1
Corinthians 13 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I
have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am
nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I
deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or
boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does
not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as
for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we
know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when
the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When
I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a
child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now
we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then
I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the
greatest of these is love.
Matthew 19 - He answered, “Have you
not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and
female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall
leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two
shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer
two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man
separate.”
Grace, mercy and peace to
you two, from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bev, and Paul. Love is what brings us here today. The last few months you two have been like a
couple of high schoolers, giddy and smiley and gushy. It’s been obvious that you’ve loved spending
time with each other, and that you are in love.
I can still remember the day many months ago now, when you Bev first
introduced me to Paul. It was your dad’s
birthday party. And you had a smile from
ear to ear on your face. Bev, your dad
said that next week, he hoped today would come, and I believe my response was,
“It’s only a matter of time, because they’re in love.
And yet you both know that
lovey-dovey feeling you have can only get you so far in your years ahead. In days to come, there’ll be times when
you’re frustrated and angry at each other.
There’ll be frustrations, and growing pains as you learn more and more
about each other through the years.
Perhaps there’ll be disappointment when you have to cancel your
honeymoon because your grumpy pastor is making you play the organ at church –
again!
And its in times like these
that our texts for today come into play.
Its these times when your marriage is stressed that you need a greater
love – the love of Christ. It’s a love
that’s described in our text. It’s
patient, even when we are not. It’s
kind, when we are at wits end. It
doesn’t envy or boast. It isn’t arrogant
or rude, even when you two know each other well enough to push all the right
buttons in a fight. It’s a love that
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures
all things. Its Jesus that gives us the
picture of what love really is.
That love was shown to you
both, as Christ died for your sins, shedding his blood for every last one of
them. It’s a love that has carried you
both through the loss of a beloved spouse just a few years ago. And now, today, it’s a love that will carry
you onward into a new marriage until, as we say in the pastoring business,
“Till death do you part.”
And its with that love in
mind that in just a few moments, we’ll hear God’s word, and the two of you will
become “One flesh.” You will be joined,
for all the lovey-dovey days ahead, and for all the difficult and trying days
ahead. You’ll be joined by God’s Word
and by God’s love – a love shown in the person of Jesus for you both. And what God joins together, let not man
separate.
Bev, you’ve said dozens of
times, you just wanted a short sweet sermon, and so while I’ve prepared about
30 more pages for my sermon, I’ve decided I’d rather keep my church organist
happy, especially on her wedding day.
Paul, Bev, may God bless you with many happy years ahead. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
