11
Sermon
ROSES, RINGS & REJOICING
Dear ____ and ____ :
I am sure that the wish of all this afternoon, not only yourselves, but also your parents and certainly our Lord, is that you together might begin this day to live lives of fullness and happiness. And what each of us would want to share most with you (even more than any gift, present, token, or tribute) would be a formula for this happiness. A prescription which suggests itself to us on this occasion is one taken from Holy Scripture. It is a prescription with three ingredients.
1. Remember that no one is perfect. No matter how deeply you love your partner, you will at times (in the future) act selfishly, speak out in anger, hurt, and perhaps alienate. The Bible reminds us: "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) And your partner may hurt and fail you, too. Many marriages are unhappy or insecure because one of the partners fails to allow for mistakes in his or her spouse. But God who "remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14) does not expect us to build our marriage on human attempts to appear perfect, or on expectations that our spouse is flawless.
The second principal then follows the first.
2. Realize that forgiveness is a way of life. Forgiveness is God's way of life for his children who realize they are sinners, admit their need, and receive pardon of sins through Jesus Christ, who paid the price on the cross to atone for all our transgressions. The Bible reminds us to be: "Forgiving [of] one another, even as God, for Christ's sake has forgiven us." (Ephesians 4:32) If there is forgiveness in your life, almost anything can be dealt with successfully and overcome, regardless of how great the handicaps or hardships.
And the last principal is:
3. Renew your commitment. The Bible tells us that marriage is a commitment of love. In marrying, a man and a woman "leave and cleave." They leave their parents* and cleave to each other (Matthew 19:5) to commit themselves to each other for life. This total commitment to each other is the changeless mark of Christian marriage.
By renewing this commitment of love (not only in thought and sentiment, but in word and action) on a daily basis, and by following the principles of 1. recognizing the human-ness of each other, and 2. living in forgiveness, you can set out together in life to experience more and more what God intended for all marriages when he said that the ‘‘two shall become one." With these principles you can experience the harmony in marriage which God intended, and you can be a blessing to each other as well as to those around you. Amen
— Dennis A. Kastens
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Collinsville, Illinois
* They leave their pasts (vs. parents) ... Used when a previously married person is nuptially united.
I am sure that the wish of all this afternoon, not only yourselves, but also your parents and certainly our Lord, is that you together might begin this day to live lives of fullness and happiness. And what each of us would want to share most with you (even more than any gift, present, token, or tribute) would be a formula for this happiness. A prescription which suggests itself to us on this occasion is one taken from Holy Scripture. It is a prescription with three ingredients.
1. Remember that no one is perfect. No matter how deeply you love your partner, you will at times (in the future) act selfishly, speak out in anger, hurt, and perhaps alienate. The Bible reminds us: "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) And your partner may hurt and fail you, too. Many marriages are unhappy or insecure because one of the partners fails to allow for mistakes in his or her spouse. But God who "remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14) does not expect us to build our marriage on human attempts to appear perfect, or on expectations that our spouse is flawless.
The second principal then follows the first.
2. Realize that forgiveness is a way of life. Forgiveness is God's way of life for his children who realize they are sinners, admit their need, and receive pardon of sins through Jesus Christ, who paid the price on the cross to atone for all our transgressions. The Bible reminds us to be: "Forgiving [of] one another, even as God, for Christ's sake has forgiven us." (Ephesians 4:32) If there is forgiveness in your life, almost anything can be dealt with successfully and overcome, regardless of how great the handicaps or hardships.
And the last principal is:
3. Renew your commitment. The Bible tells us that marriage is a commitment of love. In marrying, a man and a woman "leave and cleave." They leave their parents* and cleave to each other (Matthew 19:5) to commit themselves to each other for life. This total commitment to each other is the changeless mark of Christian marriage.
By renewing this commitment of love (not only in thought and sentiment, but in word and action) on a daily basis, and by following the principles of 1. recognizing the human-ness of each other, and 2. living in forgiveness, you can set out together in life to experience more and more what God intended for all marriages when he said that the ‘‘two shall become one." With these principles you can experience the harmony in marriage which God intended, and you can be a blessing to each other as well as to those around you. Amen
— Dennis A. Kastens
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Collinsville, Illinois
* They leave their pasts (vs. parents) ... Used when a previously married person is nuptially united.
