Song
of Solomon 4:1-5
October 20, 2013
How
beautiful you are, my love,
how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair
is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth
are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear
twins,
and not one among them is bereaved.
Your lips
are like a crimson thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks
are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
Your neck
is like the tower of David,
built in courses;
on it hang a thousand
bucklers,
all of them shields of warriors.
Your two
breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that feed among the lilies.
This is the Word of the Lord….
I want to start with a story. It’s one of my favorites,
and one that I believe reveals a lot about religion and human nature. Back in
the Middle Ages there were periods in which the Jews were heavily discriminated
against, often violently.
During one of those periods the advisors to the pope
tried to convince him that unconverted Jews should not live in Rome, the center
of Christian Catholicism. The pope was unsure, but eventually relented and
issued a decree: all Jews either had to become Christian and be baptized, or they
would kicked out of Rome. The Jewish community panicked. hey weren’t just being forced out of their
homes. They also knew that they would be persecuted and attacked throughout the
rest of Europe. They had lived good lives in Rome, and had been treated with
relative respect. And so they sent a delegation to the pope asking him to
rescind his decree. The pope listened patiently, and finally said, “Okay, I
will rescind my decree if one of you can defeat me in a theological debate in
pantomime (don’t ask me why he felt the need to debate in pantomime – it’s just
part of the story).
The Jewish delegation went back and reported to the rest
what had happened. The Jews again panicked. The pope was known far and wide as
a master debater. How could they possibly hope to defeat him, especially when
he was the debater and the judge? They asked for volunteers among the rabbis,
but each declined, saying that they couldn’t possibly bear the burden of debating
on behalf of all the Jews. They then asked the leaders, but they, too, declined
in fear. No one would volunteer. Finally,
the custodian of the synagogue volunteered: “I’ll debate the pope!” The rest
responded, “How can you, a custodian, possibly hope to defeat the pope?” He
answered, “Because none of you are willing.”
So the day for the debate came. The Jewish delegation
entered St. Peter’s Basilica with their black robes flowing, and their white
beards swaying. The pope sat ominously on his throne, flanked by all the
cardinals. The custodian stepped forward, and without delay the pope jumped off
his throne, stood before the custodian, and in one motion began the debate by
sweeping a finger across the sky. Without skipping a beat the custodian defiantly
pointed toward the floor. The pope stood back in surprise at the gesture. He
thought for a moment, and then held his index finger up before the custodian’s
face. The custodian responded without hesitation by holding up three fingers in
the pope’s face. Again, the pope stepped back in shock at the man’s
response.
The pope pulled out his handkerchief and mopped his brow.
Pausing for a while, he finally reached into his robes and pulled out an apple.
With that, the custodian reached into his robes and pulled out a flat piece of
matzo bread. The pope stopped, looked at the man in amazement, turned to his
cardinals and said, “The debate is over. This man has defeated me. The Jews can
stay and keep their faith!” With that, he strode out of the room, followed by
his cardinals.
The cardinals stopped the pope and asked, “What did that
man say?” The pope responded, “He is a master debater. I could not defeat him. I started by sweeping my finger across the
sky to say, ‘God is the master of the universe.’ Then the man pointed to the
ground, saying, ‘Yes, but there is also the devil who wants to take our souls.’
Then I put one finger out to say, ‘God is one.’ Imagine my surprise when he
puts up three fingers to say, ‘Yes, but he is manifested in three persons.’ Finally,
I pulled out the apple to say, ‘Some heretics say the world is round.’ The man responded by pulling out his bread to
say, ‘Yes, but the Bible tells us that the world is flat.’ I simply could not
defeat him.” All the cardinals agreed that the Jews could stay.
Meanwhile, the Jewish delegation asked the custodian what
had happened. He said, “It was all a bunch of rubbish. The pope starts by
sweeping his finger across the sky, saying, ‘All of you Jews get out of
Rome!’ So I pointed to the ground and
said, “No way! We are staying where we
are!’ He then puts a finger in my face, saying, ‘Don’t get fresh with me!’ So I
put my fingers up, saying, “Hey, you were three times as fresh as me!’ Finally,
he pulls out his lunch, so I pulled out mine.”
I love that story because it has all the elements of a
profound story. First, it speaks to how we all can be confused by theology,
especially when expounded by big religious figures. Second, it speaks to how
the powerful often use religion to oppress the weak. Third, and maybe the most
important, it teaches that it’s the humble who are closest to God, not the
proud. And it teaches all of these lessons in a humorous way.
One of the things I’ve been very, very aware of since
I’ve become a pastor is how important humor is to the spiritual path, mainly
because humor often makes us humble, and grounds us more in our humanity. I had
a conversation with Connie Frierson, our associate pastor, on Thursday, and I
told her something that I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone before. I realized
that over time my spirituality has become a spirituality of joy and laughter.
I’ve come to discover that, in addition to all the spiritual practices of
prayer, Scripture reading, and reflection we can do, one of the most powerful
ways of discovering God comes from learning to find joy in life. Laughter is an
entryway into joy. Often my approach is to find the joy in whatever situation
we are in, even if we are in a bad situation.
I don’t think I developed this spirituality on my own.
This spirituality has been, and is, very much a part of Calvin Church’s life.
You can see it in our worship and pastoral staff during worship services in the
way we banter back and forth. That’s because we find joy in each other. You can
see it on our staff in general in staff meetings. It often takes us 20 minutes
to get down to business because of our laughing. And you can see it in our
church as a whole.
Back in 2005, we were part of a large, national study of
churches. Diana Butler Bass—a church historian, researcher, and writer—studied
mainline churches that were growing, but not by offering contemporary worship
services and a ton of programs. Instead, they were growing by emphasizing
prayer and spirituality—what Diana called “spiritual practices.”
