Wedding Kreuger - Voisin 2007
Colossians 3:12-17 “Wedding Clothes” February 3, 2007
Introduction: Joel, Olivia, parents, family and friends, grace to you… I see that just about everybody is dressed up today as we witness and celebrate this special occasion where God is joining you, Joel and Olivia, together as man and wife, to become one in His eyes. Joel, you are looking sharp all dressed up in your tuxedo and Olivia, you particularly look radiant and beautiful in your bridal dress. These are the wedding clothes that you have put on to celebrate this holy occasion.
While these wedding clothes adorn your outward appearance they also reflect for us the inner preparation that you have made with the help of God. In Colossians 3, read earlier, and chosen by you for this solemn occasion, we read, “Therefore, as God’s Chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…bearing with one another and forgiving one another…as the Lord has forgiven you. Over all these put on love…” These are the inner wedding clothes that you have put on in preparation for this day. These are the wedding clothes that you should put on and wear everyday of your lives together.
Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love. You have probably never thought of these as clothes before. Sometimes we pay attention to what we are wearing, like today, but sometimes we get a little casual, we relax a bit, like putting on old tattered sweat pants after a long day of work. We often think, who’s going to see me anyway, just my husband, just my wife? While it is alright to get casual with or clothes, it is important to never be casual about the special relationship that God is giving you as you become man and wife. Remember your wedding clothes that God has given you. It will be apparent to each of you if and when you forget to wear your wedding clothes. When coldness replaces warmth and passion you’ll know that you are not wearing your wedding clothes. When you become short with each other and neglect to be kind to each other, your not wearing your wedding clothes. When pride replaces humility as you latch on to the “I know I’m right” attitude, your not wearing your wedding clothes. When your patience runs short because what you want stands in the way of what you partner wants, or when the dirt on the carpet has become a major crime, then you’ll know that your not wearing your wedding clothes.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, turning against God and going against His will they saw that they were naked. In other words they saw their own shame and their own guilt…and it wasn’t pretty. God out of His great love made a sacrifice and made clothes for them. This pointed them to the time when He would make the greatest sacrifice, the giving of His own Son to die on the cross to bear the shame and guilt of all peoples sin, our sin, so that by believing in Him we would be forgiven. In so doing, God puts on us the eternal clothing of righteousness, rightness before God.
When one of you forgets to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness patience, that is when you must put on the most important clothes of all, forgiveness and love. As God has forgiven you, forgive each other. As God has loved you unconditionally, love each other giving yourselves in sacrifice for the other, each one of you giving your life for the other as Christ Jesus gave Himself for you.
In our reading from the gospel of John, our Lord Jesus tells us, tells you, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love…I have told you this…so that your joy may be complete. Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends…Love each other.” Jesus has showed us how much love He has for us by allowing Himself to be crucified on the cross, suffering the shame of our sin and the nakedness of our guilt. He gave His life so that we could truly live, now, and forever. Joel, our Lord’s example has been given to you. This day you are committing to laying down your life for Olivia. Olivia, this day you are committing to laying you life down for Joel. How will you do this? You will do it with God’s help and as you put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness patience, forgiveness and love. Put them on every morning of your lives and don’t take them off at night. You both look great right now but the tux you will return to the rental shop tomorrow and the wedding dress will be put in a box with moth balls to wait for another day. The wedding clothes that the Lord has given you, will make you handsome and beautiful to each other every day of you lives. Amen