There's No BYOB in Heaven

[caption id="attachment_2350" align="alignleft" width="240"] Our attitudes got better...[/caption] So what was the best wedding you've ever attended? Worst? From social media sites like Pinterest to shows like My Redneck Wedding, newly engaged couples are getting all kinds of creative ideas these days. This weekend, Matt and I had a new first. It was a BYOB wedding. When we heard the news that the wedding was BYOB, I’ll admit, we developed a bit of an attitude. Seems pretty tacky. Either serve alcohol or don’t, but BYOB at a wedding? I’d rather show up with the potato salad. I mean, you don’t show up to a wedding with a bottle in a bag or a six-pack. That got me thinking: BYOB is the complete opposite of the wedding feast we will have on that great day of Christ, our Bridegroom’s, return. Jesus Christ will supply everything. Of course, I also got to thinking about the wedding in Cana where Jesus turned about 120 gallons of water into “the best” wine. That’s where I was going to go with this article. I was going to point out how the wine will be overflowing in the same way when we wed our great Bridegroom, and that it is a sign of merriment.

In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined (Isaiah 25:6).

I was also going to point out how the abundance of wine pointed to when Christ’s hour did come to be pressed for the sin of all his people. His blood covers a multitude of sins. Though our sin is great, we find forgiveness because of his overwhelming mercy to us. Indeed, there’s no BYOB in heaven. But my thoughts took a different direction as I was reading John Calvin’s commentary on John 2. I suspect that one of the main reasons the wedding I attended made this BYOB decision was because the patriarch of the extended family of the bride is adamantly against alcohol of any kind. He is a retired preacher who believes that any kind of alcoholic consumption is a great sin. And so, I guess the family felt that if they didn’t provide the alcohol themselves, they could appease him and still have merriment. He also doesn’t approve of dancing. So as soon as the DJ put the needle on the record, he and his wife left anyway. Maybe if he would have stayed, his mere presence would have served as a reminder for those celebrating to be moderate in their consumption and behavior. This is what I discovered in Calvin’s commentary. He pointed out how in some ancient Canons, the clergy were forbidden to attend weddings so that they would avoid being the spectators of any kind of wickedness and give the appearance of approval. Calvin says that even Christ’s presence at the wedding is profitable to us. His attendance showed approval of merriment and celebration of marriage, and it could also help restrain the licentious of the guests. Just knowing reverent eyes are watching can help us celebrate without crossing the line into sin. Calvin also wrote something I didn’t think about. Of course I’ve reflected on the abundance of the very best wine that Christ supplied, after the guests were already well drunk. But Calvin, who does call this wonderful, shows interesting consideration of why a teacher of sobriety would do this:

When God daily gives us a large supply of wine, it is our own fault if his kindness is an excitement to luxury; but, on the other hand, it is an undoubted trial of our sobriety, if we are sparing and moderate in the midst of abundance; as Paul boasts that he had learned to know both how to be full and how to be hungry, (Phil. 4:12). (88)

This is a challenge for sure, one that our God gives us for our own sanctification and his glory. He is our great provider who lavishes us with merriment as well as his own blood to cover our sin. Do we take this for granted? Do we take advantage? How dare we be presumptuous with his great kindness! Christ is indeed with us even now. How are we receiving the abundance of grace poured out to us? Related articles: Changing the Elements, Well Drunk