The Rev. Paul J Cain
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Three Are Better than Two Are Better than One
Seventh Sunday after Trinity, 03 August 2014, 2 p.m.
Wedding of Eric
Richard Scott and Mikel Elizabeth Smith
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
Powder Horn Golf Community
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
9 Two are
better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall,
one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has
not another to lift him up! 11 Again,
if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man
might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord
is not quickly broken.
These verses from Ecclesiastes Chapter four are the sermon text
that Eric and Mikel have chosen for their wedding day.
One. One is lonely. One can be lonely in the outdoors, at
school, in a residential neighborhood where you don’t know your neighbors, or
especially in a busy airport terminal. Such places can be filled with lonely
Ones even with people surrounding them.
Two. Two implies a connection—and suppot. Two means that the two
don’t just know “of” one another, like the two of you know “of” each other in
High School. Two implies a connection like the one you found when you got to
talking at Denver International Airport. And you kept in touch. Two are better
than one. I saw that when we met together for our premarital counseling
sessions. That helped me believe in your relationship and support it by
officiating at your wedding. I could see, even over SKYPE for the remainder of
our sessions that you two were no longer alone. Eric proposed in Terminal A,
the terminal of love at DIA, where they met. They may have been apart after
that, but they were not alone. You are Two like the text speaks of.
9 Two are
better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall,
one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has
not another to lift him up! 11 Again,
if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man
might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord
is not quickly broken.
Three. The two people in Ecclesiastes 4 could be any two friends
that lift one another up. In the context of a Christian wedding, the “two” of
Ecclesiastes chapter four are a Christian husband and wife. And the “He” behind
the Three of the of the “threefold cord” is Jesus Christ our Lord! Three are
better than Two!
A couple in love, married in the eyes of the Lord and of Caesar
needs more than their feelings for one another for their relationship to
survive. They need a marriage. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote in a wedding
sermon, “It is not your love which sustains the marriage, but from now on the
marriage that sustains your love.” That is why holy matrimony, the lifelong
union of one man and one woman wed only to each other, is still a viable
institution in 21st Century America. A marriage is built on
commitment love.
Commitment love is what gets couples through the tough times.
After all, forgiving each other will make your life together a lot more
bearable, and a lot more enjoyable. You need to be regularly reminded of
Christ’s love for you and shown His love. That is why being united in attending
the Sunday Divine Service, actively engaging in Bible study together, and being
committed to family devotions are all so important.
There will be dark days when life is not kind, the worst
kind of days when two are not enough. Jesus, the third strand of the threefold
cord of your Christian marriage, He who was lifted up on the cross of Calvary,
lifted up from a tomb and death itself, and lifted up to heaven, is the light
of the world, the light no darkness can overcome. Jesus is He who will lift you
up. As the hymn says, “But when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him
to die, I scarce can take it in—That on the cross my burden gladly bearing He
bled and died to take away my sin; Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!”
A cord of three strands is not easily broken. And a married
relationship intertwined with Christ Jesus is not easily broken either, because
He forgives you sins and you forgive one another. As you leave this beautiful place
of mountain grandeur and reflect on your wedding day, remember this text from
Ecclesiastes that you selected. Regularly review it and remember Jesus, who
shed His blood to give you life and has joined you this day as husband and wife.
Three are better than two. Two are better than one. Christ is
your support in all of life, day by day. He guides you, by grace, to His Gifts
of Word and Sacrament. He grants you the gift of faith so that you can trust in
that which you do not see. And He died so that you may live and forgive one
another as you have already been forgiven in Him till death you do part. Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
