The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
Psalm 103 et al
Bless the Lord
Wedding of Samantha Jo Duncan and Andrew Howard Kresl
Saturday of Pentecost V, 07 July 2012, 6 p.m.
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
First Corinthians 12:13 ties that invocation to you: “For in
one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or
free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” Indeed. When two
Christians—baptized children of the Father—are married, a solid foundation is
laid for their lifelong union in Christ. That gives us reason to bless the Lord
along with David in Psalm 103.
Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
What are these benefits in the Lord? He forgives all your
iniquity, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit, crowns you
with steadfast love and mercy, [and] satisfies you with good so that your youth
is renewed like the eagle’s. Such is the Lord’s good and gracious will.
And such was the Lord’s plan in Eden, as Genesis 1 and 2
illustrate. Yet, even in perfect paradise, there was no helper fit for Adam.
And the Lord made Eve. Moses tells us the consequence of her creation: Therefore
a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they
shall become one flesh. The Lord revealed these truths and the first
five books of Holy Scripture to His servant Moses, as the Psalmist affirms: The
Lord works righteousness and
justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to
the people of Israel. The Lord is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Even so, the Lord showed His love to each of you in Holy
Baptism. He feeds you His very Body and Blood in Holy Communion. He rejoices to
forgive your sins in absolution. We need these benefits in the Lord, for ours
is a fallen, sinful world.
Jesus isn’t just a Sunday thing, or only a wedding, baptism,
or funeral thing. The Lord is more than just a lifeboat in times of trouble.
Christ is your support in all of life. He guides you, by grace, to His Gifts of
Word and Sacrament. He grants you the gift of faith so that you can trust in
that which you do not see. And He died so that you may live and forgive. His
grace and mercy abounds, for our Triune God, He who is Creator, Redeemer, and
Sanctifier knows who we truly are:
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger
forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according
to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is
his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the
west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows
compassion to his children, so the Lord
shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers
that we are dust.
The Lord has given us Holy Matrimony between one man and one
woman for life. The phrase “till death us do part” confesses the reality of sin
and its consequences. Your premarital preparation with Pastor Schnare reminded
you of the importance of purity in the Christian life, that marriage is to be
how God says and not how the culture determines, and how the husband and
father, as Biblical head of household, is to lead his family in family
devotions and Church life, holding to what Scripture says about God, Christ,
and salvation.
Jesus’ words to the two of you build on the Genesis text and
show what happens in Holy Matrimony: ‘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.”
Life is hard, as you already know. Psalm 103 speaks to this
reality and our hope and rescue in the Lord: As for man, his
days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind
passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But
the steadfast love of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to
children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his
commandments. The Lord has
established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
Jesus Himself explains what the great commandments are when
He summarized all Ten in two: And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This
is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two
commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt. 22:35-40)
Bless the Lord,
O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who
do his will! Bless
the Lord, all his works, in all
places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul!
My homework to you both as we prepared for this special day
was for you to give me Bible texts that you both wanted me to use as the basis
of today’s sermon. And so you did. Five. As the two of you are joined as one in
Jesus’ Name, the five texts came together into one sermon to prepare you for
“as long as you both shall live.”
Some Christians count Holy Matrimony as a sacrament.
Lutherans don’t. In order for something to be recognized as a sacrament for us,
it not only has to have the Lord’s institution, mandate, and visible means, but
it must offer and deliver the forgiveness of sins.
Marriage does not promise or give you the forgiveness of
sins. But, marriage cannot survive without the forgiveness of sins. Be ready to
confess your own sins to each other—and always ready to forgive. If you do not
forgive those who sin against you, Jesus says, then neither will the Lord
forgive you. Therefore, forgive as you have already been forgiven.
Be willing to make the first move, the difficult one,
saying, “I was wrong. Forgive me.” Don’t settle for a mere “That’s alright,” or
“It doesn’t really matter,” or “It’s o.k.” Sin is never “o.k.” Our condition,
worthy of eternal condemnation, was serious enough that Christ had to suffer
and die for each of us. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Forgive
readily saying, “I forgive you.” Don’t give the devil an opportunity to drive
you apart.
Bless the Lord always for His gift of salvation in Christ
Jesus. Andrew, bless the Lord for His gift of Sam to you. Samantha, bless the
Lord for His gift of Andy to you. Bless the Lord daily and forget not all His
benefits in His House in Christ Jesus. Amen.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
