I Do

It’s nearly Valentine’s Day… and I’m thinking about wedding vows. They’ve gotten pretty creative these days, but many couples still respond to some variation of these words:

Do you take (your intended’s name) to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love, comfort, honor and keep him/her, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful only to him/her so long as you both shall live?

Response: “I do.”

At least I hope it’s, “I do.” Or it could be “I’ll try,” as suggested by the lyrics of a recent country song (billed as popular wedding music!):

“I can't tell you that I'll never change
But I can swear that in every way…
I'll try my best to be true…”
(“I’ll Try” by Alan Jackson)

No notes of high fidelity there. In fact, “I’ll try” is a pretty wimpy commitment, and few of us would be actually inclined to write it into our marriage vows. It’s nothing like what we intend in that first blush of matrimony, when we’re focused on our loved one and fully committed to making it work.

And it doesn’t square with that ultimate example of wedded union, Christ and the church, who gave themselves to each other, vowing to respect and love each other, to leave all else to be together, to become one for all time. For marriage is a reflection of that even deeper, pure and eternal union between Christ and all believers (Eph. 5:22-33). It is, as the apostle Paul stated, “a profound mystery,” and a mystery marked by high fidelity.

Christ gave Himself unreservedly for the church. There was nothing wimpy or tentative or conditional about it. He stood at the altar two thousand years ago and committed His life to bless and love and comfort and honor and keep His Bride the Church for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in her sickness and health. He forsook all earthly comfort – and heavenly too – for her. He said He’d remain by her side and stay faithful, not just through this life, but through all eternity.

He didn’t just say, “I’ll try.” He said, “I do.” And by the power of His Father, He did – and He always will.

By the power of that same Father, husbands and wives, so can we.