Grace, mercy and peace to you from
God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from the 1 Corinthians text, especially these words,
“Love never fails.” Thus far our
text.
Dear friends in Christ, especially
you two, Jessy and Amanda. It happens
every time I hear the words of our text today, I can’t help but think back to
that old, popular Beatles song, “All you need is Love.” That’s why we’re here right? Love!
Its a wedding! Today we’re
supposed to celebrate that big, mushy, gushy, gut wrenching feeling of
love! Two people, who love each other
are promising to continue in that love for the rest of their lives. And so long as they stay in love everything
will be fine! After all, all you need is
love, and you’ll be fine, you’ll make it.
But this world is not quite so
simple as that is it? Through the many
years, that happy, gushy feeling that we call love often times is dampened,
crushed and slowly it falls apart. As we
live our daily lives, we just seem not to feel
love anymore.
Dear friends, there may come days
in the years ahead, when you don’t really feel like talking to each other. There
will be days when you get on each other’s nerves, when you are just plain sick
and tired of each other. That’s our
sinful world. And when those days come,
love will be one of the last words that crosses your minds.
There may be days when it is
difficult to make ends meet. There may
be days when you two cannot agree on what to do, where to go, or how to live
your daily lives. That’s our sinful
world. And during those times, love will
seem miles away.
You see, love isn’t just that happy
gushy feeling. Love isn’t something we
can do on our own. When we look at the description of love in our text, we
realize its not something we can do on our own at all. We aren’t as patient as we ought to be, or as
kind. But we are often times too
irritable, or resentful. We rejoice in
lies, instead of the truth. Bottom line,
we, yes, even you two love birds, are sinners.
And if as the song says, all you need is that warm happy feeling of love
to make it many happy years, there’s not much hope.
And that is the beauty of our
text. Because our text isn’t talking
about that warm gushy feeling. It isn’t
talking about a feeling between two people at all. Our text is talking about a person, Jesus,
love incarnate, love down from heaven to save you Jessy, and you Amanda from
your sin. Love to make you well.
The love of Jesus is a love that
can overcome all short comings that you may have. It’s a love that is patient, and kind,
despite our own weaknesses. It’s a love
that cannot be undone. It’s a love that bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And Jessy and Amanda, it is this love that
will sustain you throughout all the days of your married life.
As Jesus says in the Gospel of
John, Greater love has no one than this, that he give up his life for his
friends. Jessy, Amanda, This is the love
Christ has for you. Christ first gave
that love to each of you in the waters of Holy Baptism. He continued to nurture that love as you grew
up hearing the word, and receiving his gifts.
He will now continue you to give you that love together as you now as a married
couple continue attending church to receive His sacraments and in them
forgiveness, life and salvation.
The Love of Jesus is the love that
can overcome all things, even the struggles with in your life as a married
couple. And as Christ gives that love to
you, it will overflow into each other, allowing you to forgive one
another. The love of Christ will allow
you to keep the vows you make here today, not because of anything you do, (or
no matter how hard you try) but because of the love of Christ working with in
you. Christ’s love is the foundation for
your life together. It is this love that
will carry you through the hard times and the good times. It is this love that will overflow and be
shared with any future children and grandchildren God provides. The love of Christ is the love that will
sustain you.
Love is patient, love is kind. Love doesn’t envy or boast. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. This is the love Jesus has for you, a love
that comes from outside yourselves. And
as our text implies, the things we do here in life will pass away, but the Love
of Jesus never ends. Jessy, Amanda,
there will be struggles in your lives, just as there have been in the past. Marriage will not be a magical formula that
will change that. But as you face your
marriage, Christ will be with you. As
you deal with the struggles of each day, Jesus will give you strength to love
one another. For the love that brings us
here today is a love that flows from him, through him, and into each one of
you, and will forever more.
Love is the foundation for
marriage, but this love is not our own mere mushy emotions, but instead Love is
Jesus Christ, crucified for your sins.
Jessy and Amanda, God will richly bless you and keep you in this love
all the days of your married life.
Amen.
