MidTree Church
The sermon audio of MidTree Church in Harris County, Ga. BEHOLD // BELIEVE // BECOME
MidTree Church
The Garden We Lost, The Beauty We Seek | Pastor Will Hawk | May 4th, 2025
What does God really think about beauty? Far from the awkward silence many expect from the church on this topic, the Bible speaks candidly and powerfully about physical attraction, self-image, and how we view one another.
In this exploration of Song of Solomon, we discover a woman who feels insufficient despite receiving lavish praise from her beloved. "I am dark but lovely," she confesses – acknowledging both her beauty and what she perceives as imperfection. This duality mirrors our spiritual condition: simultaneously bearing God's image yet marked by brokenness. When she compares herself to common wildflowers, her beloved counters with stunning affirmation: "As a lily among brambles, so is my love among young women." He doesn't just see her beauty; he celebrates what makes her exceptional.
This ancient text reveals a profound truth for modern relationships: there's a significant difference between lying and choosing to see the best in someone. The couple engages in a beautiful exchange of affirmation that creates a sanctuary of love – where their native language becomes mutual encouragement, blessing and praise. Their garden rendezvous deliberately echoes Eden, reminding us of what love looked like before sin distorted it – when we could share ourselves without shame and build each other up rather than tear each other down.
Our beauty-obsessed culture could learn much from Solomon's perspective: physical beauty is a gift to enjoy and cultivate, but never a god to worship. Love may delight in the body, but it must be anchored in the soul. As we battle against aging (a fight where "time is undefeated"), remember that what truly matters is the growth of character, the wisdom that comes with years, and the beauty that outlasts physical appeal.
Join us in discovering how Scripture offers a refreshingly balanced approach that neither idolizes physical attractiveness nor dismisses its significance – showing us instead how to receive beauty as a gift, ground it in covenant love, and surrender it to the glory of God.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
Good morning church. We're going to be reading from Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verses 1 through 7, which is on page 560 in the Pew Bibles. So I'll give you a couple seconds to turn there. I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys, as a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women. As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me into the banqueting house and his banner over me was love. Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. His left hand is under my head and his right hand embraces me. I adjure you, o daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2:Thanks, landry, much appreciated. In case you're curious, we have begun about a seven-week study on the Song of Solomon, so the readings will get progressively more provocative as we dig in. Also wanted to let you guys know a couple of things. We had a number of people say hey, will, are we going to do the Bible journals while we're walking through the Song of Solomon? We did grab some Some of you already noticed that and grabbed them off the table on your way out. If you want to grab one so that you can have notes as we work through this book together, please feel free to do so. Hey, adam, question for you.
Speaker 2:I worked at Camp Joy for about eight years. In fact, over half of our staff at the church full-time staff worked at Camp Joy and we would come up to the crossroads. Back then it was a farm. Do you remember those days? Were you around? Okay, so we would come up to the farm and they had pigs and they had an emu farm at one period. But here's my big question Do you guys do anything with bicycles anymore? You have no clue what I'm talking about. So, the crossroads guys, back in the day when I was down the hill at Camp Joy, one of the ministries was they would work on bicycles that would then go back to Valley Rescue Mission to provide bikes that actually worked for the kids who came in the shop to get them, and we would go every summer at the beginning of camp and we got to pick out our bike that we got to ride around camp.
Speaker 2:I love you guys. I'm so pumped to have you. We'd love to maybe have you guys come back and share a testimony or two with us one Sunday. Thank you guys for being here. Also, impactors I know we have fewer in first service than second. I'm gonna miss you guys.
Speaker 2:This is last Sunday, right Last Sunday. We're at second service. I know that most of y'all come second service, so we're praying you guys off second service. But since you may not be here, just wanted to tell you, love you so, excited for whatever God has next for you and grateful for your time with us. All. Right, here we go. Song of Songs is where we are. Song of Solomon same book, two different titles. Let me give you a couple of heads ups. Number one men in the room, boys in the room, women I'm not quite as worried about you on this one. Next week is Mother's Day. This is your heads up. This is your kind, shepherdly, pastoral warning that Amazon two-day delivery is still in your favor. I cannot make this announcement to you in three days. That is my little gift to you this Sunday.
