Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/79

Contributor - Rev. John Moerman

Title - The Blessings Of Inviting Jesus To Your Marriage Part 2

Topic - Marriage

Isaiah 55: 1-13 - John 2: 1-11

3. The third implication for deciding to have a church wedding ceremony in a Christian church is that you value Jesus' presence the whole day long. When the couple invites Jesus to their marriage, He does not come just for the exchange of the vows, the prayers, the brief message, the solo, the bible reading and/or the congregational singing. When Jesus is invited to the marriage in the church, He expects to be welcome during the rest of the festivities too, the reception, the picture taking, the dinner, and whatever other festivities are to be arranged. This is what places the Christian stamp upon the entire day. When there are non-Christians present, they should sense the difference between these festivities and others they have attended.

This is not expecting too much, is it? Jesus' place in the world is not behind the locked doors of the church building. No couple should act, when the church ceremony is over, in the spirit of, "Now, please, keep Jesus in the church building. This is where He belongs. Do not let Him out. We do not want Him to come along with us. It was nice of Him to be there with us at the ceremony, but we have no further need of Him at the reception, the dinner, the other festivities, our honeymoon, nor in our new' home. After the ceremony we will manage fine by ourselves. Thanks, Jesus, for being with us in the church building, now please, stay there, will You ....

Do not repeat the foolishness of thousands and thousands of couples who acted this way and later on paid for it by way of heart-breaking experiences. Jesus should be the most welcome guest during the whole evening, as well as during the honeymoon days. No one should ever be ashamed of Jesus' presence. God Himself instituted marriage. He walked and talked with Adam and Eve while they were on their paradise "honeymoon".

4. The fourth implication for deciding to have a church wedding ceremony in a Christian church is that you thereby invite Jesus' disciples also. The bible says: "And Jesus was also invited to the marriage, and his disciples".

Jesus and his disciples always go together. They move on to work, witness, and worship together. They pray together, sing together and share together. When you see the One, you see the others. You cannot have Jesus without His disciples. Jesus and the church go together. He is the Head and the church is His Body. Head and Body cannot be separated. Jesus is the Life of His Church.

So, when Jesus is invited to the marriage, His church becomes involved too, Jesus is there to impart His blessings to the new couple and to the witnesses of the glorious event haring in the Yes, the church takes a vital interest in the formation of this new Christian home about to become a reality. This, too is part of the newness He came to bring!

5. The final implication for deciding to have a church wedding ceremony in a Christian church is that the invitation of Jesus to be present at the marriage is intended to cover all of the marriage life. When in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the pastor's hands are raised over the couple in blessing, it means a blessing- for all of life' God never blesses for five minutes, half an hour, one day, two weeks, three months, four ears. The bible says that God's blessings are for "now and always".

If this is not understood and accepted by the couple, they open the door wide for misunderstandings between them as well as and spiritual togetherness. He has also instituted -marriage to be a holy partnership of beautiful romantic togetherness. And neither does this come to an end when a couple reaches 40 years, 50 or 60 years, or what time God is giving to the couple together.

With Jesus the marriage life never fails. This is because Jesus never fails. It is only without Jesus that marriage life fails so often, so desperately, so miserably. One out of every three/four marriages fail. And these are only the statistics of those couples who have gone through the legal process of marriage. Therefore, the already shocking percentage is higher yet! Life without Jesus in control places the husband and/or wife in the "high risk" bracket of marriage breakdown and divorce. This is a proven fact. When anyone closes the door to Jesus entering into his/her life, the person thereby opens a side door for the devil to slip in and take control. Yet, the irony is that masses of couples willingly take this awful risk.

But if there is a "high risk" bracket, there is also a "no risk" bracket. What I mean is this, in all my years of life I have never seen where a deeply committed Christian husband and wife broke up what God had joined together". When Jesus is in control of all of life, married people enter the "no risk" bracket of marriage life. With Jesus in control the marriage life only grows more stable and fulfilling. Even hardship and disappointment God then turns into rich and glorious blessings. During such times understanding deepens, patience takes strong roots, love blossoms and faith in Jesus Christ matures. Under difficult circumstances the life in Christ shows forth in unexpected dimensions.

Now this is what I call blessings, full, rich, and wide! Life with Jesus is rewarding and fulfilling. It is the kind of marriage life I would like for you to possess too. More! It is the kind of marriage life God stands ready to give you.

A church wedding in a Christian church is like inviting Jesus and His disciples to your marriage, and the implications of this are five-fold:

1. Jesus must stand in the centre of the marriage ceremony;

2. Jesus must be included in the preparations for the marriage as well;

3. Jesus' presence must be valued by the couple the whole day long;

4. Jesus' invitation to the marriage includes the church's involvement;

5. Jesus' invitation to the marriage is intended to be for the duration of the entire marriage life,

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