May the mumbling commence!
There are advantages of companionship. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes speaks of them in
chapter four. Some of these words remind
me of the theme of my wedding.
My wife and I (married a little over ten years now)
chose to speak of the three-fold cord.
The three cords in our marriage would be each of us with Christ in the
center. I symbolically started that off
by the way I proposed to Anita.
I sent her ten red roses, telling her that she was my
perfect ten. Then I delivered to her
three more roses – two red and one white.
The red roses symbolized our love for one another. The white rose symbolized Christ.
With these thoughts in mind read from Ecclesiastes
chapter four:
I observed yet another example of
meaninglessness in our world. This is
the case of a man who is all alone,
without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he
can. But then he asks himself, "Who am I working for? Why am I giving up
so much pleasure now?" It is all so meaningless
and depressing.
Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor.
If one person falls, the other
can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real
trouble. And on a cold night, two under
the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm
alone? A person standing alone can be
attacked and defeated, but two can stand
back-to-back and conquer. Three are
even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Verses 7-12)
The opening thoughts are somber. We do not need to live life alone. We can find companionship far from our family
of origin by committing ourselves to walk in faith with a church community.
Just as Christ is at the center of my marriage, Christ
is at the center of every healthy church community. Together, we are the greater than the sum of
our parts. I see it in my marriage. I see it in the church community that God has
blessed me with. And I give thanks!
We are not meant to be alone… on an island. Forget about the illusion of
independence. It is a lie. All of us are dependent upon God and
interdependent on each other. We are
made for relationship. And that means
loving people even when it’s hard to.
Read from First John chapter four:
If someone says, "I love God,"
but hates a Christian brother or
sister, that person is a liar; for
if we don't love people we can
see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? And God himself
has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian
brothers and sisters, too. (Verses 20-21)
Love of God and love of neighbor are tied up
together. We cannot rightly separate
them. Love your neighbor… whether they
are Christian in faith or not. Who knows
whether or not your love for them will lead them to Christ and the worship of
the Lord might be that much more enhanced?
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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