A Second Nephew's Wedding--and a Love that Gives and Sends

A few days ago I felt a deep desire for the Lord to reveal more to me

about His love.

And I asked the Lord to show me more about His love,

because we don't love others as we ought until we understand God's love better.

It was a few days after a second nephew's wedding--Peter Barth, my sister Dorcas's oldest son, pictured here with both the bride's and groom's families.

Weddings are a beautiful expression of love.

 And the union of a man and wife is supposed to exemplify the union of Christ and the church.

 But you have to admit that most of the time when a person gets married, it's not just about a giving love
but also about what the person hopes to get from the marriage.
I don't think I would have gotten married if I had not hoped to gain something from it.
I just have to be honest.

But when God chose to demonstrate His love to us, He did not just choose to compare it to marriage between a young man and his bride, but to the love of a father who gives an only begotten son away

to a big risk that He knows is not going to bode well and comfortably for his son.

 John's gospel tells us,

"God so loved that He gave."

Lonni's father gave.

And although Peter was given time to prove himself and was put through plenty of questions and discussions,
phone calls and visits before allowing a courtship,

Lonni's father did not cause Peter a lot of torment about whether he could have the girl he loved, or make him wait forever.

 Lonni's father gave, and so did Lonni's mother.

Love and giving require risk.

And what mother or  mother-in-law doesn't know that?

 The heavenly Father had it all planned before the beginning of the world,

how He was going to give His only begotten Son.

 Peter's mom was giving away her first son, 

but he was not her only son.

Peter's mother and father have four sons still left.

God only had one.

 And He gave His only one.

He risked everything.

While Peter's mother played prelude music at the piano, was she wondering how this marriage was going to turn out for her son?

And was God, in a sense, although divine and knowing all things, when He gave His Son,wondering how things would turn out for His Son?

 Would He be accepted--or rejected?

Loved or disdained?

Respected or mocked?

 Believed in--or crucified?

Trusted--or trampled?

 In those sacred moments, an earthly father prayed the wedding prayer,

and gave away a firstborn son.

 And a preacher announced the new wedding couple.

And angels announced the new King, the Savior, the Lord!

 And so Love gave.

But Love also sent.

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

 I was never struck before with those words about God's love,

that here is how love was manifested, in that God sent,

until I had sent a daughter away to college.

 And given her that final hug before leaving her with relatives near Penn View for the weekend.

 And burst into tears after saying goodbye.

And there must have been mixed feelings as the father and mother of both bride and groom stood

listening while the Morley clan sang "The Lord Bless You and Keep You," 

 before sending the bride and groom away.

 But the parents loved their children enough to send them away,

because we are not given our children to own them,

but to give them.

 They are not ours to keep, but to send.

And in freeing them to go, we keep their hearts.

 Love gave; it did not hold back.

 Love sent; it did not keep.

And Love laid down its life for us.

As we passed this memorial near Fountain, CO, yesterday for the 3300 plus babies aborted every day in America,

the crosses not only remind us of the babies whose innocent lives have been taken

but of the love that laid down its life--willingly.

 Peter and Lonni plan for their love to be a giving love.

 And the parents plan to have a sending love.

But the most amazing love of all is the love that lays down its life.

"There is no greater love!"