I think a marriage ceremony best illustrates what I am trying to say happens in the ritual called baptism. What happens at a wedding? A man and a woman come together before witnesses. They exchange vows and make commitments. They publicly state their intention to be husband and wife. They enter into an institution which is very old and honored in most cultures.
Well, there you have it. Have they been changed? Yes. They are now legally a partnership. There is a moral expectation that they will forsake all others and be faithful to one another. Can a newly maried person go out that night and "party" with someone else. Yes. Do the vows make the love perfect? No. But there is a difference between someone who is in a vowed life and someone who is not. How often have we heard about couples who live together but do not want to get married because it will "ruin" the relationship. Obviously such people believe that marriage is real and does something. Even a sham marriage is still observably different than a non-marriage.
When people sincerely seek to be a married couple then the activity of the ritual does in fact increase and intensify the relationship. That is why people, including very often the groom, get emotional at a wedding. There is something real taking place. But it is not magic which makes relationship suddenly easy. There is still a struggle.
What is God doing in a marriage? Well from my view point He uses marriage to teach us to love. Love is something we are not very good at much of the time. There is a reason why half of marriages end in divorce. Most of us are looking to get something. Marriage is a symbol of giving. But BOTH parties must give or it will not work. Marriage is a sign of Jesus' love for the church. Jesus, the groom, marries the church, the bride. Baptism is our entry into that relationship.
The way God shapes and forms us is slow. The ritual marks the beginning of the process. Just like birth changes everything, but the process still continues. Is God active in weddings? We invite Him to be, I guess no one can prove He is, but neither can one prove He isn't. I do know this, if we have eyes to see then we can discern Him there. I know that if our expectations and assumptions are rightly ordered to reflect the real world and not our own desires I think we will see God more clearly. Unfortunately, I think much of the time my wishes and fantasies make that harder for me than it needs to be. But in the end, if we can see how a wedding ceremony does make something happen, perhaps we can also see how baptism does the same.
Jeff, we must be on some strange mind-meld at the moment. My wife and I were just discussing the ritual of marriage and contemplating from where the actual ritualistic power comes.
ReplyDeleteDoes it come from the couple and their belief that the the ritual actually 'does something'? Does it come from the celebrant? or the witnesses?
Consider the situation where a couple gets married in a foreign country, say, on the beach.
The ceremony is conducted by a justice of the peace and the witnesses are people who work for the resort. The justice of the peace marries people all the time and simply goes through the motions, saying all the words legally required but really just wants to go fishing. I think we could agree that he's not really contributing to the success of the ritual or the future of the couple.
Neither are the witnesses for exactly the same reason - they are there for the 5th time that week and just want to get home to their own families.
So what about the couple? It is them that holds all the power to make the wedding 'successful' or not.
If they are committed to each other and both truly and honestly believe that the ceremony will affect a change in them and their relationship, then it will. Regardless of anyone else's interest or belief in the ritual. I think God would recognize their commitment and belief and they would receive grace even though a 'man of the cloth' didn't perform the ceremony.
If, however, the couple don't really think that a wedding will change anything and they are just doing it because they have to to be legal, then the entire thing will be ineffective. In this instance, even if a priest did perform the ceremony it wouldn't matter. Since both of the people involved didn't truly believe, grace would not be given.
What do you think?
I have some thoughts on baptism as well, but will add those to one of the other posts.