04 Lent Blair Nuss Wedding

Homily

Blair – Nuss Wedding

March 19, 2006

Dear Eric, Erica, Friends.  Greetings in Christ.  Here we are.  What an exciting and wonderful day.  Today is the culmination of many hours of hard work and planning.  And I think it all paid off.  Today is also a beginning, the beginning of your lives together as husband and wife.  And so we are gathered here in the presence of God with friends and family to celebrate your beginning.

Part of the preparation that went into today was spending time meeting with me.  In our time together we looked over the wedding service in the hymnal.  Now I will invite your guests to open the green hymn books to page 202 in the front.  This is the service for marriage.  Now if you will flip just a couple of pages to page 206.  You will find the very next section: The burial of the dead. 

Now I assure you that this is nothing more than a lack of planning on the part of the publisher.  So you need not worry.  But it does provide a nice illustration, because if you flip back to page 205 you will see the end of the wedding service.  And the rest of the page is blank.  It’s empty.  It’s ready however to be filled.  And so it will be with the story of your lives together.  Until the day you need that page 206.

The promise you make to one another is until you are parted by death.  And I am sure that there will be many many many years between now and then.  Remember that I’m planning on being at your 50th wedding anniversary celebration.  So beginning with today you will fill out this page with your story as husband and wife. 

Now what will that story look like?  I can’t say exactly, but I do know that you will share together joys and excitement, fears and tears, and all the blessings and hardships that come in life.  Simply having someone to share life with is a wonderful blessing.  Remember to always thank God for each other. 

You will have your ups.  You will have your downs.  You will have days when your feelings of love are strong.  And you will have days where your feelings of love are not as strong.  But when all is said and down.  You know that this is a wonderful thing.

One of the readings that you selected for today is from the 15th chapter of St. John’s gospel.  In verse twelve Jesus says, “love one another as I have loved you.”  The kind of love that he is speaking about here is not a feeling it is more than a feeling.  It is a commitment to be with one another through thick and thin.  It is a mindset that says you are the most important person in my life.  I will serve you with my life.  This kind of love is patient and kind.  It is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  This kind of love does not insist on its own way.  It is not irritable or resentful.  It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rather in the truth.  This kind of love bears all things. Believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  This love never fails.  This is the kind of love that Jesus loves us with. 

But you know that we are not perfect.  We make mistakes.  There are times when we would rather serve ourselves and have things our own way.  These things and the turmoil that they bring are the results of sin in our lives.  And not only does sin separate us from one another but it also separates us from God.  But then that is why he sent Jesus.  Jesus died on the cross in order to pay the price for our sins.  His resurrection from the grave is proof of his victory.  Your sins and my sins have been forgiven.  Our relationship with God is restored.  And so is our relationship with one another.

When you stand in God’s forgiveness you are able to find the strength to forgive one another when you need it.  Knowing of God’s great love for you Eric and Erica, you will find the strength to love one another and to serve each other.  And in this way your relationship, your life, your marriage will be a reflection of Jesus’ relationship with his people.  The image that the bible uses is that of a marriage.  Jesus is the groom.  His people are the bride.  It is my prayer for you that your life will be a reflection of this awesome relationship.

You need not worry because you are not alone.  God will bless your marriage.  He will be a part of your lives and will be with you always.  And he will give you the strength to live your lives in a way that will bring him Glory.  He has also given you us, your friends and family and community of faith.  We are here to help you and support you and to lift you up in prayer.  May God bless you, your lives together, your marriage, now and always.  Amen.