Who is invited to the Wedding?

The moment people know you’re engaged, they’ve become the inspector gadget. They have many questions. “Have you set a date yet?” (Uhm, NOOOOOO! I got engaged just a few hours ago). Then the “How did he propose,” The “let me see the ring.” I’m ecstatic and thrilled to show off my hand to ANYONE who would ask. The beauty on the fourth finger on my left hand has to be showcased. With all these flood of questions, at no time did my fiancé get any spotlight in this GRAND festivity he orchestrated. The ring is ranked higher than beau. I would hope that the ring, a material, perishable and depreciable thing wouldn’t be ranked so high. Now that the show-me-your-ring phaze died down, they are asking bigger questions.

“Will you have kids right after?” “Where is the wedding?” “Who did you invite?”  Everyone wants to know who is coming to the wedding. Sending out wedding invitations can get tricky. That’s when you lose friends… especially when you have a tight budget. You can NEVER invite everyone you want. You think I’m lying? Try making a wedding guest list. You will have an A list, B list … all the way down to a Z list. Long before you know it, family alone covers the whole A list which reaches the total number of guests you wanted for the wedding.

When I talk to some people who’ve been married for a while. I often ask them, “What would you change about your wedding?” Without hesitation their response is always, “Our guest list. We should have invited less people.” I’ll be honest, there are some people who have no business being invited to your wedding, like an ex. But there are some people you HAVE TO invite no matter what; parents, siblings, best friends and on. Nonetheless, we commonly forget a very important Guest. We forget to invite Jesus.

I hope I’m not over spiritualizing this one. But it is true. We get so caught up with dress, floral arrangements, and drapery that we forget the MOST important guest. Is it safe for me to say that the main reason many Christian marriages end is because Jesus wasn’t invited? ABSOLUTELY! I’m not saying that Jesus will let one’s marriage fail as a way of being petty for not getting an invitation. There are some things He wants an invitation to.

Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding, the story is archived in John 2. While the bride and groom were doing their first dance (adding some embellishments to the story of course), the wedding ran out of wine. Jesus’s mother, the wedding planner reaches out to Jesus asking to replenish the wine. Why was replenishing wine so crucial that Mary had to ask Jesus, one of the guest? I can understand if one of the spouses at the wedding got hurt and she told Jesus to go and heal them. But go and make wine??? Really Mary? Really? This was the introduction exposing us to the need for Jesus in every aspect of our lives. Do you thinking supplying wine at your wedding is more important to Jesus than making sure your marriage is built to last?

For some, the wine is insignificant and for others, it is the highlight of the event. significant or not, Jesus needs to be in it all, at the center. Think about this … if Jesus can make wine at the wedding reception, won’t He fix and repair what is broken in the marriage … better yet the divorce? The thing I like the most about the story is that Jesus took care of the problem and the bride and groom didn’t know about it nor did it ruin their day. Yes! Jesus needs to be on your guest list.

I saw a shirt once that said:

Dear God,
Why do you allow so much violence in our schools?
Signed,
-A concerned student

The responds goes as followed:

Dear Concerned Students,
I’m not allowed in schools.
– God

Have you invited Jesus to your marriage, to your parenthood lifestyle, in your schools, at your job and in every area of your life? When things go haywire, we can’t blame God for what we don’t invite him to. The only way Jesus was able to replenish the wine was because He was invited to the wedding. When you are sending our invitations, don’t leave Jesus out. He is the winemaker at the wedding. He is the doctor in the crowd. He is the StormCalmer in the storm. He is the Doctor in the Humanly Impossible Hospital. In whatever you do, if you don’t invite anyone else, make sure Jesus is invited.

Cheers to a beautiful marriage!