wedding day

I’m a big fan of weddings. One of my goals in life is to officiate a wedding one day. So, if you need someone to do your wedding, give me a 24 hour notice, and I will find a website to get whatever it is you need to legally marry people.

However I don’t know much about marriage, so I doubt anyone will trust me to perform their wedding. Still, I do enjoy being part of a wedding. I like being part of a wedding party and getting my picture taken. I even like prepping for the big day. Groomsmen preparation is probably a lot different and less stressful than it is for the lady maids. The responsibilities can range from simply show up to the venue in your tux, or move some chairs and tables around and hang decorations from the ceiling. My height disadvantage doesn’t allow me to hang things from the ceiling, so my role is traditionally reduced to moving around heavy objects. And moving around heavy objects is one of my favorite things to do. But don’t try to have too much fun around the bride to be. She’s very stressed out and even though you were on great terms one week before, all of sudden, you’re the worst person in the world for making fun of the centerpieces that were stolen from Pintrest.

Weddings are beautiful because of how well they illustrate the Gospel. They call back to the beginning of humanity when God instituted marriage in Genesis as a perfect union between man, woman, and God in the Garden of Eden in a world without sin. They hint at the ultimate wedding of Christ and his church as depicted at the end of Revelation. And in between the fall and the ultimate redemption celebration, there is the story of how love is depicted as Christ willing to die for his bride, showing what the ultimate expression of love is.

There is a ton of theology and implications to unpack there, and what it means to live that out in marriage every day for the happy couple. However, I’m grossly unqualified to accurately speak on that subject so I'll just focus on what I do know.

My favorite part of the ceremony however is at the beginning when the doors open and the bride walks in. After the last bridesmaid has walked down the aisle and the flower girl has just thrown the last of the petals, those in attendance eagerly shift in their seats with anticipation and look towards the back of the room as they stare at the doors. The bride walks in shortly after and there are murmurs and gasps, reacting to the astonishing beauty. Her face is radiant. For all the trouble that went into hanging the flowers on the aisles or how they ran out of tool (I just learned what that is!), the colors of the dresses, who should and shouldn’t be invited, none of that matters. Her eyes aren’t looking to see who sat where, how the bridesmaids look. Her eyes are fixed on her awaiting husband.

I make sure to observe the groom as well. Before she walks in, he might display an odd combination of several traits. A man who is normally stoic and always collected is suddenly fidgety as he waits at the altar. When the doors open, the jaw drops slightly and he takes a step back, enthralled by her beauty, and then a wide grin breaks out across his face. Perhaps both the bride and groom are wondering why they picked such a slow song to walk to, when they would much rather sprint to meet one another.

What is Christ’s reaction when he sees his church, holy and blameless? What is the Church’s reaction when she sees Jesus without a cloud of sin that obscure’s her vision?

Jesus yielded his rights as the rightful ruler sitting next to the Father in heaven to come to earth and die for a bride that did not know him, or even want him. And through his blood, an unfaithful bride is made clean, wearing a perfect white dress. Jesus rises from the grave so he can enjoy his rightful place in heaven and does not leave his bride a widower.

God’s love for us is not one of passive indifference; it is not a begrudging duty. It is active and it is full of joy. God looks upon us with joy. He is renewing us and cleansing us to be a perfect presentable bride. And right now, we dabble in sin, we stress out about the preparations, how we can make ourselves look perfect for God when no amount of damage control will suffice. And if you need any hint about how the Lord of the universe feels about you, look at the face of the groom at the next wedding you go to.

When that moment comes, when we see Jesus face to face, all else will melt away. We will not worry about anything else. There may be tears but they will be wiped away. It will be the perfect wedding day.

Oh look, here’s a song that pertains to what I just talked about. You should listen to it. It's pretty great.