The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
Song of Solomon 3:1-5
The One Whom My Soul Loves
Saturday of Trinity III, 12 July 2014
Wedding of Mark
Bradley Strauch and Keshia Lynn Kjorstad
Meadowlark Ski
Resort
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
“I have found the one my soul loves.” That’s part of what the
two of you are declaring today, Mark and Keshia. It is amazing where a Mad Gab
game night can lead two people.
For your sermon text on your special day, I have chosen a
portion of Song of Solomon, Chapter 3, verses 1-5. This is the text of The
Bride’s Dream. She says: 3 On my bed by night sought him whom my soul
loves; I sought him, but found him not.
At first hearing, it sounds like the frustration we all may have
felt searching for the one we would one day marry. That’s not what this text is
about. This is a memory from the days when they were dating. She already knows
him. They’re “together,” we would say. And he just won’t answer his phone,
email, or the texts she’s been sending him. So, she starts actively looking for
him: 2 I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the
squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not.
Round two also ends in frustration. The city guards make an
appearance in her search for Solomon: 3 The watchmen found me as they went
about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” 4 Scarcely had I
passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let
him go…
Do you know the feeling? Just after you ask for help in finding
the thing or the person you can’t find, you find it almost right away by
yourself.
Do you know the other feeling?
Based on our experiences, we can also identify with this woman’s care and
concern and deep feeling of love. It’s a new love, fresh and strong and
passionate. She was active in her search. Her love story predates the unfortunate
“unrequited love” tradition of Western Civilization where somebody pines for
somebody else for a distance, never or rarely saying a word to the other
person. How is that love? There is no
action for the benefit of the other person. It’s just selfish, unfulfilled
emotion.
Please notice the most important thing about her search: she
went out and did something to show her love for her man. Holy Scripture uses
the word love in a very active sense. Yes, it is an emotion, yet is always in
action, just like faith in Christ.
A couple in love, married in the eyes of the Lord and of Caesar
needs more than their feelings for one another for their relationship to
survive. They need a marriage. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote in a wedding
sermon, “It is not your love which sustains the marriage, but from now on the
marriage that sustains your love.” That is why holy matrimony, the lifelong
union of one man and one woman wed only to each other, is still a viable
institution in 21st Century America. A marriage is built on
commitment love.
Commitment love is what gets couples through the tough times.
After all, forgiving each other will make your life together a lot more
bearable, and a lot more enjoyable. You need to be regularly reminded of
Christ’s love for you and shown His love. That is why being united in attending
the Sunday Divine Service, actively engaging in Bible study together, and being
committed to family devotions are all so important.
Let’s return to the bride remembering her courtship in
anticipation of her wedding day: “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” 4
Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and
would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into
the chamber of her who conceived me.
The families of both the bride and groom (TLSB) both “play a
supportive role in their marriage (cf 3:6–11; 8:1–2, 5).” And you are given to
be blessings to one another. Verse five concludes our text: .5 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.
Thanks be to God the time of waiting is over! You are given to
delight in one another. That is why you and your family and friends will hear
“You may kiss the bride” at the end of this service.
Verse five puts people under a vow, an oath. In holy matrimony, a
husband and wife promise to actively love one another in all aspects of life. They
are true partners, helpmeets, with roles that complement one another.
All of this happens before Solomon says a word in chapter three,
a flashback to their time of courtship, a (TSLB) “longing for their wedding and
its consummation. The Church father Bede compared the searching of the
Shulammite [woman, Solomon’s bride,] with Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb
while it was still dark, searching for the Christ (Jn 20:1, 11–18)”. So too
with us.
Marriage is a model of the Christian life. (TLSB) “God’s people
are to live in faith according to His love and will. We spurn that love and
will when we disregard the order that pleases God.”
When you find the one your soul loves, you never want to let her
go. Right, Mark? That phrase is an expression of deep communion, intimate
fellowship, lifelong dedication.
And that is what Christ has given to you. You love one another
because He loved you first. Mark, you will be a good example to your wife as a
Christian, a Christian man, Christian husband, and Christian head of household.
Keshia, you truly hunger and thirst for God’s truth and righteousness. I very
much look forward to your Baptism day and welcoming you both to your Church
home together.
You have each found the one whom your soul loves. You have found
that in one another in this life, till death you do part.
More importantly, You have found Him whom your soul loves for
time and eternity. To be more precise, He has found you, even Jesus Christ our
Lord, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, the heavenly Bridegroom of His Bride the
Holy Christian Church, of which you both are part. His love for you, like His
holy Word, is living and active. He was born for you, lived for you, taught,
preached, and healed for you, was crucified, died, and was raised for your and
your salvation, forgiveness and life now, and to dwell with Him forever in the
mansions of heaven.
Never let one another go. And never let go of Christ, for He
loves you. Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
