The Boat, the Bride, and the Body of Christ Jesus

There is no more appropriate place for holy matrimony to begin and to continue than the Liturgy of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.  For that is where your life is found in both body and soul.  And that is where husband and wife are recreated in the Image and Likeness of Christ Jesus and His Bride, the Church, and united to Him and to each other in His Cross and Resurrection.  Thus are you launched from this Feast of His Body and Blood, upon the waters of Holy Baptism, aboard the Holy Ark of His Christian Church — to weather the storms of this body and life on earth by His grace alone, through faith in His Word alone, unto the Life everlasting.  For how else shall you believe in Him, pray to Him, or live in Him, except by the preaching and hearing of His Word.

That is likewise the case for the disciples in this Holy Gospel.  They’re in the Boat where Jesus has put them, making their way across the sea according to His Word.  They’re doing what He’s given them to do, in the place where He has called them to be.  And yet, for all that, the way is difficult, exhausting, and stressful.  Indeed, they’ve been out there, hard at it, for most of the night already; and even now, in the early pre-dawn hours of the morning, they’ve still got a long ways to go.

So, then, as you also go about your own callings and stations in life — in your marriage, home, and family — do not be dismayed or despair, though you are tried and tested in various ways.  Not that you’re always where you ought to be and doing what you ought to do!  But even on your best day, it is still the case that life can be very hard.  Your hand is on the tiller, your shoulder to the plow, your nose to the grindstone, but still it may seem that you’re doing no good and going nowhere.

Does it not appear to you and all the world that you are on your own, that Jesus is not with you, even when you’re following the path on which the Lord Himself has set you?  Your own little boat on the water and even the Great Boat of the Church, the Holy Ark of Christendom, are tormented by the waves and tossed about by strong, persistent headwinds.  Your progress is slow and hard, your destination remains distant and elusive.  You’re tired and worn out, maybe ready to give up.

In truth, the Lord has not forgotten about you, not once, not ever, not even for a little while.  Nor has He left you to fend for yourself.  His Word attends you, for one thing, and it remains sure and certain, come hell or high water against you.  He has provided the boat, and He preserves it for you, even as the waves that trouble you uphold the boat, and you in it, through the long dark night.

But there is more to it than all that.  It’s not as though the Lord has just left you with supplies for the journey while He’s gone away and left you alone.  I know that it can feel like that, but not so.  He has gone up to the Father whence He came — in being lifted up as a Sacrifice upon the Cross, and in His Resurrection from the dead and His Ascension to the Right Hand of God — yet, in all this He does not leave you or forsake you.  For He fills all things and upholds them with His own Flesh and Blood, even as He contains all things and preserves them by His Word and Holy Spirit.

He has gone to the Father by His Cross and Resurrection, not to leave you, but to open up the way for you, and to bring you to His God and Father in Himself, in His own Body, crucified and risen.

He has gone up the mountain to pray as the beloved Son who relies upon His Father in all things; as the true Man who lives by faith and calls on the Name of the Lord; and as your merciful and great High Priest in all things pertaining to God, in order to make intercession for you, and to prepare a place for you within the household and family of God, as a member of His own Body and Bride, the Church, and so also as a son or daughter of His own God and Father in heaven. Just as Moreah becomes Ariksander's wife on this day, and therefore also my daughter, so have you become, by the Word and Spirit of God, a member of the Bride of Christ and a son or daughter of His God and Father.

As the Lord Jesus thus bring you to the Father in Himself, He is no less with you on your journey.  He comes in the flesh and draws near to you in the midst of the chaos and deep darkness of sin and death in this fallen and perishing world.  As the Father spoke His Word to create all things out of nothing, to bring forth Light out of the darkness, and to bring forth Life in His own Image, so does the same Word of the Father come to you in the Ministry of the Gospel in order to save you.  From heaven He has come — and He still comes — to seek you out and love you as His Bride.

He comes by ways and means that are in some respects surprising and perhaps even suspicious, unexpected on the basis of your prior knowledge and past experience, and so incomprehensible.  He plants His footsteps on the sea and comes to you upon the water; and not by the water only, but by the water with His Word and Spirit, and with His holy and precious Blood poured out for you.

Not only that, but He comes to you, cares for you, and serves you through the neighbors He has set beside you in this body and life, in this poor life of labor: Pastors and teachers; brothers and sisters in Christ; pilots and sailors, engineers and auto mechanics; doctors and dentists, nurses and hygienists; and, not least of all, your father and mother, your siblings, and your husband or wife.  So are you surrounded on this day, Ariksander and Moreah, with your family, friends, and fellow Christians, even as the Lord in His mercy, by His Word and Holy Spirit, gives you to each other.

In all of these tangible ways and means of His grace, these agents and masks of His mercy, He is not a ghost, a disembodied spirit, a lost soul wandering the depths in search of peace.  No, He is the very Word of God in the Flesh, by whom, through whom, and for whom all things have been made and exist.  He is the Lord, your Savior and God, who was crucified for your sins, who is risen from the dead and lives and reigns forever as your Righteousness and Holiness and eternal Life.

Take courage, and do not be afraid.  He is with you in the Flesh, a very present help in every kind of trouble.  He is not here to haunt you, but to deliver you from every evil of body and soul.  He can and will do it.  He is the One who has already passed through the gates of death on your behalf, whose bodily Resurrection is the dawning of the beautiful New Morning of the eternal Eighth Day.

Proceed, then, at His Word.  Continue in the way He sets before you.  Trust and do what He says, even when your reason and all your senses defy and contradict the Truth of His Word.  Honor your parents, love your siblings, cling to your spouse, and care for your children in the faith of Christ.

All of that, of course, is easier said than done.  I get that it’s hard.  If you’re like the disciples, your life in this world is a mixed bag of mixed emotions.  You’re pushed and pulled this way and that, you’re torn between doubt and faith, between the fear of death and the fear of the Lord.  You want to believe, and by God’s grace you do fear, love, and trust in Him.  But God help your unbelief!

Do you not find an example of your own perils and predicaments in Peter?  He tries and tests the Lord, and he begins with such boldness and confidence when he climbs out of the boat onto the wild water, only to sink into doubt and descend into fear.  It’s not the last time, either, that Peter will rush forward only to fail miserably.  Peter the Rock often seems more like a tossing wave!

And are you really any better?  Different, no doubt, in personality and temperament, but no better.  You’re proud when you ought to fear the Lord, and afraid when you ought to be courageous.  You step out in bold confidence, but then you’re easily overcome by the trials and tribulations of life. The first step is the one you believe in, but the second one might be profound.

The plain and simple fact is that you will not make it to Jesus on your own, no matter how sincere and well-intentioned you may be, and no matter how hard you may try.  Take your eyes off Him — in order to look to yourself or to look anywhere else for help — and you’re going to sink.  You cannot save yourself.  To whatever extent your faith in Christ falls short and fails, so will you.

But do not doubt His Word and promises, even when hell and high water assault you on all sides.  No matter how hard things may get, no matter how daunting your obligations and responsibilities may be, and no matter how many the overwhelming obstacles that threaten to capsize your boat, the Word of the Lord remains sure and certain for you within His Church and in your vocations.

It is the Way of the Cross that He has set you upon — by His preaching and Baptism of repentance, and in all your callings and stations in life, whether as husband or wife, married or unmarried, with or without children.  And though it feels like the problem, that Cross is the Lord’s own solution.  By it He brings you through death and the grave into His Resurrection and His Life everlasting.

It’s not a game that God is playing with you.  It’s not a sadistic maze that you must navigate.  It is the Cross of Christ, which puts you to death in order to save you.  That is why the relentless wind assaults you, and why the wild waves surround you and overwhelm you; for not only must they obey the Lord’s voice, but they are constrained to serve His divine purposes.  Thus do you drown and you die in the depths of the sea, in order to arise and emerge, a new creature in Christ.