Speaker 2:Now, as we jump into the book talking about love, here's what we did last week. As we started the book, in the event that you're parachuting in with us, the first thing we asked is does this book belong in the Bible? When Landry is reading verse six, I think, which is my favorite of the section we're going to look at today, and it says his hand is behind my, his left hand. I love the specificity there. He's probably a righty. His left hand is behind my neck, his right hand embraces me.
Speaker 2:The concept here is love is something created by God to be cherished by God. But, as with every good gift that God gives us, we love taking good things and making them God things, and so the slide that we ended with last week was this In scripture, romantic love consists of chemistry, yes, character, of course, and community. But the slide I ran out of time and I didn't get to show you last week was this one. I know it's a little bit small, sorry to the folks in the back. These are all of the themes we're going to look at over the next six weeks. I'm not going to read them all out to you. I also am wise enough not to put folks in the back. These are all of the themes we're going to look at over the next six weeks. I'm not going to read them all out to you. I also am wise enough not to put them in order, because some of you will pick your favorites and skip church on the ones that you don't necessarily like. So in no particular order.
Speaker 2:That being said, this Sunday what we are going to be looking at is, according to Scripture, what is beauty? And can I just give you a little bit of what I would call a squirm warning? All right, none of the verses we are going to look at today move heavy into PG-13. It's God's book. None of it's R-rated, none of it's restricted to anybody who comes to it rightly, but we're not even going to move into a heavy PG-13. However, middle schoolers in the room, there might be a little squirming at one or two parts. High schoolers in the room they've evolved beyond squirming, but there may be some side glances to try to find their friends in the sanctuary. So I'm just giving you that heads up if your kids are with you. Here is where we find ourselves Now. Thus far in the book, we're only four verses.
Speaker 2:In starting, in verse five, the young man has yet to speak. You've only heard from the woman so far in the song of Solomon. You're going to hear from him for the first time today and I will tell you. Men, you need to hear what this guy has to say, and more than what he has to say, you need to listen to what the purpose of his words are when he uses them. But here's how the song begins.
Speaker 2:Verses 1 through 4 are her saying Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. His love is better than His name. Is oil poured out? She is lavishing on this guy incredible amounts of beauty and encouragement and affirmation. And then she looks in the mirror and here's what she would say of herself I'm very dark but lovely. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kadar, like the curtains of Solomon, do not gaze at me because I am dark. She looks at him and gives him all of this praise, and then she looks in the mirror and all of a sudden feels insufficient. I don't care how young you are in the room. I don't care how beautiful you are in the room. I don't care how beautiful you are in the room.
Speaker 2:Every one of us has looked in the mirror at one time or another and gone, and the older you get, the more frequent that happens. Okay, that's just one of the realities of beauty, and as we talk about beauty today, I want you to understand something. I'm not going to give you the pastor shuffle where I say everything is inner beauty. God's word has no trouble talking about things that might be uncomfortable. It has no problem in Genesis, talking about the differences in Leah and Rachel and how one of them had a higher beauty quotient than the other did. But the Bible also meets us in these moments when we look in the mirror and we don't like what we see, and it is something profound to say to us. She looks at herself and her culture was a little different than ours. She's got a killer tan is what this says. The reason we know that is because of how she got here. Don't gaze at me because I am dark. I look. My skin is like the tents that litter the area, weather worn and sun washed. Why? Because the sun has looked upon me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I haven't kept.
Speaker 2:This story is less like Esther and more like Cinderella. Esther, we read about, spends 12 months trying to make herself beautiful for the man that she is trying to court here. This is not what we find. What we find is more of a Cinderella story. There's a quote from Douglas O'Donnell. She has a working class complexion and her hair is undone and her attire is unattractive. She's been on her feet all day pruning vines or picking grapes, shooing away sneaky foxes that would come into the vineyard, and when she gets off her shift she calls it a day. No time for a manicure and pedicure and certainly no time to powder her sunburned cheeks. A manicure and pedicure and certainly no time to powder her sunburned cheeks. That is what she thinks of her own body and the way that she got here.
