The language of the Hebrew Testament readings this week is rich, provocative, and even sensual. The Song of Solomon is clearly a magnificent and moving love poem, and the Psalm carries the romance along enticing our senses with imagining the fragrances of myrrh, aloes, and cassia and idyllic sounds of the music of strings from ivory palaces. [Ps 45:9] It feels easy to enter into the reverie and be transported into a dreamlike state by the magical quality of the intimacy created by these words. Long ago and far away, a Catholic priest I knew (considered highly radical for
the time and especially the place) held Mass on Sunday evenings on an Army post
in the shadow of Pike’s Peak in Colorado, where I lived as a young Catholic
Army spouse. The memories are still vivid so many years later, and in
particular, with him using recorded contemporary music in the liturgy,
specifically love songs, saying that even these can be the language of
expressing our love to and for God. And so it goes for the Song of Solomon and
the lyrics of this Psalm. Our Beloved, our God, who longs for us,
and stands behind our wall…gazing in…looking through to
see our hearts, asking us to Arise...and come away.
The writer of James tells us that it is through God's generous
act of giving that we are brought to birth by the word of
truth and are directed to be quick to listen, slow to speak,
and slow to anger...we are to be doers of the word, and not merely
hearers [James 1:17a, 18a, 19, 22a]. But, as always, it is
Jesus who, in quoting Isaiah, speaks bluntly to the Pharisees who make human
tradition and precepts into idolatrous doctrine, as they abandon the
commandments of God. He tells the rest of us by way of addressing "the
crowd" that there is nothing outside a person that by
going in can defile…that it is from within, from the human heart,
that evil intentions come... [Mark 7:14]
In our own time and "religious practice" when the
"tradition" and ritual are the ends rather than the means to
holiness, when purpose and origin are lost or forgotten, when the
"why" of it is no longer remembered or even considered, we lose the
integrity and intention of the worship of God, especially in daily living. We
have ceased to be conscious, and have become merely hearers, not doers of God’s
Word. We become desensitized, sterilized, and removed from receiving and giving
the deep, abiding love of God, the God who gazes through our personal windows
into our souls.
We
are given these extraordinary words of love this week to deepen our
relationship with God who anoints us with the oil of gladness. James
reminds us that our God-given purpose is to act on behalf of those
in distress, and to keep ourselves unstained by the world.
Committing again to God's commandments, let us welcome with meekness
the implanted word that will save our souls as it goes straight to our
hearts, wherein lies the voice of our Beloved. In accepting and returning the
lyrics of love from, to, in, and through God, we gladly become the doers of
God's Word, grace filled and soul-full.
The timing of these readings could not be
more appropriate given the global, national, and local political climate of our
current days. As we become doers in, with, and by the love of God, we are blessed
in our doing.
LET
US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ O God, our
God, stir our hearts with urgent generosity to be quick to listen, slow to
speak, and slower to anger. Instill in us the perfect gifts to live as doers of
Your word and truth, caring for all in distress, and remaining unstained by
this world.
O Lord, Most Beloved
RESPONSE: Keep us free of evil intent
~
O God, our God, grant all who govern Your people everywhere in this
Earthly realm, purity of motive and principled determination to stay free of
hypocrisy, and be eager for justice and mercy. We pray especially for: add
your own petitions
O Lord, Most Beloved
Keep
us free of evil intent
~
O God, our God, release from pain those who suffer through addiction, sickness,
or depression, and give strength to all who provide for their daily needs.
We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your
own petitions
O Lord, Most Beloved
Keep
us free of evil intent
~
O God, our God, soothe the wounds of those who grieve, as Heaven is alive
with noble song in an eternal festival of joy with those we love. We pray
especially for: add your own petitions
O Lord, Most Beloved
Keep
us free of evil intent
~
O God, our God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other
heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or
silently… add your own petitions
O Lord, Most Beloved
Keep
us free of evil intent
~
O God, our God, quicken the spirits of all who bring us Your Word and
Sacraments, that together we may move from the idolatry of mere human tradition
to the honoring of Your commandments with each action of our lives. We
pray especially for: add your own petitions
O Lord, Most Beloved
Keep
us free of evil intent
The
Celebrant adds:
Holy and Righteous God, as we are anointed by Your Oil of Gladness, fortify our
resolve to cleanse our own hearts, to think, pray, speak, and act only through
Your implanted Word, that holds the power to save our souls. We ask through the
perfection of Jesus, our Christ; and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who
together with You, reign as One God, now and forever. Amen.
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