That is true with all the joys and sorrows of marriage and family in this fallen and perishing world.  The good and happy times are surely God’s gift of grace; but so are the difficult and sorrowful times, as well.  You pledge yourself to each other, Ariksander and Moreah, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, in the confidence that God the Lord has pledged Himself to you in Christ Jesus.  By the way of His Cross, in all the ups and downs of this body and life, your heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, cleanses you inside and out with the waters of your Holy Baptism, and He adorns you in the white wedding gown of His own perfect Righteousness.

Now, to be sure, it is not comfortable or pleasant to bear the Cross, to be crucified, put to death, and buried — as you are confronted by your sins, your shortcomings and failures, out there on the waves with the wind whipping your face and tossing you around.  Caught in the heart of the storm, you know that you must die entirely to yourself and to all your own self-reliance.  If you are going to be saved, then you must have a Savior; and there is only One of those, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do not suppose that you will ascend into the heavens to bring Him down; nor that you will descend into the depths to raise Him up.  You cannot do it, but neither do you need to.  For this Word of God is near you.  He has drawn near in the Flesh, and He stands upon the waves before you.

So it is that, by the Word and Spirit of Christ Jesus, you are taught to cry out for mercy, and to call upon the Name of the Lord.  “Kyrie, eleison!”  “Lord, save me!”

In this respect, St. Peter is a beautiful example for you.  He is brought to the point of doing what Jesus has already and always been doing for you and all His people; that is, he is brought to prayer.  And as Peter prays to the One who ever lives to pray and intercede for him — to his merciful and great High Priest — so does the same Lord Jesus Christ immediately act.  St. Peter’s prayer is heard and answered.  And so is yours.  For whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.

The Lord Jesus stretches out His hands to save you.  He takes hold of you and gathers you to Himself in both body and soul.  He preaches repentance and faith, that you not doubt but trust in Him, and He restores you to the Boat of His Church, in which the wind stops: To the Boat which is also His own dearly-beloved Bride, made beautiful by His love for her, by the bestowal of His royal Righteousness upon her through His Word of the Gospel, by which you also have such peace and rest and quietness as this world neither knows nor can give.  Oh, yes, the world still rages all around you, fierce and furious.  But here in the Boat with Jesus and His disciples, you are at peace; and here you are safe, because here your sins are all forgiven by the Word and work of His Gospel.

It is to this Church, and to her life in and with Christ Jesus, that every human marriage points.  Not that any of us gets it just right or achieves it on our own in this body and life, but that the Lord remains forever faithful, ever true.  And so it is that every Christian husband and wife are given to find and receive the life to which they are called within the Body and Bride of Christ Jesus.

Here then, in the Boat, you worship Him, the Son of God — in His Word — and in His Body of flesh and blood like your own, given into death upon the Cross for the forgiveness of all your sins, and given to you here to eat and drink for the bestowal of that forgiveness, for Life and Salvation with Him in both your body and your soul forevermore.  He is no ghost but the true Man who has become your true Husband, and you a member of His beloved Bride.  You hear and you receive His Word; you believe and you confess what He has spoken; you eat and drink His Body and His Blood; you worship and bow down before the Lord, your Maker.  And by His grace you are saved.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Glory of God in the Marriage of Christ and His Church

The estate of holy matrimony is the crowning glory of God’s good Creation.  For Man is created in the Image and Likeness of God.  Not a single man, but a man and a woman, male and female, that the two should be united with each other, in love, as one flesh.  To that purpose, the Lord God created the woman from the man and for the man, to be a helpmate comparable to him; and He also brought her to the man, gave her to the man, and joined her to the man.  Marriage is thus God’s own creation, gracious gift, and holy institution, established and sanctified by and with His Word.

So also, to this day, marriage is no mere legal formality nor simply a human custom and tradition.  It is not a man-made thing.  The rites and ceremonies of holy matrimony are, in fact, the Word and work of God, which actually make this man and this woman to be, henceforth, husband and wife.  Here the Lord God joins them together as one and sanctifies them by His Word and Holy Spirit.

It is God’s good and gracious will, therefore, Aaron and Annalise, that you look upon each other, love and serve each other, and cleave to each other, according to His Word — that you recognize and respect the glory and adornment of His Word with which the two of you are clothed by Him.

You are to be comrades, first of all, that is, partners in life, friends together on a common road.  And within that companionship, you are placed not only alongside each other on the same journey, but also given to each other, face to face and heart to heart, bound together in the intimacy of spirit, soul, and body, to find comfort, compassion, and passion uniquely in each other.  And from that union, as the Lord so wills and provides, your love for each other may bear fruit after its own kind and be multiplied in the bearing of children, that you might care for them as the Lord cares for you.

Of course, this all sounds terrific and ideal, especially on a day like today.  And it is most certainly true!  But what we experience in the world seems quite different.  To some extent we are all aware of the hurts and fears, the burdens, challenges, and difficulties that marriage faces in this fallen and perishing world.  Everything on earth is falling apart, winding down, and running out.

Trace it back to the start.  Adam and Eve were the perfect couple, with every possible advantage, and yet they fell into sin and death.  They did not go riding off into the sunset, into some happily-ever-after.  They were driven out of Paradise on account of their sin.  The curse lay heavy upon them, and it still rests upon their children’s children to the present generation.  The marriage rite, therefore, realistically expresses, not only the godly purposes of marriage, but also its inevitable termination: “Til death parts us.”  That is the limit of what you can promise to each other.

Nevertheless, we stand here today in the presence of God and His Church, in the face of the whole wide world, to rejoice and give thanks for the goodness of marriage, and to stare down sin, death, the devil, and hell with the Word and promises of the Lord.  For while it is true that all the sons and daughters of Adam die, it is also true that Christ has died — and He has risen from the dead.

The fact is that human marriage was never intended to be an end unto itself.  It was always about Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, the perfect Image of the Father — who came down from His Father in heaven, conceived and born of the Woman, flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone, and blood of our blood, in order to redeem and rescue all the children of man for real life with God.  He left His Father and His Mother to claim His Bride and cleave to her.  He gave Himself for her, atoning for her sins by His sacrificial death on the Cross.  And by the Water and Blood from His riven side He cleanses her of all iniquity and clothes her in His own holiness and righteousness.

It is for this reason that Aaron leaves his father and mother and cleaves now to Annalise; that he should manifest the divine Love and true divine Glory of Christ by loving and serving his bride with his own body and life, even unto death.  And Annalise, in turn, is here given to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by submitting herself to Aaron in Christian faith and love.

You should not suppose that such things are true only of those “ideal” marriages that everyone admires and envies.  For it is by the Cross that Christ Jesus wins and weds His Bride, the Church.  It is by His gracious self-sacrifice that He makes her beautiful through His forgiveness of all her sins.  And it is by her dying and rising with Him in Holy Baptism that she is made ready as a Bride for her Husband, covered and clothed in the cloak of His redemption and His righteousness.

In contrast to all the so-called “wisdom” of this world, it is precisely in the crosses and sacrifices of marriage and family that the Glory of God is most fully manifested in this present body and life.  For the Cross and Passion of our Lord is the Hour of His Glory, by which He gives life to us all.

The world never will be able to recognize or understand this sign; and so the world’s counsel and advice for you will always be wrong.  But it does not matter.  Christ shall work His work in you, and He shall manifest His Glory in your marriage.  So then, for your part, do whatever He tells you.

