Pastor's Message

The Story of the Eight-Cow Bride

This is a story about a man named John, who lived on an island off the coast of Africa. He was a man with a reputation for being a shrewd and capable businessman.  He was always able to strike the best possible deal for goods and services. He was a man of great fame in the whole area. When a seminary professor found herself in this area of Africa and was in need of supplies and guides, she was referred to John. Those that recommended John sang his praises as a shrew bargainer with an excellent eye for value.
 
However, the same people who sang his praises, also brought up what seemed to be a chink in John’s armor. The chink in his armor turned out to be the negotiations that led up to his marriage.  In that part of Africa, a man who wishes to marry must first pay his future father-in-law a dowry or bride price for the privilege of marrying his future wife. The dowry, or bride price, was generally paid in cows. A bride who came from a plain ordinary family and may not have been the most attractive girl would bring a dowry of one cow. A beautiful girl from a very good family would bring three cows to her father. A very remarkable and beautiful bride who came from the leading family of the area could bring an unheard-of four cows. A bride that would bring a dowry of four cows is a one-in-a-million bride. John, they declared, paid eight cows for his wife; an unheard-of price, twice the unimaginable price. This girl, they reported, was not worth four cows, or even three or even one. She was shy to a fault. She never looked in anyone’s eyes. She was declared incapable of the management of a home. It was agreed that rather than being an asset, John’s bride would be a burden on her husband.  To all those who knew John’s bride, it looked as though he had made a very, very, very poor deal. 
 
Undaunted by John’s matrimonial misstep, the seminary professor got on a boat and took the journey to John’s island home. She got off the boat and went straight to John’s house. There she was greeted and served by a most regal hostess. She was described as a beautiful and stately woman; full of grace and an impeccable hostess. She was introduced by John as Cerita, his one and only bride.
 
What had happened to the woman, who all in her community agreed, would be a liability for her husband? The answer: love, faith and sacrifice. John paid a great dowry for his future wife, more than anyone could possibly imagine. John had taken a great risk and made a great sacrifice. By offering this great dowry he had put his finances and reputation on the line for her; just so she could be his wife. John’s great personal and financial sacrifice demonstrated to Cerita just how much he loved her and how much faith he had in her. How could she not love a man who, while known for his shrewdness, business sense and ability to spot value, humbled himself and paid a price for her that was twice the highest price paid for a one-in-a-million bride? John’s faith in Cerita, his love for her, and the sacrifice he made for her, gave her the faith and trust that she could be the woman John had faith she could become. 
 
Deni heard this story from a presenter at the conference she attended at ‘The Firs Retreat Center’ in Bellingham, Washington. What is intriguing about this account for me is that I believe it is a beautiful parable, or metaphor, for how the Gospel, the Kingdom of Heaven, works in the life of the believer. 
 
The Gospel declares that Jesus made a great sacrifice of humanity. In last Sunday’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus declared,  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45). Jesus took what he described as the cup and the baptism of a sacrificial death on the cross as a suffering servant. In so doing, Jesus showed His great love for and obedience for God and His great love for humankind. The Apostle Paul reminds us Jesus’ sacrificial death is likened to a dowry paid by a groom for a bride. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27)  These verses declare to me that Jesus sees each and every one of us as an eight-cow bride he wants to take as His bride.
 
When I am brutally honest with myself, I have to admit I am less than a one- cow bride. I am more of a liability than an asset to myself and everyone else. Yet, Jesus has declared that I am not a one-cow bride, I am an eight-cow bride and sacrificed greatly for me. Jesus, the Son of God the Father, the creator of the universe, the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God; humbled himself, and became a human being. Jesus, God’s Word made flesh, suffered in the most shameful and malicious way. He was persecuted by his own people, their religious authorities and the pagan government of the day.  He was falsely accused of blasphemy for telling the truth about his identity as the Son of God. He was hung on the cross, a death reserved for brigands, slaves and political prisoners and died on that cross. Jesus’ interpretation of Scripture and miracles were contradicted, perverted, and falsely cited and interpreted by Jews and Gentiles when he walked the earth, and continues to this very day. Jesus did not stay dead; God raised Him from the dead to eternal life.  He did this all for you and for me so that all who believe can experience transformation, a resurrection following death and a new life on this side of the grave.  How can I not love that man?
 
Jesus sacrificial death does much for me. Because of His death on the cross, I receive forgiveness of sins; all my blemishes are washed away. Atonement for sin is communicated to me in Baptism, in the name of the God the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. In Baptism, I receive the Holy Spirit, and God lives with me and within me. The Holy Spirit permits me to have faith and trust in Jesus, and permits me to bear fruit; that is, to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Jesus has given me all that I need to become the person that He knows I can be. I have to have faith and trust in Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit and to take the risk and live by the Spirit and walk with the Spirit.  It is in walking with and living by the Holy Spirit that we can become, as Peter puts it:
 
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:9-12)
  
Cerita made a Seminary professor sing John’s praises.  John’s actions revealed that in the end he was the very shrewdest of businessmen. He saw something in Cerita that no one else had seen. He brought out to the surface her hidden gifts through sacrifice, love and faith.   We, like Cerita, can become regal servants of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God wants to use us so that His name can be glorified. But this process must begin with a realization: we are one-cow brides, whom Jesus has paid eight cows for and we are changed and transformed because of Jesus’ sacrifice.  God wants us to tell other one-cow brides that Jesus loves them and has paid eight cows for each of them and let that realization begin to work a change in them. This is the essence of evangelism.
 
In Christ,
Pastor Ed

© Grace Lutheran Church Kelowna 2006
Grace Lutheran Church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada