Dear Fellow Children of God,
I have a tune going through my head. It’s not a song from
worship, but from the musical My Fair Lady: “I’m Getting Married in the
Morning!” In truth, it is not me who is getting married, but my daughter, Mary,
and her fiancee’ Brandon Holmes. And the
wedding is not tomorrow morning, whenever tomorrow is. 😊 The wedding takes place Saturday, June 13, at
2:00 p.m. in Girdwood, Alaska. I am
excited, as are the rest of our family.
I guess that is why I keep hearing that song, which really has
been running through my mind for a little over a week. Mary and Brandon’s wedding, as with most weddings,
will be a celebration, a big party with lots of family and friends. I guess,
because it is our own family, I am feeling this special day more
personally. (Actually, our son Josh, and
daughter in law Erin, were also married this week 20 years ago. 20 years!!!)
I told Kathy that the wedding had begun when we picked up
my sister and her husband, Martha and Mark, as they arrived on a cruise ship in
Seward last Friday, June 5. Then Kathy’s
cousin and his wife, Marty and Colleen Gulseth, arrived by plane on Monday, and
we celebrated with a meal at Settlers’ Bay.
Mary’s college roommate, Beth, arrived early Wednesday
morning. On Thursday morning
Kathy’s brother, Pat, arrives. Then
Thursday evening, Alexis Barfield arrives. Alexis is a young lady from
St. John who became a friend of Mary, but who now lives in Indiana, Our son, Josh, flies in Friday night. I also believe there may be others coming
from Montana and Washington. Add that to
family and friends in Alaska, this will be a celebration! A party of love and
faith! (And, since the wedding chapel
only holds 150, we did not invite all we could invite!)
In some ways, our celebration is nothing new. Throughout scripture the wedding ceremony of
a man and a woman was often the occasion for big parties to celebrate the
special occasion. At the beginning of
Jesus’ ministry, he was invited to a wedding feast (John 2:1-11) where they
celebrated so long that they ran out of wine!
(Wedding ceremonies often lasted a week in Jesus’ time!) During His last
week on earth Jesus told parables about wedding celebrations in Matthew 22:1-14
and Matthew 25:1-13. In Matthew 22,
ultimately the king sent his servants “to the street corners” to invite others
to celebrate the wedding of his son. In
Matthew 25 the wedding banquet is a symbol of when God’s people enter eternal
life with the Son of God. That picture
from Matthew 25 goes with the call in Revelation 19 to rejoice. “7 Let us rejoice and exult and
give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride
has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with
fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds
of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are
those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." (Revelation
19:7-9) You see, weddings are indeed a
time to celebrate!
In fact, this same metaphor of the relationship of Jesus
and the Church is used as Paul speaks advice to husbands and wives in Ephesians
5:21-33. “32 This mystery
is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33
However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see
that she respects her husband.”
(Ephesians 5:22-33)
Why celebrate?
Well, marriage is, after all, God’s plan from creation. “ 27 So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth and subdue it . . . “ (Genesis 1:27-28a) Living within God’s intent for His creation
is worth celebrating.
We also celebrate because, husbands and wives are called
to live in faith and in love. And, when
marriage is at it’s best, that faith and love are one of the greatest blessings
for God’s people on this earth.
Yet, finally we celebrate because the relationship of
love and faith between husband and wife points to an even greater relationship,
to the love between Jesus and His people, His Church. This relationship is built on the love of the
Savior. Paul teaches about the church in
that marriage of Christ and the church, “25 Husbands, love your
wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26
that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with
the word.” (Ephesians 5:25-26) It is because of the cleansing grace and love
of God, in Jesus, that we will live with our Lord eternally!
I am not getting married tomorrow morning, but Mary and
Brandon are getting married on Saturday.
I am excited, and I pray we can all celebrate God’s gifts of faith and
love in the lives of Mary and Brandon, and His gift of eternal love in all our
lives – through Jesus!
A Child of God, Celebrating God’s Gifts of Faith and Love
in Marriage, and in Our Family!
Pastor Rockey
P.S. I am now serving as Vacancy pastor at Anchorage
Lutheran Church in Anchorage.
·
Bible class –
o I
taught a Bible class on Sunday, June 7.
We looked at the assigned readings for that Sunday before
attending worship.
o There
is no class this Sunday, June 14.
I will not be in worship but celebrating the wedding of Mary and
Brandon. ALC Lay Worship Leader, Clayton
Gellerman will be preaching. Pastor Tony
Schultz will be helping with worship and serving the Sacrament.
o On
Sunday, June 21, at the request of those in class on June 7, I will
teach a short class on angels.
o Beginning
on Sunday, June 28, we will begin studying the book of Ephesians with a
“Lifelight” Bible Study.
·
Lay Ministry Classes? – I am discussing with our
Lay Worship Leaders about teaching Lay Ministry Classes on the Sacraments,
Worship, and Preaching – AFTER worship on Sundays. Tentatively, these classes will begin on July
12. However, others may attend in
addition to our Lay Worship Leaders.
Other Activities of Faith:
· I
have again started my two-year journey with my Lord. I am reading through the Scriptures
using the “Today’s Light Bible” from Concordia Publishing House. On Wednesday, June 10, I read 1 Samuel 4, which
describes the defeat of the Israelites by the Philistines, and the death of
Hophni and Phineas.
You may also
contact me at 907-841-4066 if you have any questions about these
readings. Or send an e-mail question to jonrock53@mtaonline.net I have
received questions and comments about the readings. It is always good to
consider our Lord’s love and guidance. I will TRY to answer, but some things only
God knows!
P.P.S. Family Fun and Fishing! (no fishing
this week)!
·
Family –
o Here
are pictures of Kathy and myself with Mark and Martha in Girdwood at the chapel
where Mary and Brandon’s wedding will happen.
We took these pictures, as we returned from Seward. https://photos.app.goo.gl/xJV4THPcuHTo83Sg7
(click on the individual pictures for a larger version.)
o Here
is a picture of much of our family out to eat at Settlers’ Bay as Kathy’s
cousin, Marty Gulseth and his wife Colleen arrived. https://photos.app.goo.gl/RFpj3pzEmFMy2f5u8 (click on the individual pictures for a
larger version.)
o On
June 10, our and daughter in law, Josh and Erin, celebrate 20 years
of marriage! Here are a couple of pictures from June 10, 2006, when Josh and
Erin were married! 😊 https://photos.app.goo.gl/UfmarzaMrNdsy7u48 (click on the individual pictures for a larger
version.)
·
Yard and Garden – Here are some more
pictures of my yard and garden. This
week I did weed the strawberries, and I thatched, then mowed, then fertilized
our lawn. Here are garden pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/oy1gXTYhM8NCoyKz6
(click
on the individual pictures for a larger version.)
·
Fishing
– NO FISHING this past week as I work to get my
lawn and garden ready for the summer. I do
believe I am caught up . . . finally!
Also, we have a ‘little wedding’ coming which has taken a small amount of
attention. 😊
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of
August 2019 from serving as full-time senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church
in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously entitled,
"Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired many asked me to
continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing.
However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys
Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor
at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to
receive it. (I finished for now serving as Assistant to the Pastor for
First Lutheran Church in Gainesville, FL. I am serving Anchorage Lutheran
Church as Vacancy Pastor.)
So, if you stopped receiving
these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now
receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive them, please let me know,
and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution list. My e-mail
address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these
devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Vacancy Pastor, Anchorage Lutheran Church, Anchorage, AK
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church, Palmer, AK
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1
a)