Aaron, love Annalise, even when she’s not so lovely and loveable as she is on this day.  Make her beautiful with your loving devotion to her and with your faithful delight in her.  Forgive her sins, overlook her faults, and bear with her in love, even as you bear her burdens in patience and peace.  Set aside your own desires in order to comfort and care for her.  When Satan would beguile her with his sly temptations and his brutal accusations, take up the Sword of the Spirit to defend and protect her.  Do not stand by silently while she is slain, but breathe Life into her by the Word of the Gospel.  Love Annalise in the way that Christ loves her and you and His whole Church.  Cover her as Boaz covers Ruth and cares for her, in anticipation of the Son of David who will come in the fullness of time from their union — the Seed of the Woman, conceived and born of St. Mary.

Annalise, entrust yourself to Aaron, and learn to follow his lead and rely upon him.  I don’t mean that you should not think for yourself or speak your own mind, but let Aaron be your husband and your head, as Christ is the Head of His Church.  When the devil would show you his weaknesses, his faults and failings, remember that Aaron is clothed and covered with the majesty of Christ’s Word.  He is the one man to whom the Lord Himself now gives you, to protect you and provide for you.  In submitting to Aaron in love, you confess your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, it is for the sake of Christ and His Word that Aaron is called to love and serve his bride, to lay down his life and sacrifice himself for her in all sorts of big and little ways.  Not because she deserves it, but because that is what Jesus does  — for him, for her, and for all of us.  Aaron is to see Annalise as Christ Jesus sees her, that is, with His eyes of mercy.  He is to treat her as Jesus does, that is, with gentleness and tender, loving care.  He is to cherish her, because Jesus cherishes her.  So, too, his love for her will overlook and cover a multitude of sins, not because they are a mere trifle, but because the righteousness of Christ is greater and His grace abounds all the more.

And so it is that Annalise is likewise taught by the Word and Spirit of God to see and serve Christ in her husband.  Though this human groom beside her is not perfect, she knows and confesses that she is not perfect, either.  Yet, there is one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all.  As Annalise has been dressed with Christ and His righteousness (in and with His Church), she confesses that Aaron, too, is hidden with Christ in God; and so she lives by grace through faith.

Is this not what it means to be a Christian, a disciple of Christ Jesus?  To walk by faith and not by sight.  To love and forgive your neighbors as you are loved and forgiven by the Lord your God.  To bear all things, believe all things, and hope all things, all for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, who first loves you.  It is ever and always to Him and to His Love that holy marriage points you.

Christ is not simply a guest at this wedding today.  He is the very heart of the occasion, for He is the true and heavenly Bridegroom of His Church, on earth as it is in heaven.  It is for His sake that each and every one of you are here — not only that you are in attendance, but that you exist at all and are alive to this day.  And it is also for His sake that Annalise and Aaron have been created, and for His sake that they are here bound together to be one flesh by His Word and Holy Spirit.

It is Christ alone who is all and all.  For it is by and from His Cross, from the innermost being of His sacred Body, that the living waters of the Holy Spirit and the holy, precious, life-giving Blood of Christ Himself are poured out generously upon His Body and His Bride, His Holy Church.

And He who did not spare Himself, but gave Himself into death for your redemption — who daily and richly forgives you all your sins — will He not also freely give you all good things in love?

According to His sure and certain promise, He provides for all your needs of body and soul, for now and forever: Seed for the sower, Bread for the eater, and Wine for the wedding — even as He gives His own Body for you to eat and pours out His Blood for you to drink already in His Supper, which is your Meat and Drink, indeed, a Foretaste of the Lord’s own neverending Marriage Feast.

So does He also give you marriage itself — both in general and in each particular case — along with all its crosses, all its joys, all its hard burdens, and all its grand adventures — to be a blessing, a pleasure, and a true delight here in time, and a sign of the true Glory of Christ and His Bride.

In all things, at all times, and in all places, He supplies whatever is lacking.  He provides all your needs.  His Cup of Salvation runneth over for you, in His House, unto Peace and Rest in Him.

Whenever the well runs dry and the wine runs out — for Aaron and Annalise, and for all of you — it is Christ whose overflowing Chalice restores the joy and celebration in marriage and family, as in all of life.  It is Christ who makes Annalise beautiful and worthy of Aaron’s self-sacrificing love; and it is Christ who enables Aaron to serve her, and who restores Aaron as often as he falls short.  It is Christ who enables Annalise to submit to Aaron, because she lives in the faith and love of her Lord and heavenly Bridegroom; and it is Christ who both strengthens and sustains her, for better and for worse, in good times and bad, who sanctifies and cleanses her whenever she fails.

In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, He has grafted this bride and groom into Himself, into His riven side, from which the Blood and Water of His Passion have been poured out for them and for all.  And in the Holy Communion, the great Wedding Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom, He feeds them and all the members of His Church with His own Body and Blood, the pledge and promise of His Resurrection, that He should thus abide in and with His Bride with His own indestructible Life.  As He thus gives them Himself and His Life, He is fruitful in them, and He brings forth good fruits of life and love for others.  For the Tree of His Cross bears such fruits after His own kind.

This is what the Lord Jesus does for His whole Church, and for each and all of her members; and this is what He does for you, Aaron and Annalise, within the Communion of His Church on earth.  Do not doubt that, by these ways and means of His grace, within the sacred fellowship of His own Body and Bride, He bestows these very good gifts and benefits upon your marriage in His Name.

And just as He is risen from the dust of the earth to live and reign forever as your true Redeemer, and as you are now flesh of His flesh and blood of His blood, so shall your body be raised up from death to life in His Glory.  As it shall be at the last, so also is it now in your life and marriage here — even though it is still hidden under the Cross, and for now it is visible only to the eyes of faith.

His Glory shall be manifested in your life together, Aaron and Annalise, as husband and wife: As you love each other in Christ, and as He loves both of you.  As you live by His forgiveness of your sins, and as you forgive each other.  And as you also serve your neighbors within your stations.

Take heart, and have no fear of anything.  Your heavenly Bridegroom is faithful, and He will never leave you nor forsake you.  He has joined the two of you to Himself, as members of His Body and His Bride, and so shall He cleave to you forever.  He shall not allow your sin, Satan, or even death, to separate you from Him.  He has pledged Himself to you, and He has vowed to have and to hold you as His own.  He has sworn this oath by His own honor, and His Word cannot be broken.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Called to the Wedding Feast of Christ and His Bride

The Lord has built His House, and He does watch over His City.  Indeed, the whole of creation is His good work and His gracious good gift to the Man and the Woman and all their children.  It is beautiful in its design and delightful in its good order, so that all things in heaven and on earth praise Him and point to Him, according to His purpose and His Word.

With all of that, holy marriage is the culmination and the crowning glory of God’s good creation, the Man and the Woman made for each other in His own divine Image and Likeness, to love and to cherish each other in His Name, to the praise of His glorious grace.

It is a relationship of mutual love.  And that is not a matter of fickle feelings and emotions, but of solid commitment, steadfast integrity, faithfulness, and self-sacrificing care, each one for the other.  It is a partnership in doing the good work that God has given, in cultivating and keeping the garden He has planted, in the particular place where He locates the man and his wife.  And holy marriage is the means by which the Lord creates, brings forth, and cares for new life in body and soul.

By fatherly divine goodness and mercy, for the sake of His own divine and holy love, the Creator of the heavens and the earth exalts man from nothing, from the dust and the dirt of the earth, to be a living being.  And in holy marriage He gives the woman to the man, and He gives them both to have dominion over the earth in His Name.  To exercise, not a power play, but providential care for His creation, while yet living always by His grace, by faith in His Word and promises.

They are given to eat the Food that God provides, to drink freely His water of life, and to worship Him by the obedience of faith, by the keeping of His good commandments.

