The season of singing has come

Song of Solomon verse 2

She

I am a rose of Sharon,

    a lily of the valleys.

He

Like a lily among thorns

    is my darling among the young women.

She

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest

    is my beloved among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

Let him lead me to the banquet hall,

    and let his banner over me be love.

Strengthen me with raisins,

    refresh me with apples,

    for I am faint with love.

His left arm is under my head,

    and his right arm embraces me.

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you

    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:

Do not arouse or awaken love

    until it so desires.

Listen! My beloved!

    Look! Here he comes,

leaping across the mountains,

    bounding over the hills.

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

    Look! There he stands behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

    peering through the lattice.

My beloved spoke and said to me,

    “Arise, my darling,

    my beautiful one, come with me.

See! The winter is past;

    the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

    the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

    is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

    the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come, my darling;

    my beautiful one, come with me.”

He

My dove in the clefts of the rock,

    in the hiding places on the mountainside,

show me your face,

    let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet,

    and your face is lovely.

Catch for us the foxes,

    the little foxes

that ruin the vineyards,

    our vineyards that are in bloom.

She 

My beloved is mine and I am his;

    he browses among the lilies.

Until the day breaks

    and the shadows flee,

turn, my beloved,

    and be like a gazelle

or like a young stag

    on the rugged hills.

The unsettled weather we are having lately does not spoil the beauty of Spring that we glimpse when the clouds part and the sun is let through to do its work: highlighting the beautiful colours of tulips and daffodils, but also the bluebells that can now be seen like a huge carpet of blue and green in many of our woods.

God’s canvas is broad and his colour palette is vast.

The Bible speaks to us a lot about the season’s, it was part of everyday life and survival throughout the time of the Old and New Testament. Growing and harvesting crops provided food and without the science that is involved in today’s farming there was a total reliance on the season’s. Which is why it was often used as an example to make a point or to teach.

In Hosea we read “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

I don’t believe that the Song of Songs is not a parable or a metaphor for something else, I don’t believe it is there to illustrate a point. I believe that the Song of Songs in included in the Bible to document the tender love of a devoted couple.

And in these passages we read of the joy of that couple when they are faced with the prospect of Spring….

My beloved spoke and said to me,

    “Arise, my darling,

    my beautiful one, come with me.

See! The winter is past;

    the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

    the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

    is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

    the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come, my darling;

    my beautiful one, come with me.”

This is like a poem within a poem as the lady in love calls on her beloved to go out into the world that she describes.

I believe that God created the heavens and the earth and everything that exists. Why, perhaps because he could, but I believe that creation is an expression of the love that God has for us.

But it all went wrong…..we know the story.

Yet God did not abandon creation or deem that he should start again. In a further expression of love, he sent his son to die for us, who rose again defeating death.  And we know that Jesus will return again and in the words of John the Revelator:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

The seasons are a reminder of what is to come, decay & death will be replaced by new life & restoration that will be eternal.

For the man and woman in Song of Songs the advent of Spring was: “the season of singing.” And perhaps the same should be said for us, that we are in the season of singing not for the spring that has come, but for the eternal summer that is to come.

I love Paris...

As I look out into the garden from the warmth of my lounge at the blue sky, the sunshine falling on the grass, the green shoots and blossom on the trees and the grass growing to the point it needs cutting I get excited at the prospect of Spring. Being a person who loves music and in a sense has a soundtrack to my life, I remember the song I Love Paris written by Cole Porter in 1953 and memorably sung by Ella Fitzgerald. The song speaks of the singers love for the city of Paris and I must say that I share some of the sentiments in that song; despite being brought up in London I am not a fan of cities, however I am strangely drawn to the eclectic and often bohemian environment of Paris and would love to spend more time there.

Paris aside, we are witnessing a change in the season and as the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it:

“There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens” 

Ecclesiastes 3:1         

Whilst there is a “time for everything, a season for every activity” this cannot be applied to love. Jesus calls us to love each other, but is our love, the love that we express for each other, for God, for his church seasonal? Do we love our brother and sister when the sun is shining into our relationship and the relationship is bearing fruit, but when the storms come, the rain, the hail and the cold, are we still able to maintain that relationship? When things get difficult, when someone says something or does something I don’t like does my relationship go into hibernation or do I press on through that? When our brother and sister upsets us in some way it can not only result in a broken relationship, but can also see one or both parties bearing a grudge, a grudge that is held for years eating away at both parties and giving the devil a victory.

Jesus understood that his command “love one another” would not result in all Christians becoming happy-clappy, love everybody, sugar and spice people, we had to work at this and make conscious decision. No! Jesus fully understood relationships in the context of the human condition and teaches emphatically on this. In Matthew 5:21-26 he instructs that showing anger towards a brother or sister, or bearing a grudge is as serious as murder. I think we often overlook how serious it is when a relationship with a brother or sister breaks down, which is strange in the light of Jesus’ instruction, its as if we allow our relationships to be seasonable.

Perhaps as the weather gets warmer, the days get longer, the whole world seems to become more colourful and cheery its an opportunity to look at those relationships that have broken down and are permanently in winter and seek to restore them. After all, Gods love towards us is not seasonal, he will “never leave us nor forsake” in spite of our behavior towards him.

We also should remember the consequences of our actions, the consequences of disobedience toward God, the consequence of our sin, we may find ourselves subject to God’s judgement and punishment.

Selling your soul!

I was reminded in a conversation recently about the struggles I had when I was younger. Like many of my peers I dabbled in some unsavoury things that were 'fashionable' at the time and watched more than my fair share of horror movies.  When I heard in these movies about people 'selling their soul to the devil' I would worry for several days afterwards that I had inadvertently done this 'for a joke' or because of peer pressure.

