USA Today Article referred to during this sermon:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-06-21-runaway-bride-report_x.htm
“Runaway Bride”
Text: Rev. 21:2
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
INTRO:
A few weeks ago, a 32 year old woman by the name of Jennifer Wilbanks set off a nationwide hunt as fears of abduction and even murder became the talk of news stations all across the airwaves. Rescue teams were put on alert, and volunteers gave up days of work to search for her while the shadow of suspicion began to grow longer upon the fiancé who had planned to marry her within a few short days. As we all know by now, it all turned out to be something other than an abduction or a murder, but in fact turned out to be a simple case of “cold feet” and a “runaway bride”. Thankfully, that was the case as far as her life goes, but many people have become very irritated that one woman would put so many other people at risk and inconvenience for the sake of her own needs.
Recently, a story in USA Today was written, and I wanted to touch on a few of the comments that were made, and compare it to the fact that many people today are going to miss out on the greatest Wedding celebration Eternity will ever see because they have chosen to become a “Runaway Bride”.
The Bible also says: Rev. 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Well, I’m not here today to cast judgment upon this lady, as I’m sure others more qualified will find a way to do that if the need warrants, however, I want us to think about some of the things that are happening in the church world today as people make their choices about Eternity, and yes, many people still choose to turn their backs on the Lord in spite of all He has done for them.
What could have happened? Why would this bride who had a wedding scheduled with 12 groomsmen and 12 bridesmaids, 600 invited guests, and all the promises of a life of wealth and opulence all of a sudden decide to “opt out”.
As I read the story there were a few of the reasons that jumped out at me, and I would like to hare them with you today, and relate them to the church today. I believe that Jesus Christ is in the midst of preparing a bride without spot or wrinkle for the great marriage supper one day when the groom (Jesus Christ) takes his bride (the Church) to be with Him for all of eternity.
Ephes. 5:26-27
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, [27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
In the article we read the following quote:
Agents said in the report that Wilbanks "was scared to marry (fiance) John Mason because she is afraid of an imperfect world. Wilbanks stated that she could not be the wife that her fiance John Mason needed. Wilbanks wanted to disappear without a trace."
In this today, I see:
I. FEAR OF IMPERFECTION
The Bible tells me in 2 Tim. 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Here we see a woman that was so obsessed with perfection that the very thought of living in an imperfect world was simply too overwhelming to think about.
Friend, if you are staying with the Lord only to the point that you find some sort of imperfection within the church, then you will be with him about as long as it takes cold butter to melt on a hot frying pan.
It was even part of the drama this past week, but so many people are more concerned about the imperfections in the church, or shall we say, hypocrites than they are keeping their eyes on Christ (or the groom). And by the way, he is the only perfect one that ever lived, so we might as well get that right out in the open right now.
In the newspaper quote I read a few moments ago, I also see the following 2 characteristics:
a. False Pride and Fear
“Wilbanks stated that she is afraid of an imperfect world”, and afraid that she could not be the wife that her fiancé needed.
Her problem was that she got her eyes on other wives who seemed (at least on the outside) to have figured out the role of a wife, and left her sitting in the dust.
What’s wrong with sitting down on a park bench somewhere and spending some time talking with her fiancé about the insecurities instead of sitting on a bus bench waiting for the first ride out of town.
Too many people probably would like to serve in the church, but are afraid they can’t be “as good as someone else in a similar position”, hence they begin to sit back and watch while others carry the lion’s share of the load. It’s not because of their work schedule, or that they are physically unfit for duty, it is simply because a sense of false pride has captured their will power.
They get to a point that they are good for only one thing, and that is sitting back and determining how good or bad someone else is at actually doing the job that quite possibly God called them to do in the first place!
Theodore Roosevelt said:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is not effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
May we never allow imperfection in our own lives, or even in the lives of others be a deterrent to getting involved in the kingdom of God, or worse yet, be the very thing that leads us away from our relationship with the Lord as we discover the imperfections of others.
I have seen people at times get involved in various aspects of ministry or service, and they find out that there are times people may disagree with their approach to that ministry, and instead of sitting down to determine if the criticism may indeed be valid, they say “ok, if you can do it better, here you go”, and off they go to the next heartache, or again, give up entirely on ministry altogether because they couldn’t do it perfectly.
Their pride has been hurt, and fear of further involvement as well paralyzes them from further effective service while the enemy sits back enjoying the whole thing.
We must remember, you’re imperfect, I’m imperfect, but we are all part of a great bride that Christ is preparing that one day will stand before Him, to hear the words, “well done, thou good and faithful servant”
Not only do we see in this situation today “FEAR OF IMPERFECTION”, but we also see in this Runaway Bride:
II. LITTLE CONCERN FOR OTHERS
The newspaper says: “The night she disappeared, she withdrew $40 with her ATM card. She didn’t dare use her card anymore because “her mother would be able to track her down”, as she told the FBI.
Earlier on in the story it says that this 32 year old woman was so uncertain about life that her mother was still doing her banking for her.
Evidently, this seemed to be a woman surrounded by people, including her fiancé and family that loved her, and cared for her to the point that some might say it was even a bit overboard.
When someone is going back on God in their own personal lives, we also realize that they have little, or no concern at all for the many other lives that will be affected as a result of their own personal decision.
At times in my 44 years of being in the church world, I have seen leaders who become a “runaway bride” with little, or no regard for the lives they have previously influenced for the gospel of Christ, and this ranges anywhere from the Pastor, to Sunday School Teacher, to Janitor, or Musician.
It doesn’t matter that someone’s faith is going to be shaken, as long as they are able to get the relief they need from their “situation of the moment”.