Speaker 2:You can see in the little area that I've boxed, these are not what she refers to as her brothers, but her mother's sons. For whatever reason, she is in a family environment where she has half brothers who seem to resent her. Cinderella had step sisters in the tale that we have all heard. But here she is, in a family that has probably had some difficulty in it to lead here, and her brothers have looked at her with some kind of rejection. We don't know why the Bible doesn't tell us why. All we know is she feels like life hasn't been fair to her, that she wants to give to this man the best that she can when it comes to the beauty she can offer, but she feels like the world is working against her. She says they made me keeper of the vineyards. I didn't want this job. It was foist upon me. This was not a choice. The responsibilities that lay in my hands and at my feet prevent me from being and presenting myself the way that I want to. There's no getting around it. The world has tainted her beauty and it's also tainted her understanding of it.
Speaker 2:But tucked into this is not just the Bible being realistic about physical beauty and our perceptions of it. Tucked into this is this beautiful little nugget of theology, because every one of us on the spiritual side are simultaneously dark and lovely, is what scripture would tell us. We are far too darkened by sin, but we are lovely by design. A couple of you guys said Will, why are you wearing a suit today? What happened? First of all, whenever you tell me that, you tell me what Sundays you miss, I'm wearing. I put on my jacket because this is Communion Sunday and I tend to dress it up a little bit more for Communion Sunday.
Speaker 2:I point to that at this point in our service because, when we end, all of you who are members of the family of faith you don't have to be a member of midtree, but you need to be a believer All of you are going to be invited to come down to a table that you don't deserve to sit at, that was prepared for you by another. And when you come, you're going to come with two things You're going to come with darkness and you're going to come with loveliness. This is one of the most fascinating realities of humans compared to everything else in all creation. You are darkened by the world that you live in, the sin within you and the sin without the world that wants to wear you down. You are constantly being attacked by the outside and by the inside, and every now and then, when we're honest with ourselves, we look down and we realize I'm not anywhere near as beautiful as what God has called me to be, not beautiful in my thoughts, in my words, in my actions. And yet God never stops calling you lovely. You are, in all creation, the only thing created in the image of the one who created all things you. Nothing else stands out as the imago Dei, the image of God. So, yes, we're gonna talk about physical beauty, but please grab this, consider this, prepare your hearts for communion with this.
Speaker 2:We humans are unique and at our best, we are the only thing made in the image of our creator. At our best, we are the only thing made in the image of our creator. At our worst, we are the only ones who keep turning away from our creator after he has offered us glorious grace. We seem to be simultaneously more glorious than the angels and filled with more garbage than the demons. And if that causes you to stutter and say, well, that can't be possible, can I just submit to garbage than the demons. And if that causes you to stutter and say, well, that can't be possible, can I just submit to you that the demons were never given a second chance, and we are. And even after being given a second chance, we turn to sin and we turn to sin and we turn to sin and we turn to sin. Dark but lovely, yes, and may all of us find ourselves at a table we didn't deserve to be at but for our purposes in this moment, just understand that this young lady wants to have a right understanding of her beauty. She has an accurate image of self. The world's done a number on me, but there is something intrinsically beautiful about me and it would be wise for us to do the same.
Speaker 2:I'm going to take you back in time a little bit to enjoy this reality with me. If, when I was in my young 20s, I'm guessing I was probably married here, 25. If I was at a party and I wanted to court an available young female and John playing the drums here in rock band and Stokes, of course, lead vocals in rock band on the PlayStation 2, if we were all at a party, where's Stokes? Where is he? Is he in the green room? Has he done his job and left? Okay, all right, that's fine. Right, that's fine, whatever, all right, hey, dude, I love you so much.
Speaker 2:One of my highlights of this morning was knowing that you're gonna have to look at you for a minute and I'm just gonna let it linger. If the three of us showed up to a party and we were interested in a young lady and the young lady was interested in somebody who was tall, I can tell you who she is going to notice of the three of us. If the young lady is interested in somebody with musical talent, I can tell you who she is going to be interested in. If she wanted somebody who was wise and intelligent, gentle, yet strong. Whatever, I think it's important for us to have an accurate self-image, and I wouldn't even say that an accurate image of ourselves, because God has made no mistakes in the way he made you. Your height is not a mistake. Beauty is something to be cultivated, absolutely. But what we're going to find is our culture tends to swing really far one way or really far to the other, and there is this Godward tension and the Bible doesn't mind discussing it.
