Living in the Spirit
July 2, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 45:10-17 

Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;    forget your people and your father’s house, — Psalm 45:10  

I just returned from the national, actually international, meeting of the women of my denomination where we celebrated wholeness. Although the meeting was totally focused on the roles and responsibilities of women in the church, I was very impressed by the husbands who were there supporting their wives. We had a family center in the worship hall where the younger children were allowed to participate as they could in the service or do other activities at times more appropriate to their ages. Some of the young fathers were actively engaged in shepherding these children freeing their mothers to be full participants in worship and sharing ideas.

My niece accompanied me on this trip. She has been much engaged for several months in helping her daughter plan her fall wedding. It has been a year of change for my grandniece, she graduated from college, started her first professional job and will be married in the fall. I experienced and interesting crossover of thoughts as I moved from the meeting to conversations related to the wedding and was struck by the importance of equity in our lives as a part of wholeness.

Our scripture today describes a bride, a princess actually, preparing for her wedding to the king. It says she must forget her family. Genesis 2:24, often quoted at weddings, which states: Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. In either case these are very strong words describing the action that bride and groom takes when they become one: forget—leave.

The traditional wedding vows in American goes something like this : I, (name), take you (name), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. There is a give and take understood in this relationship that is more than equal. It includes the ebb and flow of life as we meet it where at one time one may be strong and the other weak, at one time one may lead and the other follow, but there is equity in everything.

Jesus uses this type of relationship to describe the bond between the Christ and the church (See Mark 2:19 or John 3:29). We are called to wholeness and oneness with Christ where we share in his mission with the full weight of his support. We two must forget our former way of being, step out in faith like a young man or woman leaving home for the first time and grasp the hand of the one who will always walk with us in all of life’s adventures. It is a remarkable gift of love.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for sharing yourself so totally with us that we may be whole as one with you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.