Isaiah 62:1-5
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
John 2:1-11
“Love is Stronger than Death”
Marriage is the theme that connects the Scripture readings suggested in the lectionary for today. We just heard the well-known story of Jesus’ first miracle according to the Gospel of John, in which he turns water into wine to keep the celebration going at a wedding in Cana.
Before that, we joined in the song of the Psalmist who praised God for God’s faithfulness and steadfast love for God’s people. And we heard the prophet Isaiah’s description of God as a loving spouse who makes vows, delights in their partner, lives in faithfulness, and never abandons God’s beloved people.
A couple of weeks ago, I outlined the marriage theme in the readings for our Music Director, Chloe Golden, and she selected the lovely song she sang for us as the Ministry of Music today. As I mentioned to the children, the song is based on a verse from the “Song of Solomon” or the “Song of Songs” as it is sometimes called. It’s part of a passage that is often chosen for one of the readings at weddings.
You should know that the “Song of Solomon” is a poetic book about a couple’s relationship. It’s a love song between two lovers. Very different from most of the books of the Bible, it’s about desire and passion and sexuality. And it’s also about faithfulness and commitment to a beloved partner.
Chapter 8, verse 6 says this: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.” And verse 7 continues: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods destroy it.”
These words are a poetic expression of one partner’s desire to be bound to the other in a permanent way. Although difficulties may abound (expressed as floods, and even as death, and the grave), they believe that their love for each other will overcome any challenges that come their way.
Perhaps that sounds idealistic or even naive, for young, engaged couples to imagine that their love alone will be able to carry them through any difficulties.
Most of us probably know that more than just passion for our partners, we also need the support of loving communities, the willingness not only to love but also to forgive, the commitment to stay faithful even when feelings of love wax and wane, and the determination to keep on working on our relationships through the ups and downs of lives together.
But you should also know that there are differing opinions about the meaning of the “Song of Solomon.” Some people believe that it’s primarily a love song between two people, and others see another layer to it. They think it might be a metaphor for the loving, intimate, and even passionate relationship between God and God’s people.
Part of the reason for that suggestion is that there are other places where the relationship between God and the people is described as a marriage. Paul, the Apostle, tells us that marriage is a symbol of the mystical union between Christ and the church. John, in the Book of Revelation, describes the fulfillment of human history as a marriage between our Lord and the new creation, to be celebrated with a joyous wedding feast.
And in today’s text from Isaiah 62, the prophet brings hope and encouragement to the discouraged People of Israel by telling them that God is married to them. God will love them, and be faithful to them. God will care for and protect God’s people like a faithful spouse who will not abandon their beloved partner.
It’s probably helpful to know about the trouble and trials that were causing discouragement for the people at that time. It was after the time of exile in Babylon, when the people of Judah and Jerusalem had been conquered by their enemies, their city destroyed, and the leaders sent away to live in a foreign land for several decades.
During that time, many of them really did believe that God had abandoned them. They believed the exile was a kind of punishment for their sins, and they didn’t have high hopes of getting back to their land or their special relationship with God.
Of course, God did make a way for them to return, and many of them did come home again. But then they faced the challenges and set-backs associated with trying to rebuild both the Temple and their lives and communities. It was hard, and there were probably many moments when it felt like God had abandoned them again.
So, through the prophet Isaiah, God says this to them:
3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
Like a couple makes vows of love and fidelity on their wedding day, this passage is God’s vow of faithfulness to God’s people. God has “married” Godself to them, and God intends to be loving, faithful, and full of joy because of the relationship that they will share.
Some of you know that I’ve been back and forth to Ontario a couple of times over the last month. My brother-in-law got seriously ill with a blood infection just before Christmas, and he spent the last month in hospital, most of it in the ICU dealing with the infection, multiple strokes, and eventually heart surgery. He asked me to pass on his thanks for your prayers, and he is deeply grateful to be on the road to recovery now.
A couple of days before he was discharged from hospital, he told me that he doesn’t know how he can ever repay the debt he owes to my sister, his friends and family, and the medical teams that cared for him and brought him back from the brink of death.
You see, my sister did what a loving spouse does in a situation like this. She stayed with him, she cared for him, she worried and waited for him, and she fought for him. She slept over many nights in the hospital so that he would not feel abandoned, and to ensure that he always received the best care possible. How could someone ever “repay” their partner for such sacrifice?
But that’s not the way that our marriages work, is it? The things we do to support each other rarely balance out perfectly. And if we try to keep track of how much each has done for the other, we’re sure to become stingy with our love and unhappy with our relationships.
Certainly, there needs to be mutuality. But the best response when our spouse or another loved one has given themselves so fully for our good is simply to commit ourselves once again to love them in a similar way.
It’s the same with the way that God loves us, like a faithful spouse loves their partner. They have made their vow, and they will live up to it. They are willing to do everything and to give everything for our benefit.
The same steadfast love and faithfulness that God showed for the People of Israel became evident for all humanity five hundred years later when God came to us in Jesus Christ. In his life and ministry, Jesus demonstrated again and again that love is stronger than everything bad that might happen.
According to John’s account, Jesus started by turning water into wine. Perhaps we might think that running out of wine at your wedding is not the worst thing that could happen. But it was a problem, an embarrassment, and it could have really dampened the celebration of a wonderful relationship that was just beginning. Jesus called for jars of water, said only a few words, and just like that the party continued with better wine than they had shared at the beginning.
In the months to come, Jesus’ love would be shown to be stronger than illness, as he healed people who were sick with a touch or a word. Jesus’ love would be shown to be stronger than poverty and hunger, as he fed the huge crowds of people and leftovers were gathered up.
Jesus’ love would be shown to be stronger than bad weather, as he walked across the stormy sea to meet his disciples in the boat. Jesus’ love would be shown to be stronger than death, as he called Lazarus to come out of the tomb where he had lain dead for four days.
As the poet who wrote the “Song of Solomon” said, LOVE is as strong as death. Indeed, God’s love is stronger than death. When Jesus came to be God-with-us in the world, and when the worst things imaginable happened to him as he was rejected, betrayed, abandoned, and killed on a cross… God’s love proved itself to be stronger than everything bad in the world and in our human hearts. God raised Jesus from death to life everlasting, giving us the hope and promise that we also can be raised.
Just like my brother-in-law can’t repay the debt that he owes for the love and sacrifice that was given for him, we can’t repay the debt we owe for God’s amazing grace and love for us in Jesus Christ. And that’s okay, because we’re not asked to repay it. We’re only invited to respond to it – to receive God’s love with gratitude and joy, and to commit ourselves to love God and our neighbours as best we can.
God has married Godself to us: for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish… God has promised, and God will be faithful to us. Thanks be to God.