The Knock that NEGLECT Ignores

What a powerful moment recorded in the resurrection story with these women who are grieving.

They wake early in the morning with intention. They prepare spices. They walk toward the tomb.

Everything they are doing seems right.

Yet, when they arrive; they are met with this question from angels asking them ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead?’

Imagine that moment..

I can reflect and imagine that their mental state wouldn’t have been registering that they were seeking in the wrong place.

These women are doing what love would normally do.

Going to honor the body of someone they loved and believed was dead.

But heaven interrupts their search. A Divine Interruption needed

Because Pain and their human logic was driving their actions

.........BUT HE WASN’T THERE!!!! Just as he had spoken and promised.

And I want us to consider something important. These women are in pursuit of JESUS.

Believers

Disciples

Faithful Followers.

AND YET; this is a reminder to each one of us in this morning that we can find ourself ‘Seeking’ in the wrong places.

So let me ask you this morning:

Where have you been ‘seeking’ for Life, Truth, Purpose lately???

Thankfully, GOD has drawn you to himself in this morning as you come searching for him.

AND HIM ALONE!!!

For this Easter service, the Lord has placed the theme of ‘Searching for the Beloved’. The search for just as these women, for the ‘ONE WHO MY SOUL LONGS FOR’.

The word “seek” comes from the Greek word zēteō (ζητέω) implies actively searching because you expect to find something. It’s the act of looking carefully, intentionally, or diligently for something that is hidden, unknown, or desired. It involves effort, attention, and purpose to find what you are looking for.

Without these attributes, then its simply careless, wandering; willing to accept whatever you find regardless of whether its right for you.

IN THIS MORNING, I want us to really focus in on the elements of... WHAT IS IT THAT IS DRIVING us to SEARCH!!!

For those of you who are able, please stand as we read the word of God and the primary scripture of today’s message. We will find it in the book of Song of Solomon 5:2-6.

Christ-Centered Narrative Sermon Template

Song of Solomon 5:2–6 “I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.” I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them? My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me. I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.”

You may be seated.

The title for today’s message; that I want to preach and teach under is ‘The KNOCK that NEGLECT Ignores’.

Ask your neighbor, ‘Are you ignoring what you should Love?’

1. Hook — Engage the Heart

The book of Song of Solomon is this deep poetic love story.

It describes a couple pursuing each other driven by:

Passion

Desire

Longing

At the beginning of the story the fire is strong. Their Love is INTENSE!

They inviting each other into pursuit and can see no flaws or imperfections in the other.

Everything seems PERFECT!!!! Right of out a Hallmark movie.

BUT THEN all of a sudden we find ourselves, in this moment.....

where the Groom comes knocking at the door and the BRIDE Now isn’t responding with burning passion and instead decides to ignore.

Can we relate?

Can we look back to the beginning of our relationships where:

There were no mountains we wouldn’t climb. No rivers we wouldn’t cross.

to be with our partners for those who are married.

For those who are in the engagement or dating process, you open doors, you send cute poetic text messages to keep the fire of the passion ablaze.

You struggle to end the phone calls, fighting with one another on who will hang up the phone first?

Somehow you find time to talk or see each other no matter what

Why???

Because Desire is driving you. It’s this internal mechanism overtaking our minds and actions, because we have this Desire.

Before we go further, we need to understand something important:

Desire is powerful.

God created desire.

We Desire Love

We Desire Relationship

We Desire Intimacy.

Yes, I said Intimacy....

And maybe that’s word makes people uncomfortable in a church setting —— but it shouldn’t be.

GOD designed us with these desires with the intention of having true, honest, and intimate relationships within the confines of Marriage. Which ultimately reflects the relationship between Christ and His bride.

But Heres the TENSION:

DESIRE although good, purposeful, and designed by GOD… has to be bridled and controlled because its also has the ability leads us astray.

Because like all things, desire can also be misdirected.

We can see this from the beginning.

Genesis 3:6

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”

Eve saw the tree DESIREABLE!! She Was drawn to IT!

Her desire drew her toward something God had forbidden.

Church, here is the lesson:

Desire itself is not evil.

But desire HAS TO BE guided by God's design.

Interestingly enough, heres the problem:

there are moments that after we receive what we longed for...things are soo good; perhaps perfect like the Garden

that we start to get Comfortable and Neglect the same thing we couldn’t stop thinking about.

Why is that?

2. Setting the Scene — Enter the Text

This scripture begins with stating, ‘I slept, but my heart was awake’.

