MidTree Church
The sermon audio of MidTree Church in Harris County, Ga. BEHOLD // BELIEVE // BECOME
MidTree Church
When God Speaks About Romance, We Should Listen | Pastor Will Hawk | April 27th, 2025
When was the last time you heard a sermon series on the Song of Songs? For most Christians, this passionate, romantic book remains unexplored territory—too scandalous, too sensual, or simply too puzzling to tackle in church. But what if this ancient love poem contains exactly the wisdom our relationships desperately need?
Solomon, considered the wisest man who ever lived, wrote 1,005 songs during his lifetime. The Song of Songs represents his masterpiece—the greatest among them all. Despite being just eight chapters that take only ten minutes to read, this book delivers profound insights about God's design for human passion, intimacy, and commitment.
What makes this book particularly remarkable is its female-centered perspective. The woman speaks more than half the time (53%), with her beloved speaking a third, and the surrounding community offering commentary throughout. Through her eyes, we witness a love characterized by three essential elements: chemistry (the passion that draws two people together), character (the integrity that makes someone trustworthy), and community (the social fabric that supports healthy relationships).
The Song speaks directly to everyone. For singles who wonder if passionate love is worth waiting for, the female protagonist answers with an emphatic "yes!" For married couples who've lost their spark, it offers a vision of romance that remains vibrant through commitment. For parents navigating conversations about sexuality with their children, it provides a God-honoring framework that celebrates physical intimacy rather than sanitizing it.
Beyond human relationships, the Song points to something even more profound. If this is what human love at its best can be, how much greater must God's love be? The most stunning revelation isn't that we should love God passionately, but that God loves us with a passion that exceeds our comprehension—not because we're worthy of such devotion, but because of His grace.
Ready to rediscover this ancient wisdom? Join us as we explore love's sacred territory together—celebrating the beauty of romance while uncovering deeper truths about the One whose love transforms us all. What might happen if we allowed God's word to speak about passion with the same candor and beauty as the Song of Songs?
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All right, guys, let me tell you what a joy it is for us to begin a new book of the Bible. The book is Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon. If you want, you can go ahead and turn there, ashley, they will find it. Oh, hang on, it's not your fault. Not your fault. See, not your fault.
Speaker 1:All right, what? Page? 560. 560. All right, and let me tell you what's happening in this very moment. In this very moment, I am losing a bet. I'm losing a sizable bet because Carrie was like I'm going to get Ashley Johnson to read and if you know Ashley, this is not her favorite thing in the world at all. She's like pushing through some stuff. Additionally, I said you do realize what we're going to be reading in Song of Songs. It's the most scandalous book in the entire Bible. So I'm actively losing a bet, but I will leverage it this way. I am proud of you. I am super pumped that you're a great reader, but I know this is not your favorite thing and I think it's a testimony for all of us. We ought always be growing and stretching in our faith. If you're a midtree, we're going to keep trying to grow and stretch you, and so let's enjoy reading God's word together, all right.
Speaker 2:Ashley, take it away, let's see. Turn in your Bibles to Song of Solomon, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, and follow along as I read God's word, the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's she. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. Your anointing oils are fragrant. Your name is oil poured out. Therefore, virgins, love you, draw me after you. Let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. Others, we will exult and rejoice in you. We will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Amen. Good job, ashley, appreciate you. Good example setting as well. All right, guys, while you are there, let me tell you what I want to do this morning. I think it is pretty important that you understand the book of the Bible that we are about to spend time in. You don't have to turn there now.
Speaker 1:In Acts, chapter eight, there's this neat little story of Philip and a eunuch who's traveling by in a chariot. And the guy's traveling in a chariot and he's reading a scroll Bonus points, if you know it, it's the scroll of the book of Isaiah. Wait, a ghost. Second, sir, he's leaning in, I like it. And Philip hops into the chariot with him and he asks him a question. And his question was this Acts, chapter eight, verse 30, do you understand what you are reading? And the guy looks at him. He says how can I Like if somebody doesn't teach me I'm reading this. I know there's something unique about it. My heart is burning within me last week, but I don't know exactly what it is.
