Run for the Roses

On their 50th wedding anniversary, a couple summed up the reason for their long and happy marriage. Said the husband, "I have tried never to be selfish. After all, there's no 'I' in the word marriage." Chimed in the wife, "For my part, I have never corrected my husband's spelling."


And then, there was John, the crotchety old fellow who always took breakfast with his wife. He would read the morning paper while she fumed at his neglect, and today of all days because it was their 25th wedding anniversary.

"John! John! Put down that paper and let's talk about how we are going to celebrate our wedding anniversary today. What do you suggest?"

John put down the newspaper, removed and polished his glasses, stared for a moment or two into the distance, and said, "How about two minutes of silence?"

The Covenant Cup -- sound familiar?

Rabbi Zola Levitt, a Messianic Jew [one who accepts Jesus as Messiah] from Israel, tells the story of the Covenant Cup, one that symbolizes the commitment God gives to us and seeks from us.

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Levitt tells of the Jewish tradition of a young man and his father going to the home of a young woman to whom he hoped to become engaged. When the father and son arrived, they would negotiate the price of marriage with the young woman's father.

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After a deal was reached, the young man would enter the adjoining room where he would be alone with the young woman. He would take his family's Covenant Cup, fill it with wine, and place it before the young woman with these words: "I set my covenant Cup before you, it is my blood, Take and drink this cup, and seal this covenant to be mine."

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The young woman had two choices: take the cup and drink, thus sealing the covenant with the young man, or refuse the cup and wait for another groom. If the woman took the cup and sealed the covenant, the young man would next report in a voice loud enough for the fathers in the next room to hear him: "I go now to prepare a place for you, and if I go and preapare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also."

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This engagement ritual was a ritual of commitment. Through the Covenant Cup, the young man promised to marry the girl, promised to prepare a place for her, and promised to return for her at a later time. The young woman promised to wait, to be faithful, and to marry the young man upon his return.

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Don't you hear echoes of this in Jesus' words to His bride, the church? What could we call the cup at the Last Supper, but a Covenant Cup? "This is my blood ... a new covenant." His promises to go and prepare a place for us, and a promise to return for us. He speaks in Covenant language, in marriage language, in commitment language. How wonderful!

I have no doubt that Jesus will be faithful to His promises. But notice the promise of the young woman in the tradition -- she promised to waith and BE FAITHFUL. While Jesus Christ will doubtless be faithful to us, have we, the church, been as faithful to Him?

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Taking Her Home to Meet the Parents

Here's something just for fun:

.....A young man found the woman of his dreams and asked her to marry him. He told his mother he wanted her to meet his fiancee, but he wanted to make a bit of a game out of it. He said he would bring the girl over with two other women and see if his mother could guess which was the one he wanted to marry. His mother agreed to the game.
.....That night, he showed up at his mother's house with three beautiful young ladies. They all sat down on the couch, and everyone had a wonderful evening talking and getting to know each other. At the end of the evening, the young man asked his mother, "OK, Mom, which one is the woman I want to marry?"
.....With no hesitation whatsoever, his mother replied, "The one in the middle." Astounded, the young man said, "How in the world did you figure it out, Mom?" "Easy," she said, "I don't like her."

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