Words of Welcome

  Matthew 25:1-13 Most of us have been to a wedding and maybe even in a wedding or two. Over the years I’ve been the groom, a co-best man, groomsman, usher, and of course, being a pastor, I’ve officiated at a few. Like most pastors, I have a few stories to tell.  Most of the weddings I’ve officiated went fairly well, though there were a few that could have gone badly. The most memorable event took place during one of my earliest weddings. That was when the bride almost went up in flames. I learned my lesson: Don’t let the bride’s train catch on the free-standing candelabra after lighting the unity candle. Better yet, don’t use free-standing candelabra. There also have been a few weddings that were delayed for one reason or another. In one a bridesmaid got sick on the way to the church and in another a drunk father-of-the-bride disappeared right before the wedding began. Of course, these were the exceptions, not the rule.  This morning, Matthew takes to a wedding sc...

Matthew 25:1-13 Most of us have been to a wedding, and many of us have been in a wedding.  I’ve been a groom, a groomsman, usher, and co-best man. I’ve also officiated at a few weddings. Like most pastors who have officiated at a weddings or two, I have stories to tell. Most of these weddings went well, though I did have a wedding where the bride almost went up in flames. There was the time when the wedding was delayed when the bridal party was an hour late because one of the brides maids got sick on the way to the church. I don’t have too many horror stories, but there are plenty of them out there. I can say this, however, I’ve never been to a wedding where a group of bridesmaids got locked out of the church.  In our reading from the Gospel of Matthew this morning, we again find Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple. It’s still Monday of Holy Week, and he’s teaching the people about the coming kingdom of heaven. As Jesus often did, he told  short stories that raised ...