Speaker 1:So here's what I want to do. I want us to look at one of the most mysterious, scandalous books of the Bible, and I want to begin today. We're going to do two parts. One I want you to understand the book that we are reading, because one of the biggest questions that people have, especially if they hear that we are gonna be reading this and walking through it at church, is this Does this book really belong in the Bible? Let me just say I was watching your faces when we were reading. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. It was fun to watch you Virgins coming up. Didn't see that one coming, did you right Like okay, what's going on here? And this is what I want all of you wrestling with this week, so that you can put this thought to bed for the next five or six weeks as we study this together. Does this book deserve to be here? Did God make any mistakes by putting this in here?
Speaker 1:When you read John 3, 16,. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish. When you read John 3, 16,. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish. When you read that, do you believe that is more gospel than what I just read? May his name spread like oil on the ground. In Genesis 1, in the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. Is that more scripture than what we just read? And I would argue with you that it is not, that this is a phenomenal book of the Bible, and let me tell you what is going to happen, and I want you to begin fighting it now. One I want you to start fighting that divide in you that separates godly things from worldly things and puts them in categories, and I want Jesus to invade the entirety of your life. That's number one. The second thing is this, and you may need to say a little silent prayer in this moment I want you to fight comparison of the people and the relationships around you, because there is nothing the enemy would love more than to take a scripture that is supposed to call you upward in Christ and cause you to be divisive horizontally.
Speaker 1:This book is written for singles who are content in their singleness, and it's written to singles who are discontent in their singleness. This book is written to singles who don't know if they're called singles because they're now singles because of divorce or separation. That's who this book is written to, because they're now singles because of divorce or separation. That's who this book is written to, and this book is written to married people. It's written to married people who are satisfied in their marriages, and it's written to married people who are not satisfied in their marriages.
Speaker 1:It is also, I believe, written to parents. So when you read these words and you all of a sudden have the thought my fifth grader's here, my fifth grader's here, what's in verse five? Well, where are we going? This is as far as we're going today. By the way, I think this is a beautiful book written to parents, and I'm not going to share anything with you that I haven't shared with every one of my children that has made it to age 10. That being said, spoiler alert we work through books of the Bible. Next week we'll be in verse five. So if you want to flip the page and decide, do I want to bring my kid in here, flip the page, give me a phone call, I'll let you know exactly what we're going to be going through.
Speaker 1:But I think this is a phenomenal book for fifth graders. I think this is a phenomenal book for parents who want to know how to lead their children, and my argument is going to be this this book belongs in the Bible. This book is scripture, it is canon. It is by God to us and I would almost argue there's not a better book for our culture to be reading. That being said, I read commentaries to get ready for sermons. A commentary is a book about a book, and I've never seen this in any of the other commentaries that I've read.
Speaker 1:One of the writers, theologians, literally said this this book should not be preached by new preachers. And I was like awesome, let's go, let's do this thing, because it is a little complicated. So I want to do what I can to make this as uncomplicated as possible, and we're going to do it in game format. All right, some fascinating context for the book, and here's what you need to do. If you do not know, will. Will loves competition. I love people losing more than I love winning. Just so you know, that's how it works in my brain. I need you to find a partner. You don't have to get up or move, and if you don't, nobody's gonna know. But I'd like for you to pick a partner and you're gonna have a quick trivia game that we're gonna do to get us started. I also would recommend you put something on the line who's cleaning the dishes? If you got a roommate making the bed? Who's taking out the trash? We are going out to eat. Put something on the line. I always prefer that Gambling. You can decide. All right, not a gamble, if you know you're going to win and I lost today. All right.
Speaker 1:Question number one this book only has eight chapters and 117 verses, taking the average reader how many minutes to read it? Go, I'm only giving you 15 seconds. Talk amongst yourselves. How many minutes is it going to take to read Five, four, three, two? The average reader will pull this off in 10 minutes. All right, average is 10, which makes this, by the way, a very long song. Greengrass and High Tides Forever Outlaws kind of a long song or Rush with a drum solo that goes forever. But it also makes it one of the shortest books of the Bible. This is the other thing I want you wrestling with. This is a book of the Bible, but you do not want to read this like a book. You do not want to read this like a newspaper. It is a song. More on that later.
