Catholic/Jewish Wedding

We recently attended our neighbor's daughter's wedding, unusual in that a Catholic Priest and Jewish Rabbi shared the officiating.

Basically everyone was Jewish on the groom's side and Catholic on the bride's.

We walked in 5 minutes before the wedding and they were installing the Chuppah (Hoopa) which is the canopy used in Jewish wedding ceremonies. One website describes the Chuppah as a symbolic reminder:

The Chuppah reminds us of the events on Mount Sinai when the Jewish people received the Torah from God. Even though the Jewish nation accepted the Torah wholeheartedly, God insisted that they also keep the Torah out of fear, as well as out of love. This was done by lifting the mountain over their heads and stating that if the Jewish nation does not accept the Torah, the mountain will be dropped on them.

So too, one must enter the wedding covenant with immense love and also a sense of fear. Not a fear of what's coming, but rather a sense of reverence for the holiness of marriage.

Pretty cool! Rabbi Buzz communicated this reality very clearly and with conviction.

The guy next to me let me know he is Jewish and gave a little commentary throughout the service...

The first part of the service was led by the Catholic Priest, a very gentle-spirited man who was personable. He explained what was going on as the service progressed.

I found it interesting that during the responsive Scripture readings and prayers, no one on the groom's side participated (except for Rabbi Buzz and the groom's mother who was visibly praying the Lord's prayer).

A small boy in front of us spent most of the ceremony trying to annoy the teenage girl sitting next to him. He did a great job.

Rabbi Buzz was very direct with the couple, challenging them with the sacred nature of their vows and commitment. He was the kind of guy you'd love to have over for dinner and hear him tell stories.

It was beautiful to see people from 2 backgrounds come together and honor one another's traditions.

On the other hand it seemed like an impossible charge - to be totally devoted to their faith and to honor and respect one another's faith???

Both Catholicism and Judaism call for absolute devotion to their central tenets. How can you do that as a couple? Maybe it can, but I've never seen it work (in couples who are devout). Each faith calls for followers to be a part of their community, training, rituals, traditions, raising of the children, etc. It just seems logical that one partner would have to yield to the other and not be devoted to their own tradition for this to work.

Toward the end of the ceremony the guy next to me let me know that Rabbi Buzz didn't have his own congregation so I would have to "calibrate accordingly." I think he meant Rabbi Buzz was "less than" a real Rabbi but I was impressed.

The service concluded with the drinking of the cup and breaking of the glass by the groom, a symbol of renouncing everything of the past and entering a new life together.

Meaningful vows, powerful symbols, new beginnings, new challenges. Lord have mercy...

Equipped to navigate hardship

It seems like in every season of history, a particular aspect of God's nature is being highlighted. You can't go anywhere without hearing that same theme. Some 40-50 years ago, a sweet emphasis on the goodness of God began to ring out. It was like cool, refreshing water for a people tainted by extreme legalism. God was reminding us of His great love and His care for His people. He wanted us to know that He provides, He can be trusted, He has your best interests at heart and He answers prayer.

Like anything God highlights, we tend to take it to extremes…

One of the early “preachers” of the message of God’s goodness used to say “The LACK of money is the root of all evil.” “Forget about the pie in the sky, get yours here and now.” “God wants to get you out of the ghetto and into the getmo!”

This fit right in with prosperity messages about God wanting to give you ALL the desires of your heart. Missing was the Biblical call to align ourselves with the desires and will of God, and to abandon selfishness and greed.

I remember complaining to a wiser old man about things not going according to the desires of my heart and he said "Whatever made you think this was all about what you want?" Ouch! But I desperately needed to hear it.

Many begin to believe following Jesus was about getting an upgrade into a faster, prettier, more popular version of you. Faith became a magic formula - "just speak it and it will happen!"

I heard one guy teach if a child died, it was because the parents lacked faith. SICK!

Over the years I’ve seen many disillusioned people bail out on their faith because of beliefs like this when encountering hardship. One person I know wasn't physically healed after praying "the right prayer" and gave up on praying.

Sadly, we’ve done a poor job of equipping people to follow Jesus through hard times. We’ve equated God’s blessing with lack of hardship, rather than nearness of His presence. We’ve wrongly judged people by their possessions versus their depth of character.

We do need reminders that God is good. And we need His Word to provide beacons of truth in dark times.

When I think of being equipped to navigate hardship, I am reminded of the following:

• He is intimately acquainted with our ways.
• He loves to answer prayer (though not always in the way I'd like).
• He works everything together for good.
• What the enemy intends for evil, He turns to good.
• He uses suffering to teach us He is WITH US in the valley of the shadow of death.
• He uses hardships to bring to bring to death our pride.
• He uses blessing to awaken us to His goodness and love.
• He blesses us so we can in turn bless others.
• He brings His glorious presence into our imperfections and brokenness (versus eliminating them).
• He provides peace when anxiety over possessions would rule us.
• He gives joy when the ashes of defeat are still visible.

Finally, a steady diet of reading larger sections of Scripture (versus select passages) can provide great comfort and a sound mind. I'm think I'm finding both...

Looking at Job

In times of suffering where can we look? Many look to the story of Job, as he obviously suffered greatly and wrestled with the hard questions.

BTW, many of my thoughts on Job come from reading Gregory Boyd's observations in his book "Is God to Blame?"

Here are a few of those thoughts:

Job was written to highlight the encounter in heaven while leaving characters and events on earth in the dark, showing that suffering is sometimes caused by things about which people know nothing.

Job and his friends were of the "blueprint worldview" - that God is behind (rather than against) Job's losses and suffering.

Job's friends therefore state that he should actually be happy and accept his plight as discipline from God (5:17-18)

They insist that if Job "learns his lessons" that he will get back his protection and blessing (5:19-20, 22, 24-27)

You can see why we use "Job's comforters" to indicate people we'd rather not have around =)

Job views God as being his adversary rather than his advocate (10:8, 16, 20; 16:7-9, 30:21)

God answers, never acknowledging He is the one behind Job's suffering, but rather, appealing to factors in creation to explain why Job can't understand suffering (chapters 38-41)

Job spoke honestly in the middle of his suffering, and God answered with what Job needed to know - mostly addressing why Job couldn't understand his suffering and perhaps most importantly correcting Job's image of God.

When God is done talking Job confesses "I have uttered what I did not understand", states that he can now see God clearly, "You instruct me... no my eyes see you", and repents (42:3-4)

What if...

Job's repentance was connected with his faulty perception of God and the causes of his suffering, including his original confession "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away" (1:21)??

God wants us to view suffering as not always caused nor desired by Him?

There are factors we will never understand?

Suffering is not always a part of God's discipline (compare Hebrews 12:7-11 and John 9:1-3)?

Some suffering is the horrible reality of living in a fallen and broken world (John 16:33)?

Some is caused by poor choices (Galatians 6:7-8), some a part of ongoing kingdom conflict (Ephesians 6:10-18, 1 Thessalonians 2:18), and some a precursor to blessing (John 9:1-3)?

I gather from looking at Job that God is not always the author (nor desirous) of our suffering. And that no easy answers await us. Our sin marred all of creation, we're in a spiritual battle, and as a result this world is largely messed up.

About the time I think I’ve got some aspect of suffering figured out, I discover I’m wrong.

What I hold on to is that God is good, and works everything together for good.