It is to and for these high and holy purposes that a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and it is for these high and holy purposes that a father gives his daughter to another man in holy marriage.  And so it is that, today, Matt and Oly, you are bound together in a life-long union of heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit, in a divine vocation that redefines your entire identity in the world and in relation to all of your neighbors, until death parts you from this body and life.

Be sure and certain of this: No matter how old, sophisticated, experienced, intelligent, or savvy anyone may be, it is impossible to comprehend, much less to practice, the true importance and genuine significance of holy marriage, except by the Word and Wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is obvious enough, now more than ever, that the world and fallen flesh assail holy marriage on all sides with all manner of perversity, confusion, and falsehood.  But there is also the more crafty temptation, all the more so among well meaning Christians, to make an idol out of marriage and family, that is, to worship these good things as false gods and saviors.  Not because of any fault in marriage and family, which are the Lord’s own creation and His good work, but on account of the sinfulness of our fallen hearts and minds and our perishing flesh and blood.

Leave it to the Lord, therefore, to clarify priorities and to put all things into their own proper place.  For here we are instructed by His Word concerning holy marriage, which points beyond itself to the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom.

The holy Matrimony of Christ and His Bride, the Church, is the true fulfillment of the first creation and the crowning glory of the New Creation, of the new heavens and the new earth, where God and man abide together in righteousness and peace.  For all of creation is redeemed, made brand new, and sanctified in the Body of Christ Jesus, which is the Tabernacle of God among men.

He is the Light of the World, the Love of God, and the Life of all the living, who has become true Man, flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood, conceived and born of St. Mary by His Word and Holy Spirit.  He is the Stronger Man who has come and bound the strong man, Satan, that He might rescue all the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve from the bondage of sin and death.  And He is the Bridegroom, who has come down from the Father in heaven to seek you out, to woo you and betroth you to Himself, and to make of you a member of His own holy Bride.

So it is that you are called to fear, love, and trust in Him, to hope in His Resurrection, and to live by faith in His Word.  To be crucified, put to death, and buried with Him, by way of repentance, in order to be raised up with Him to newness of life, and to live with Him in His Kingdom in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.  To live forever in His House, within His City, as a member of His Household and Family, as a beloved son or daughter of His own God and Father.

To live within holy marriage as a Christian, to live as a Christian husband or wife, is no different (broadly speaking) than it is to live as a Christian at all, whether married or unmarried.  It is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ, with which He has adorned in you in Holy Baptism, and so also to clothe yourself in the righteous deeds of His saints, that is, by holy faith and holy love.

Do not seek or strive to seat yourself above and beyond your own proper station in life, but serve faithfully and be content wherever you are, and wait upon the Lord to exalt you in due season.

Work together in faith and love as husband and wife, as partners yoked together in the keeping of the garden where God stations you, exercising the stewardship of His world in your own place and time.  Work together in common cause: not your own, but the Lord’s, which He shares with you.

Matt, care for Oly and give yourself for her, as Christ does for His Bride, the Church.  Oly, love and serve Matthew as a helpmate perfectly suited for him, in the confidence of Christ, who is your Savior and his.  And together serve your neighbors and provide hospitality, even to the least of them, as the Lord so enables you to do, knowing that you also are poor and needy, crippled, lame, and blind, according to your fallen flesh; and yet, you are fed and clothed by the Lord your God.

It is by grace alone, by the charity of God, that you are invited to share the Master’s Feast, though you are unworthy of yourself to enter His House or to be seated at His Table.  It is in Love that Christ has given Himself for you, in order to exalt you, and to feed you with Himself, with His own Flesh and Blood: Here within His Church on earth, and hereafter in His holy City, New Jerusalem.

“Come, eat and drink freely,” He calls.  His Dinner is prepared, and everything is ready.  For Christ has died, and He is risen indeed, never to die again.  Here, then, at His Table, from the dust and the dirt of sin, death, and the grave, the humbled are exalted and fed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Altar is the center of creation.  For the Tabernacle of God is here with you in the Flesh and Blood of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son.  He dwells with you, and by His Gospel He calls you to be His own, to be and to live as a member of His Body and Bride, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, on earth as it is in heaven.  He comes in flesh and blood like yours to save you, and He abides here with you in love, in order to serve you in grace, mercy, and peace.

In the eyes of the world, and in your own fallen flesh, in your fickle heart and foolish mind, the Lord’s Supper, His Big Dinner, may seem pointless, an intrusion and a nuisance, which you would just as soon skip and not bother with.  But do not trade His Feast for a bowl of porridge.  To reject the Lord’s great Feast in favor of your own pursuits is to choose death over life, and to cut yourself off from the Kingdom of God.  Even to prioritize your own marriage and family over the Marriage of the Lamb and the Household and Family of God — however pious that (pretense) may seem — is to forego and renounce what matters most and is eternal for what is perishing and passing away.

Beloved of the Lord, the Marriage of the Lamb has come.  For He has come as the true Man and atoned for the sins of the world by His own Blood; and by His Resurrection from the dead He has reconciled the world to His God and Father in Himself, in His own Body of real flesh and bones.

He has given Himself for you and for all people in divine and holy love.  Not because you were so beautiful or lovely, but in order to make you beautiful by His love for you, and by His sacrifice on your behalf; that He might cleanse you by the washing of the water with His Word and Holy Spirit, and adorn you with His Righteousness, as a Bride made ready for her Husband.

Thus has He done for you in your Holy Baptism, and so does He love you, and serve you, and care for you in all things, not only for this body and life, but for the Life everlasting.

He who did not spare Himself, but gave Himself for you, even unto death, He will not withhold any good thing from you.  Rather, with Himself, He freely gives you all things by and from His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead.  That is the sure and certain hope in which you live, in which you love and serve each other, and in which you sacrifice yourself and give generously with grace and mercy for your neighbors, even the least of them in the eyes of the world.

You live, now, by faith and not by sight, bearing the Cross in the confidence of the Resurrection.  For Christ, your Bridegroom, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, has gone before you through death into life.  He was crucified, died, and was buried, but God has raised this same Christ Jesus from the dust of the ground, and has exalted Him at His own right hand.

The challenges and difficulties of married life in this fallen and perishing world, at every age and stage of life, though they may seem to be crushing you, defeating you, and utterly overwhelming you, are yet an opportunity to be catechized and trained in the faith and love of Christ Jesus.

Like your parents and older siblings before you, the two of you do have lots to learn, and lots of growing up to do together in the years and decades ahead of you.  Do not doubt that is true.  I pray to God that you never stop growing and learning in this body and life on earth.

Above all, your holy marriage under the Cross is an opportunity to be trained in daily repentance and forgiveness, to live by grace through faith in Christ, and to love each other as He loves you.

You are in love today, no doubt, as all of your family and friends are well able to see.  But you will learn to love each other more deeply and profoundly as you bear and suffer the Cross together as husband and wife.  And in learning to love each other in the way of Christ and His Church, you will also learn to love and serve your many other neighbors in the world, as well.

The Cross of Christ will teach you that holy marriage is not about selfishness or self-advancement.  It’s not about power or prestige, competition, or the accumulation of wealth.  It is about love.  Not the world’s fictitious fairy tale of fickle feelings and fleeting romance, but the Love of God in Christ, which stands fast and remains steady at all times and in all places, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health; divine Love, from which even death shall not part you.

You will vow your faithfulness to one another on this day, and God grant you by His Word and Holy Spirit to remain faithful in those promises and commitments, for He is the One who binds you together.  Do not betray that sacred trust.  But whatever frailties and weaknesses you shall discover in yourselves and in each other, know that your Lord remains faithful in all things and forever.  He cannot deny Himself, and He will not renege on any of His promises to you.