Speaker 2:Stokes I'll take it off for you when she continues thinking about herself. This, by the way, is after the young man has had a moment to affirm her. She comes around a little bit. In chapter two, verse one, she says okay, okay, there are broken things in me, but there is intrinsic beauty. So I'm willing to say this I'm a rose of Sharon. This would have been a bright red rose, a lily of the valleys. Now, this is perfect timing for us. When she says I'm a lily of the valleys, we think, oh, that's beautiful. And it is. She's saying I am beautiful, I am created beautiful. Yes, but here's what she does with her beauty. She says I'm a lily like any other lily in the valley Beautiful, yes, but when you compare me to the people around me, I am just some girl. There's nothing particularly impressive about me. I'm not really desirable enough, even though there is beauty in me.
Speaker 2:As you guys go home today, I would invite you to look in the middle of the highway as you go. It's the best time of year to look at. Song of Songs, chapter two, verse one. Why? Because wildflowers are springing up between the two highways. We don't have mountains in Columbus, georgia and Harris County. You go up a little bit, you'll find one, but there are no valleys between the two. And what this young lady is saying is you know what? I'm pretty? I'm pretty like a flower.
Speaker 2:And then here is the very next verse. The man hears what she says and he says no, no, as a lily among brambles. So is my love among the young women. Is she more beautiful than them? I don't know, but I will tell you this. He thinks so. He looks at her and he says don't you for a minute diminish yourself. When I see you, I see a lily that is surrounded by brambles. So is my love among the young women, men? This is where I want you to pay attention. He is looking for opportunities to encourage and affirm her, and you could say but Will, like what if she isn't Like what if she isn't as special?
Speaker 2:There's a difference between lying and choosing to see the best in someone. I would be willing to bet for many of you in this room, this is going to be the best thing that I have to say to you today. There is a difference between lying and choosing to see the best in someone. Lying is sinful, it is saying things that are not true, it's empty when we speak it.
Speaker 2:But Christians, specifically, can choose to focus on the good and the beautiful. And when you say, but Will? I don't want to lie, I want to be honest, yes, be honest. But, christian, you can choose to focus on what's beautiful. Will in my marriage? Will in my relationship? There are some very non-beautiful things, yes, and you need good communication skills. And when we do marriage coaching at the church that's week two, by the way If you need to get involved in that, if you and your spouse need to get involved in that, if you're moving towards marriage, if you just wanna be better at it before you end up in a relationship, I am happy to engage in that with you.
Speaker 2:I'm not asking you to lie, but what I am asking you to do is this Can you focus on what is beautiful? And I'm not even the one asking you. This is something that unbelievers should strive to do, but this is something Christians should be unbelievably good at. Christians should be unbelievably good at this because we were made to see the best in someone, because somebody chose to see the best in you. If God was waiting for you to be a lily among thorns, he'd be waiting three more millennia on top of, three more millennia on top of, but he chose to see you not as just someone with some intrinsic value, but as his cherished possession. Malachi says Christians, you were made for this. There's a difference between lying and choosing to see the best in someone.
Speaker 2:I've got a little quiz for you. I'm going to read the verse and I'm going to leave that one, two, three, four, fifth word blank. But it is going to be responsive. So start thinking and don't you cheat. And look it up right now. It'll go deeper if you don't. Finally, brothers, whatever is blank, don't say it yet. Whatever is honorable, whatever is just pure, lovely, commendable, any excellence, anything worthy of praise, here's what the Bible wants you to do. Think about those things. All right, bonus points to the camp store and one free journal to the Song of Solomon, if you can tell me what word goes right there? Is the Bible asking you to lie? No, the Bible is not asking you to lie.
Speaker 2:It begins this by saying what is true, but then it says when you look at the affection of your love, by the way, this is not just romantic love. It should be, I think, used in that way more than anything else, because it's where we are most efficient. I think this is the way you ought to be talking to your think. This is the way you ought to be talking to your employees. This is the way you ought to talk to your employer. This is the way to love your neighbor well. This is the way to encourage your daughter. This is the way to show leadership to your sons. This is the way to lead them.