The bride describes a state where the body is resting…

…but the soul is restless.

Some of us know this feeling.

Your body is lying down, but your mind is racing.

Your heart is searching.

Your soul is restless.

This sense of Internal signals and warnings to take actions.

And begin searching to diagnose or put to rest the alerts.

Some begin Searching for peace by counting sheep,

some search for rest by defaulting to medications,

and some just left in turmoil unable to find the solution to symptoms being felt.

Before the Cross, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 26:41

Matthew 26:41

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

But they fell asleep.

A moment when Jesus asks them to stay awake...BUT COMFORT won.

And though their sleep did not stop the cross, it caused them to scatter when the moment of testing arrived.

The Disciples like the Bride in this story, I can imagine struggled because the request from Jesus came at such a late time after a long day.

But sometimes Obedience will confront our Comfort and Convenience.

And when it does, we must decide:

Will we respond? Or will we remain asleep?

As we deal with the tension between the physical and spiritual aspects of this story, we have to gleen at the approach of the Beloved.

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Notice ......

He doesn’t force the door open although he has the ability to do so.

He KNOCKS

And he speaks tenderly;

saying “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, MY PERFECT ONE, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night’

He approaches with words full of affection.

Describing his bride as perfect, as a sister which means convenantal permanent relationship.

Interestingly enough, there’s nothing the Beloved can say to arouse the Bride to respond when she is in the moment. He is spitting all of the right game. And he Waits ...

Any tension in the room yet?

Men, are we being intentional and waiting or are we trying to force our way in?

Women, is comfort and inconvenience causing us to miss out on opportunities and creating distance where unnecessary.

Let’s leave it at that and get back to the text:

It says that his head is wet with the dew and his locks with the drop of the night.

This means waiting patiently outside to the point where the dew and settle and is now dripping.

When we look at the context of this setting, it shows we have left the Beloved outside the door all night!!!!

The dew accumulated over time! and heavy dew symbolizes:

Refreshment

God’s blessing

Life and fertility

Psalm 133:3

“It is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forevermore.”

So picture this moment.

Love has been standing outside all night.

Waiting.

Patiently.

Knocking.

3. Conflict / Problem — Name the Tension

How many times does this happen, where there's a divine moment of intimacy waiting and knocking out the door and we hesitate, we linger and we answer with excuses:

I had put of my garment, how could i put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?

SO When does God get our time?

5am is too early. And of course we need rest.

11pm is too late.

Theres no free open time, in the midst of our lives that are jam packed with busyness

Ultimately, scripture reveals that The Bride responds with Excuses!!! Excuses that simply show, I am too comfortable and I have already done the work so I'm good. But yet her soul is aroused and awake.

This not only is a reality for marriages but also spiritually.

Revelation 3:20 says he knocks, and he was talking to the church of Laodicea. A church where Jesus says in Revelation 3:15–16 ““ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

Comfort slowly turns into neglect.

Attributes associated with being Lukewarm; Neither Hot nor Cold.

HOT moves, opens, responds.

Cold simply denies and rejects.

Lukewarmess is owned by the enemy. It keeps you on the fence. One foot on the side of the world and the other with GOD.

And we fool ourselves, thinking that we are okay being on the fence. When in reality it is detestable to GOD.

And ultimately, what these subtle moments of neglect create; are missed opportunities and whether we realize it or not; IT CREATES DISTANCE.

Theres division, space, separation that all start to creep in the subtilties.

4. Why It Persists / Biblical Diagnosis — Expose the Root

Maybe NEGLECT sounds harsh but let’s look at the definition:

Neglect describes carelessness, abandonment, disregard, or failing to give attention to something important.

It is rarely aggressive rebellion!

INSTEAD, it is usually:

Abandoning what should be maintained

becoming careless toward responsibility

forgetting what should be remembered

treating something sacred as ordinary

Most spiritual collapse doesn’t begin with rebellion, it begins with Neglect.

comfort

fatigue

distraction

“I’m too tired.”

“I’ll pray tomorrow.”

“I’ll read the Bible later.”

Meanwhile, the beloved is knocking.

Neglect in a relationship, particularly emotional neglect creates deep disconnection, leaving partners feeling abandoned, unseen, and lonely. It often leads to an emotional numbness or desire to leave the relationship to avoid rejection.

5. Climax — God Acts

The reality is that the BELOVED has never stopped Loving you, He has never forsaken or rejected you.

But maybe you missed opportunities...