As He is with you here and now, today, so shall He be with you always.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Rather, day by day, by His Cross and Resurrection, by repentance and faith in His free and full forgiveness of all your sins, by His Holy Baptism and His Holy Supper, He shall ever be making you and your marriage and all things new, according to His tender mercies and His steadfast loving-kindness.  For He kills and makes alive by His Word of the Cross.  He wounds in order to heal by the medicine of His Gospel.  He humbles you in yourself, but He exalts you in Himself, in His own Body, in the presence of His God and Father.

And having fed you here at His Altar, faithfully throughout your days on earth, at the last He shall seat you at His Table in His Kingdom, in His own House forever and ever.  “Friends, come up higher,” He shall say.  And He will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and there will no longer be any death, nor sickness, nor sorrow, nor pain, but only the everlasting joy and delight of the Lamb with His Bride in the neverending Feast of His great Salvation.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Like Those Awaiting the Marriage Feast of the Lamb

Have no fear, little flock, not even in these grey and latter days, though there be countless attacks against the Word of the Lord and His good gift of holy matrimony.  For He is faithful nonetheless.  He is the One who builds the house, not in vain, but in peace; and He gives to His beloved sleep.

But, yes, it is true that, in the world, seemingly everywhere you look theses days, the sanctity of marriage is assaulted in both attitudes and actions.  The mainstream media for young and old sets forth a daily barrage of confusion, perversity, and lawlessness in regards to what it even means to be a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, while the good order of God’s creation is routinely denied.

There are all manner of selfish separations of marriage, sex, and childbearing, whereby loins are not girded for good works of love but loosed in pursuit of lustful passions.  Fornication, including cohabitation, is now regarded as an acceptable norm.  Adultery, too, including its most common form, divorce, is practically taken for granted.  It is no wonder that marriage itself is no longer held sacred as the lifelong union of one man and one woman in heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit.

Such prevailing depravity denies and contradicts, not only the Law of God, which is good and wise and true, but also the Gospel of Christ Jesus, who is the fulfillment of the Law and the one true Bridegroom to whom the Church is given.  He is the One who is rejected when marriage is denied.  But so is He also the One we are called to confess in the faithfulness and love of holy marriage.

Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect Man, the Image of God in whom Adam was created from the dust of the ground, and for whom the Woman is brought forth from His riven side, brought to Him and given to Him in love.

This is the picture we are given today in Daniel and Elle, and which they and all husbands and wives are called to portray in their life together: Within their home and family, and in the world, in whatever portion of His Garden the Lord entrusts to their stewardship.

It is also there that Christians, in particular, are tempted to a very different misunderstanding and abuse of marriage and family than that which is posed by the world with its idolatrous lusts and faithless passions.  For it is with holy marriage as it is so often the case with God’s good creation, that you are tempted on the one hand to demonize it, and on the other hand to idolize it.  Instead of receiving it from the Lord’s hand in faith and with thanksgiving, and sanctifying it by His Word and prayer, you either despise it with the world, or you worship it as though it were your god.

But do not run down either of those dead end roads.  Unless the Lord builds the House — as the Wise Man, Jesus, builds His Church — their labor is in vain who build it.  Which is to say that you are called to approach your marriage, home, and family in accordance with the Word of the Lord.

Your marriage is a fundamental stewardship of the Lord’s things.  For those who are married, in fact, it is the primary place within which you serve the Lord by caring for and cultivating His good creation, His Garden, His household and family, to the praise and glory of His Name.

The goal is not to establish a little kingdom of your own, to make a name for yourself, to build a tower to the stars, or to find and preserve your own life within your own home and family.  And though your spouse — and, in time, your children — do take priority over your other neighbors in the world, as per the Lord’s Word (the 4th and 6th Commandments), your marriage and family do not take precedence or priority over the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness in Christ.

Your first and foremost vocation, as a Christian, is to be and to live as a child of God in Christ Jesus, as a member of His Bride, His household and family, His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.  First of all in your receiving of His gifts.  Then also in your giving and serving.

Your marriage and family on earth are temporary — they are only until death parts you — but they point beyond themselves to the Marriage of the Lamb and the Family of God, which are forever.

As Jesus says, therefore, do not store up treasures for yourself on earth, but invest yourself, your body and life, your marriage and family, in the Kingdom of your God and Father in heaven.  Live with constant vigilance and in eager expectation of the Marriage of the Lamb.  Hunger and thirst, not for the food that perishes, but for the Wedding Banquet of Christ and His Bride, the Church.

This is a matter of both the Law and the Gospel, of faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ.  For it begins and continues with repentance in the fear of the Lord: That you acknowledge and confess your idolatry and unbelief.  That you turn away from your false gods and your sins, and turn toward the Lord and His Word.  That you cease from your evil deeds; and that you not resort to laziness, complacency, or negligence, but that you actively do good and serve your neighbors in love within your own proper office and stations in life.

Not that you must save yourself, justify yourself, atone for your sins, or make a life for yourself.  None of which is even possible; but neither is it necessary.

Rather, rely upon the Lord, and rest yourself in Him by faith in His Word and promises.  Avail yourself of His Gospel in His means of grace within the household and family of His Church on earth, even as you receive from His open hand all that you need for this body and life.

Your marriage, home, and family, and whatever else you may possess in this life, are a gift from the Lord, entirely by His grace, the charity of God.  What is more, and ever so much better, it is the Father’s good pleasure and delight — His good and gracious will — to give you His Kingdom, though you are so little, so weak, and so helpless (in and of yourself and in this perishing world).

So it is not by your works that you live, but by resting in the Word and works of God in Christ, in whom you have Peace with God and Sabbath Rest, now and forever.

But you are given works to do from within your place: Within the household and family of God, to which you belong by His grace; and, as I have said, within the particular portion of His Garden, wherever He has placed you.  There you are to cultivate and keep His good creation in His Name.  You are to provide for your fellow servants, whoever is placed under your care, to give them their meat and bread at the proper time.  Thus do you become the open hand of God for your neighbor.

As you are righteous by faith in Christ Jesus, by His free and full forgiveness of all your sins, so do you live and work righteously in love for your neighbor.

As Elle is here clothed in radiant beauty, as an icon of the Lord’s Church, so do you clothe yourself outwardly in fine linens, bright and clean, which are the good works that God has prepared for you beforehand, that you should walk in them — in faith and love — in marriage to Christ Jesus.

This is how you are to live, at every hour of every day, so that you are dressed and ready for your Lord, your true and heavenly Bridegroom, whenever He shall come.  With your loins girded and your lamps lit — like those children of Israel on the night of the Passover — you also rely upon the Flesh and Blood of the Lamb, and be gathered around the Table in your Father’s House, so that your marriage, home, and family be not broken into, and that you not perish when the thief arrives.

Daniel & Elle, as members of the Body and Bride of Christ, this life of faith and love is to be lived within your marriage in your relationship with each other.  It is a life distinguished especially by self-sacrifice, by patience and kindness, repentance and forgiveness, gentleness and humility.  In all things, use whatever strengths the Lord has given you to cover each others frailties in peace.

That is to be the case for both of you.  But the weightier burden falls upon you, Daniel, to love and serve and care for Elle, and to give yourself for her in big and little ways each day, as Christ loves His Church and has given Himself for her; and as Christ, indeed, gives Himself for you and Elle.

Above all, to care for Elle as Christ cares for His Church entails mercy and forgiveness, whereby you adorn your bride with the righteousness and holiness, the innocence and blessedness of Jesus.

So, too, caring for your wife — and, by God’s grace, your children — means gathering your family around the Father’s Table, around the Word of God and the Flesh and Blood of the Lamb.  That is to say, by praying with them and for them in your home, teaching them the Bible, and taking them to the Lord’s House for the Ministry of His Gospel in preaching and the Holy Sacraments.

