Over the years, I have developed a preference for not announcing ahead of time the next book we’ll be studying on Sunday mornings. Keeping it quiet builds anticipation and guarantees a good turnout on the first week!
However, this time I believe it would be prudent to give you a heads up. What’s the least likely book you’d expect an expository preacher to walk through verse-by-verse? It’s a book so unconventional that the discomfort of preaching it from a literal perspective (and hearing it preached!) is believed by some to have dictated the way it was interpreted for about 1,800 years. In other words, for many hundreds of years preachers wouldn’t touch it without allegorizing the text.
Yes. The Song of Songs. AKA, the Song of Solomon.
Why the Song of Songs?
I’ve mentioned to a handful of people that Song of Songs is next. Almost to a person, the first word out of their mouth was, “why?”
First, we’ve just spent nine months gazing at the love of Christ and having our affections stirred for Him. To be honest, I’m not ready to stop doing that. Song of Songs gives us the opportunity to continue.
Second, for at least a couple of years, I’ve wanted to do a special series on the greatest danger to the institution of marriage. What is the greatest danger to marriage today? Probably not what you’d think. I’m not going to spoil it in this article, but Song of Songs will lead us right into those waters. When I look at the state of marriage in the church today, this book cries out to be preached.
Third, after my sabbatical, I asked the elders for guidance on what to preach after John 13-17. The consensus? Something from the Old Testament.
Christ's love and marriage instruction from the Old Testament? It's got to be the Song of Songs.
Isn’t this inappropriate for a church setting, especially for younger ears?
No one has asked this, but someone is thinking it. Most of our members and regular attenders who have school age children send those children to their own classes prior to the message every Sunday, so those families have nothing to think about here. However, some families prefer to have their younger children with them during the sermon. What should they do?
Here are some things to consider: I’m not going to do an R-rated walk through this text. Other preachers have done that. I don’t think that’s helpful or necessary. Allusions to sexual relations will not be mined for all they’re worth. They will be referred to as “allusions to sexual relations” or “depictions of consummation.” However, the text itself mentions the beauty of certain body parts. The most explicit of these biblical words is “breasts.” It’s highly likely that the only time those words will be spoken is during the reading of the text itself. If you let your children watch almost anything on network TV or Netflix, there should be no issues. If you still prefer to have them not hear the message, they can join their friends in the children’s area for this short series.
Regarding the idea that this might be inappropriate for the church in general: Let’s remember that this book is as inspired as any other book in the Bible. Therefore, it is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). For me, especially as it pertains to my teenage kids, I would much rather these things be discussed biblically and framed with the gospel than allow our main source of indoctrination on sexual issues to be a godless culture. And let’s be clear: indoctrination is precisely what the world is seeking to do.
By barring this topic, and this book in particular, from the pulpit, I fear we would allow the culture to sully God’s good gift of sexuality and marriage, commandeering it as a tool for shame. But marriage is God’s. Sexuality is God’s. It points to His Christ. If it can’t be discussed among His Church, I’m afraid something is terribly wrong.
Won’t this leave out everyone who isn’t married?
Absolutely not. Certainly, there will be much for our married folks to glean from the text, but the Song has much to apply to singleness. On top of that, my view is that the application to marriage and singleness is derived from the Song’s picture of Christ and the Church. Everyone should be moved to greater affection for Jesus, regardless of their marital status. My suspicion is that by the end of the series, we’ll love Jesus more, and all will be more Christ-centered in marriage and singleness.
So, I look forward to opening the Word with you to Song of Songs in a couple of weeks. But before then, we have seven more verses in John to relish.
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