Rev. Julie Ruth Harley tells about a couple in Manhattan who got hitched after meeting in a rather unusual way. They were in a car accident.
They say love is blind but, according to a report in the New York Times, Joanna Greenwald really did have her eyes closed when she first met Christopher Masters. The reason she had her eyes closed was that a pickup truck had just crashed into the back of her BMW. She then sideswiped Chris’ Dodge, ricocheted onto the median and headed toward oncoming traffic.
When she opened her eyes, Joanna’s car was totaled and she expected to see a great white light. Instead, she crawled out of the wreckage and saw the man of her dreams. While the two talked at the accident scene, Joanna barely thought about the damage to her car, the shards of glass in her clothes and hair, or the fact that she had almost died. When her mother arrived, in a state of panic, Joanna said, “I’m fine, Mom, I’m fine. Get away from me, now.” Her eyes were evidently fixed on Chris.
Chris and Joanna exchanged business cards, ostensibly for insurance reasons, and the next day Chris called and asked Joanna out. At their wedding reception, the couple did not place flowers or chocolates at each place setting. Instead, they posted copies of the accident report. (1)
If I were to ask some of you, how did you meet your mate? I would get some interesting stories. I would also get some interesting stories if I asked about your wedding.
In his book, Hustling God, Dr. Craig Barnes tells about a wedding that started as a real disaster. First, the weather was atrocious. Some of the main streets had to be closed due to flooding which meant that some of the out-of-town guests never made it to the ceremony. Also, for some strange reason, about half the candles on the candelabras wouldn’t light. The flowers didn’t arrive on time so the church’s wedding hostess put together something from the previous week’s sanctuary flowers . . . which had a lovely brown tint around the edges. The real flowers showed up15 minutes into the ceremony. Undaunted the florist marched down the center aisle and arranged the new flowers right in front of the bride, groom, and soggy guests. It was unbelievable. There are usually a few tears at weddings but at this particular wedding they weren’t tears of happiness.
Wisely Barnes made a few adjustments to his wedding homily. He talked about how fitting it was to have an imperfect wedding for what was always going to be an imperfect marriage, just like every marriage. Even as he talked, however, he says he could still see anger and hurt in the eyes of the bride and groom. They had worked so hard to get everything right for their wedding.
Nevertheless, the moment they turned and faced each other to say their vows, everything changed. Barnes writes, “The groom’s eyes watered up with tears of joy as, for the first time on that day of mishap after mishap, he really SAW his beautiful bride. All of his frustration melted away as he finally beheld the joy of his life. That got her crying,” Barnes concludes, “which made me cry as well.” (2)
There is something about a wedding, isn’t there? Whether things are perfect, or even very imperfect, there is something about weddings that touch us.
Throughout the Bible the relationship which God has with His people is compared to the love a bridegroom has for his bride. It is the predominant theme of the book of Hosea. In Hosea 2:19 we read, “I will betroth you to me forever . . .” Hosea’s wife was unfaithful to him just as Israel was unfaithful to God, but still Hosea was committed to her just as God is committed to His people. And that set the tone for his book.
The theme of the bride and the divine wedding is carried over into the New Testament. It is not surprising that Christ’s first miracle was at a wedding. After all he referred to himself on one occasion as the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15). This same imagery is present in many of the parables that Jesus taught. We are his beloved. And one day we will join him at the wedding feast.
Paul used this imagery in advising couples about their own marriages in Ephesians 5: 25-33. The last words of that passage go like this: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh.” Then Paul adds these words, “This is a profound mystery but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
The imagery of the Divine wedding continues all the way to the book of Revelation. We read in verse 19:7: “Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him; for the time has come for the wedding banquet of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.” Who is the Lamb? Christ. Who is the bride? The church. This theme continues right up until the end: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband . . .” (Rev. 21:2)
Then, in the very last chapter of our Bible, we read, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’” (Rev. 22:17)
So, in the last chapter of scripture, describing the end of time, we have this magnificent picture of Christ with his bride saying to all, “Come, come to the wedding feast. Come, all who would, and receive what has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” As someone has said, human history began with a marriage ceremony in the Garden of Eden and human history will end with the marriage ceremony between the bride and groom, between Christ and his church.
In our lesson for today from the Old Testament, Isaiah the prophet uses this same imagery. Israel is in a bad way. Time after time, they had been defeated by their enemies. They were recovering from exile in Babylonia. The land is deserted and desolate. Jerusalem has been torn down and the temple has been destroyed. There is a phrase that is often used about the prophets that they afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. Isaiah is in his comforting mode in this passage and here is the word he gives Israel in God’s behalf: “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (62:4-5)
This is a beautiful passage. Israel has gone through a difficult time. Things were so bad that Jerusalem was called “Abandoned” and the land was called “Desolate.” But God had not forgotten them. They had forgotten Him, but God had not forgotten them. A new day was coming. No longer would they be called “Abandoned” and “Desolate.” God would give them new names, “My delight is in her” and “Married.”
The word “married” is important. There were negative cultural connotations to a woman who was not married in those ancient times. An unmarried woman was often an outcast, and widows lived an uncertain existence. Since women could not own property, if a woman had no family, it was almost impossible for her to provide for herself above the most meager of existences without resorting to prostitution. So, once Israel was abandoned and desolate, says Isaiah, but now she has two significant new names “My delight” and “Married.” It is a beautiful way of expressing God’s love and God’s grace.
Why are Israel’s problems of concern to us? Some of us have gone through a difficult time when our name could easily have been, “Abandoned” and “Desolate.” Maybe we, like Israel, have gotten ourselves into a bad way because of some moral failure or some bad decision. That happens. Or maybe it was through no fault of our own. Life can be hard in any event.