In this task of caring for your children, the two of you are partners — as, indeed, in all of life.  You are partners in cultivating and keeping the Garden of God; not establishing and guarding your own little dynasty, but caring for and prospering the Paradise of God in accordance with His Word.

Likewise, in your love for your neighbors in the world, and especially for the Church and Ministry of Christ, you are partners in service and in giving.  Sacrifice together.  Work together.  Show mercy and give alms together.  Encourage and help each other to love and care for those in need.

Thus does your marriage point beyond itself, not only as a picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church, but as an agent of the same Lord Jesus Christ, as a living and active embodiment of His own grace, mercy, peace, and tangible charity toward you.

Thus do you live and work together in storing up treasures in heaven.  In devoting your hearts, not only to each other here in time, but above all to the Lord Jesus Christ, for now and forever.

Blessed are you when you live in this way, in faith and love, in expectation of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.  Blessed are you, who find in Christ Jesus, crucified and risen, the meaning and purpose, the goal and significance of your life together as husband and wife.

Blessed are you, because He has come in love for you, and He has given Himself for you.  Even now He comes to give Himself to you, that you may be His own beloved Bride, and live with Him in His Kingdom forever and ever.

By His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead, the Marriage of the Lamb has come.  So is the Wedding Feast prepared and ready with His own Body given and Blood poured out for you.

And as He has called you by His own Name and taken you to be His Bride in Holy Baptism, so does He gird Himself to serve you: To wash you with His Word of Absolution, and to feed you from His own hand at His Altar with the Meat and Drink indeed of His Holy Supper.

See, His Blood now marks your door, and you are safe and sound within His Father’s House.  Have no fear, little flock!  Behold, He gives you peace and rest and blessed sleep within His own Body.

For He is awake and alert, constantly vigilant, and always working to give you life.  No thief shall ever be able to snatch you from His hand.  He has plighted thee His troth, He has promised you His faithfulness, and He has made His place your own, His Castle your Castle.  Thus are you one flesh and blood with Him, and not even death shall divide you from His Body and His Life forever.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Awhile a Bridesmaid, Forever the Bride

The Kingdom of Heaven is not like this fallen and perishing world with its confused and perverted view of marriage and family, of sexuality and the body, and of human beings, male and female, created by God for life and for love in the Light of His Word.

But for those who are called and invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, the Kingdom of Heaven is very much like the Marriage of the Man and the Woman according to God’s holy will, as Holy Scripture has revealed and as the holy Christian Church confesses even in this day and age.  Such sacred things are not subject to personal interpretation, nor even to the personal plans and purposes of loving couples.  They are taught by God, by His Word and Holy Spirit.

Holy Marriage is the crowning glory of God’s good creation, as well as the means by which He continues His good work of creation even in the midst of sin and death.  It is the partnership and union of body, heart, and mind by which He intends to guard and guide His creation, to care for it, and to cultivate this world in the fear and faith of His Word, to the glory of His holy Name, and in the eager expectation of the new heavens and new earth in which His righteousness will dwell.

But as profound as all of this gift of holy Marriage is, it does look beyond itself, and it points beyond itself, in anticipation of something far greater and far more permanent.  The virgins and the married alike rejoice and celebrate in the one Bridegroom who calls us, one and all, to follow Him into His Wedding Banquet.  For this great and solemn Mystery of husband and wife, the man and the woman, signifies Christ Jesus and His holy Bride, the Church.

By God’s design, holy Marriage confesses Christ in the world and points all people of all ages and stations in life to Him.  It is for this reason, in particular, that the Church on earth must defend and uphold the integrity and wisdom of holy Marriage in keeping with the Lord’s divine intentions.  Not that everyone must get married in this body and life on earth, but that one and all should be prepared to meet the Bridegroom who is near, to hear and heed His calling in holy faith and love.

For those who are married in this body and life, this “honorable estate instituted and blessed by God in Paradise” is the primary training ground in which a man and woman are conformed to the Image and Likeness of God in Christ by the way of His Cross and in His own bodily Resurrection from the dust of the earth to the life that is lived, both body and soul, in the Holy Spirit.

In general, the entire Christian life is to be one of true wisdom, which begins with and continues in the fear, love, and trust of the Lord.  You are called to live in faith toward God in Christ Jesus; and, in His Name and for His sake, you are called to live in love for your neighbor.  Such wisdom is characterized by prayer, praise, and thanksgiving at all times and in all places; by singing and making music to the glory of God and for the edification of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

So, too, within holy Marriage, husbands and wives are called by the Lord to live by faith in Christ Jesus, by His Word and Holy Spirit, and to live in love for Him, for each other, and for all their neighbors in the world, especially for their fellow Christians of the household and family of God.

For those who are married, including Nicholai and Hannah as of this afternoon, your marriage and your relationship to your spouse are your highest and holiest calling in this body and life on earth.  It is within this station, in particular, that you are called to live as a child of God in Christ, which is and remains your first and foremost vocation by virtue of your Holy Baptism.  Thus do you live as a husband or wife in the hope of the Resurrection and in the expectation of the final judgment.

Indeed, whether you are married or not — for the unmarried life is also a high and holy calling of the Lord your God — your entire life in both body and soul is to be lived in the anticipation of the coming Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, in view of His righteous Judgment of the living and the dead.

It is the Marriage of the Lamb (to which all of you are called and invited) which puts the Parable of the Ten Virgins into perspective as a picture of what the Kingdom of Heaven shall be like.

It was, I believe, Hannah’s brilliant and modest proposal to use this Holy Gospel for the wedding, for which I must commend her.  It is brilliant, first of all, because everything in this Word of the Lord turns on the coming of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.  There is no more important point to bear in mind for marriage and for life.  Everything hinges and depends on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was also a modest proposal, I should say, in view of what is missing from the Parable.  Did you notice?  The Bride is not mentioned, not even once.  It’s not as though she’s unimportant.  She is indeed the Lord’s own dearly beloved.  But her absence from the Parable is her now-and-not-yet presence by anticipation, and by the watching and waiting to which the Lord Jesus here calls you.

For this fact, too, belongs to the Mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, that many are called from all the nations of the earth to become disciples of Christ Jesus, the children of His God and Father, who are all together members of one Holy Bride, the one, holy, catholic, and Apostolic Church.

He is indeed the Husband of one Wife.  But His Bride comprises a great host that none but God could number, whom He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies to be one Body in Christ Jesus: flesh of His Flesh and bone of His Bone.  The Father draws them from the open side of this new and better Adam, from the deep sleep of His death upon the Cross, in the water and the blood.  He recreates them in His Image, and He brings them all to His dear Son as one Woman to one Man.

It is for this one holy Marriage to Christ Jesus that all ten virgins have been created, baptized, and catechized by the Word of the Lord.  Which is to say that all of them, and each and all of you, are called to watch and to wait upon His coming as the Bridegroom.  Each and all of you, regardless of your age or station in life, are called to repent of your sins, to live by faith in the forgiveness of the Gospel, and to let your light so shine to the glory of His holy Name in all that you say and do.

As you are clothed and covered in the righteousness and holiness of Christ Jesus by His Baptism and by His Word of Holy Absolution, so are you called to live righteously in Him by faith.  For it is in this way and by these means that you are well prepared and ready to welcome and receive Him, and to attend and accompany the Bridegroom into His Wedding Feast.

That is what your life in the body is to be about.  That is your duty and delight as a “bridesmaid” within whatever callings and stations the Lord has given you for this little while here on earth.

So, then, Nicholai and Hannah, you are guided and governed by the Word of the Lord; instructed, disciplined, encouraged, and strengthened in the life of faith and love that you are here called and given to live together, with and for each other, to the praise and glory of your Lord Jesus Christ.