Speaker 1:Number two it's just like Esther in that blank isn't mentioned. Go, going from question one to question two is so fun because everybody has an opinion on question one. Question two is like I don't want to look dumb, this is a great place to get things wrong because we're going to the one who gets everything right. It's just like Esther in that 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, done. Oh sorry, I'm on my eraser. In that, god isn't mentioned. Oh, not many people got that. Yeah, there you go. God is not mentioned in Esther. It's also not mentioned here.
Speaker 1:It was historically read every blank. This is a calendar answer, all right. This was historically read every blank. This is a calendar answer, all right. This was historically read every blank and it's a calendar answer. Five, four, three, two. It was historically read every Passover.
Speaker 1:Now, let me hit pause on this. Let me hit pause on this. The reason I want to hit pause is because there were about four or five books of the Bible that you hold today that would have been read during the Passover celebration, when the Hebrew people got together. Hear me on this. What you're about to read is something they read every single year as a community the fact that we have many a show of hands. How many of you have been at a church that walked through this book of the Bible? Go, put them up, because I really want to see them. Okay, the fact. Okay. Are you counting impact? Or are we all going to churches that? Did it? Really? Go team? All right, you want to know why? Because y'all go to young. Yeah, really I want it. Send me the link. I'll do it next Easter, save some time? All right. So this would have been something that churches, that God's people, would have read every year. The fact that most of us have not is really to our detriment and shame. We are missing out on something that God has for us All. Right, if you haven't gotten on the board yet, I'm giving you a 50-50.
Speaker 1:It is rarely or frequently quoted elsewhere in Scripture this book, you know how sometimes Jesus will point to this or an Old Testament will point to that Cross-referencing. Is it rarely or frequently quoted elsewhere in Scripture? Five, four, it is rarely. Wait, hey, can I show you how rarely. It's never quoted anywhere else in scripture. Does it still belong? I'm going to argue that it does and I'm going to try to show you a couple of places. Why.
Speaker 1:According to scripture, solomon wrote how many songs and this is what he considered to be his best. There's a scripture that we have that tells us how many songs Solomon wrote and how many proverbs he wrote. I'm only giving you 10 seconds, so unless you're already on Google, you're not going to get this. How many songs did Solomon write of those? This was his best. It is a number and it's not none. It's also not one. According to scripture, solomon wrote 1,005 songs. See how I delayed the five. That's called crowd work. Everybody All right. 1,005 songs. I do not know I'm not a musician, carl you and I could maybe talk about this. I don't know what an impressive album anthology is. I don't know how many songs were written that are an impressive number, but I will tell you this 1,005 seems amazing. Additionally, let me get your eyes on this for a minute.
Speaker 1:The Bible tells us that Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. He was also an absolute knucklehead, which should tell you. None of us should really get too proud about how smart we are or how wise we are. The wisest man ever, by the way. He also wrote 3,000 Proverbs. The wisest man ever wrote 1,005 songs. Wisest guy to ever walk the planet, and you are reading what he considered to be his very best one. That's what we are looking at.
Speaker 1:Does this deserve to be here? Absolutely yes. It is the only book of the Bible to consistently be given to what I know. This one's incredibly open-ended, only book of the Bible to consistently be given to five, four, three, two, one titles or names Song of Songs and Song of Solomon. All right, psalms.
Speaker 1:Song of Songs and Song of Solomon. All right, I'll explain why. There are two of those in the moments to come. And it's one of only two books where we are not sure about the. Again, I know this one's incredibly wide open. I'll give you 10 seconds. We're not sure about the. In case you haven't gotten any points yet, I'll give you the first letter. We do not know the author. Now, that may surprise you, because the book literally says the Song of Solomon's or Solomon's Song. Let me tell you why. Other Bibles, depending on your version, will call it the Song of Songs. Playing off of the very first line, this is the song of songs. Just as Jesus is the Lord of Lords or the King of Kings, this is the greatest song of any song ever sung, which is Solomon's.
Speaker 1:When we read that theologians disagree, they disagree on did Solomon write this, or was this written about Solomon, or was this written to Solomon? One of the reasons we're a little bit unsure is because Solomon's life was a hot mess. The guy had 700 wives. That's a lot. He then had 300 concubines Makes it worse 10 times worse. And so the question is was this written by Solomon to Solomon or about him? And I'm going to give you what I think is the best answer, momentarily, but for our purposes today, as we think about the context and the purpose of the book, that's part one of our morning.
