So this happened in church today!
We celebrated two married couples--Sarah and Veronica, and Madeleine and Trevor--who were married in our midst yesterday. Both couples, amazingly, chose to come to worship this morning, before getting on with their lives and celebrations.
For starters, we circled around them, laid our hands on their shoulders (and one another), and prayed for them. We prayed for their relationships. We prayed for their faith. We prayed for the families they are already creating. And we prayed for the world they now call home, together.
In all my years, I'd never seen anything quite like it. Two couples saying to the church: "This is important. YOU are important. Life together is important." And inviting the church to bless and cherish and commit. In a world that often seems skeptical of religious life (and certainly congregational life)--this was a blessing of the highest order. And a reminder to all of us: how precious this all is. Life in the church.
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| Trevor and Maddie Serve |
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| Veronica and Sarah Serve |
Then, we celebrated communion...and not just any communion. We celebrated today--on the day we in the church call "WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY"--with wedding cake. We blessed the cake. We blessed the two couples. And they moved out to cut the cake and serve the people and bless and feed the crowd. "The Cake of Christ," they said, "is yours!" And it was so!
And in the end, Lori Rivera and Jamie Michaels rocked the band and the whole place with a cover of "We Are Family!" I mean, of course! Right? Sarah and Veronica are family. Madeleine and Trevor are family. And Sarah and Veronica are family now, WITH Madeleine and Trevor. And all of us. WE ARE FAMILY! The church, the body of Christ, the devoted sisters and brothers of a loving and creative God. Serving and feasting and dancing. Wow!
I'm reminded, just of bit, of that wedding in Cana long ago, and Jesus' turning water into wine for the astonished host and his guests. Jesus transforms ordinary moments into extraordinary communities. And he did it again today.
