The Rev. Paul J Cain
Matthew 19:4-6
Swimming in the Same
Direction
Saturday of Pentecost VI, 30 July 2011
Wedding Sermon for Hillary Ann Jones and Nicholas James
Walrath
At Hettinger Campground
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming)
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Not every couple meets at the Game and Fish Department. It
only makes sense that your wedding ceremony is in the Wyoming outdoors, the
Cloud Peak wilderness.
Not every couple goes through premarital counseling, either.
You even endured one of the sessions via SKYPE rather than in person. I think every
couple should intentionally prepare for marriage. The sermon text you have
chosen for your wedding day is the reason why.
[Jesus] (He) answered, “Have you not read that he who
created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore
a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they
shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What
therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
It doesn’t take a degree in biology to realize that it can
be nearly impossible to keep two fish together. Think of the countless fish in
the Story Fish Hatchery or how challenging fly fishing would be considering how
high and fast the runoff is this year. I’m not talking about keeping two trout
together. I don’t have in mind even the Kokanee Salmon of the Flaming Gorge
south of Green River. How is it possible to keep the strong and intelligent
Hillaryfish in the same pond of holy matrimony with the kind and adventurous
Nicholasfish so long as they both shall live? Commitment love created by Jesus
Christ is what will keep the two of you swimming in the same direction.
Commitment love is what will keep you together when romantic
love fades. Commitment love is what will make each of you more willing to serve
and to forgive the other. After all, forgiving each other will make your life
together a lot more bearable, a lot more enjoyable. That is why some of the
best advice I can share with you is to be kind to one another. God created
marriage before the fall into sin. Marriages today need all the help they can
get, especially the hard work of forgiving one another in Jesus’ Name. Commitment
love is what gets couples through the tough times.
You have chosen to begin your life together by
focusing on God’s institution of marriage and what He says about it in His
Word. That is the whole point of extensive premarital counseling, in person and
on SKYPE. You have not just been preparing for one special day, but for a life
together in Christ. Not only are you celebrating with friends and family, but
in a Christian wedding, the Body of Christ is gathered around you to support
you in your life from this day forward. Christ will help two baptized
Christians keep swimming together, and swimming together in the same direction
on Sunday mornings is an important part of that.
A Christian wedding is first and foremost a
worship service, where the Lord gives His gifts and His people offer
thanksgiving and praise. We thank God for the love you have for one another and
pray that He will bless your commitment in a truly holy matrimony.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “God is guiding your marriage. Marriage is more than your love for each
other. It has a higher dignity and power. In your love you see only the heaven
of your bliss. Through marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility
toward the world and to mankind. As God is infinitely higher than man, so the
sanctity, the privilege and the promise of marriage are higher than the
sanctity, the privilege and the promise of love. It is not your love which
sustains the marriage, but from now on the marriage that sustains your love. God
intends you to found your marriage on Christ.”
Again: “It
is not your love which sustains the marriage, but from now on the marriage that
sustains your love.” Marriage takes work, but it is worth it. Hillary and Nick,
knowing the two of you, you’re in for quite an exciting adventure together. As
you hike, raft, and fish your way through Montana and snorkel and explore
Belize, Lord willing, and when you return home to Wyoming, keep
your eyes on Jesus, He who shed His blood to give you forgiveness, life, and
salvation. Let no one and no thing separate whom He has joined together this
day as husband and wife. Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
