Ashley Weiser Mike Mauch Wedding - 9/17/2011

^{John 15:9} As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

 ¹² "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

^{Romans 12:9} Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

 ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.  Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." ²⁰To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

^{Matthew 7:24} "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today are the readings from earlier, especially the Gospel from Matthew, and these words, “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, especially Ashley and Mike.  It has been a long day in coming hasn’t it?  How many years ago did you first meet on a trip to the National Youth Gathering?  I know that there have been many ups, as well as some difficult times in your relationship.  But today you are here, today you pledge your faithfulness, your life, your love to one another.  Today the two become one flesh, and Ashley and Mike become Mr. and Mrs. Mauch, Husband and Wife,  joined together by God, and as Scripture says, “What God has joined together, let not man separate.”  God gives you to one another today and for the rest of your lives, until death do you part.

It is a happy day today isn’t it?  As you look ahead in your married life, I am sure you see wonderful times ahead.  Countless adventures will come your ways throughout your life as a married couple.  God will continue to bless your life, just as He is today.  He may give you children and grandchildren, He will always pour out his many gifts upon you. 

But just as certainly as there will be those happy times ahead, I promise you Mike and Ashley, there will also be more hard times.  There will be times where God tests you, times where you may not like each other as much as you do today.   You may face loss of loved ones, you may face sickness, times where you don’t seem to have enough money to make ends meet.  You will face frustrations and more.  This sinful world will not be easy, even for two as in love as you are.  For our sinful world doesn’t make distinctions for anyone, it tests all people the same, even those whose love for each other seems strong today. 

But none the less, you stand today before your friends and family, pledging to love one another, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer and all those other ones as well.  You are promising that you will take care of one another no matter what you face, you are promising here, now that you will stand strong as a couple, no matter what the world throws at you.  Even in the face of divorce, of hurt, or of fighting, you pledge to be faithful even to the point of death.

It seems a large promise doesn’t it?  How can you be sure?  How do you know that your marriage will be able to stand the test of time?  How do you know that your love will still be around in ten year, or twenty, or forty?  How can you be sure?

Mike, Ashley, as you and I have talked about, it is because your love is not the foundation for your marriage.  Yes, I know your love is what has brought you here today, but even your love is not the basis for your successful marriage.  Rather you have something stronger, something more powerful, something more amazing.  You have a foundation built of rock to build your marriage upon.  You have a Lord and Savior who loves you both more than you can realize.  You have a God who loved you each so much that He was willing to suffer and die for your sin, to forgive each of you.  And when you were forgiven, he rose again into life immortal. 

It is this foundation, the love of Christ for you, on which your marriage will be built.  Even as the rain falls and the flood waters gather, your marriage is strong in the promises of Jesus.  As you are angry with one another, you will be able to forgive because you were first forgiven.  There may be times where you are frustrated, perhaps Mike because Ashley wakes you up to go jogging when you want to sleep in, or perhaps Ashley because Mike is out hunting too much.  But you are forgiven in Jesus and free to forgive each other as well.  Even when someday the love you feel so strongly today is numbed by the years of your life, you can trust that in Jesus your marriage will be strong.  No not because of what you do, no not because of what you promise, but rather because of your strong foundation, Jesus crucified for your sins.  Its his love for you – FIRST and FOREMOST– that will get you through the years.  His love, the greatest love, the love that gives up itself on your behalf.  That is the foundation we remember today.  May God richly bless you in the many years of marriage that He grants you.  Amen.