Philosophy or Passion?

I am in love! You know that, for you’ve heard me say it before. 34 years ago this June, my eyes first saw Bev walking through the doors of the FFC, which was the church sanctuary back then. My heart skipped a beat or two, I was captivated and the rest, as they say, is history. I can tell you that when I fell in love with her at first sight that I was not calculating, evaluating, or all that rational!

I didn’t interview her to determine the longevity of her family, to see if they were mentally heathy. I didn’t ask to see an IQ test, or quiz her on her political views. My attraction was one of passion, not philosophy. Later on, as our relationship matured, we found out more about the way each thought, about the compatibility of our value systems, about whether our dreams for life would mesh. Apparently, we were made for each other because here we are all these years later, having raised four kids, gone through a lot of ‘stuff’ and our love is just as passionate as it was in 1974!

So, what’s my point this morning? I’ll frame it first in a question.

Does your Christianity have a component of passion to it,

or is it only a philosophy? I’m using that word as it is defined in the dictionary -

1. the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.

2. the critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of knowledge

Before you rush ahead in your thinking, let me be clear that I am not setting up passion against philosophy, heart against head! My appeal is that BOTH are necessary, but my concern is that the passion is often the missing factor in our faith practices. In this message I want to show you that loving God with our heart is indeed a strong theme in the Bible!

Read the Song of Solomon lately? It can make you blush!

One of the more 'tame' passages reads like this-

"You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace. Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride. Your love is better than wine, your perfume more fragrant than spices. Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue. Your clothes are scented like the cedars of Lebanon." (Song of Solomon 4:9-11, NLT)

Yes, that's right. The Bible has a whole book that celebrates the intense physical passion that draws Solomon and a young woman together. It’s about falling in love. A lot of the poetry we read there is hard for us to understand, for it is written in metaphor and allusions that are from another era and culture, but even with those challenges, we get it. Solomon and his lover are really, really were into each other!

Primarily the book is included let us know that God celebrates love, even physical attraction, and that despite the gross misuse of sex and the abuse of sexuality by sinful people we need not diminish this gift with shame or guilt!

However, there is a secondary application that goes beyond that first and obvious one. The poem can be read as an allegory of God’s love for His people. Here’s why I believe that.

A. - In the Old Testament Israel is called God's wife!

"For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth." (Isaiah 54:5, NLT)

Nuptial imagery is often used to describe His love for his people. When they follow other gods, He calls them adulteresses, and He speaks to them in the voice of a broken-hearted husband of an unfaithful wife; at once both angry and longing.

"The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also." (Jeremiah 3:6-8, NKJV)

In the New Testament, the Church is called the Bride of Christ.

Paul says of the church ....

"I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him." (2 Corinthians 11:2, NIV)

Christ's love for His people is a model for spousal love.

"Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her."

(Ephesians 5:25-26, The Message)

So, since this is the way God sees us - as His love, His wife - I think we can read the passionate poetry of Solomon's Song with a secondary understanding about loving our God and Christ; with real passion, intense longing for Him, emotional and tender.

{Yes, guys that can be stretch for us, at first, but you can come 'round to it.}

For many 21st Christians the core of their religion is an intellectual exercise. If asked to describe what it means to know God they would talk about learning doctrines, working out a creed, and knowing the history and literary forms of the Bible. They might confuse an ability to argue about interpretive models for Genesis or knowledge of how Scriptural principles shape a humanitarian philosophy of life is what knowing of God and Christ is all about.

All that has good in it, but that is not all that there is! We can love God with our hearts, too.

Jesus, quoting Deuteronomy, says,

"you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30, NKJV)

In addition to our intellect, we be passionate in our love and worship of the Lord, our God.

How does that look?
Let’s consider three stories from the Gospels, two about a woman expressing her love for Jesus, and one about how Jesus showed his love to his disciples. They are stories that need little analysis to catch the impact.

The first is found in Luke’s Gospel. It is about a woman named Mary. Her brother, Lazurus, was a good friend of Jesus. Her sister served Jesus, but Martha passionately loved Him! No, not sexually - but passionately, with her whole heart.

Take a look - Luke 10:38-42

Passion has a strong component of just wanting to be together.

Ask anyone newly in love what they want to do and they’ll tell - “Be with that person!”

Recently I was talking with a young woman who had just broken up with her boyfriend. She explained that she did so because he was always wanting to go play basketball, hang out with his friends, keeping track of time when he was with her. I told her that I agreed with her decision. It was the right one! If this guy didn’t want to just ‘be with her’ then he didn’t really love her and the relationship was destined to be disappointing.

Last week I was away from Bev, at my Dad’s bedside from Monday through Saturday. Driving home down Interstate 80, I could feel the joy increasing in me just because I would be with her. After all these years, I still love hanging out with her.

Do you love Jesus such that you want to spend time with Him - in worship, in prayer, in meditation, in service?

The second story is also about Mary. It is told in John’s Gospel.

John 12: 1-8

Passion is extravagant! It never seeks minimums, never is content just to do what it takes to keep the one loved happy. It desires to delight, to overwhelm. My wife loves me and one the ways she shows that love is by providing care for me that surpasses my expectations. She gives me gifts out of the blue that are expensive and asks nothing in return except my delight.

Occasionally a Believer will ask me a question that goes something like this – “Can I be a Christian and do ______________ ?” or there another even more common - “When I give my tithe, do I calculate it on the gross or the net of my salary?” In both instances the person has missed the point! Those who are passionately in love with Jesus never look for the minimum, never search for the line farthest from Him. They delight in delighting Him with whole-hearted devotion!

The third story is about Jesus Himself. It is also found in John’s Gospel.

John 13

The custom of the time was that guests would be greeted by servant of the household and their feet washed. It wasn’t just a ‘feel good’ kind of thing. Streets were dirt, muddy, and even dotted with animal waste! They ate reclining at tables with sandaled feet in plain view! So, it was a good thing to rinse them off prior to dinner. But, obviously, it was not a desirable task. Let’s see what Jesus did.

READ vv. 1-5

Love is not just sentiment. It is not just words. As Jesus shows us, love is costly service! Again, it is not service done from a sense of dutiful obligation, but rather for the delight of serving the one loved. That is how He loves you and me. Passionately, at the cost of His life.

Can we say we love Him if we are less than willing to serve Him and others in His Name?

As I close, I may state the obvious, but bear with me.

Neither I nor anyone else can create a love relationship with Jesus for you!

Love is an intensely personal experience. It defies explanations. It is involves mystery, serendipity, grace, and so much more. It can die! It can be fanned into flame.

God loves you. He has declared that in His word, by the gift of His Son, and today by reaching out to us by the Spirit. Now, we must respond, each in our own way. Our efforts to love Him may be clumsy at first. Our feelings of love for Him may ebb and flow, just as they do in human relationships.

I want to challenge you to begin to pursue Him with passion.

And, never let religious duty replace the passionate relationship. Jesus appeals to a loveless church with these words....

“I see what you’ve done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can’t stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out.

“But you walked away from your first love—why? What’s going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you’ve fallen? ... “Turn back! Recover your dear early love. "

(Revelation 2:2-5, The Message)

We opened the service this morning with these words. Hear them again. They are full of emotion for God. Ponder them today, and pray that God will teach you to love Him - with your heart as well as your mind.

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar,
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!
What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises."

"A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right."
(Psalm 84:1-4, 10-11, NLT)