Wedding sermon - John 15:9-12 - Marriage a New Creation & Obedience
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of all our hearts be acceptable in your Sight, our Lord and saviour, Amen
In marriage we become part of something very unique
In marriage all those present are: a witness …to a piece of creation
It is the new creation from the uniting of a Husband and Wife and the Life and Love that will grow out of that bonding
and we are witnesses today,
to that life creating moment
In marriage, no longer are there two individuals solely, although two individuals remain
But there enters into life something unique and … miraculous
The Gospel passage … that Cory and Nicole chose for this special occasion comes from St. John’s Gospel account of the life Of Jesus
in this passage from St. John, We hear a challenging message and it is focused on a new way to understand Love
the word Love itself was a little used word of the time
You see the first Christians sought to FIND language to express their new experience of God’s grace
a “fresh minting” of a previously little-used word
and marriage is a lot like that, “a fresh minting”
two people previously solely individuals are minted in a new unique way
The word takes on a uniquely new and Christian sense to it
a sense of family belongingness which transcends the previous sense of the word
And it is this new sense of love that is SO appropriate for a wedding service
It is the type of love that binds
On the surface, the first reading of the passage, seems to be a simple message of Love
A heart-warming message whereby Jesus restates the “new commandment” to love one another and abide in that love
But when you look at the wording a little deeper there is one key troubling word that keeps coming up
Command or commandment
- it comes up clearly three times – in this very short passage
It is a hard word to soft-pedal around - to reduce the impact
It is not a negotiable word
There is no flexibility in the word
It’s not “you might want to do this”
Or “maybe you could think of that”
The word is a clear directive
To put the passage in context - Jesus time is running out
It is set in the upper room on the last night before the cross
They have shared in the Passover meal
He has washed their feet - taught them a new way to live in servitude towards each other
and this is part of a series of instructions and teachings - to his closest friends - on his last night
Jesus in passing on this new way of life tells it in a plain and clear way
He commands them to Love one another and abide in that love
Then just as now we don’t like any words that tell us ‘what to do’
The trend is not lessening over time - but increasing
Our post modern culture motto could be
“I accept you have a opinion, but it is no more valid then my own”
or - “what’s true for you is your truth - and what’s true for me, is my truth”
no longer are our truths a product of community
no longer do we need to be obedient to communional expectations
But Jesus, in our Gospel reading from John today, directly challenges that
Jesus commends us to Love and to abide in that so that our joy might be complete
In this passage we have a more full understanding of Love
the challenges that ‘love in obedience’ calls for are so appropriate for a marriage service
In the end – if you want the fullest picture of God’s love
You will need to be obedient - and strive to Love as He lived and loved us
Marriage is a life and love that gets built on,
moments building on top of the other,
from one to the next
the good times, and the challenges - from which we learn from
the great times which our memories hold to the greatest
“the creation” that is the bond between you will grows stronger
it is the new entity uniquely created by you and between you,
and it is this new love that binds it all together
It is my prayer: Cory and Nicole, that you will be blessed with such a creation
That you will live and abide in a love between you
and that you will experience the fullest of that love so that your joy will be complete
Amen