Speaker 2:Romantic interests if you're dating. Do you see what this is saying? What are you choosing to focus on? Because the Bible says whatever is honorable. Can you find one thing Whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever. This is all encompassing and, as though that wasn't enough, it says is there anything? Is there anything worthy of praise? Can you look at them and say it is so honorable that you do this this way? When it comes to you being just, I love the fact that you are looking for the downtrodden and the ignored and you care about them.
Speaker 2:Whatever is pure in a world that wants to elevate what is not pure, you, my dear, my lovely, my friend, my whatever, my neighbor, you pursue what is pure and lovely. It is commendable the way that you work. It is commendable the way that you organize your calendar in such a way to not make yourself the center of your own universe. Excellence. You are excellent at this and this and this. Is there anything worthy of praise? Yes, and Christians, can I just tell you, every single person you will ever meet is created in the image of God and no matter how far they have run from his designs for them, god's designs for their beauty. There is always something tucked into them as being created. Will you think on these things? What do you choose to focus on? Because this is what he focuses on.
Speaker 2:As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women. She looks in the mirror, sees something unappealing. He looks at her and says you are beautiful, my dear, and I can give you a list because I've studied you and then I want you to notice what she does next. By the way, this is simply good leadership on the part of this young man. He spends time loving on her, encouraging her and affirming her, and she turns around and gives it right back to him as an apple tree among the trees of the forest, those boring old green trees with nothing worth looking at. That can't produce anything good for me. That's what you look like when I compare you to other men. No, you produce something. So is my beloved among the young men. Do you see what the language of their love is? Mutual encouragement, blessing and praise is the native tongue of their relationship.
Speaker 2:And if complimenting your spouse is hard right now, I'm okay with that. You may be coming in on a hot Sunday. All right, I've been there and I can tell from all the smiles I'm getting a lot of you have been there. Maybe your dating relationship isn't going super hot right now, maybe you're engaged, maybe whatever, and you will go through seasons where complimenting them feels impossible. This is all I would ask. It's okay that it may be hard right now. Can you look each other in the eye and say it's going to be really awkward, but that's what I want to do? It's going to be really hard right now, but that's what I want to do. Please do not give yourself a pass on this. This is the definition of biblical love and intimacy. And, by the way, this is not the only time they're going to compete with one another to show encouragement and affirmation. It gets better still.
Speaker 2:He looks at her and he says behold you are beautiful, my love. Behold you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves. I have ideas. It's poetry, it's poetry. It could mean that doves are innocent. It's poetry, it's poetry. It could mean that doves are innocent. And this girl's eyes are innocent. They don't wander, by the way, you'll find that to be true of her character in just a moment. Her eyes don't wander from one guy to the next. It could be that they're gentle. It may have something to do with them having a grayish color. We don't know, because the poetry doesn't explain it to us.
Speaker 2:But what I can tell you is this this guy is into her eyes. I gave you a score morning. Here's where it's going to come into play. Here is every body part that he references in the song. It's too small for you to see, so let me see what I can do. I just want you to notice this Her eyes for him, take the cake.
Speaker 2:Now, men, this may not be your ranking, and that's fine, but you need to know what you love about her. You need to know what you can praise about her. You need to know that this guy has no problem making quite a long, and he calls her eyes doves. And she responds If you're going to talk about my eyes, behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Now I have a question for you. Chemistry, character, community that is how the Bible defines romantic love.
Speaker 2:These last three verses I want you to. You can talk with the person next to you. I want you to tell me if you think that is chemistry or character. Here's what it says. She looks at him and she says our couch is green, the beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are pine. Is she talking about chemistry with this guy or is she talking about character? I'll give you seven seconds. Just share your thoughts with somebody next to you. Chemistry or character? Here's what I know. Oh, y'all are starting to disagree. Are you trying to convince the other person of something you're unsure of yourself? Sounds like y'all are ready for marriage.
