Mtr Kelli Joyce

"Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Dear Friends in Christ,

When I got married, "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb" was the sentence the priest used to invite the assembly forward for communion. The language of feast and celebration is often used when we discuss the Eucharist, and rightly so. But even the Eucharist, in its holiness and mystery, is only a foretaste of the wedding feast that is still to come. We are waiting, now as ever, for this feast.

I remember how anxious I was in the days leading up to my wedding, and especially the day before and the morning of. As we were getting ready, we were apart - we got ready at separate houses, and didn't see each other at the church until the service itself began. I knew what the day would hold, but I still couldn't wait. I couldn't wait because the things I knew in my heart, by faith, to be true - my love for Bailey, and her love for me, and our desire to be united in the bonds of marriage - were going to be made real, and taken from the realm of faith and waiting to the realm of practice and reality.

This is what it will be like when Jesus returns. The marriage metaphor for Jesus and the Church is unsettling to some, but I love it. Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, is going to return, and our faith will be made reality. What we know by faith will be made visible before our eyes. The one we love, and who loves us more than we can imagine, will come to us - we will be reunited, never to be separated.

For now, we are still in that anxious waiting time. Our job is not to convince Jesus to love us - his love is faithful and sure. But we *do* have the opportunity to prepare for the big moment, not in fear, but in love, for the sake of joy. We can prepare ourselves by holy living and the pursuit of righteousness, with the same care and excitement that a someone might have when putting on a wedding dress, or tying their bow tie, or fixing their hair, or putting in cuff links. The wedding isn't about any of those things, of course. Jesus' love for us isn't about how good we are. But love should make us want to offer our beloved the best we have.

Jesus is coming back, and we will never be separated from him. Nothing will ever be able to come between us. The wedding feast of the Lamb will be the most joyous event in the history of all creation, and not only are we invited - we're the beloved of the Lamb. Thanks be to God.

In peace,
Mtr Kelli