And Now the roles are reverse and LOVE requires response and action on your part.

Now its on you. and rightfully so.

Not only did The BELOVED Waited all night ; he even left you a Love Note.

It says that he put his hand to the latch and when the Bride opens the door, her hands dripped with myrrh and her fingers with the liquid myrrh on the handles of the bolt.

This was equivalent to a bouquet of flowers being left on the doorsteps in today’s times.

Or better yet, a teddy bear sprayed with the beloved’s cologne.

It was a clear sign that the beloved had been their and the sweet fragrance would have been a clear sign.

I don’t know about you but how beautiful is it to know that even when we delay in responding....…

The evidence of His love remains.

BUT NOW the Bride has to go SEEKING.

And heres where some of us may find ourselves today.

We want the quick response. We made the BELOVED wait all night but now when we want and are yearning to be loved,

we want to cry out and want him to respond quickly.

BUT she has to work for it.....It says she sought him but found him not. She called and cried out, and he gave no answer.

What do we do in these moments? Lie to ourselves and say he has abandoned us. That he never loved us to start. That it wasn’t true love in order to justify being quick to throw it all away.

OR do we keep searching!!!

Its in these moments, where your heart will reveal what your true desire is.....

Song of Solomon 5:7 “The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls.” .

The delay in responding came with consequences. The Bride now regrets and has to suffer for her previous actions.

It comes with correction and being exposed!

The beating and bruising of correction, may be enough to make some quit. Its too uncomfortable and painful.

For others, they can endure the correction but not the exposing. They can’t handle the vulnerability that comes with others seeing where they failed.

And yet, the watchmen intervene.

It gives us this vivid picture that for every moment of ecstasy, there seems to be the moment of hurt and pain.

6. Connection to Christ — Fulfillment Revealed

BUT THE BRIDE, was so convinced that no matter the beating no matter the exposure; she was determined to find her beloved and not only find BUT she began to proclaim WHO HE WAS TO HER!!

The women of Jerusalem asked ; What is so great about this guy? Why not find another???!!!

The Bride responds:

Song of Solomon 5:10–16 “My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand. His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven. His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool. His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires. His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.”

This moment is in complete contrast to before. She hesitated and made excuses, because she was thinking about herself.

Why should I dirty my feet? But I have already taken of my garments.

BUT NOW, she’s thinking about HIM!!! and its this moment where its complete focus on what she is looking for.

How often is our minds set on ourselves, our wants, our desires that we forget its not about us but about HIM!!!

Its a beautiful picture when the BRIDE becomes so convinced of how wonderful HE IS, that she doesn’t run to tell HIM.

Because HE doesn’t need to be convinced of how wonderful he is.

INSTEAD, She goes to tells Others about WHO HE IS!!

On Easter Sunday, How do you describe JESUS? Who is he to YOU?

For the marriages, women specifically, there are moments where you have to remind yourself and tell others of how wonderful your partner is. He may not need to hear it, BUT you may need to reconvince yourself of why God put him alongside you in the first place. You need to find those attributes that you can respect and set him apart. Those qualities that drew him to you. They are still there.

AND Men, we should aspire to be Godly Men who our wives can look to in the manner that the Bride speaks. Are you a man of character distinguished among ten thousand/a hundred thousand?

Are you really living up to the appreciation and respect that you wish you wife would give you?

And do you deserve it?

7. God’s Solution — Gospel Applied

When she finally opened the door, the beloved had already gone… but he left the fragrance of myrrh.

Myrhh which was utilized as a:

The symbol of sacrifice. The scent of suffering. The mark of love that had waited all night.

The biggest LOVE NOTE ever issued still stands today as an open invitation for anyone who should want to open the door in this morning and let him in.

When humanity delayed opening the door to God… Christ left the fragrance of sacrifice on the cross.

8. Application — Faith Lived Out

9. Invitation — In this morning, I pray GOD has reminded you that he has not forsaken you. And although you may have missed moments of opportunity and created distance, keeping seeking!

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Maybe you’ve delayed opening the door. Maybe you’ve searched in places where life cannot be found. Maybe you’ve neglected the knock of the Beloved.

But the good news of Easter is this: The tomb is empty. The Beloved is alive. And He is still calling you to seek Him with all your heart.

Both the women at the tomb and the bride had to endure the suffering that came with the darkness of the night, BUT when morning came they were able to find what they were looking for? No matter how dark the night may feel in your situation, keep searching for he is patiently waiting to bring you into his glorious light.