Speaker 2:She immediately begins talking about something I've heard my wife talk about I'd like to have a nice new couch. I'm like this guy knows his woman all right. She looks at him and she's like I love our green couch, the beams of our house. He has created this stable home for us. When I look at our ceilings, I think this man has gone above and beyond by show of hands.
Speaker 2:How many of you guys went the character of the man, okay. How many of you went chemistry? How many of you won't raise? How many of you won't raise your hands because you don't want to be wrong at church? All right, we are going to hear about character. I think this is chemistry. I'll tell you why. By the way, you're not right or wrong. I'm just some guy who reads his Bible. The guy has character.
Speaker 2:But I'll tell you what I think is happening here. I think you and I have just been invited to join them on a midday picnic during his lunch break, and it took them a minute to get here. I put into chat GPT a couple of the verses and adjectives and this is what it came up with. I had to tell it to darken her skin and the guy still looks like he works at, I don't know, dell. But behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green, the beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are pine.
Speaker 2:I think what's happening here is we're joining them at lunch, and the reason I think this is because, before this happens, she reaches out to her beloved and she says tell me you, who my soul loves, where you pasture your flock. Remember he's a shepherd, she calls him a king, but he's got a different job when you make it lie down at noon. For why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flock of your companions? Ladies, I've already talked to the men in the room and told them they need to use their words Might. I give you a couple encouragements as well.
Speaker 2:She chooses to meet him at work. One of the things that is very clear about this is she wants to find him at noon, when he knows he's going to be taking a lunch break. She does not resent his labor, she respects it. His work provides refuge for her. It is not a rivalry for her, and both can and do get this wrong. In our culture, right, the breadwinner male or female in every home can sort of lift up the labor. But the way God intends it is that the work of the one or the ones who are bringing finances into the home should be providing refuge, not rivalry. And she sees it hey, when do you have a moment off? I'm going to come and meet you.
Speaker 2:He tells her where to find him and when she gets there she wants him to know. I need to know what floor you work on, I need to know what room you're going to be in, because I do not want to be like one who veils herself beside the flock of your companions. I don't want to show up by the way, women would have worn a veiled garment here and it could have come across as prostitution back then Going to the place where men work in the middle of the day and she says I don't want there to be any confusion. I'm coming for you and for you alone. I'm not showing up to try to get the eyes of your coworkers. I'm not trying to get the eyes of your friends. I'm not trying to send mixed signals. You are my focus and I appreciate what you do for our family.
Speaker 2:You see, when I look at this picture, I don't think it is his character. I think she's bringing character to the picture and I do wonder does this picture remind you of anything? If I do this, does it remind you of anything? What does it look like to you? And I think there's a reason.
Speaker 2:This passage in scripture is intended to look like a garden. We sit on a couch of green. It's just a rolling hill. They're under a couple of trees with beams made of cedars under the canopy that is providing shelter from the foliage. And I think God is wanting us to go all the way back to. What did love look like before sin messed it up? What did love look like when we could, without shame, share ourselves with one another? What did it look like when we were rooting for and building each other up, instead of how the garden ended by Adam tearing down Eve, not providing protecting shelter for her, watching over her. What did it look like when Eve turned her back on him and blames him? And it turns into this thing. What if, husbands and wives, you started shooting for this? The Bible would encourage us to, even if we know we're never going to get there perfectly.
Speaker 2:And when this man is present, he is present. You will notice no email being checked, no text messages being scrolled through, no Instagram, nothing. He's with her. She has his eyes and he has hers. He does, after all, love them, by the way. For all of these reasons, they delight in being together and they strive to be a delight to the other in their words and in their actions. Her love never justifies reckless behavior. There's not even a hint of impropriety. There's not even a hint of impropriety. Nothing sleazy, nothing shady, nothing seedy or nothing sordid. He has her full attention and focus and she has his.
Speaker 2:Scripture goes on and it says that they are delighted with one another. If you look in verse eight, he says chapter 1, verse 8, I'm just realizing I don't think I can put it up there. I'm sorry, guys, if you do not know, o, most beautiful among women, I'll tell you how to find me in this little garden. Follow the tracks of the flock and pasture your young goats beside the shepherd's tents. He invites her to come and meet and the very first time he speaks to her he says you don't know. You don't know that you are the most beautiful. If you were to read more of this, you may realize that what he's actually saying here is you're insecure, I don't know what. For Chapter 1, verse 5 through 6, somebody's already way ahead of me and I love it. She turns heads before she walks through the door. 1.8. Doesn't need makeup to cover up. Being the way she is is enough. Chapter 2, verse 2. Everybody else in the room can see it everybody else but her. 1.8, because she lights up his world like nobody else. 1 10.
