I need you, I love you, trust me

Its delightful to be back serving all of you again, in fact just before Covid hit I was about to preach a sermon on Lazarus being raised from death. That is an interesting thought to keep in the background, given what the world is travelling through.

I also wanted to take this chance to thank those of you who took the time to connect with me over lockdown.

In all honesty, when the whole thing hit, and I realised that it was going to have A serious tone: I wasn’t sure how somebody with my social life, my creative life would cope. But I did, as we all did and now; we are discovering what is The new normal, where do we fit in?

I see that idea inside the readings today; they can all be seen as invitations for us to find our place.

If we take a look a Song of Solomon, there are two words that might spring to mind; intense and intimate, there is a lot to unpack in our first reading.

There are those who might react negatively to something about sexuality being In scripture, there are those who might say “Great a positive take on love, intimacy and vulnerability” For myself I think it’s fantastic, especially when we seem to live in a culture that often deals with sexuality, body image etc, in a negative or confrontational context.

What we see with in Song of Solomon, is an exchange between two people Who are saying “I need you, I love you, trust me”

That is an interesting statement to ponder isn’t it? Whether we are thinking of it in a romantic context

• Parent to child
• Or a close friendship

In fact, take a moment to think about how you reacted to the last time someone expressed something like to you.

Continuing with the theme of intimacy, it’s also worth noting that many scholars also view todays reading as almost like a love letter between God and his people: So, on top the intimacy we are invited into with each other God is also saying “I need you, I love you, trust me”

In fact, take a moment to think about that. One thing I have noticed inside many relationships or in how people connected to the world.

Is they don’t realise how beautiful and unique they are.

The other aspect worth noting about our first reading is that it’s a celebration of creation, of the world around us and the beauty it contains.

I enjoy that we get to read physical descriptions of creation and it’s actions. I love that that we see the people interact with each other, with God and creation, in way that displays a barrier free experience for all three.

How does that speak to you today? For myself, I think about the idea that all life is connected, and it feeds and needs each other.

We, human beings, are an expression of God so is creation. We are called to both marvel at and respect that fact, by caring for creation just us God cares for us.

Our Journey into what it means to be a vulnerable human continues as we take a look at Romans 7:15-25.

This an interesting reading to unpack, for varying reasons: the first being That it displays a tension between ideology and identity. In Paul’s case, The tension lies between his old life and his new life and between the law (rules) and grace. One thing I have come to recognise about Paul is that he was a man of passion. In order to understand the conflict that Paul is addressing we need to remember where he came from: He was a religious Jew, he was fiercely committed to his life and view of the world Then he has experience in which Grace and love are made alive to him.

What can we take away from this part of Paul’s journey?

One thing might be that no matter what we are loved we may also want to think about our relationships. What do we take into them? Do we take rules either spoken or unspoken? Or do our lives Display grace? Take a moment on that.

It’s also a valid question for the modern church, how do we understand Grace for ourselves and how do we offer it to others? My personal opinion is that I don’t think the church fully understands what grace is.

One note of caution for us might be to make sure that our doctrines etc remain as invitations into experiences rather than becoming theological expectations. To ensure that the way we carry ourselves in a way that adds to life rather than limits it. Perhaps we are being asked to ensure that approach to faith, hope and love takes away more guilt than it creates. The gospel for this morning, is calling us again to find our place. With the familiar call of “I need you, I love you, trust me”

Inside Matthew, it can seem like we are being confronted by two extremely different messages: John is saying “repent and fight an unjust unfair system” Jesus is saying “Repent, love, serve and be served”

This may leave us asking “Who is right?” Here’s my thought, maybe they are opposite sides of the same coin. We are being called to stand up when we need to, and we are being invited to take rest when we need to. One thought I had recently is maybe we are being called to both at the same time, rest and act. After all Exodus 33:14 tells us “The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

I always really enjoy reading Matthew 11:25-30 because it shows us A beautiful aspect of the heart of God; Jesus reminds us that God often works in ways that we don’t expect. Often God chooses to work in ways that we may not even notice.

We need to remember that more often than not God speaks in that “still small voice” we hear about in 1 Kings 19:11-13 I love the fact Jesus is again showing us again “The great reversal” he speaks of the knowledge of God being known to all regardless of place.

He is inviting to a new place, a place of intimate connection and trust, a place where there is no space between us and the heart of God.

Jesus is reminding us that the load he gives us is light and for the heavy stuff he’s carrying it with us.

Within all the intensity of the scripture for today. Within all the intensity that confronts us in life. Do we understand that we serve a God who wants a relationship with no barriers? Do we understand that Christ’s call is one of participation with life, to lean on what we know and walk through what we don’t together? So that we, along with the world Christ has called us to love; can fully understand the call of “I need you, I love you trust me”