Wedding

All wedding planning takes months and is fraught with challenges and unexpected changes. But to be fair, this wedding has had more than its share of all of these things: changing the date; family having to abandon their visit from across the pond; limited numbers; only having ten days to actually pull the final details together. Plus a whole lot of disappointment and hanging on tenterhooks. And then, just three days ago, mum went to glory. Great for her. Challenging for us. But today, we will celebrate. We’ll celebrate two people coming together in marriage, committing themselves to each other for as long as they live. And that’s the most important thing today. We’ve learnt a whole bundle of things during this strange, uncertain and challenging time. There are some things that are important, and there are some things that are really not! Weddings are full of small, intricate details that in truth, no-one (apart from perhaps the bride and groom - if he even does) really notices. They get lost in the day. When I was best man for my school friend Neil a long time ago now, I forgot to put his shoes for the honeymoon, in the car! He survived! And we now live in a world where every wedding has to be different from every other wedding. Perish the thought it might look like another wedding. In truth, every wedding is different: different bride and groom for starters! What we’ve learnt is that while it might be fun (or not) to do all that planning, it’s getting married that’s important. And that’s what we’re doing today. Got me thinking. Life’s like that. Like the build up to a wedding. Well, actually that’s exactly what it is. At least that’s the Christian perspective. It’s an unpredictable, challenging, sometimes filled with joy, sometimes filled with tragedy, sometimes how we would choose it, mostly not, and sometimes cruel, sometimes long and sometimes short journey towards a wedding. And, just like the lead up to a wedding day, We often get lost in details and things that aren’t truly important. We sometimes forget, among all the joys and sorrows, all the dreams and desires, all the hard work and the fun, that the most important thing is that the bridegroom is waiting and that one day we will be in the greatest wedding celebration of all time. Of all human history. And, challenging though it is today, and though she’s not with us at our wedding celebration today, mum is at a wedding celebration. Just as later today a bridegroom will look down the aisle and see his beautiful bride, the bridegroom has welcomed mum into his presence and the celebration has begun. And there it is: the reality of the world we inhabit and the hope we have in God’s bigger and better story. We’re going to enjoy today and we’re going to celebrate. And we’re going to hold in our hearts another wedding with another celebration.