By Dr. John E. Morgan
Pastor - Collinsville Baptist Church
t’s almost always when the bride comes down the aisle. That’s what most guys say they remember most about their wedding. Put me down with them but only if you will let me add another memory. Gloria and I got married on a very hot August Sunday afternoon. We were both very active in church (I went to Sunday School that day), but we attended different churches. So, the agreement – wedding at her church building and my pastor would preside. The best man and I dressed in the church basement. Did I mention that it was hot?
No air conditioning in that part of the church. Gloria, who had air conditioning, assured me that I needed to wear a tux with long tails, vest, and long sleeves. I looked hot, but not in a good way. I have to admit that I was a little nervous – maybe a lot. When I went in front of the congregation, the sweat was rolling off of me. I looked like a scene from a bad movie.
When the rest of the wedding party began coming down the aisle, people quit looking at me. I caught my breath and wiped my face. Then I lost my breath. There she was. The most beautiful woman in the world. Smiling at me as she walked down the aisle. Her face glowing, not with sweat but with love. For me. How could that be?
You see, it was appropriate that I felt a little embarrassed by my appearance. Because I knew that I did not deserve someone as amazing as her. I was unworthy. But her look told me what I already knew – she loved me anyway. This Sunday, August 30, it will be 45 years since that Sunday in Nashville. And I am still amazed that she can love me. But she does. And, in case you missed it, oh, how I love her.
My memories of much of the rest of the ceremony are a blur – our family and friends smiling, Brother Christian leading us in exchanging our vows. Near the end of the ceremony, I do have that other distinct memory. Gloria and I faced each other and held hands. Then she sang “Whither Thou Goest I Will Go” to me. People had told her she would not be able to do it, but she did. People had asked me if I would cry. I thought I might, but I didn’t. We stared deep into each other’s eyes and smiled. It was as if everyone else had disappeared from that building. Just Gloria and me. Whither thou goest. And for 45 years she has gone with me whither I went. She meant what she sang.
To end the service, we knelt down facing each other holding hands and recited the Saint Francis prayer. “Lord, make us an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred let us sow love; where there is darkness let us sow light…” The prayer concludes “it is in giving that we receive, … it is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.” We were not just committing ourselves to each other. We were also committing ourselves to Jesus. That’s what a Christian marriage is.
Jesus made this clear in His own teaching. Marriage was a mess in the First Century. People were confused. Divorce rampant. Sound familiar? Jesus reminded them of God’s plan from Genesis – a man and a woman become one by the power of God. It is still His plan. Whatever the world, or movies, or courts say.
It is by the grace of God that Gloria and I found each other. By the grace of God that we have had 45 years together. Some lose their mates much sooner. Some never find a mate (God’s plan for them is being single and celibate. He wants to use their singleness). Some have failures in marriage and must begin again. God’s grace gives us second chances. He still has a plan for marriage. One man, one woman united in Him for the rest of their lives. In a world of decadence and misery, the Church must keep repeating and living God’s plan.
When I remember our wedding, I remember Gloria walking down the aisle as I lost my breath at her beauty and her love. And I also remember that song and that prayer. When I helped her up from the prayer, we turned and walked back down that aisle. Smiling. Ready for a reception, a honeymoon, a new life together. In a Christian marriage. Following God’s plan whither it goes.