There was an interesting item in Reader’s Digest recently about Stefan and Erika Svanstorm of Stockholm, Sweden. Stefan and Erika packed their suitcases for a four-month honeymoon in December 2010. That’s exciting a four-month honeymoon. Except these honeymooners encountered six natural disasters on this, their first trip together. In Munich, Germany they were caught in one of Europe’s worst blizzards ever. Then they flew to Australia where they weathered a cyclone, were evacuated, and spent 24 hours on a cement floor. Later, still in Australia, they were stuck in a flood and later narrowly escaped a series of brushfires. In Christchurch, New Zealand they arrived shortly after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit. They then flew to Tokyo where they survived the horrific earthquake that hit that nation a couple of years back. Somehow they returned to Stockholm with their lives and their marriage still intact.
Most of us will never have a run of bad luck quite that long. Or maybe we will. Life can be cruel.
Pastor Ed Markquart tells a heartbreaking story about a woman in her mid forties visiting an elderly woman at a nursing home. The younger woman asks the older one, “How are you?” There is a long pause.
“Just fine,” says the older woman. There is another long silence.
The older woman then asks, “Where did the leaves go?”
The woman in her forties responds, “It’s fall; the leaves have fallen.” Another long silence. For two hours, this pattern continues. A short comment punctuated by long periods of silence.
The older woman asks, “Do you have a daughter?”
The younger woman answers, “Yes, she’s twelve years old.” Long silence.
“Do you have any sons?” the old lady asks.
“Yes, our boy is sixteen.” Long silence.
“What is his name?”
“Mark. He is such a tall boy, almost six feet four.”
“My, he is a tall boy.” These two women talk back with long periods of silence in between.
It finally comes time to leave. The younger woman says, “I must be going now.”
The older woman asks, “Do you live far away?”
“O yes,” is the reply, “almost three hundred miles away.”
The two of them go together to the outside door, the older woman being pushed in her wheel chair by the younger woman. The old woman says, “This has been nice. You are pretty. Come see me again. But, but, but I don’t know your name.”
The middle-aged woman chokes back the tears and says, “My name is Lorraine.” And then for a moment, there is a blinding flash of recognition in the old lady’s mind, then shame, then sorrow, then nothing. The younger woman turns and runs to her car, tears streaming down her face, glad that her mother had called her “pretty.” (3)
Life can be like that. Desolate. Abandoned. Maybe you’ve gone through a difficult time when your name could easily have been, “Abandoned” and “Desolate.”
I trust that in those experiences you found what Isaiah found that God was with you. That is what has sustained believers through the centuries in good times and bad. We are God’s beloved. God is married to us. God will never forsake us, no matter what we do or what our circumstances may be.
I like the way Pastor Daniel Habben has put it. He writes, “Have you ever been to a downtown that has seen better days? Where there once were people and activity there is nothing but broken glass and litter. Banks and stores have moved to the suburbs leaving behind grand brick buildings that have become canvass to neighborhood punks and their graffiti. It’s not just depressing to go through such a desolate place; it can be dangerous. But then developers move in enticed by low taxes and before you know it, empty warehouses turn into expensive loft apartments. Cracked sidewalks are repaired and flowers planted. Restaurants and galleries open in those brick buildings scoured clean of their graffiti. What was desolate is now a delight again to inhabitants and visitors.” (4)
That is the kind of transformation that Isaiah is promising Israel. It is the same promise God makes to each of us. If you are going through a difficult time, hang in there. God has not forgotten you.
A farmer once had an unusually fine crop of grain. Just a few days before it was ready to harvest, there came a terrible hail and wind storm. The entire crop was demolished.
After the storm was over, the farmer and his small son went out onto the porch. The little boy looked at what was formerly the beautiful field of wheat, and then with tears in his eyes he looked up at his dad, expecting to hear words of despair.
All at once his father started to sing softly, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.”
Years after, the little boy, grown to manhood said, “That was the greatest sermon I ever heard.” (5)
That farmer knew that whatever the circumstances God was not going to forsake him. His name would never be Abandoned or Desolate regardless of how grim things might appear.
Dr. Anton DeWet tells about an aunt of his in South Africa who has had a difficult life. Her daughter, two weeks before she was to write her final paper before qualifying as a medical doctor, committed suicide. Can there be a more devastating blow to two parents than this one? His aunt and his uncle struggled through this loss with great difficulty, as you might imagine. They regained enough balance that with time his uncle was chosen to serve a term as South Africa’s ambassador to Poland. But this is not the end of the story. His uncle was on a safari with a Polish guest when he lost his footing on a cliff overlooking a beautiful canyon and fell to his death 300 feet below. As someone very close to his aunt, DeWet says he has had the opportunity to see her deal with two tragedies in her life that have left her deeply wounded. When he asks her how she copes, her answer always remains the same: “Only by God’s grace.” (6)
Friends, that is the only ways any of us cope. Life happens. Sometimes great things happen and we thank God for them. And then there are those times when we feel abandoned and desolate. But God comes to us and whispers our name and tells us we are not alone. In the words of Isaiah, our names have been Abandoned and Desolate, but they shall be, “My Delight is in You” and “Married.” Married to Christ.
1. http://www.uchinsdale.org/worship_sermons_rites/sermons/20050731.htm.
2. Mark Adams, http://www.redlandbaptist.org/sermons/sermon19990411.htm.
3. http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_making_the_deserts_bloom.htm.
4. http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/from-desolate-to-delight-the-lord-will-glorify-his-church-daniel-habben-sermon-on-assurance-of-salvation-101507.asp.
5. The Timothy Report, http://www.timothyreport.com.
6. http://uccportland.org/sites/default/files/Sermon%2008-28-11.pdf.