“The Critical Crossroads of Life”—Ruth 1.16–17, Mark 10.6–9, Wedding Sermon for Athena Sotka & Michael Shanak IV

1.             Dear Athena and Michael, you’re standing here today to exchange your vows of love and loyalty to each other. What a miracle is taking place right before our eyes! According to God’s math, the two of you have become one in body, mind, and spirit.  But, your oneness will be tested many times in the years ahead. You’ll face challenging situations and issues in your marriage and family life. There will be times when you’ll come to critical crossroads in your life. At those times, At the Critical Crossroads of Life, Where Will You Turn?
2.             Where will you look for strength, guidance, and hope to carry on? Many couples these days are looking for wisdom for their marriage in all the wrong places. But, I pray that both of you will always turn to God’s Word for wisdom and to your Lord in prayer for his grace and guidance.
3.             In the Bible, God provides us with an inspiring story of two people who faced a critical crossroads in their life. Their God-pleasing decision not only affected their lives for good, but was also used by God to accomplish his greater purposes. It’s the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi. Theirs is a story of love and loyalty. Their example offers us insights into the kind of faith, love, and loyalty that are so important in forming lasting relationships. Those three qualities are especially important for healthy marriages and family relationships.
4.             The story of Ruth and Naomi begins in the land of Israel. Because of a famine in the land, Naomi and her family moved to Moab. There, her sons married women from that pagan land. Over the next ten years, Naomi’s husband and her two sons died. Grief-stricken, she decided to return to the land of Israel and her hometown of Bethlehem. Naomi realized she couldn’t ask these young widows to leave their land, relatives, and religion in order to follow her to a strange land and an uncertain future. Orpah said her tearful good-bye, but Ruth had a different response. She clung to her mother-in-law, not only because of her affection for her, but also because of her faith in the true and living God. Listen to Ruth’s words of love and loyalty, which are appropriate words for us today as the two of you exchange your vows of love and loyalty: Ruth said in the Old Testament book of Ruth 1:16-17, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.’ ”
5.             There are times when all of us, like Ruth and Orpah, come to critical crossroads on our journey through life, times when we must make decisions that will affect our faith, our future, our marriage, and our family. As the years go by, we come to crossroads, where we make decisions about our education, our job and vocation in life, the practice of our faith, and the choice of our marriage partner for life.
6.             Michael and Athena, you’ve come to maybe the most important crossroad in your life. Today you’re pledging before God and your loved ones that you’ll love, honor, and cherish each other for the rest of your lives. You’re promising that no matter what circumstances may arise in your relationship, you’re totally committed to your marriage—and totally devoted to each other.  You’ve already made some critical decisions in your lives.  You both decided to date one another, to become engaged and to start your lives together as husband and wife.  The two of you are off to a great start!!!
7.             Here you are today, standing before God’s altar and asking Jesus to bless your marriage with his love, his presence, and his peace. And here are the people you love celebrating with you the blessing of God’s math, as he re-creates you from two into one, binding you together as husband and wife, for as long as you both shall live. Now it begins—a marriage made in heaven but lived out here on earth, in the midst of a challenging world.
8.             But, Athena & Michael I want you to know that there’s no magic formula for a successful marriage.  However, there are some qualities that are helpful for making any relationship, especially marriage, stronger that God’s Word tells us about.
9.             The first key quality is love. But not just any kind of love. There are many selfish substitutes for love these days. All you have to do is tune into some of the popular programs and soap operas on TV to discover what love isn’t about. But, the Bible gives us an amazing pattern for lasting love, as we witness the amazing grace and kindness that our Lord showers on all those who have faith and hope in him. Christ’s love is different from the worlds’. It’s a giving and forgiving love. It required him to give his very life into death on the cross. And, as a result of the cross, it now forgives us every sin. Christ loves us with an unconditional kindness that sees us as we truly are, with all our flaws, faults, and failures, and He loves us nevertheless.
10.             That’s the kind of love that our Lord invites you to shower on each other in your marriage, day after day and year after year. Because as time goes on, you’ll see each other as you really are, with all your flaws, faults, and failures. But through the grace and blessings that we receive by faith in Christ, you can keep on loving each other with a giving and forgiving love that knows no limits.
11.             The second quality that’s vital for a healthy and strong marriage is a shared faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. In recent years, many couples that grew up in Christian homes are choosing to ignore this vital ingredient in a Christian marriage. But what a blessing it is when you build your marriage on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and his sure Word and promises! For when Jesus joins a couple together in marriage, he weaves together the threads of faith, love, and loyalty to form a bond that’s rich and enduring. It’s knowing that both of you are sinners redeemed and forgiven by Christ’s death that binds you together in the ultimate way. It’s that bond that enables Christian couples to keep on giving and forgiving, long after others have given up and thrown in the towel.
12.             The third quality that helps to make a marriage solid is loyalty and faithfulness to each other. Ruth was loyal and faithful to her mother-in-law Naomi, even though she came from a different background and culture. Ruth, the Gentile, had come to see herself as a child of God, and Naomi, the woman of Israel, was eager to receive her daughter-in-law as an heir with her of eternal life by God’s promise to Israel of the Savior. The two of you may come from different backgrounds in your lives.  But, you’ve found much more in common, including the faith in Jesus Christ that you share. From the times we’ve talked, I know that you’re both deeply committed to being loving, loyal, and faithful partners in marriage, no matter what critical crossroads you may face. Because Christ Jesus is eternally loyal to each of you.
13.             There’s a story of a pastor who was helping a couple plan their wedding service. They asked him if he would change just one letter in their wedding vow. Instead of the promise reading, “As long as we both shall live,” they wanted to say, “as long as we both shall love.” But that one letter makes all the difference in the world. Every marriage faces challenges, which may test your love to the limit. Through the years, there’ll be times when some of your feelings for each other will change. But when Jesus Christ lives at the center of your marriage, he’ll bring healing, hope, and renewal at those times when your love seems to be fading and your marriage may even be in danger. When Jesus Christ and his inspired Word and promises are the source of guidance for your marriage, he’ll continually refresh your love, deepen your loyalty to each other, and restore your desire to cherish each other and honor your marriage vows, for as long as you both shall live.
14.             When you meet those crossroads in life, what will keep you growing in love and faithfulness to each other is the love of Christ living in your hearts. His love will enable you to go the extra mile for each other, as you share his kindness, goodness, and forgiveness with each other, every chance you get. Athena and Michael, may Jesus Christ, the Lord of marriage, grant you this kind of love, loyalty, and devotion, as long as you both shall live.  Amen.