Speaker 1:Here's what Douglas O'Donnell says is my favorite commentary thus far. The song is a song that Adam could have sung in the garden when Eve arose miraculously from his side, and it remains a song that we can and should sing in the bedroom, the church and the marketplace of ideas. In other words, I think there are four places in your mind. This scripture should live In the garden. What we see in this song is the ideal male-female marital romantic relationship. If Eve hadn't listened to the snake, if Adam had stepped on its head, what you are going to read is what all of our relationships would have looked like.
Speaker 1:This is God's ideal romantic relationship, but it isn't just the ideal. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It's why we need the cross, it's why we need grace and it's why God offers it to us so long as your heart is beating and your lungs are breathing. It is offered to you if you do not have that today. But it isn't just an ideal that we see in the garden. It should invade our bedrooms, and I mean by that exactly what you think. I mean by that.
Speaker 1:This should also be the aspiration. Now, some of you don't like ideals. You don't like ideals because they seem far away and far-fetched and I'm never gonna be perfect enough to attain it. But I would encourage you that, as a Christian, even though we will never be perfect in Christ-like, we want to be more like Christ. And this speaks to every married content and discontent, single content and discontent. And it says this is what you should aspire to find in the love that you desire and the love that you express. It is also for the church.
Speaker 1:More often than not, the illustration of God's love to his people is coupled in marriage. He's referred to Old Testament and new as the bride groom. The groom to the bride, jesus, is called the head of the church and her groom, she, is called his bride. The illustrations that scripture use we can pull out of this, and please hear me on this there ought to be a passion in our romantic love as Christians and even though there is no erotic version of that passion in God's love toward us, there is a lesson in that. Follow me on this.
Speaker 1:According to Matthew, jesus says there is no marriage in heaven. If that's new to you, I'll be happy to grab coffee and we can talk about it. There is no giving and receiving in marriage, but we are like angels. So since God's word is true and since Jesus said, however it works out in heaven, marriage will not be a part of it. You'll know your spouse, you'll love your spouse. It's heaven, okay. What it tells me is this what we as humans Christian and non think is the pinnacle of love, receiving, giving and making is so far sufficient from what you will have in heaven. What this should call us to realize is, if there is no marriage in heaven and there is no intimacy into that way in heaven and heaven's love is deeper, wider and grander than anything we have here there is something you and I cannot even imagine that God has for us, and it has nothing to do with whether we are married here or single here.
Speaker 1:The other thing that we see is this should be invading the marketplace of ideas and this, by the way, is my favorite. It's my favorite because I know a bunch of you watch Love is Blind and I know a bunch of you watch the Bachelor and the best of you watch Love on the Spectrum, and I will talk to you about it all day long. Okay, but our culture screams here's what love is. It looks like this and it sounds like this. Let me get into the text. It smells like this and it tastes like this. It feels like this and I love, love, love. That God's word says. You think the culture wants to talk about this? Let me enter into the space as well, and God unashamedly steps in to a human woman and a human man and he says let me tell you how beautiful, white, hot, passionate, meaningful I desire for this to be as well. And so, when we look at this, it should invade all of these spaces. And if you're a note taker, let me tell you the four purposes that I think we will find. Number one this is a song and its purpose is to be a song.
Speaker 1:If you look through scripture, from Genesis, chapter 29, to Judges 14, you will find that God's people, their wedding celebration lasted. Anybody want to guess how many days a wedding went back in the day? Seven days, way to go. Kudos. All right, seven days long, can I just tell you, when I talk to newlyweds or not newlyweds, when I'm doing pre-marriage counseling, here's what I hear more than anything else Will. Could we do the ceremony in like 25, 30 minutes? What do you think? And then they're like but we want to pour sand, tie ropes, do communion, and I'm like no, I want to talk about Jesus. Can I have 30 seconds to talk about Jesus? All right. So I just want you to know our culture doesn't view it the way theirs did.
Speaker 1:Seven days, and let me just be a little straight up and honest with you what those seven days looked like. It did look like a wedding celebration. It did look like a woman and a man coming together in front of a community, making a commitment to one to the other and then beginning their honeymoon but this is what might make you blush to the other and then beginning their honeymoon. But this is what might make you blush. You were all there too. They enjoyed their honeymoon. They came out of their tent and the party continued. They drank wine together, they ate food together. They, as a community, celebrated love for seven days.
