As we write, Europe, and to some degree the whole world, is keeping its eyes on London and the royal wedding taking place there today. It's astonishing, to us at least, how excited people can get over the marriage of people they have never met and probably never will. For our part, we're just happy it's today rather than tomorrow, when we'll be driving to England and skirting around London on the way to the Europe area missionary retreat. That's one traffic jam we will cheerfully be avoiding.
But we can certainly understand the excitement of a wedding. The joining together of two lives, at an important and blessed point along the journey of their relationship. The hopes and plans for a wonderful future together, maybe even a "happily ever after." We've been there ourselves and can identify.
However, a much greater and more exciting wedding feast awaits those of us who are in Christ. Revelation 19:6-7: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding feast of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready."
Continuing with verse 9: "Then the angel said to me, 'Write: "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' And he added, 'These are the true words of God.'"
How much stronger and more joyful would our churches be if we, as the church--the bride of Christ--went about delivering our invitations with the joy and blessing God's angel describes. We look forward to the day of the wedding feast of the Lamb, marking a blessed day in the church's relationship with Christ, the beginning of our joyful eternity together. Talk about hopes and plans for a future!
I hope belonging to Christ's covenant community is as much a joy and blessing as it should be. But how often does the word "church" bring up thoughts of a longstanding habitual gathering, a past-its-best-by-date tradition. I hope that is not what you think of, but for many in Europe, it is that much or worse. One of the reasons we as the church have missions to Europe is because the sense of joy in gathering together in Christ's name is lost. Please pray that it will not be lost much longer, that Christ's joy, love and hope would shine through even in the darkest of corners.
May the Lord bless you this day and until that day.
In Christ,
Michael and Carrie (Caty) Hamley
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