Vows

Saturday I will perform another wedding.  Saturday my friends, John and Jamie, will stand in front of a group of staring people and be led through a service that will change their lives.
 
So this morning I'm thinking about vows.  Words that fall out of our face, commitments that seem somewhat easy to proclaim, promises that are written on the hallways of eternity - what's really the big deal?
 
Politicians say things to earn the respect of a vote and then get caught in the machine to find that the promise is impossible to fulfill.
 
Husbands promise to cherish their wife only to find that by "cherish" they meant take advantage of and ridicule.
 
Wives promise to honor their husband yet find themselves on the other side of the promise living whatever the opposite of "honor" is.
 
People take vow to be a member of the church, and then reduce the role of membership to showing up on Sunday when it fits their schedule.
 
We promise employers that we will accomplish a task with excellence and then discover that mediocrity is the norm and quite acceptable.
 
Sometimes we even would make a vow to God while under the pressure of a trial that seems to have been made out of tin foil rather than iron.
 
I'm wondering what we have done to the power of the word and the weight of a vow.  Do we realize that in even placing faith in Christ for forgiveness there is a promise of life change inherent within that placement?
 
Yet, there is an excitement that draws me to the wedding of this weekend because it is happening.  People are making promises and fulfilling them.  There are politicians that follow through, husbands that cherish, wives that honor, members that act, employees that go beyond, and Christians that grow – it is happening!
 
In a world that has reduced the verbal vow may this day be one that we are Christ-like enough to follow through on our promise.  He has been a consistent example of what it looks like to honor a vow, let's follow him.
 
Pastor Dave