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Thought
for the Week Sunday 30 August – Trinity 12
We’re in the middle of the wedding
season. Happy couples stand in front
of their family and friends, and in the presence of God they promise to be
loving and faithful to each other until their lives’ end. They make vows, which they honestly intend
to keep, and everyone in the church is witness to the covenant – that is the
relationship - that they are establishing.
It’s the duty of all those present to support the happy couple and
indeed the priest asks them: “Will you, the family and friends of the
bride and groom, support and uphold them in their marriage now and in the years to come?” Everyone responds with a resounding “We
will”. We ask the family and friends for this
support because marriage does not thrive in a vacuum. Bride and groom return
from their honeymoon and the daily routine begins. Individually, and together, at work, in
leisure activities and at family gatherings they encounter joy and sorrow,
trial and temptations. Each day they commit themselves anew to the promises
they have made, but they will always need the support of those who are near
and dear to them. Every wedding and every marriage is unique. Bride and groom recount the event and the
particular dramas that made their special day so special. The wedding cake that collapsed, the
caterer who did not materialise, the honeymoon hotel that was still at the
building stage… The stories are told and
retold, passed down from generation to generation until they become family
legend. The law of marriage underpins the
stability of society, and Moses was making the point to the Israelites that
the covenant, or relationship, between them and God has to be as faithful as
a good marriage. Although the book of Deuteronomy is
attributed to Moses, scholars believe that it wasn’t actually written until
as much as six centuries after his death.
The story, like those of a rich marriage, had been passed down
generation through generation. The
story though, like the description of every marriage, is not fiction but
based on solid evidence. Moses was telling the Israelites that this is how
life really is – Israel owed its being to God. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt,
and was leading them into the Promised Land.
The Israelites will only experience God’s grace if they keep his
commandments – it’s the only way they will be truly happy. Just as the happy couples, married this
year, will only be truly happy if they are truly faithful to each other, so
we will only be truly happy if we keep God’s commandments. We do not live our lives in a vacuum but in
our daily relationships with those around us. The words of Jesus were recorded a few
years after his resurrection – Mark remembers Jesus telling his audience not
to be concerned with outward appearances, much more important were their
thoughts and deeds. No point in taking
flowers home to your wife each week if you are actually being unfaithful to
her for the rest of the week. The letter of James brings us back to
reality when he reminds us that if we want to be truly faithful to God then
our first concern must be for those who are unable to cope with the demands
of everyday life – in those days there was no social security, so widows and
orphans were especially vulnerable. Judging
by the current divorce rates some of the most vulnerable are the newly
married. May it please God that we do all we can to support and uphold them,
to enable them to be faithful to each other and to Him so that their story
will be one of mutual trust, understanding and love. Amen. Revd June Hutchinson: Assistant Curate,
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