I want to acknowledge at the very outset that this may be the strangest pairing of scripture texts I have ever worked with in a sermon. I cannot think of more diverse biblical books than the Song of Solomon and James. One is filled with romantic, even erotic, poetic imagery, while the other is a pragmatic, no-nonsense guide to faithful living. And yet, I believe there is a connection between the two.

If we begin with the text from James we find a series of admonitions which are summed up in the phrase “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers...” (James 1:22) For the writer of this short epistle, faith is more than merely an abstract spiritual or mental exercise. It is more than just intellectual assent to a set of principles or beliefs. If our faith does not produce practical, down-to-earth, here-and-now results, then it is worthless. To put it in more modern terms, it is not enough to talk the talk -- it is also necessary to walk the walk. And it is worth paying attention to such advise. If we are not careful it is easy to fall into a pattern whereby faith becomes nothing more than self-indulgent introspection. And to the extent we allow that to happen we have missed the point of the gospel message which Jesus came proclaiming. For Jesus, life is always about reaching out beyond ourselves in order to be in relationship with God and with the world.

But how do we do that? How do we discover, nurture and sustain the kind of spiritual energy which is required to live the kind of life to which James is calling us? What does it take to maintain a healthy balance between hearing the word and doing the word? Enter the Song of Solomon! Quite frankly, we don’t pay much attention to this particular Old Testament book very often. In part, I think, this is because it is so different from anything else we find in the Bible. We’re not quite sure what to do with it. Indeed, there are portions of it which we are embarrassed to read in worship. It is pretty racy stuff. And, to be honest, that is what I like about it. You see, the reason this book of love poetry is included in the Bible is because religious authorities down through the years have seen in it a description of the relationship between God and God‘s people. If that is the case, then it becomes very helpful in breaking open our understandings about faith in some new and dynamic directions. If we start using language like lover and beloved to describe our relationship with God, then we might begin to move a little bit closer to actually experiencing some passion in that relationship. Using the Song of Solomon as a model, faith is about life which is motivated by the reality of being head-over-heels in love with God and knowing that God feels the same way about us.

So, what does all of that have to do with James’ pragmatic view of faith? I believe it has everything to do with it. It is only through the kind of passion we find in the Song of Solomon that it becomes possible to genuinely and honestly live out the kind of faith which James prescribes. Without such passion James’ approach becomes merely wooden, forced and routine. It becomes a list of do’s and don’ts which must be completed before God will love us. But with such passion it becomes the natural outgrowth of being madly in love with God and wanting above all else to be actively and completely immersed in what God is involved in. And what God is involved in is the ongoing business of loving and caring for all of humanity and all of creation. So James encourages his readers to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger...” (James 1:19) and “to care for orphans and widows in their distress...” (James 1:27) To do so is to put into practice the kind of life which takes seriously the needs of other people -- people whom God cares for.

It is possible to read the book of James from a very legalistic perspective. Many people over the years have done just that. “You shouldn’t be angry because it says in James 1:19-20 that you aren‘t supposed to.” But such an approach seems to me to be less than helpful. A more fruitful way of using the advise which we find in James might be to read it through the filter of the Song of Solomon. “If we are passionately in love with God, then this is what it looks like to live in the light of such a relationship.” We cannot help but to be doers of the word, for to do so is to be in touch with the heart of our beloved.

God is madly, passionately, completely in love with us. And God is calling us to share that kind of love with the world around us. How will you respond?