Echoes of a wedding feast…
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Did you watch it then? (The Royal Wedding, I mean!) I have to confess that David and I both shed a tear…
Maybe you enjoy weddings, maybe not (I have some painful memories of containing two lively little boys through long ceremonies in uncomfortably smart outfits). Whatever your view, and whatever your experience of marriage, there is still something in all of us that resonates with a fairytale wedding.
A clue as to why that is could be found in the wedding service …” their union signifying the mystical union of Christ and his Church”
This is a story that all of us as Christians are part of. The Father is seeking a Bride for his Son, bringing new children into his family and inviting guests to the wedding.
It is a present reality. If you have responded to the invitation, you have new clothes, you are part of a new family and you sit at a new table, showered with gifts.
It is also a future reality. At a funeral, a body is “sown in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection.”
Our hope is sure and certain.
When Jesus returns to the earth, we will celebrate with him in a wonderful wedding feast, the WEDDING OF THE LAMB. If you want to get excited about this, read Revelation 21: 1-5. All tears will be wiped away, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain and HE WILL MAKE ALL THINGS NEW.
So for all of you who have cried a lot recently, for all who have sown and are waiting to reap, who live daily with pain and challenge, take heart…there are echoes of wedding music in the air, can you hear it?!
Following the tragic accidental death of his little daughter Maria, aged five in 2008, Steven Curtis-Chapman wrote an album, Beauty Will Rise. This is an extract from the title track:
I can hear it in the distance
And it’s not too far away
It’s the music and the laughter
Of a wedding and a feast
I can almost feel the hand of God
Reaching for my face
To wipe the tears away and say
“It’s time to make everything new”
This is our hope
This is our promise
That would take our breath away
To see the beauty that’s been made
Out of the ashes
Out of the ashes
Beauty will rise
We will dance among the runs
We will see it with our own eyes
Out of the darkness
New light will shine
And we’ll know joy is coming in the morning
The flowers are already faded from the Royal Wedding, the food eaten, the dresses will fade too, and the beautiful people age and die.
But we have a sure and certain hope. So, keep listening for the echoes of the bells and the music, let your heart leap as you catch a glimpse of the Father’s face and hear his voice welcoming you. For now, we only see in part, one day, we will see face to face.
Now that will be some wedding!
Bless you,
Your friend,
Susan x