Speaker 2:When we were doing the preaching primer, we were reading this and I was like, if you think Harry Styles is a good writer, I just want you to know he stole everything for that song from God's song about love. The way you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed. I'm going to prove it to you. Give me a minute. Gets me overwhelmed. I'm going to prove it to you. Give me a minute.
Speaker 2:We haven't gotten here yet, but her hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. Her rolling, bouncing curls drive him crazy. When she smiles at the ground, it isn't hard to tell 1, 15, and 4, 2. It's not just her hair. Her teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing. She brushes her teeth and she seems to have all of them too, all of which bear twins. Not one of them has become lost. She doesn't know. She's beautiful.
Speaker 2:Chapter 2, verse 1. That's what makes her beautiful. Chapter 1, verse 8. That's fun for me, but I want you to realize our culture is striving for something that God is already giving. That's what I want you to realize.
Speaker 2:Harry Styles didn't find something. What was the name of the band? One Direction, easy. Let's be excited about it. One Direction Jesus. Let's be excited about it. I can't get you guys.
Speaker 2:When we tried to clap during that song, stokesy it was applause. At the beginning it was applause. I told him hey, I'm just shooting for the chorus. If they do more than that, it's varsity level. Beauty let's get back to it. Beauty is a gift to enjoy and cultivate. Please do not misunderstand God's word on this. It should be enjoyed and it should also be cultivated. But it is not a God to worship. It never will be a God to worship, but our culture would love to take it and swing it one way or to the other. I'd like to show you a couple of more verses.
Speaker 2:As an apple among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among young men. I've already read this part to you, but I want you to hear what she has found in this man. Men, this is what the women in the room want. With great delight, I sat in his shadow. His fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to a banqueting house. His banner over me was love. So he will sustain me, he will refresh me. This is what makes me sick with love, intoxicated with love. This is what causes me to want to be embraced by him. I feel safe with this man. What Adam was in the garden. This man is the opposite of. I can be under the shadow of his leadership and protection. He can uphold me from below. Whatever this man is, he seems to want to bring me to a table, and that table is called love selfless, sacrificial, ephesians-ish type love. So, yes, he holds me, he embraces me, and the Bible isn't ashamed of this. Why? Because this woman feels loved and she feels safe. She feels like this man is more about her own good than he is about his.
Speaker 2:Beauty is a gift to enjoy and cultivate and it will never be a God to worship.
Speaker 2:But true love, though it may delight in the body, it is anchored in the soul. And if you have lost heart at this, let me encourage you with God's word Do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, believer, your inner self is renewed day after day after day. There is something in point, one that would encourage us to want to pursue beauty and attractiveness to our spouses. If you're single, beauty and attractiveness unto the one who will be your spouse, not all who would give you affirmation, those who would be a shelter, those who will be your spouse Not all who would give you affirmation, those who would be a shelter, those who would be a banner over you, those who would uphold you. But it is anchored in the soul. Perhaps she's putting energy into her beauty because she's already receiving so much affirmation from him that her physical beauty is not to get compliments from. Beauty is not to get compliments from him, not to get compliments from others, but just to be a gift to him. I'm created in the image of God. There is value intrinsically in me and I want to be as beautiful for you, my beloved, as I can. And perhaps he is working hard and he is providing well because she spent so much time affirming and praising him. He's not working to prove that he's good enough. She's convinced him of that. He's working simply because he wants to provide the best that he can for her.
Speaker 2:This is what you will find all throughout the passages of Solomon, and it is ageless. Christians, I would just tell you that I do think our culture really struggles with this. I think our culture of the desire to fight aging would love to couch itself in I just want to be attractive for my spouse or my future spouse. That's why Look great, just don't make the thing of God. But I will tell you, if your battle is against anti-aging, time is undefeated and I don't mind you fighting a bit against aging, but please don't fight against wisdom here. There's a reason. The Bible says that white hair is a crown. It is the inner growth of the soul that God is looking at. I'd like to show you one more thing, and Stokes. Yes, you can float and feel free.
