Krewson Wedding

*The Processional

Presentation

Minister: Who gives this Woman to be married to this Man?

Father: I do.

Call to Worship

Minister: Our Lord Jesus said: “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh” (Mark 10:6–8).

Let us worship God as we now witness the marriage of Thomas Krewson and Eden Brock.

Preface

Minister: Dearly beloved: We have gathered together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony.

Almighty God established the bond and covenant of marriage in creation as a sign of the mystical union between Christ and his Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and it is commended by Holy Scripture to be held in honor among all people.

The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind was ordained by God: for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord; for mutual joy, and for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; to maintain purity, so that husbands and wives, with all the household of God, might serve as holy and undefiled members of the Body of Christ; and for the upbuilding of Christ’s kingdom in family, church, and society, to the praise of his holy Name.

Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was ordained by Almighty God.

Into this holy union Thomas Krewson and Eden Brock now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not be married in accordance with God’s Word, speak now; or else for ever hold your peace.

Hymn

Prayer Peter Brock

Charge to the Bride and Groom

Minister: Thomas Krewson and Eden Brock, today you are presenting yourselves before this congregation to declare your intention of uniting your lives voluntarily and honorably for the service of God and man. You are making a double dedication: to each other, in a lasting and indivisible union that shall endure for the remaining years of your lives, and to God, that he may make you his dual instrument for the accomplishment of his purpose both in and by your personalities. The achievement of this purpose will require appreciation of each other’s abilities and virtues, forgiveness of each other’s faults, and unfailing devotion to each other’s welfare and development. There must be on your part a united consent to the purpose of God as he progressively reveals it to you by his Word and by his Spirit, and an unhesitant acceptance by faith of the challenges that he sets before you.

I charge you, therefore, first of all to consider that your promises to each other are made in the presence of a God who remembers your pledges and who holds you responsible for performing them. They must be kept inviolable before him.

I admonish you to keep in mind that each of you is the object of Christ’s redemption and should be valued accordingly. Neither should be neglected or belittled by the other. Esteem each other as God’s gift for mutual aid, comfort, and joy, and as a repository of complete confidence and trust.

I encourage you to share willingly and sympathetically your joys and worries, your successes and your struggles, and to be neither conceited by the former nor depressed by the latter. Whichever may prevail, cling closely to each other, that defeats may be met by united strength, and victories by united joy.

I charge you to make your home a place where you can have a refuge from the storms of life, not only for yourselves, but also for others who may be your guests. Let it be a haven for the weary, a source of uplift for the discouraged, and a convincing testimony to a cynical world.

In short, recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as head of the house, the ruler of your destinies, and the object of your deepest affection. If you do, he will confirm your marriage by his guidance and will overshadow it by his peace.

I charge you to love each other, to support each other, and to serve him with sincere hearts and determined wills until your mutual service for him shall be completed. (Written by Merrill Tenney)

Scripture Reading

Genesis 2:18–25 ESV

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Ephesians 5:22–33 ESV

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

*Song of Praise Hymn #

Homily

God the Craftsmen

I went to college in Portland. One of the signs you will see everywhere is keep Portland weird. Home to hipsters, who pride themselves on their nostalgic one-of-a-kind style. And businesses are all too keen to cater to this sentiment. All you have to do is slap a label that says artisanal or hand-crafted and sold; these young hipsters will eat it up. While it's humorous, the desire for something unique and hand-crafted has only become vogue because there is so much that isn't unique or handcrafted. I can go into a McDonald's anywhere in the US, and everything is supposed to be uniform. Manufacturers, for simplicity and convenience, ensure this is so. But it wasn't that long ago before the factory when most household items were hand-crafted, either by yourself or by a neighbor for barter. Trying to sell artisanal bread or cheese would have been laughable then. But these hipsters might be on to something.

The desire behind wanting something unique and handcrafted points to something built deep into the creation of the world. You see, God is a craftsman as well. He hand-crafted the world and saw that it was good. Then he made man in his image and likeness, but something wasn't quite right. It wasn't complete. But God wanted the man to realize it wasn't done, so he waited a bit before saying anything. So he gave the man a job, name everything you see, that should keep him busy for a while. And after a bit, he began to notice a pattern. The animals came to him two by two, and he named them. Each pair fit together, but none of them fit him. Nothing came close to him. How was he supposed to complete his task to be fruitful and multiply with no helper?

Why did God do it this way? Why was Adam left alone to realize he needed a helper? Partly I think he wanted to show off his crafting skills, and he may have wanted to see the look on Adam's face when God the Father presented the first bride. So he put Adam to sleep and took a part of Adam and crafted his helper, a fitting complement to himself. Adam gets this right away, finally, someone who fits with me, someone crafted for me, someone to complete me. Yes, you complete me is not just for hallmark cards. There is a fittingness to God's design of the man and woman that together images God. Alone the creation was just good, but together, they now fit together as the crown of His creation, and God says very good.

But God is not a factory craftsman, churning out identical models for uniformity. There is almost nothing uniform about God's creation except its purpose, to bring glory to Him. Look at the variety of birds or sea creatures—some who even now exist only to delight their creator unseen by the eyes of men. And so, God crafted Eve for Adam; in all her stunning beauty, she was uniquely crafted for Adam. Her daughters would be like her, but also unlike her, for they would only be half of her and half of her husband. But none would be fit for Adam like Eve, for she is "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh."

