2
Sermon
ROSES, RINGS & REJOICING
Journeys should be exciting and fun, yet they are also filled with apprehensions and fears. Such is the beginning of the journey we call marriage. We are nervous because we are not sure exactly what we are getting into. We may have mapped out the course for our relationship with another, but we are not 100% sure that the other shares our total expectations. We talked about expectations in relationships several weeks ago and you will recall that I suggested to you, as I will suggest to your family and friends here gathered, that expectations should be re-evaluated on a regular basis. Who you are today will not be who you are next year, either as individuals or as a couple. The willingness to grow and expand your understandings of marriage is critical.
And so the relationship you begin today is not like anything else you have experienced. It is an integral relationship. It will have all elements of living woven within it. There will be joy and sorrow; there will be happiness and frustration; there will be times of ecstacy as well as times of embarrassment and disappointment. In fact with all the varieties of experiences within the relationship we call marriage, I am surprised that it has survived as long as it has. Most people are unwilling to work at making this journey. They would rather bow out of the relationship just when the challenges seem to be the greatest.
We have also talked about how important it is to share with each other on a regular basis how you are feeling. It is critical to the journey that you begin it with the understanding that when your vehicle of travel (called marriage) begins to sputter and malfunction, you stop right away and see a counselor (what might be called a marriage mechanic). To admit that one needs some help is the greatest compliment one can make to a spouse, a friend, or a counselor, because in that admission a person says: "I trust that you will not violate the confession of need I give."
To help work through a situation is to value your relationship. In our counseling I have stressed the necessity for openness with each other and commitment to that which we call marriage. Above all things keep those two ideas at the center of your marriage relationship. Our sharing together was but the beginning of other opportunities for me and others within your family and friend circles to assist you in your marriage. None of us, who have ever been in this journey would fail to admit that it is sometimes a lonely journey, even when you have a spouse to share it with you. But, my dear friends, you need not feel you journey alone.
St. Paul gives us a great piece of advice, but it will mean nothing if we forget that without the Christ at the center of our relationships, we are fallible, we are filled with disappointment, we can hurt another, we can experience pain. Only when the Christ is at the center will we willingly set aside our own expectations and needs in order that another can be fulfilled. That is what Christ did for us and even in our marriages we are challenged to do the same. May God's presence guide you in your journey into oneness in marriage. Amen
— Joseph R. Foster
St. Peter's United Church of Christ
Amherst, Ohio
And so the relationship you begin today is not like anything else you have experienced. It is an integral relationship. It will have all elements of living woven within it. There will be joy and sorrow; there will be happiness and frustration; there will be times of ecstacy as well as times of embarrassment and disappointment. In fact with all the varieties of experiences within the relationship we call marriage, I am surprised that it has survived as long as it has. Most people are unwilling to work at making this journey. They would rather bow out of the relationship just when the challenges seem to be the greatest.
We have also talked about how important it is to share with each other on a regular basis how you are feeling. It is critical to the journey that you begin it with the understanding that when your vehicle of travel (called marriage) begins to sputter and malfunction, you stop right away and see a counselor (what might be called a marriage mechanic). To admit that one needs some help is the greatest compliment one can make to a spouse, a friend, or a counselor, because in that admission a person says: "I trust that you will not violate the confession of need I give."
To help work through a situation is to value your relationship. In our counseling I have stressed the necessity for openness with each other and commitment to that which we call marriage. Above all things keep those two ideas at the center of your marriage relationship. Our sharing together was but the beginning of other opportunities for me and others within your family and friend circles to assist you in your marriage. None of us, who have ever been in this journey would fail to admit that it is sometimes a lonely journey, even when you have a spouse to share it with you. But, my dear friends, you need not feel you journey alone.
St. Paul gives us a great piece of advice, but it will mean nothing if we forget that without the Christ at the center of our relationships, we are fallible, we are filled with disappointment, we can hurt another, we can experience pain. Only when the Christ is at the center will we willingly set aside our own expectations and needs in order that another can be fulfilled. That is what Christ did for us and even in our marriages we are challenged to do the same. May God's presence guide you in your journey into oneness in marriage. Amen
— Joseph R. Foster
St. Peter's United Church of Christ
Amherst, Ohio
