Hello,
This past Saturday, I officiated at a wedding at the church that I am serving. Weddings are part of the work of a Pastor. When people come to me and say they are planning to get married, I say to them that that is wonderful news, “Let’s get together and get the ball rolling.” So, I meet at least a couple of times with them. The first time I meet with them, my hope is to try and get to know them a bit and develop a pastoral relationship with them. For some, this is already in place as they are members of the church, but for most, at least one of the couple is someone for whom I have not been their pastor.
My second goal at that first meeting is to get on the same page with the couple regarding weddings. Weddings, as I am sure you are aware, take many forms and expectations. I tell the folks that I hope to be a pastor at their wedding. Knowing that there are many different types of people that can conduct a wedding, I tell them that when I am part of people’s weddings I try to make it a “pastoral” thing….that is, a matter of their Christian faith. I say to them that I don’t want to be a judge who just makes things legal and says, “good luck”. I want to be someone who helps secure their relationship with the One who has secured his relationship with them, and I want to be someone who aids the Good Shepherd, Jesus, in shepherding them through life. (If you read Psalm 23 you can get a picture of what that shepherding care looks like.)
So, when I am part of a wedding, I see myself as being part of a great time of thanks, thanks to God. Thanks to God for all the grace that he has poured into the lives of these two who want to travel through life together. Thanks to God for the grace of his presence at the wedding, sealing the couple’s vows with his vow of steadfast love. Thanks to God for opening up the future for them as they step out into the world with the power of his love. Weddings, as I hope to be part of them, are far more than ceremonies, public degrees, family celebrations, or legal arrangements. Weddings are worship services of thanks and praise to God whose grace and mercy is visibly at work in the lives of the couple.
Usually, I don’t know most of the people who come to a wedding service, so, I don’t know where they are at in their relationship to God. I am sure that there are a number of people at most weddings who regularly find themselves in church on Sunday morning, deepening their relationship with God and God’s people. I am also sure that there are a number of people at most weddings who generally are not inclined to go to church on any given Sunday. With people covering the continuum between these two groups of people, I try to keep in mind the opportunity that weddings give me to speak a word of hope and love that just might make a huge dent in their lives.
At the wedding I conducted on Saturday, the couple chose Jesus’ prayer from the Gospel of John that people would become one in him. It was a great passage to hear on a day when “two become one”. What tremendous hope for a wedding couple to hear, that their hope of unity is also a hope that lies in the heart of Christ. Not only will they be working at their oneness, Christ will be working toward it, too. Wow!
And as we gathered in that church, I saw Jesus at work in creating unity. Not just a unity in the couple who was getting married, but a unity amongst all who were gathered in that place. As they crowded into that small church, strangers sat beside strangers. Since there was no “bride’s” side or “groom’s” side, friends of both families rubbed shoulders. A hymn was sung, and the people’s voices blended together. The “peace of the Lord” was shared throughout the congregation as Communion was being prepared, and when it came time for Communion, everyone who wanted to receive the tangible grace of God was welcome, and most did even though they were of different denominations of the Christian faith.
I told the people in my message that something was happening in that place that doesn’t happen very often in the world. Barriers were being broken down, and bonds of love were being formed. In a world that tends to build all sorts of barriers, we, who were in that place got to see Christ at work building caring relationships.
That is one reason why we have worship services every Sunday. As we live in our world and see more and more barriers going up between people, and we find ourselves more and more in isolation chambers, we come together every Sunday to have Christ open up our lives, connecting us ever more deeply to him, and connecting us ever more deeply to each other. It is a hard job that Jesus has, because we who gather on Sunday mornings are quite different and often quite stubborn. But Jesus is stubborn, too. He is determined to unite all people in divine love and care, and he won’t give up until he does!
So, let me invite you to worship this Sunday and see Jesus at work tearing down the walls that make life so small, and building up bonds of love that makes life so grand!
Have a great week,
God’s Grace and Peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
No comments:
Post a Comment