And so God continues even to today, handcrafting a woman and presenting her to a man as his fitting compliment. Thomas, God, has crafted Eden for you. In all her beauty, her giftedness, and all her characteristics were crafted to be a fitting complement to you, Thomas. And like Adam, God has given you an Eden to tend and keep, to guard and cultivate. She is a garden. But not just any garden, but one hand-crafted by God to fit with you. Likewise, Eden. Thomas was crafted for you, to be your husband, to lead, protect, and love you. You will be his glory, and he will cover you as your head. Trusting as I know you both do, that God is sovereign, you know this is true. God doesn't do accidents, and he doesn't bring two people together and make them one haphazardly. His intention to make you one means that as a master craftsman, he has already done the hard work to make sure you fit together perfectly.

I belabor that point because there will come a time when Satan will whisper in your ear and try to make you think that God didn't know what he was doing. He will try to convince you that God had intended someone else all along. But those are lies, and you counter them by pointing back to this day when God made you one. Our culture takes commitments so loosely and will abide only as long as it suits them. But this covenant you are making today is a bond that lasts until death, which means nothing can separate you but God himself.

Marriage A Gospel-Mystery

But there remains for us to answer why God as a craftsman crafted you both in such a way that you perfectly fit together. We turn to our New Testament reading which we read earlier from Ephesians 5. There Paul goes into some detail about the intimate connection between a husband and wife. But the critical thing to notice is that God's purpose in marriage was always to point beyond these two people joined as one, to the deeper reality of the union between Christ and His church.

Marriage is a gospel mystery, not because your spouse is a mystery to you, although they are that. But because when you are joined together as one flesh, that mingling of two into one point to Christ's relationship with His Church. The apostle Paul is not just getting cute with metaphors to win points with the theology professors of the seminary at Ephesus. He says that the purpose of all that I just described with God crafting Eden to fit perfectly with you, Thomas, was that your togetherness could show the world a profound mystery, Christ and His Church. The purpose of marriage is to point beyond itself to something greater. But it remains for you to point truthfully.

And that means that Thomas, you must love her as Christ loved the church. A tall order, given that you are sinful and Christ was not. And considering that he loved his bride so much, he died for her. You too must be willing to die for her, not in atonement, but certainly in sacrifice. Often that death will be to yourself, as you put her needs and wants above your own.

And you, Eden, picturing the church, must submit to Thomas as head. A highly unpopular notion in our egalitarian world. But as he, like Christ, daily dies to himself, he will provide a space for you to flourish and be his glory. He will bring in the raw materials, his strength, his talents, and the paycheck, and you will turn all those raw materials into a home. You are made for filling the world with glory; he is made to subdue and rule over it. Whether or not you are conscious of it, your marriage will picture Christ and his church, as does every marriage in this room. The bigger question to answer, and one you must always return to, is, does our marriage paint a true picture of Christ and his church.

While the purpose of marriage may seem daunting, take heart Thomas and Eden, for Christ who has called you to this task, will supply all your needs. We are not so many pictures of Christ and his church so that we may glory in ourselves, but so that we reflect the glory of God. Nothing pleases God more than humble reliance on him. So you, Thomas, must lead in repentance, daily turning from sin to life in Christ. And you, Eden, must follow in repentance, daily truing from your sin towards life in Christ. The home will become the training grounds for your sanctification as you both press forward towards the holiness without which no one will see God. So as long as Christ remains the center, and your endeavor is always to proclaim the gospel mystery, then the fittingness of your marriage together will be plain for all to see.

And so...

Consent

Minister: “Thomas Krewson, will you have Eden Brock as your wife, to live together as God has ordained, in the holy state of matrimony? Will you love her, cherish her, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?”

Groom: “I will.”

Minister: “Eden Brock, will you have Thomas Krewson as your husband, to live together as God has ordained, in the holy state of matrimony? Will you love him, obey him, honor and protect him, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”

Bride: “I will.”

Minister: Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold this man and this woman in their marriage?

Congregation: We will.

The Marriage Vows

Repeated after the minister:

Groom: “In the Name of God, I, Thomas, take you, Eden, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

Bride: “In the Name of God, I, Eden, take you, Thomas, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

Exchange of the Rings

Minister: “Lord, bless these rings, that as Thomas and Eden wear them, they may abide in you and continue in your favor until their lives shall end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Groom (repeating after the minister): “Eden, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bride (repeating after the minister): “Thomas, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pronouncement of Marriage

Minister: By virtue of the authority committed unto me by the church of Christ and the law of the state, I now pronounce you, Thomas, and Eden, husband and wife, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer and Benediction

Minister: Let us pray. Father, who gave the first woman in marriage, and has hand crafted this marriage of Thomas and Eden, do bless and strengthen them for the purpose of showing forth the gospel mystery in their marriage. Make them fruitful and bless them so that all that they do prospers in your will. Make there lives a beautiful and truthful display of Christ and his church. Through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Minister: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.”

Kiss

Minister: And now Thomas “You may kiss your bride.”

Introduction of the Bride and Groom

Minister: “It is my pleasure to present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Krewson.

*Recessional

*Please stand if you are able