Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Vowed


This week I end my wedding season with my sister’s wedding. This is the third week in a row I have done weddings. I pray this is where Mt. Calvary heads in the future with lots of weddings for young adults. Regardless, I have been thinking about weddings a lot.

My time in ministry has allowed me to experience a lot of weddings. My first church was known for its beautiful architecture; therefore we saw a lot of weddings performed in our facility. Every time a new couple came to my door it was a new story and a unique blend of two lives. I love to ask how they got engaged. Some are proud of the story and some have a hard time admitting how they proposed.  I follow up by asking about their favorite date. At this point, the stories are all over the board and truly show who the couple is.

Maranda is my youngest sister, I have watched her grow up. I have seen her mature into the woman she is today. She met a wonderful man who is going to bless her life. My sister is full of joy and excitement and can’t wait for this wonderful day. Everything is paid for, guests are coming, her brother and step-dad are tag teaming the ceremony, her tribe of nephews are ring bearers, and her dress is perfect. They just bought a new house and have been figuring out the details for that. 

There is very little to worry about except maybe my son, Jacob, thinking he is actually a real Bear. He asked Mindy if he got to roar at Maranda. Negating that all is good!   A remote chance of  uncertainty still exists:  that her bridesmaids will make it to the ceremony on time with their kids; as well as her brother, who lives in St. Louis, with his three kids. So, there still is some stress.

One reason I love to draw the couple back to where they started is because it was the natural feeling of love that drew them together—the dates, the talking, the hanging out, and the engagements—all promoting that mushy, gushy, lovey, dovey feeling. But when they leave that altar, life begins to tug them back into selfish behaviors, and at times, away from one another. It is so easy when life is difficult, to forget those beginning moments that made them treasure one another.

Christ compares himself to the groom and the Church as His bride. At first this analogy can seem odd, but in the middle of wedding season I remember why it is so real. When you first experience the love of Jesus, who died for you, it is unreal. Even if you have known it your whole life, there are times the feeling just overwhelms you. Yet, it is never easy.

Last week in worship I reminded you of the home and hope we have in Jesus, and to keep that hope and home the central focus. I talked about how it should be our security, yet even two days later we are probably finding how we are so reliant on earthly things.

In my small group Bible study we are reading the Screwtape Letters.  It is a reminder of how the devil uses the distractions of life to pull us away from our daily drive with Jesus. The book suggests how demons are doing the simplest of things to distract us from anything faith building or edifying in our relationship with Jesus our Bridegroom.

I love talking to Christian couples who have been married for over twenty-five years. So often they light up--still talking about one another. But it’s not anything they used to think was great about one another, like dates, proposals, kisses or so on. No, they light up talking about things that probably used to make them upset or frustrated. Now they appreciate their spouse’s uniqueness.

In Chattanooga they have a wonderful tradition:  men call their wives “My bride.”  It is like they never want to forget the moment the bride embraced their relationship and told the groom they want to be in love forever.

I can imagine this is how Jesus feels about us. He will never forget the moment you became a part of His family. The moment we quit fighting it and just let Him love us, day in and day out. The fight to trust His love can be so challenging, but what a beautiful picture of Jesus still calling us His bride.

I love when brides say they are all good with the marriage vows in the Bible, except that whole submission thing. I always say, “Hmmm, well can I ask you something?” They usually oblige. And then I tell them this, “What if you came home one day and you found your husband on his knees praying for your kids, praying for your home, and then praying that God would allow him to love his wife with all of his heart. That he may never waiver and pour his life into her? Would you submit to that kind of man?”

I pray that in this wedding season you turn to Jesus who loves you so much that He is not just on his knees praying for you, but that He died and rose again for you.

Ephesians 5:22-33
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

1 comment:

Pastor Roth said...

:) Reading this post makes me think back to January, when I was standing there in front of you and next to Marie. Was our wedding perfect? It depends on what standards you are using. As with everything, there were little hiccups here and there, but the day was perfect because I was able to make that commitment to my love in front of God and His people.

Marie and I have had our ups and downs, but we are earnestly pressing into Christ as we face each new challenge in marriage. It isn't easy, but I feel so blessed to be in this partnership, one that reflects our partnership with Christ. It's so amazing to know that no matter what I do, I have one who will love me and accept me because they choose to.