So, in this I see the following point:
a. Avoiding and Inconveniencing Those Who Love
Think about it…
The parents of the girl who were frantically searching for their daughter believing that somehow on the jog she went on, she had been abducted at knifepoint, or perhaps assaulted and left for dead somewhere.
Think about the fiancé who began to frantically search for her, then became the focal point of the investigation as camera lights began to glare at him, and the nation that had just finished hearing about the tragedy of Laci Peterson now began to cast a judgmental gaze at him while he carried on with a “deer in the headlights” look on his face.
Think about the hundreds of invited guests to her wedding that instead of celebrating a joyous occasion now scoured the area looking for her, and figuring they were most likely looking for a body.
Think about the hundreds of volunteers giving up hours on their jobs while they joined the local police forces, fire departments, and emergency personnel looking for her, and spending thousands of taxpayer dollars the entire time.
One thing “runaway brides” tend to do is to avoid the very people who have in times past reached out to them and shown them the kind of love that they needed.
She said she knew that if she used her credit card, that her mother would “track her down”!
Imagine that!
I have found there are times that “runaway brides” don’t want to be tracked down by anyone, especially people who love them, and will do everything they can to avoid the presence of God.
I’ve often wondered how this could be? Why would a person so willingly brush aside attempts by people who love them and continue pursuing a path that will lead to great accountability, and in the case of Spiritual things ultimate judgment before a righteous, holy God.
We see a bit of this in the book of Hosea, as he continually pursued his unfaithful wife, Gomer: Hosea 2:6-8
Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
[7] She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.
Then she will say,
’I will go back to my husband as at first,
for then I was better off than now.’
[8] She has not acknowledged that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,
who lavished on her the silver and gold--
which they used for Baal.
In this book we see a loving husband time after time do his best to win back a wife who had been adulterous in every stretch of the imagination. This story is used as a symbol of the kind of love that God the Father has for his chosen people, the people of Israel. Even though they have gone away from Him time after time, he continues to love them and draw them back to Him in spite of all their failings.
We have truly been blessed by a loving God today. God has blessed America in profound ways, but more than that, he has blessed families and individuals as well.
One of the traits of a “runaway bride” is to inconvenience those who love her as well as avoid the very people who love her enough to be truthful and honest about things.
Not only do we see Fear of Imperfection and Little Concern For Others, but lastly today we see in this picture of the Runaway Bride:
III. DIVIDED LOYALTY
We know that the Bible makes it clear that we are to serve God, and in our serving be certain that He alone is ruling and reigning on the thrones of our heart, and we see that in this scripture and even though it is dealing with finances, the principle is still clear:
Matthew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
So many people express the desire to others to go deeper in their relationship with the Lord, however, when the opportunities arise, they are too busy with other things, and other relationships to really live up to those words spoken or sung in a worship song.
Here is another quote from the story of the “runaway bride”:
The report from Georgia investigators said she broke off an earlier engagement to another man, and — even though she had been in a relationship with Mason since August 2004 — she kept "I love you" text messages on her cell phone from another man she dated in 2003.
I guess one does not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out this marriage was not going to work out too well even if it did get off the ground.
Yes, she probably did the right thing by not following through with the wedding, but I can imagine about 32 different ways she could have done it differently.
However, when it comes to breaking off the relationship with the Lord, we know that this is of eternal consequence, and often something that people want to avoid talking about.
The other day a man who does not attend our church asked me if those were our signs that were up in a few spots in town with the words “Your Final Destination” – I said yes, and he said they created quite a buzz with a few people as they tried to figure out what that meant. I believe it is a good thing when people are confronted with the idea that one day they are going to have to answer to God, and that yes, there is a final destination.
We live in a society today that would not think twice about the validity of an advertisement on a large billboard advertising everything from x-rated video stores to alcohol to a large range of other things, but when you place 3 directional signs up to direct people to church, they begin to get a little bit nervous.
Why is that? Because in America somehow we have allowed the bad to be defined as something to be tolerated, and the good to be defined as something too narrow to be tolerated.
I’m here to say today that Jesus Christ is still the way the truth, and the life, and no one will ever get to heaven without a relationship with Him. Your church won’t do it. Your relatives won’t pave the way, and your finances can’t even make a dent in the debt you owe to Christ. It is only through the shed blood of Jesus that you and I are able to stand before a righteous God.
Too many people are attempting to live a life on fire for the Lord while holding on to “text messages” from other things in their lives saying “I Love You”.
What it leads to, no matter how strong we think we are is:
a. Lukewarm “love” - Rev. 3:16 - So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
The “runaway bride” begins to think of the past, and begins to long for the “good old days”. The “runaway bride” begins to look 2-3 times a day at the text messages of “I Love You” stored in the inner recesses of their heart.
The “runaway bride” begins to look at the sacrifices involved with that scary word called “commitment”, and begins to re-think the desire to “forsake all others” for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I like what Joshua told the people after he went through a long litany of benefits of serving the one true living God:
Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Isn’t that the bottom line in this day? We cannot get our eyes on the failings of others, and think that somehow God is not as strong when others decide to go back on Him.
Joshua told the people if you want to be a “runaway bride” then go for it and don’t look back, but “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.
From the moment I heard about the “runaway bride”, I thought to myself, that is what many people are doing in the church all around the world today. They are forsaking the one who has benefited them in so many ways, and while He has called for commitment, we know that one day at the marriage supper of the Lamb, He will be welcoming a bride that has not only been chosen, but has also declared their loyalty and love for Jesus Christ.
Ephes. 5:26-27
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, [27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
One thing I noted in all of this though was the love of the fiancé that held true. While no one knows for sure what will become of the runaway bride and her fiancé, one thing we do know is that the love of Jesus Christ will remain strong in spite of the many times we may falter in our faith.
