Revved-Up - August 29, 2021

Back in Haberfield again for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, again enjoying the company of Rev. Joy Steele-Perkins of St David's Uniting Church.

Our first reading was from the Song of Solomon (2:8-13), which makes it a special week as we only read from this book once every three years! I assume the reason we so rarely go near the book is because it has a history of controversy behind it, and various church fathers, and Jewish fathers, have suggested that this book should not be considered Scripture!

The issue our forefathers had with 'the Song' was partly that it doesn't mention God at all (a privilege it shares with the book of Esther) but perhaps mainly because of its subject matter - sex. The Song of Solomon is the story of two young lovers, and the Hebrew seems to be full of euphemisms that make it quite bawdy!

Interestingly, those who have historically defended the book's place in Scripture have done so on the basis of seeing it as an allegory of the love between God and His people, or between Christ and His church. St Ambrose took a different tack, suggesting that the woman in the poem should be identified with the virgin Mary. That seems wrong to me on multiple levels.

The epistle reading form the letter of James (1:17-27) is far more straightforwardly encouraging. James suggests that we should see God's Word as a kind of mirror that shows us what we are like (James 1:23-25).

Our Gospel reading is from Mark 7 - a scene where Jesus and His disciples seem to openly flout the laws and traditions of their people. When Jesus is challenged for failing to comply with public health orders, he confronts his clerical peers with their pedantry and legalism.

http://www.fatherdave.org
http://www.fighting-fathers.com