When I came to Christ later in life I reflected on this and came to the obvious conclusion that it was impossible for someone to sell their soul to the devil as it had already been purchased and at a high cost. When Jesus hung on that cross as a punishment for our sins he paid that price, we are reminded of this in 1 Corinthians where Paul repeats that we, "were bought at a price." I have no doubt about this and neither should anyone, even if they do not believe. We may choose not to follow him and choose to live a life not worthy of that transaction that took place on the cross, whatever the case we cannot sell our souls,  as we are reminded in Revelation 5:9 Jesus' blood "purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation" our souls are not for sale!

In the Autumn our church is planning to run another group looking at Steps to Freedom in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and whether you are a new Christian or have followed Christ all your lives this study may help you set aside some of the things that may be holding you back in your relationship with Christ. As the marketing literature puts it, "For many Christians life is not always victorious. If you sense that you are not growing as you should, this book is intended to lead you through the process which will allow you to break free from: condemning thoughts; compulsive behaviour; personal conflicts; and spiritual struggle and despair." If you are interested in joining this then why not contact Pastor Simon via our website, or keep an eye on our website for when the next group is starting. It is a bit of a marathon - one evening per week for 13 weeks - but from personal experience it is worth the investment in time!

Down but not out

As I enter the fourth week of recovery from a significant operation I find myself becoming depressed by my inactivity. Yet I have also experienced the joy that one gets from using the gifts and skills that God bestows upon us through His Spirit.

This morning after another restless night I sat down to prepare for tonights service not believing I could emerge from the safety of my self-built emotional and physical cocoon. Frankly, I was feeling depressed. Yet once I had immersed myself in scripture and spent time with God the depression lifted and I began to get excited about the prospect of serving Him at tonights service. Don't get me wrong I know that depression is a physical illness as physical and as debilitating as a broken leg, requiring proper and prolonged treatment. But in some instances it can be lifted, permanently or temporarily, by being in the presence of our Creator, in the same way that pain can be relieved and a broken leg mended by prayer. This reminds me that prayer should be the first action for the afflicted and not the last act of desperation when all else fails.

Sacrifice

Lent tends to be a time of sacrifice, when we give up things like chocolate, coffee or alcohol, whilst this is commendable we should consider giving something up that requires a sacrifice of our time, or more correctly releases some of out time that we can replace with a time of prayer or dedication. So why not think about giving up a meal and spending the time with God, or perhaps giving up a favourite TV program and doing the same. After all we do have iPlayer, recorders and other means by which we can capture these to feast on them some time in the future.

Brief thoughts on worship

Without musicians worship may be a struggle,
          Without song books or projected words worship may be a struggle,
                   Without a music leader worship may be a struggle,
                            Without a music group worship may be a struggle,
                                     Without electricity, musical instruments, computers, sound desks,                
                                              microphones, speakers we may find worship difficult.
                                      But without the people of God there is no worship,
                                               Without the Holy Spirit we can't worship,
                                                      And without God there is no point to our worship.
         

Forgiveness?

When we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us we pray "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us" or "Forgive us our trespasses...." Whatever version we are praying we are asking God to forgive promising that we will forgive others. Yet forgiveness is often something that is very difficult to do, we may even say the words but in our heart struggle to actually forgive. I believe this  is because we may misunderstand forgiveness.

We subconsciously think of forgiveness as:

- Releasing others from accepting the responsibility of their actions;

- Saying that what was done to us wasn't important;

- Having to forget everything as if it never happened;

- Restoring our relationship to what it formerly was;

- Something that is all about the other person.

A couple of years ago I took part in an ecumenical trip to the battlefields and graveyards of the First World War, it was entitled "Peace and Reconciliation Tour." One of the things I learnt from that tour is that forgiveness doesn't mean we must forget the transgression. It is only God who can put away our transgression completely "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103), even to the point of forgetting them “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." (Isaiah 43:25). For us it is different, we must not expect ourselves to forget otherwise we will never be able to forgive. I also learnt that forgiveness neither exonerates the guilty, nor restores a relationship to what it once was; out of forgiveness a different relationship needs to be allowed to grow. I don't normally like it when people say "you need to move on" but with forgiveness this is appropriate; moving on into a different relationship between the wronged and the wrong-doer.

In my own recent experiences I have learnt a lot about forgiveness, firstly I have learnt of the importance of forgiveness in the healing process; hurt can cause all types of wounds, wounds that although emotional make us experience physical pain. Yet unless we forgive we will never heal, in fact the wound may get worse. It is like when we fall over as a child and get dirt in the wound, we slap a plaster over the top and carry on, yet that dirt can cause the wound to become infected. If the wound is serious then that infection can effect our entire wellbeing. So we need to clean the metaphorical wound out first and the way we do that is with forgiveness.  Secondly, I have also learnt that forgiveness may seem as something we do to someone else but it is actually something we do to ourselves. We must think of forgiveness in terms of our own emotional and spiritual wellbeing, after all when there is unforgiveness in a relationship then aren't both parties affected by it?  Matthew 18:23-35 tells us that if we do not forgive people, we get turned over to the torturers. Forgiveness is about freeing ourselves as well as the other party! Finally, we don't need to go to the other person and say "I forgive you" because that may be  taken wrongly, indeed it is entirely unnecessary and unhelpful unless you are asked by someone to forgive them. We need to go to God.

So returning to the wisdom of the Lord's Prayer, when we forgive we need to think about our forgiveness in terms of our relationship with God and our own wellbeing. We need to see forgiveness as not forgetting, not wiping the slate clean, but of setting ourselves free, of healing our emotions and our spirit, and of creating an environment were a new, but different relationship may start to grow with the other person. Forgiveness isn't easy, but we owe it to ourselves and to God to make it happen.