There is indeed an irony in this, that in your calling to be husband and wife to each other, you are called to be and to live as bridesmaids — yes, even you, Nicholai — in the Wedding of the Lamb.

In much the same way, your unmarried friends and neighbors here with you today, whatever their role in your wedding, and all of your family and fellow Christians of various stations in life, are likewise called to be and to live as bridesmaids awaiting the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom.

If any of you are baptized in the Name of the Lord, if any of you are a Christian, then you have indeed been called to go out and meet the Bridegroom with lamp in hand.  It is your duty and responsibility, as a bridesmaid for a little while, to watch and to wait for the coming of the Lord.

To that end, each of you bears the lamp that God has provided, that is, your body and life in the flesh, your outward existence in the world.  And with that lamp, it is easy enough to dress the part and look the part, as you’re all decked out today.  But even dressed to the nines, whether a sharp dressed man or a beautiful girl, your own marriage or personal relationships may be in shambles.  You can wear the ballroom mask and party clothes, but what are your life and love really like?

If you are to be a fully functioning member of the Wedding Party, and not just a party crasher, it is by all means most necessary that your lamp be fueled and supplied with the appropriate Oil.  Otherwise, you will be utterly useless.  Sooner than later, you will burn yourself out and go dark.  You will be unprepared, caught off guard, and finally locked out of the Feast forever.

Now, being prepared, ready, and properly waiting for the Bridegroom to appear, is decidedly not a matter of “Do It Yourself Christianity.”  There’s actually no such thing as that, and it would not work in any case.  Relying on yourself, on your works and efforts, and on your good intentions to be worthy of your coming Lord, is still a case of bearing a lamp without any oil to burn in it.

Neither is it possible for you to light your lamp and keep it burning with the oil that your neighbor has obtained for his own body and life in the world.  For you are called to meet the Bridegroom, yourself, and you are accountable to Him for your own life in the body.  So it is that, even now, and every day, you are called to repentance, faith, and life in the Lord’s forgiveness of your sins.

And so it is that you are rightly and wisely sent to the dealers of the Gospel, to the Ministers of the Word of Christ, to the Life of the Church in the Liturgy of preaching and the Holy Sacraments.  Only do not wait until it is too late.  Do not wait for the night to come, when it will no longer be possible for anyone to work.  But seek the blessed Oil of the Lord where it may be found, and keep on going back to that place of grace, mercy, and peace while it is still the great Day of Salvation.

In much the same way that holy Marriage on earth is to be an icon, a confession, and a sacred sign of Christ and His Bride, the Church, so is the liturgical Life of His Church on earth a foretaste of — and a real participation in — the neverending Wedding Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom.  Watch and wait upon the Lord in faith, hope, and love, as He waits upon you at His Supper Table here in time, on earth even now as it is and ever shall be in heaven forever.

To receive and participate in the Liturgy of His Word and Sacrament is your training and practice, your wedding rehearsal, for the coming of the Bridegroom and the consummation of all things in the glorious revealing of His crucified and risen Body.  The Life of His Church on earth is not play acting or pretend.  It is the catechesis and confession of Christ and His Word, the giving of His Body and the pouring out of His Blood for His Christians to eat and to drink with thanksgiving.

Not only does the Liturgy teach you how to live; it gives the Life of Christ into your body and your soul, into your heart, mind, and spirit.  Your lamp is filled and sustained by the Oil of His Word and Spirit, by His forgiveness of your sins, by His Life-giving Gospel and His love-abiding Law.

Thus does Christ prepare you by His coming in grace for His coming in glory.  He teaches you and trains you — both by His example and by serving you in peace and love — so that you learn to live and to love as wise and faithful bridesmaids within your own vocations and stations in life.  So that you, Nick, learn how to be a husband to Hannah, as Christ Jesus cares for His Bride, the Church; and you, Hannah, learn to love and serve Nicholai as his wife, as the Church for her Lord Jesus.

And yet, as glorious as this gift of His divine grace truly is, and as profound the Mystery of holy Marriage, ever so much more so is the grace and Mystery of His coming as the Bridegroom of His one, holy, catholic, and Apostolic Church in heaven and on earth.

For so does He come to you in His Holy Supper, week by week, throughout the years of your life in His Church on earth.  And so shall it be in His glorious appearing at the close of the age, when His beloved bridesmaids from all the nations, tribes, tongues, and stations of this life — all who are made wise by His Word and Holy Spirit, who are kept faithful by His forgiveness of their sins — shall enter with Him into the Wedding Feast, no longer as bridesmaids, but forever the Bride, made ready by and for her Husband, beautiful in His righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

She Is His New Creation by Water and His Word

There is a powerful scene in The Passion of the Christ, when our Lord, on His way to be crucified, on the Via Dolorosa, stumbles and falls under the weight of the Cross. He has been beaten and whipped, scourged without mercy, crowned with thorns, and rendered a bloody mess. And the Mother of Jesus is there, following as best she can through the crowds of people watching the grisly parade.

As He falls, St. Mary rushes forward to her Son, to comfort and support Him, to help Him in some way, in whatever way she can. But He looks up at her, His face all bruised and bloody, almost beyond recognition, and He says to her, "See, I make all things new."

Such images and words do not seem to fit together. But that is also to the point. Your way of thinking and of processing experience is also made brand new by the Cross and Passion of Christ Jesus. Everything is undone, in order to be recreated and raised up in the righteousness and holiness of His crucified and risen Body. All of creation, the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, find their fulfillment, their purpose and perfection in Him, in His flesh and blood, given and poured out for you and for the many.

From heaven He has come to seek you out and to save you in this way, to betroth you to Himself in loving kindness and compassion, in mercy, and in faithfulness. He has come to woo you to Himself in tender love, to call you by His own Name, and to give you safety, peace, and rest in the place that He has prepared for you. He has come to make of you His holy Bride. And so it is that you also are His New Creation, by the way and means of water and His Word. You are made brand new by your Baptism into His Cross and Resurrection, and all things are made new for you by His preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Of course, there are lots of new things in your life at this point: For you, Kirsten, there's not only your marriage and new name, as of today, but also your graduation last weekend, and moving across the country to a new home in a new place. Lots of big changes going on, which is both exciting and stressful.

But the newness of your body and life in Christ Jesus is even bigger than all the rest of it put together. His New Creation includes and embraces all of these other things, but it is also far deeper and more comprehensive than that. Which is all the more exciting, in its own way, and all the more difficult, challenging, and stressful, too.

Honestly, there is no part of you, and no part of your life in body and soul, that is left unchanged by the Word and work of Christ the Crucified. By His preaching and Baptism of repentance, His Cross is putting you to death and calling you daily to the righteousness of an entirely new way of life, to brand new ways of thinking and speaking and acting, and, really, to a whole new way of being.

Marriage itself is like that, as it redefines your identity and all of your relationships; but even your marriage points beyond itself to the new identity and the new relationships that are yours in Christ Jesus.

Within this new vocation and station in life, He will be teaching you, Kirsten, to live by faith as a bride, a wife; and He'll be teaching you, Trevor, to live in love as a husband, to lay down your life for her. In both respects, He will teach the two of you, and your neighbors in the world, both married and unmarried, what it means and what it looks like to live and to love as faithful Christians, wed to Christ Himself as members of His Body and Bride, the Church. That is what this great Mystery of holy Marriage signifies; not only for those who are married or given in marriage, but also for those who are not. It is a high and holy calling, indeed.

You're not alone in this life to which the Lord here calls you. Not only because He gives you to each other, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, to serve and support each other throughout your life together; but especially because He Himself is with you, who shall never leave you nor forsake you; and He gives to you the other Comforter, even the Spirit of Truth from the Father, who strengthens and sustains you in the faith and love of the same Lord Jesus Christ.