Speaker 1:They dug into this and it, what you are going to read, is a song, which is why, when we read it, you'll notice this, ashley, said she and others. If you have an ESV, you're going to see this breakdown. Why? Because when this song is sung and, by the way, let me tell you who I let me enter into authorship now. I do think Solomon wrote this. I'm not standing behind the pulpit because this is Will's best guess.
Speaker 1:I do think Solomon wrote this. But how does a guy with 700 wives, 300 concubines, that God said, if you run after all of these women, you're gonna run away from me, becomes a polygamist and an idolater? How does he write this song? A number of theologians think and I would enter into this thought he wrote this late in life. He wrote this song. Is that a bird? Or am I just looking good? Okay, all right. He wrote this song from the perspective of the bride.
Speaker 1:To say, you'll read in Ecclesiastes that I didn't hold my heart from anything that I thought was pleasurable, but when I look back, this is the advice I would give my younger self I would look at my younger self and I would say why are you spreading your love across a thousand different places when you would have found more meaning and more satisfaction, more depth, more passion, more enjoyment if you had laser focused on one and one alone? I think that is what this song screams, as there is this melody of a woman and a melody of a husband and the melody of the community around them, and when you read this like a book, you miss out. Tell me if you can spot the difference. This, uh, the upper portion is a poem by Lord Byron called she Walks in Beauty. Tell me if you can spot the difference in poetry and prose. She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climbs and starry skies and all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes Thus mellowed to that tender light which heaven to gaudy day denies. Or you could say, a woman in a black dress with shiny beads look pretty when she walked by. Can you tell the difference, ladies? You feel the difference.
Speaker 1:If you're going to read this like you read Romans, if you're going to read this the way you read the gospel of Luke, you are electing to pick the secondary reading. When we read this, we are encouraged to say let him kiss me. With the kisses of his mouth. I want to enter into the passion and the romance which God created for you single and married content, and not parent of child. The second thing that we will see is this is about human love. One of the issues that we can have is we can over-spiritualize things. We can say you know what? You can read this all day long. You can read anybody, because it's only talking about Jesus and the bride. But it isn't because there's too much of an erotic component tucked into this. It doesn't make sense because that is not the way that God loves us. His love is bigger, it's more passionate, it's more loving, even though we can't get our minds to wrap around it yet, as with many things in scripture. But this is an invitation to see what a man and a woman can find in Christ together.
Speaker 1:When this was written, about a thousand years before Christ came incarnate, the only two expressions of sexual romantic love on the planet were one a husband and his wife, and two, sexual slavery. The world we live in has put this huge gray area of casual sexuality in the middle. You will not find that in the song. You will not find it in scripture. It was in marriage, and it was in marriage alone, or it was deviant slavery. Those were the only two things, and so let us be careful not to say that this book ought not be for us.
Speaker 1:Finally, actually, this one's third, thirdly, it is found in the Bible, and we must read it as such. It is in the Bible because, while it is going to say here's what your love can be, should be, should aspire to be, it is also going to show us a love that is beyond us. Is it just a love song? No, is it an image? Yes, but it is not just an image. It is God displaying the passion that he has for us. And then, finally, the fourth purpose is it is written to give us wisdom.
Speaker 1:It comes third Ecclesiastes, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and then Song of Songs, of which Solomon, the wisest man ever, is given credit for, and Proverbs. I don't know if you know this or not. Proverbs is primarily written to young men. The word son comes up dozens of times, daughter, not one time. And so if Proverbs is a book saying hey, here is what young men need to know, it's Song of Songs is saying hey, young ladies. Listen up Now. It isn't just for young ladies, but it is especially written to them in a very special kind of way that girls are admonished to wait, even when everything within them and without of them is saying yes and now. And this is the thing that Solomon would have wished for himself. I'll tell you the most encouraging thing to me about the wisdom that's given. It is written where's my wife? I'm going to try to do it better this time. Her feedback was that didn't make any sense. You ready? Here's my best chance.