Speaker 2:We've talked about chemistry and we've seen her character, we've seen his. Is there any community in this One teeny little piece? This is what I've read to you so far, and right, smack dab in the middle is the only place the others speak up. And here is what they say. They look at this girl who looks in the mirror and doesn't feel good enough. They look at her, who sees this guy who thinks he's way out of her league, and he looks at her and she's a lily among brambles. And there's this beautiful mutual affection. They pursue beauty, but it isn't a God to them. And her friends say we're going to join in on this love. We're going to make for you ornaments of gold studded with silver. We're going to help you get ready for this wedding that you are going to have. Her friends provide her with joy, not jealousy, and in turn she gives them wisdom. Yes, his left hand is under my neck and his right hand embraces me, but as soon as she says it and the heartbeats of her friends begin to increase, she says I adjure you, o daughters of Jerusalem, do it this way. It's better to do it this way by the gazelles or does of the field. Do not stir up or awaking love until it pleases, until the right time, until it pleases God. Wait for this, it is worth it. Wait not just for the chemistry but for the character. Not just for the chemistry and the character but for the community. Wait for these things Because the Bible doesn't shame physical beauty, it doesn't, has no problem talking about something our culture thinks is awkward, but it will always subordinate it to something greater Godliness which never is taken away, godliness which moves from one degree of glory to the next.
Speaker 2:The Bible is not detached from reality, and the more I realize that God is love and love comes from God, the less jealous I become of it. So when I take my wife out for a breakfast on Friday this week and we go downtown to Plucked Up and my daughter joins us and I'm cutting into this like perfectly grilled piece of pork and I want to poke it with my fork and hold it across the table and her lady, in the tramp style, just take a little bit, it's delightful, and she says I don't want that, you eat it, you ordered it. I'm like, oh wait, a minute, hang tight here. And then I look at the table next to us and there's a woman putting food I'm not kidding putting food on her fork and holding it, and her husband eats it. Do you wanna know what wants to happen in us? Jealousy, jealousy. I want love like that.
Speaker 2:But the more I read this, the more I get excited to just see love, to realize that God created it, to realize that his timing is perfect for it, to realize that he is not ashamed of it, but he will always subordinate it to something that is better godliness, which allows us not to be jealous but to celebrate. And where does that come from? As we move to communion, it comes from this. I don't know if you know this about Christ, but the Bible would want you to know it. Isaiah, looking forward, said he, being Jesus, had no former majesty. That we should look at him. Jesus, according to scripture, had no beauty that you would desire him. That is what God sent. Do you realize God could have sent him in all of his glory, all of his power, all of his beauty, and every tongue would have confessed and every knee would have bowed. That's going to happen, by the way. But instead he comes like one of us, and he had to to live the life for many of us, so that he would die the death that we deserved, so that those who look at him and see no beauty would all of a sudden behold the king in his beauty.
Speaker 2:In a world that either worships beauty or denies its power, scripture shows us a better way Receive beauty as a gift. Ground it in covenant marital love, found it in covenant marital love and surrender it to the glory of God. Maybe you've never seen that beauty in Jesus before. Maybe you haven't. Today, I hope you will see for the first time a beauty that you might have ignored, diminished or forgotten about. And let today be the day that you see that Christ made himself dark so that you would see himself beautiful, that he looks at your darkness and it does not cause him to flee, because he sees what he created you to be and he has not given up on you yet and he never will.
Speaker 2:So, as we come to the table together, let us put our eyes on the beauty of the King. There are a number of ways that we respond. Every week We'll respond in communion, but I just want to let you know if you want to step out in the back and walk in the grass and let the praises of the people wash over you and just talk to the Lord silently. Do that If you want to be in here kneeling, lifting your hands or raising your voice it's what most of us do. But if you want to talk or celebrate, pray with a pastor, get encouragement, a couple of us will be at the doors and then Stokes you, just lead us through communion however you feel best.