1. In the name of our Lord
Jesus. Amen. Abby & Andrew, whenever Christian people
do something Christian, they’re doing and telling the truth. Contrary to
everything and everybody else around, they are celebrating the fact that they
are Christian and that being so makes a difference. Being a Christian makes a
difference not only in the life to come in heaven but also in this life, in
this world—today, as well as into the future.
Abby and Andrew, Your Christian
Marriage Proclaims Truths about Us and about God. So, as Christians, today, you are
doing and telling the truth before this altar and before all these people—and,
above all, before God.
2. What you two are saying and doing
is demonstrating to all of us that you know we are sinful human beings who are
redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Savior of us all. And you are saying
that he has already made a difference in each of your lives individually and
will make a difference in your one life together as husband and wife. You are
admitting, along with all of us who are Christians, that being human means
being full of sin, and sin is the disturber of human relations, including
marriage relations. Sin wreaks havoc with human life by causing us to tell lies
about relationships to each other and to God.
Lies that say things are OK when they are not. Lies that say things are good as long as they
don’t hurt anyone. Lies that say
marriages may last as long as people still can tolerate each other, but there’s
no need to promise faithfulness beyond the time when love & happiness in
marriage ceases. Or, lies that would
like to change the marriage vows from “as
long as we both shall live” to “as
long as we both shall love.”
3.
When
Christians marry, they tell the truth about sin in us, but they also tell us a cheerful,
happy, and great truth: Our Lord Jesus has made the difference. His
resurrection, which we will celebrate next weekend, makes us alive forever.
Because of Jesus, every Christian marriage can be alive with hope and Christian
optimism. The kind of optimism that
counters all the horrible statistics of marriage failure and divorce. That shows the sham of all the “how to” articles in the popular
magazines at checkout counters. A Christian
optimism that exposes the shallow nature of talk shows and cheap soap operas
with their childish intrigue. Christian optimism exposes such evil with the
fact that two people and Jesus can make a marriage the most natural, workable, beautiful,
practical, and lovely union. So lovely
that despite the pain and sorrow and hurt that sometimes are there, Christian
marriage becomes a real example of the relationship that exists between Jesus
and the Church.
4.
Therefore,
God’s Word calls us as Christians in Eph. 5:21 to “[submit] to one another out of reverence for Christ” taken from
Paul’s epistle to the Church in Ephesus. The Christian husband, by the power of
the Holy Spirit, is to strive to exercise toward his bride the same unselfish
and sacrificial love Jesus demonstrated for his bride, the Church, when he gave
himself up for her in life and in death. And the bride is to give herself to
her husband as the Church gives herself in loving service to her Lord—not
because she has to or because she is a slave, but because she stands by the
grace of God (as does her husband) in that loving relationship that only comes
to those who are one in Christ Jesus. Both husband and wife are born anew in
Jesus through Holy Baptism and, through Word and Sacrament, are continually
forgiven, renewed, and refreshed. Together with Christ, the Christian husband
and wife stand under the blessing of creation when, on the sixth day, God
stepped back and looked at everything he had made and said, “Behold, it is very good!” (Gen 1:31).
And that included marriage.
5.
Abby
& Andrew, as important as this ceremony may be today, it’s not nearly as
important as the experiences you’ll have and what you will demonstrate as you
continuously forgive and affirm each other, even as Christ does for his Church.
I’m sure you already know that a marriage without arguments and strife is
unreal—an impossible dream and a dangerous delusion. It’s a marriage where
husband and wife become neither hysterical nor historical, in bringing up past
sins and mistakes that have been made when a dispute occurs. A Christian
marriage is one in which both spouses recall what Christ has done for them in
forgiving them all of their sins through his death on the cross and recall
their vows in the face of differences and pain.
Then husband and wife commit themselves anew to each other with the love
that can only come from Christ, who is our Savior and our Lord.
6.
Abby
& Andrew, can you do that? Will you do that? You will, with the help of God.
That is possible only with the Holy Spirit’s help. It is only by living in
Christ that your lives toward each other will bear that fruit of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:21) that goes
beyond just plain tolerance.
7.
None
of us know what lies ahead in our future, but we Christians know that God is
there to brighten every morning with his presence and his power for the day. God
is there to lighten every night with the brightness of his forgiveness and his
peace. With him, Abby & Andrew, you can do and be all that he intends for
your marriage. Keep near to him—today and forever. Amen.
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