Speaker 1:It is written most likely by a man, solomon, who was wise, but it's written from the perspective of a female who is lavishing in the love that she has found, a love that she has found in waiting. And here's what I love about it the wisdom is not coming to you from some scholar. The wisdom is not coming from an old man with a big beard, a pastor, a preacher or a teacher. Here's the way you're supposed to hear this beard a pastor, a preacher or a teacher. Here's the way you're supposed to hear this A young woman who did it right, looking at all of us and saying it is worth it. It is worth it to wait, it is worth it to trust God, it is worth it to honor him, and if you will see what I have seen, if you will find what I have found, it will tell all of your passions Shh. Be quiet until the appropriate time. Trust God with the timing, which is a universal truth. This young lady would have known Titus 2.3, which had yet to be written. Older women are to be reverent in behavior and not slanderers or slaves to much wine. Teach what is good. She finds this love and wants to tell everyone it's worth doing it God's way. She's going to train the young women Love your husbands, love your children. And she is leaning into a scripture that had yet to be written. Caveat Some of us are gonna read this book and we're gonna say I'm so glad I did it the right way.
Speaker 1:Others of us are going to read this book and we're going to say I'm so glad I did it the right way. Others of us are going to read this book and we're going to have to push against shame and condemnation, and it is important to me that you know this. The love that you are going to read about you may not have done life this way. It is still the love that God has for you, and there is grace that is sufficient for every failure that you have had, and you will see that as well. So, with all of that, here is an encouragement in wisdom For all of us. The lesson is this Putting Christ and his kingdom first means putting sex second, or third or 50th, and for those gifted with singleness, putting God's kingdom first means sex never. Jesus is celibate, and Jesus celebrates the celibate, and so should we. Does this book belong in the Bible? Absolutely, I think it does.
Speaker 1:Now, all I want to do to finish this out this morning is point to a couple of things. I didn't just want to prep you. I wanted to walk us through a couple of things, and so here is what I would like us to see. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. Your anointing oils are fragrant. Your name is oil poured out. Therefore, virgins, this means young ladies love you. Here's what I want you to hear.
Speaker 1:It begins with a bang. This first three verses is just one scene. It's one scene. It's almost like a trailer to a movie. You're just trying to watch something on YouTube and all of a sudden you get a trailer for a new movie. There is no slow ramp up. The scene opens with this deeply passionate kiss. This is not a love you, mom, this is not a. At church, you both go the same way and it becomes this awkward holy kiss. It's not one of those it's. You may kiss your bride, and they've talked about it. Are you coming in? Am I coming in? Is somebody leaning back? And it is this deep, meaningful, passionate, long kiss. Deep, meaningful, passionate, long kiss.
Speaker 1:One of the things that you will find in scripture is that romantic love does have chemistry. It has significant chemistry. We also don't even know who's speaking. We don't know who this man is. We don't know their history. We don't even know if they're married. At this point, all we know is she is intoxicated with this guy's love and he has done her a couple of favors as well. When she draws near him, his breath is something she doesn't mind. He's brushed his teeth and probably chewed on one too many Tic Tacs that he regretted in the moment, but it's paying off in the long run. He tossed his Axe body spray a couple of years ago and he invested in something that smelled less like a 13-year-old kid. And she sees it and here's what I want you to pick up on this. She feels appreciated because he is displaying that she is. She feels valued because he is showing her that you are valuable. But it isn't just chemistry.
Speaker 1:One of the things, one of the hardest pieces of advice that I have to give young men who come to me and they say, will, I want to be in a relationship? And then if they say this, I love their theology, but I hate their theology. They'll say, and you know what? I know that it's just God and his timing. I'm going to wait and I'm like like, yes, and you're not doing yourself any favors. Can't tell you. That's a hard conversation to have with a guy. You don't have a job. She's gonna want that. You don't take care of yourself. You're not making yourself the very thing that scripture says a woman is going to long for. Are you putting yourself in a place to be desirable? It's an awkward conversation, but I have it. I will have it. If you want to have it, let me know and then you'll have it.
Speaker 1:The other thing I want you to see is how much celebration pours out in this. Your love is better than wine In scripture. Wine is something that points to celebration. It's something that points to abundance. When Jesus performs his first miracle, he turns water into at a, and the very first miracle that Jesus puts on display is you should expect in me to find passion, abundance, meaning depth, marriage forever under a covenant and a promise that will never end. Heaven is a place of celebration. So, yes, let us be theologically serious. But, christian, you ought to have a theology of celebration. You ought to know how to celebrate good things. Well, and she does when she looks at him.
Speaker 1:But it isn't just chemistry. This man has something else. He has character and it spills out on the floor in front of him. But it isn't just chemistry. This man has something else. He has character and it spills out on the floor in front of him. How do we know this? Because it tells us your anointing oils are fragrant. The guy doesn't just smell good, your name is oil poured out. You ever dropped like a can of olive oil or vegetable oil on the floor while you were cooking. You're not getting it up, you're gonna see it forever. It's gonna attract all. If you have any kind of floor that has any kind of pour, it's gonna soak the stuff up and you're trying to get it up but you can't and it just spreads into every nook and cranny. This man's name has done that.
Speaker 1:Why is it that virgins seek after him? Why is it my interpretation? Young ladies wanna be near the guy Because he has spent time putting the chemistry together and everybody respects this guy. It's not just chemistry, it is character. His name is known, it flows out into the community. All of the young ladies are like I'd take a piece of that. I'll go on a date with that guy. You better believe I will. This is the kind of man that I want to be with.
Speaker 1:They would say he is a man of character and I'll tell you this choked me up in the first service and I don't even know why. But when she says, draw me after you, she's still allowing him to lead, but she is not hiding her feelings for him. Let us run. Imagine this race, this adventure that we could be on together. And then she says the king. Now you could say, well, it's because Solomon was a king. But keep in mind, he's the cautionary tale. He's actually gonna show up as the antagonist in this.
Speaker 1:This young woman is the protagonist and this man, by the way, she speaks about 53% of the time. The guy speaks a third of the time and then this community speaks for about 15%. She is the loudest voice here and when she talks about him she calls him a king. Now, if you want to look in your Bible and you look in verse seven, what you're going to realize is this guy's a shepherd. So could they be talking about this David type guy who was a shepherd, who became a king? Yeah, maybe they could. But can I tell you what I think is probably happening? I think this is a guy who works a nine to five. I think this is a guy whose hands are calloused, he doesn't have a crown, he doesn't have a scepter and he doesn't have a throne, but his name is known and his chemistry is strong and because of the way he works, because of the way he loves her, because of the way he provides, because of the way he thinks ahead, because of these things, she looks at him and she says that's my king, that's the one who I will follow, that's the one I can trust my life with. And he looks at her and says you treat me in a kingly way, even if I don't have a kingdom to share. He is honorable, respectable and upright. Finally, you will see this In scripture.
Speaker 1:Romantic love consists of chemistry, character and community, and can I tell you that even Christians would typically be fine with just the first two. But God's word has more for us than that. The world may only look for number one Christian. Your bare minimum should be one and two. But if you really want to glorify God in your romantic relationships, add the third piece.
Speaker 1:The scene opens with a passionate kiss. It opens with her louding this guy and his incredible name, but it ends like this we will exalt and rejoice in you. The community is pumped about this relationship. We are going to extol your love more than wine, more than abundance, more than goodness. Rightly do they love you. The whole community is a part of this.
Speaker 1:Now, I don't know if you have seen this play out or not, but when you see a guy whose chemistry is good and his character is better, the guy's more concerned about diapers than dumbbells. And, by the way, if you're a guy and you think dumbbells are the thing that are gonna get you there, it's not the right girl. Okay, there is very little, by the way. You can't change diapers here. You have to find another place to do it. But there is very little more attractive to a woman who is serious about a man than seeing him love children, seeing him live a sacrificial life, seeing him notice other people who are socially below him and lifting them up. That will mean more to her than a hundred reps on a bench. I promise you that. And that's the kind of woman you would want. But this guy is known. This way the community looks and they say, hey, girl, we know you, we know your blind spots, we know your emotions, we know that sometimes you get a little bit ahead of yourself. But this man's respectable. He's respectable because everybody knows he is. We know that you're physically attracted to him. We know that you respect and admire him, and so do we. So run hard after this kind of a guy.
