Like so many other things surrounding weddings, I remember hearing the following saying for the first time in the weeks preceding my own nuptials in 1988:

My future mother-in-law explained that this was another of those old wedding traditions that had been passed down through the generations.  On the day of her wedding, a bride was to wear something old, new, borrowed and blue - for good luck, I believe she said.

According to one website that I found, the old item represents a link to the bride's family and past, the new item is for good fortune and success, the borrowed item (ideally coming from a woman who is happily married) serves as a reminder that friends and family will always be there to help, and the blue item symbolizes loyalty and faithfulness.  Apparently brides in ancient Israel wore blue ribbons on the borders of their clothes to represent purity and fidelity, and of course the color of blue has always been associated with the Virgin Mary.  Interestingly, the website also added a fifth phrase to the saying, "...and a silver sixpence in her shoe" to represent wealth.  Come to think of it, I have heard of brides placing pennies in their shoes...I guess this is the origin of that tradition as well.

In the coming weeks on Sunday nights, we will be doing a series whose title is derived from this expression.  The Something Old, Something Borrowed, Something TRUE that we will be studying is the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament as many Christians have been raised to call it.  The Hebrew Scriptures are very old, with stories dating back thousands of years, in many cases even thousands of years before the time of Christ.  As followers of Jesus, our story does not begin with a genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew but with the words "In the beginning" in Genesis.  We claim that the same God who created all things is the same God who is fully known to us in Jesus.  

For the Christian Church, I also believe that it is important for us to remember that our faith in many ways is borrowed from the ancient Israelites, the Jews.  The Christian faith did not appear out of thin air two thousand years ago in some rural village in Galilee, but it was birthed out of an existing faith tradition.  Our list of patriarchs do not begin with the four evangelists but with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  And, we in the Christian community often overlook the fact that until the day he died, Jesus sought to live as a faithful Jew.  He observed the Sabbath (even though he disagreed with how the religious authorities of the day sought to interpret Sabbath law) and the festivals (he was celebrating Passover at the time of his arrest and crucifixion), and his teachings were rooted always in the Hebrew Scriptures.  In fact, Jesus' most famous teaching - that the meaning of life is about loving God fully and loving your neighbor as yourself - is simply a pairing of two laws from Deuteronomy and Leviticus.  

And lastly, surely there is something very true in the stories of Yahweh and Yahweh's people - the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, the kings, the prophets, the exile, the apostasy, the restoration, and the promise of a new hope, of a new day over and over again.  Many Christians tell me that they do not read the Old Testament because they do not like the picture of God that they find there.  To these Christians I always say, "Then you haven't studied the Old Testament in detail!  For if you did, you will be overwhelmed by the picture of a God who shows abundant mercy, abundant grace and abundant patience for His people and world."  There is indeed great truth in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it also truth that often takes a little more work to discover if you are not Jewish.  Sadly, many Christians are just not interested in putting in this work.

Throughout the next eight weeks we will look at stories, people, practices and principles from the Hebrew Scriptures that many Christians either do not know or do not seek to practice in their own lives.  Each week we will seek to discover the Truth that these stories convey, even for those of us who read and interpret all of the Old Testament through the life and lens of Jesus Christ, the one who came not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).

One other thing came to mind as we were planning this series over the last few weeks.  Throughout the New Testament, the Church is often referred to as the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25, for example).  And who is the Church, but you and me?  To be a "bride" intent on purity, faithfulness and connecting with or family's ancestry, shouldn't we consider "wearing" something old and something borrowed in addition to something new?  If we do, I believe our "marriage" will be much richer, much deeper and much more reflective of the love and grace of the God who created us all.

Come join us on Sunday nights!
lane

Rev. C. Lane Glaze
Director - Clemson Wesley Foundation
Campus Minister - Clemson UMC
PO Box 1703 Clemson SC 29633
864-207-9135 (c) or 864-654-5547 (o)
www.clemsonwesley.com  

Feel free to forward this email to a friend. The Clemson Wesley Weekly Devotional is a ministry of the Clemson Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist Church’s ministry to students on the campus of Clemson University. The purpose of this email is to look at issues relevant to the life of Clemson students through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you would like your name added to this list, email Rev. Lane Glaze at glaze@clemson.edu.