08 14th Saturday after Pentecost Jeremy and Kimberly
Dear Jeremy, Kimberly, Friends and Family members. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
What a beautiful and joyous day today is. You are now experiencing the fruit of all your hard work and planning. I also must admit that I am a bit relieved that we are all here at the same time. For those of you who don’t know, when Jeremy and Kimberly filled out their forms for their pre-marital counseling, One of them said that the wedding was 8 to 9 months away, and the other said that it was 10 to 12. So the fact that we are here together at the same time in the same place is something to give thanks for.
I am confident that the two of you will have a wonderful married life together. Now you are great people. You are fun to be with. You are smart and funny. You have servant hearts and work hard. You have wonderful examples of marriage in parents, and family and friends that support you and your life together. But as good as all those things are, and they are good. None of them are the reason why I am confident that the two of you will have a wonderful married life together.
The reason why I am confident that the two of you will have a wonderful married life together is because of your strong faith and the relationship that you have with your God. Our God who loved the world so much that he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross and be raised again so that we would have forgiveness and life and salvation. Our God brought you to himself. He reconciled you to him through Jesus. He made you his own dear children through the waters of baptism. And it is in this relationship with your God that you will find all that you need to have a wonderful marriage.
You picked Colossians 3 as one of your texts for today. And what a special text. This is one that was written for a community of Christians and they are good things to be practiced within a Christian Community, because as these things are lived out, they proclaim to the world a power message about who God is, and the relationship that he has with his people.
In this text you will find meaningful instructions and principles for your life together as husband and wife. Because you will discover that in the relationship you have with your God, you will find all that you need for your relationship together. “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. “ This is how you are to be known to one another. Since God has made himself known to you in this way through Jesus, these things then become the mark of your lives. Tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. As Christians this is how we are to deal with one another, because these are the ways in which our God has dealt with us.
“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” I’m sure you have already discovered that neither one of you are perfect. I had a professor in the seminary was telling us how every night he and his wife would spend some time doing confession and absolution together. He then said to us, “Gentlemen, be very careful what you decided to forgive your wives. Because you could find yourselves in your next fight without any ammunition.” In other words, once something has been forgiven. It has been forgiven. This is the forgiveness with which our God has forgiven us in Jesus, and so we also forgive one another.
Jeremy, it is more than likely that you will sin against Kimberly. Kimberly, it is more than likely that you will sin against Jeremy. And when you do, forgive one another.
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” You know that love is more than a feeling. The feelings will come and go, but that is not what love is. Love is putting someone else before yourself. When you clothe yourselves with love, love because the mark of all that you do. It is visible in how you live and how you care for one another.
“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Living the Christian life is not just something that you do for a few hours a week. But it is to permeate every aspect of your lives. The message about Christ is the best message out there. There is nothing better. Don’t let this message get old or stale for you, instead let it, and all its richness fill your lives.
In time, God willing, you will be blessed with children. Caedmon’s Call has a song entitled Love Grows Love. I’ll spare you my singing, but the second verse goes like this,
“when we got the news
we had to call our families
and start painting the room
a nice, bright blue
our vows they started breathing
and they took on flesh and blood
and we held them in our arms
and tasted God was good.
What an amazing image for children. And when that blessing comes, then return to these verses from Colossians and you will find that they have a whole other layer of meaning for you and your life together.
Yes, Jeremy and Kimberly I am confident that the two of you will have a wonderful married life, because that life that you share is a life that is anchored in Christ. It is anchored in the salvation and forgiveness that come from him. May this be the source of strength and joy in your lives together as husband and wife.