Speaker 1:One of my favorite things to see happen at church is relationships be born because they came to church. It's just this guy who sort of shows up and somebody doesn't show up for kids ministry and Natalie's like, hey, could you swing in and help with the babies? And guy's like, all right, yeah, I mean I've never held one, but whatever, okay, serve the Lord. They say. So he walks in and he starts holding this baby and he starts rocking because, for whatever reason, it's knit into us. And when we hold a baby, we go side to side and there's this 20 year old girl who is always there. She's been serving there for six months and all of a sudden she goes oh, okay, okay, let's see how patient you are Spits up over him. He's like, oh, look at this. And she's like, oh, okay, he starts holding two. All of a sudden, the next thing, you know, they go out to tacos with some folks in like a small group and six months later we get an invitation to the wedding. I love that stuff.
Speaker 1:This is the kind of stuff that should be happening at the church. Please add community. And when you do, let me give you the hardest part. We are called to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep, which means when they celebrate their love some of those young ladies, christians, you should celebrate love even when others have it. You need to be celebrating a godly love. If you do not and this is not just talking to 18-year-olds or 23-year-olds or 28-year-olds that are not dating. This is talking to people who have been married for 20 years, looking at a marriage that seems better than theirs. You need to celebrate good love that is godly, even and especially if you feel left out.
Speaker 1:In the moment. There is not a one of you that God will not fully satisfy if you will go to him to be fully satisfied. The question is how do you get there? You're gonna get there seeking these three things, and I will promise you this it is not something that you deserve from God, it's not something you deserve in another and it's not something that you deserve from him. I'm about to freak y'all out. I know what time it is. I hear Stokes playing in the background, so don't let this slide mess you up.
Speaker 1:Not about to read the whole thing. How do we get there? How do we get to a love that's full of chemistry, that's based in character and that's surrounded and supported by a community? We get there through God's word and that's surrounded and supported by a community. We get there through God's word and what I would encourage every husband and every wife, everyone who is single, before you leave today, I want you to pick character, chemistry or community, and I want you to share one thing that that person does well in your relationship. And then I want you to ask them can I teach you one thing about me? Can I teach you one of the things that I would love to see in our relationship? If you're single, I want you to pick one out. I want you to grow in it yourself and then I want you to start looking for it in someone else. And all of these things, I knew it was going to happen. So there you go. There's the whole list. Knock yourselves out, but here's the way to end this morning. The way to end this morning is not just to tease you with what good love could be.
Speaker 1:The best way to end this is by asking a big question at the end of the service. I'll put this up, so, if your phone's still up. Sorry, bert, although, bert, how long you been married now, gina? How long y'all been married? 53, the fact that you're taking yeah, I praise God. One of the reasons you're married 53 in July is because you're still taking pictures of this 53 years. In the way I would like to close is by you just looking at this word.
Speaker 1:The community looks at this woman and they say it's right for you to love him. They look at the relationship and they say it's right for you to have him. They look at the relationship and they say it's right for you to have it. But let me tell you this and why I think this book deserves to be in the Bible. It is not right for God to love you. Just to be very honest with you your chemistry is not very impressive. Your greatest impression and delight is so far below God's standard, your character laughable compared to the character of God. Your community, that great, deep conversation of prayer that you have with God that knocks him off his throne because of how impressive you are, doesn't exist. He had perfect community in the Trinity. So the fact that God wants to love you, that is the most impressive thing. Because it is not right for him to do so. It is grace for him to do so. It is that God shows his love for us in that, while we are still sinning, christ dies for us.
Speaker 1:It is Samuel Crossman, the hymn writer, saying you wanna know my song of love? It's Love Unknown. How can I know why a God who created me, that I rebelled from, loves me, sends his spirit to be a part of my life, sends his son to rescue me, provides the father's plan for every one of my days before they come to be. You want to know what love is to me. It's this it's love to loveless that somehow I would become lovable Christian. This is your calling for the rest of your life.
Speaker 1:It isn love to loveless that somehow I would become lovable Christian. This is your calling for the rest of your life. It isn't to love lovely things, it's to love unlovely things and by so doing, make them lovely, which, if you're a Christian, is exactly what God is doing with you, and if you are not, it is his desire to do so. So let us be a people who, while we are still sinners, draw near to the one who loves you more than you could ever imagine. That may look like standing and singing loud and proud. It might look like walking out the back, praying and talking with God. It might look like coming and talking with a pastor, but let this kind of love be something you respond to today, and I look forward to hanging out with you in the next six weeks as we dig into some really deep, beautiful, wonderful things. Church, please stand as we respond to God's word.