Wedding Crashers

Matthew 25:11-13 – “Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Clearly, those who know Jesus are those who are prepared to enter the wedding banquet. People who go to weddings of others they don’t know are known as ‘wedding crashers.’ We will be prepared if we know Jesus, or more specifically, if Jesus knows us. One meaning of ‘know’ implies relationship, not merely knowledge about Jesus but knowing Jesus, having met Jesus.

Before we elaborate on that, I want to reiterate that marriage was the go-to metaphor in the Old Testament for the relationship between God and humanity. It’s a relationship that demands all of us, holding nothing back. Of course, we hold back – we’re human! But as we grow, we begin to open ourselves up rather than keeping ourselves to ourselves. God wants to know us in this intimate way. Our God is not a solitary God, but a God of relationship.

There are many ways to meet God; one of them is through others. Either their loving us, or our loving them. In other words, loving our neighbors and receiving the love they offer is how we get to know Jesus, get to the wedding banquet of Heaven. You might say that love can not be commanded in this way. Here, we are discussing love as an action rather than warm fuzzies. It is true that ‘warm fuzzies’ cannot be commanded. We absolutely can work on our feelings toward others, but this is not what love entails here. I do things I do for love of God first, especially in situations where the recipient is someone I am angry at (an enemy?), or where I don’t know the people I’m helping yet. 

When I first began to feel called to ministry, I phoned my pastor in CA. We set up a time to talk for longer, and as we were hanging up, she said, “In the meantime, think about the love you have for Jesus.” She was giving me a clue to the life of ministry – it’s for the love of Jesus/God/Allah. Loving Jesus is how we’re prepared, and we love Jesus by loving others. That is a foretaste of heaven, the wedding banquet.

Let’s think about our love for our Higher Power, whatever name they go by.

B