She studies 75 churches overall, and 12 churches
intensively. Calvin Presbyterian Church was one of the 12. She released the
results of her study in her 2006 book, Christianity
for the Rest of Us. Calvin Church is mentioned prominently and constantly
in the book. The particular practice she noted us for was discernment and
listening to God as a community and as individuals. She wrote about how we run
our meetings, how we encourage listening for God in budgeting and stewardship,
and how we teach the congregation to make listening to God a priority.
After she wrote the book, she told me that she and her
research assistant, Joe, had a dilemma regarding our practice. Discernment was
a prominent practice, but she noticed another “practice” that we have that no
other churches had to the extent that we had: humor. According to her, we use
humor in a way that no other church does. She saw our humor as a real spiritual
practice that opened us up to God. This stands out because so many churches are
SO SERIOUS.
For me, humor is essential to spiritual growth because it
makes us humble. Humor grounds us. Let me share two favorite stories as an
example of what I mean. A grandmother was visiting with her grandson, and she
asked him, “So, Mikey, do you say your prayers every evening before you go to
bed?” He said, “Oh yes,… every night.” “And what about in the morning?” she
asked. “Do you say your prayers every morning?” “Nope,” he replied. “Why not?”
she asked. He answered, “Because I’m not scared in the morning.”
I love this story because it points out that we often
only go to God and pray when we are scared, struggling, or in trouble, but that
we are called to reach out to God when things are going well, too.
Another: Two men were hiking through the countryside
across fields and pastures. Suddenly they heard a snort behind them. They
turned to see a huge bull, with sharp horns, snorting and stamping, preparing
to charge. “Run to that fence in the distance!” the one man said to the other. They
ran as fast as they could, but the bull was gaining on them. “We won’t make it.
We have to do something!” the one man said. The other replied, “What do we
do?!” “I know,… say a prayer!” the first one said. “But I don’t know any. I was never taught to
pray” “Pray anything,… it doesn’t matter
what. Just pray whatever you know!!!” the first man said. So, as they sprinted,
the other man yelled out, “Oh God, for what we are about to receive, make us
truly grateful…”
Again, there is great humility in the story that reminds
us something Connie Frierson said in a sermon a few years ago: Don’t wait till
you are in trouble to work on your faith and your relationship with God.
There’s a deep connection between humor and humility. You
can find that connection in the Creation story of Genesis. The word “humility”
is literally rooted in the Genesis story in which the first human being, Adam, is created from the dirt, adamah (Genesis 2:7). God breathes God’s Spirit into the adamah to create Adam. The Latin root for
“dirt” and for “human” is humus. Thus,
to be human is to be “of the soil.” o
many words spring from humus: humility, humor, and human. All connote a sense of groundedness—a
recognition that at our foundation we are nothing more or less than created
matter.
Good humor grounds us in our humanity. It reminds us that
while we may be spiritual creatures, we are also humans created from humus. And
this gives me an opportunity to show you what I mean through my favorite church
joke. It’s a bit racy, but my hope is that your spirit of joy and humor will
let you forgive me for that.
There once was a pastor of a church that was doing poorly
financially. The pastor didn’t know what to do, but he was desperate. If the
congregation didn’t get more money soon the church might have to fold up shop. In
desperation he came up with a bold plan: “I’ll hypnotize the people to give
more money.” So the next Sunday, during his sermon, he pulled out a watch on a
chain, swinging it gently back and forth. Once they seemed to be mesmerized by
the watch, he gently said to the congregation, “You will each put $5 in the
collection plate.” After the service, the plates were full of $5 bills, enough
to pay all the church bills for the week. He decided to do it again the following
Sunday. He pulled out the watch, swung it back and forth, and said, “You will
each put $10 in the collection plate.” Afterwards the plates were overflowing
with $10 bills, enough to pay the bills for the rest of the month. If he could
just get $20 from everyone, they would have all the bills paid for a year. The
next week he pulled out the watch and said, “You will all…” At that moment the watch chain broke, the
watch fell, and he yelled out, “Aw, crap!”
It took them two days to clean up the sanctuary.
This joke tells you all you need to know about how
reluctant we are to give, how easy it is to manipulate people to give, and how
all of our best laid plans can backfire. Humor is part of God’s world. I chose
our scripture for this morning because I think the Song of Songs is an
intentionally humorous book of the Bible. It is profound. It is a love sonnet
between God (the groom) and us (the bride), but the imagery is both evocative
and humorous. Comparing the bride’s hair to a flock of goats cascading down a
mountain, her neck like the ramparts of a castle, and her teeth to shorn sheep
with twins is not meant to be deeply serious. It is both evocative and joyful,
using humor to bring out both. If you look at the picture on the cover of this
sermon, you will see what these descriptions all would look like. It shows that
the Song of Songs is meant to be both humorous and deep at the same time. The
Bible is full of humor, mostly that we don’t get. In the original Hebrew you
find puns galore, along with sarcasm, facetiousness, and absurdity.
The humor of Song of Songs taps into the same humor that
the greatest television comedies does. Whether you are talking about shows like
“I Love Lucy,” “The Dick van Dyke Show,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Cheers,”
“Seinfeld,” or “Modern Family,” they all start with the recognition that
everyone in the show is flawed and human. And they exploit their humanness to
both humor and humble us. Every character who lifts him- or herself up is
brought down. And every character who is laid low gets brought back up. In
great comedies, everyone is a fool, but they are fools in a community of people
who keep lifting each other up no matter how often they stumble. These shows
remind us, simply put, that we need humor as humans because humor keeps us
humble. And real humility leads us to happiness.
I have a simple message to close with for this
morning: When we combine humor and humility they allow us to find joy in the
simplest things of life.
Amen.
