June is marriage month and a time when many couples tie the knot and celebrate their love by becoming man and wife! No earthly institution is as old or as sacred as marriage. And while wedding customs differ greatly around the world, all cultures elevate this rite that formalizes marriage and establishes the foundation for family and society.
One challenge for many couples involves the invitations. How elaborate should they be? How soon should they be sent? And most importantly, who should get one? Today, virtual invitations compete with fancy engraved parchment to summon others to attend the big day!
One of my good friends, Brother Stafford Frederick, shared a unique custom he cherished growing up in Trinidad. As preparations began the morning of the wedding, someone would start playing the drums. If you were close enough to hear those drums, you were invited to the wedding. Although it makes RSVPs difficult, this method saves a boatload on postage!
Jesus used marriage to illustrate the holy relationship between He and His church. In John 14, He told His followers that He was leaving to prepare a place for them and when all was ready He would return. They certainly understood this as a marriage metaphor for that’s exactly what Jewish grooms did. After traveling to the bride’s house to propose, the families would agree on an appropriate price for the bride. If the groom was willing and able to pay, they would seal the engagement with a ceremonial cup of wine, rather than a diamond ring.
After completing the engagement, the groom would return to his father’s house where he would build a place for he and his future wife to live. In some cases it was an enlargement of the ground floor or even the addition of an upper story. When the addition was complete and all was ready, the groom would return for his bride, often without notice, to initiate the weeklong wedding celebration.
This is precisely what Jesus did in coming to earth to engage His church. He proposed to us and then paid our “bride price” with His own blood. Although we had no beauty to attract us to Him, His infinite love motivated His greatest of all sacrifices that purchased us from our sin and shame. Instead of our parents, it’s up to each of us individually to decide to accept His proposal and enter into this period of betrothal. Love cannot be coerced and so it’s up to each of us to reciprocate His love or not.
If we do, we can begin eagerly anticipating our wedding! We can look forward to experiencing the closest of relationships with the One who loves us most even as we already enjoy His spiritual presence in our lives. And we can begin preparing as well. Revelation 19:8 tells us that the fine linen of our wedding gown is made from righteous acts. Although the collective church of all believers from all times makes up His bride, each of us should weave our own part of that dress by obeying and serving Jesus daily with as many obedient deeds as possible.
When all is ready, our Groom will appear without notice to take His bride home with Him that were He is, there we may be also! But we must be ready as Jesus warned us to be in several of His parables for He will return at an hour we think not.
Today, the drums are already sounding and if you’re reading this, you are hearing them. Through radio, television, internet, worship services, Scripture and more, the invitation to attend this wedding is going out and it’s not simply to be Jesus’ guest, but to be part of His bride, the church! As you hear these drums today, receive His payment of your price and accept His proposal. A glorious future awaits you with Him in His house forever! June Blessings, George