Honduras – he saw the word of God being put into action and he started to understand why he was coming to church. We he returned, he gave more in the offering plate, he volunteered more, he even was able to share his faith with others in a meaningful way. There was something that changed inside of his heart, that affected what he was able to do with his hands, his feet. Faith without works is dead According to James, there are three zones of the body – the heart, the ears and eyes, and the mouth. We take in information from the world through our eyes and ears, we take it inside to our heart, and it comes out through what we do with our hands and feet. The message that James wants us to understand that faith without works is dead. If God controls what we take into our minds through our eyes and ears, of God determines what we hold in our hearts, then it will be evident to everyone else by what we do with our hands and feet. God loves you more than anything. Learn God’s story, spend time with God, seek to please God, reflect on how much better you life is, when you are in full and complete relationship with God. A certain downtown businessman became fond of the little boy who shined his shoes every day. He did such a good job that one day the businessman asked him, “Son, how come you are so conscientious about your work?” The boy felt complimented. He looked up to the man, and said, “Mister, I’m a Christian and I try to shine every pair of shoes as if Jesus Christ were wearing them.” The businessman saw something genuine in the shoeshine boy. Soon after that he began reading his Bible. When he decided to be a Christian himself, he credited his decision to the little boy who shined every pair of shoes “as if Jesus Christ were wearing them.” That’s a blessing. James says that every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. Every good things. So are you going to continue to live in the brokenness and fragmentation, with your mind body and soul in three different places. Or will your mind, body and soul be here with God. Being one with God is the definition of salvation. Let us pray…. In Luke 7:32, Jesus observed that this generation is like school children who pipe and their friends won't dance, who wail and their chums won't cry. "There is no pleasing you!" We simply find something wrong with everything. John Wesley pointed out that every gift God gives man is quickly sullied by human hands. He said every revival comes with defects. So he'd pray, "Lord, send revival without the defects." But then he told the Lord, "If you won't do it, then send the revival with the defects." Pharisees only see the smoke, never the fire. They complain about defects, never seeing the revival. Negative, critical persons, they are judgmental. Shakespeare said, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? I'm sure it would. You see, the truth is that the thing is what it is, not what someone calls it. Names are assigned to us, based on our outward circumstances by ourselves and other people. "Sinner, Failure, Stupid, Dummy, Unclean" all are names which label us. But what we are called, either by others or by ourselves does not determine who we are. It might speak of those external circumstances, but it might be wholly inaccurate. You see, a failure is not someone who fails. In reality, the people who fail the most are the ones who succeed. You only get to success by taking risks and risk-taking brings many failures along the way. A failure is someone who simply doesn't try. No, names do not determine who you are. You are who you are on the inside. So, the first important lesson is that we must cultivate the inner person. The inner person is the person who counts. The apostle Paul desired that we be strengthened in the inner man. It boils down to relationship. We are only as strong as our personal relationship with Christ. May I summarize for you? First, learn God's story. Second, spend time with God. Third, seek to please God. And, fourth, reflect on what your life is becoming with God. A mother told her son that he was not allowed to go swimming that day. However, when he returned home that afternoon his mother noticed that his hair was wet and that he carried under his arm a wet bathing suit. “Johnny!” his mother scolded, “I told you not to go swimming today.” “I couldn’t help it, Mom. I walked by the lake and it looked so clear and inviting. I was just going to stick my feet in it for a minute, and the water was so warm and felt so good on my legs. I just couldn’t resist!” he said with a big wide smile. Mom looked at Johnny and said, “One question son, why did you take your bathing suit with you when I had told you that you couldn’t swim today?” “I didn’t trust myself Mom, so I took it with me just in case I was tempted.” Webster’s Dictionary tells us that temptation is “the act of enticement to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain.” Now isn’t that just like the Devil, getting us to do something wrong by promising us something good? There isn’t a day that goes by in any of our lives where we aren’t tempted in some way. Temptation comes packaged in a variety of ways; we are tempted to lie, cheat, gossip, over eat, to hold grudges, to steal, and yes, to not give the Lord the first fruits of our treasure, time and talent.