He cleanses and refreshes you with living water, and He pours out for you the good wine of His own holy and precious Blood, even as He feeds and nourishes you with His own Body in the Marriage Feast of the Lamb, which has no end. These are not impotent or meaningless things, but genuine means of divine grace, and a medicine of immortality for body and soul, unto the life everlasting. There is nothing lacking in and with Him. Salvation and glory and power belong to Him, the true and only God; because His judgments are true and righteous.

Nevertheless, to do whatever He tells you will, at times, perhaps even often, be confusing and uncomfortable, like filling up huge jars with water as though it could ever take the place of wine at the wedding celebration. Learning to live as husband and wife, for example, is going to require adjustments in the way that you arrange your days and use your time, and in the ways that you think about your "privacy" and personal space.

As adults, you've gotten used to being on your own, taking care of yourselves, making your own decisions, and doing your own thing. Having a spouse, and reconforming your entire routine to orbit around that other person, is frankly even more demanding and consuming than being a child in your parents' home. Therefore, to live by faith in the Word of Christ within the vocation of holy marriage, in all of the particulars of your life together, is going to be among the foremost ways in which the Lord will crucify the flesh of your old fallen nature, and by which He will teach you to love and serve as He does, which is by self-sacrifice and suffering.

You cannot do this on your own. Not even the two of you together can manage to make all things new. As capable and competent as you both are, the fact is, that, as often as you rely upon yourselves and trust in your own finite and fallen resources, you really "have no wine." It is quickly consumed and spent, and then you are left with nothing but regret and sadness.

You may inebriate yourselves for awhile with pursuits of the flesh and the inferior pleasures of this old world, but eventually you'll sober up enough to realize how aimless and empty such pastimes are. They are not the fine wine they pretend to be, but dust and ashes.

But again, you are not on your own, nor left to your own futility. Not only your dear family and friends, but the Mother of Jesus is here with you, that is to say, His Holy Christian Church. For Christ Himself and His disciples are here invited to your wedding, that He might bless and sustain and abide within your marriage by and with His Word and Holy Spirit. Are we not all gathered together here in the presence of God to pray and intercede on your behalf, as you now enter upon this holy estate? And you, also, have been taught to pray, to call upon His Name in every situation. Do not doubt that He is with you, to guard and keep you in His grace, mercy, and peace, and to care for you in holy Charity.

Of course, you should not suppose that His place and purpose is to provide for all your creature comforts, plans, and ambitions in this life on earth. It isn't a nonstop party. This world with all its glory is perishing, along with your own mortal flesh and bones.

And the Lord would have you turn away from all your Baals, away from all the idols on which you rely for your happiness, contentment, and future hope. He would have you learn to fear, love, and trust in Him alone, and, forsaking all others, to find your perfect peace and Sabbath rest in Him, even when everything else, including your own body and life, your goods, fame, children, and spouse, are all returned to the dust of the ground. By such faith in Him, He would have you clothe yourself in fine linens, to adorn yourself as the Bride of Christ, not with lust or greed, but with the true beauty of humility and righteousness and love.

His Peace be with you. It is true wisdom to rely upon the Lord your God. For He does provide for all that you need, for both body and soul, for this life that He gives to you on earth, and for the life everlasting in Paradise in the resurrection of your body at the last.

He has, in fact, made all things new by His Cross and Passion. Indeed, His own Body, crucified and risen from the dead, is the Firstfruits of the New Creation, into which He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies you by His Word and Spirit.

Thus, for example, at His Word, simple water only has become the life-giving water of your Holy Baptism, by which you have been reborn and are daily made brand new; and by which the Lord Jesus Christ, your heavenly Bridegroom, has clothed you in the beautiful white wedding gown of His Resurrection and His Righteousness. So does He adorn you, by His Gospel of forgiveness, with His own glory, honor, and majesty, as He delights in you with steadfast love.

In the same way also, He provides and pours out for you His Good Wine in abundance, even in the midst of adversity; so that you may rejoice, give thanks, and sing to the Lord a new song, who has done such marvelous things. And as He has not withheld Himself, but given Himself for you, so surely does He not withhold any good thing from you, but He freely gives to you all that belongs to Him. As He has risen from the dead and lives and reigns forever, so does He raise you up in and with Himself, to the newness of eternal Life with God, both now and always, even forevermore.

Your confidence and certainty of this New Creation is not yet by sight, but by faith in His Word and promises to you:

The Word and promises of your Holy Baptism speak the Name of the Lord upon you, and, with His own Voice, like the sound of many waters, they openly declare that you are His beloved and well-pleasing child.

So, too, the Word of Christ shall here and now make of you husband and wife, and shall join you to each other as one flesh in Him. This Word of His adorns the two of you for each other with His own hidden majesty, and so shall it stand fast against all the threats and temptations of the world against you and against your marriage.

Even so, the Word of His Gospel also stands fast, even when you do not. By that Word of Absolution, the forgiveness of your sins, He raises you up from death to life, as often as you fail and fall short. So does He renew you, day by day, with His righteousness and holiness. And thus do you also give life to each other in mutual repentance and forgiveness, as long as you both shall live.

It is for this purpose, really, that He gives you to each other, and for which He sets the two of you before His disciples on earth as a sign of His Glory, as an icon of His Gospel. That we might behold in you the goodness of His New Creation, and believe in Him on account of His grace toward you, and so rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him. And that we should thus be invited, through the two of you and by the witness of your life together, to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

This Great Mystery Is of Christ

Lots of questions in the air and on the news these days, concerning marriage, what it is, what it means, and what it’s for.  So, what is it all about?  What is the reason for which God gives this woman to this man?  For, make no mistake, it is the Lord who has created Anna and brought her to this point, who now gives her to Ben.  But, why, and what for?  Why does this son now become a husband?  For what reason and what purpose does this daughter become a wife?

If you polled the room, and if you got the honest answers from each person’s own heart and mind, you’d span the entire gamut with a tangled mess of mixed feelings, conflicted emotions, and competing opinions.  Everything from fairy tale romance and schmalzy nostalgia, to bitterness, resentment, and cynical despair.  As they say, “it’s complicated,” and all so confusing.

Except that none of that chaos defines or determines what marriage really is.  You need a better GPS than that to know where you’re going and how to get there.  And I don’t just mean for these two young people who are getting married, but for each and all of you, whether you are already married, were married, want to get married, or would live a chaste and celibate life, unmarried.

It is not good for the man to be alone; but God is good, and He is with you with His grace and goodness in whatever place He has called you to be.  Not least of all in this good gift of marriage, of the woman for the man, the man for his wife: So, too, with Anna for Ben, and Ben for Anna.

Marriage is not merely a legal formality, nor simply a human custom and tradition.  It is not a man-made thing.  The rites and ceremonies of holy matrimony are, in fact, the Word and work of God, which actually make this man and woman to be, henceforth, husband and wife.  Here the Lord Himself joins them together as one, and sanctifies them, by His Word and Holy Spirit.

He does this in His love, and for their good, for their mutual joy and blessing, to the glory of His holy Name.  The marriage rite has already declared, on the basis of the Holy Scriptures, the several purposes of this blessed estate, which collectively belong to the Image and Likeness of God in the union of the man and his wife: To be comrades, first of all, that is, partners in life, friends together on a common road.  And then, in that companionship, not only to be alongside each other on the same journey, but also to be face to face and heart to heart, united in the intimacy of spirit, soul, and body, to find comfort, compassion, and passion uniquely in one another.  Out of which, as the Lord so wills and graciously provides, their love for each other bears fruit after its own kind and is multiplied in the bearing of children, and in caring for them as the dear Lord cares for us all.

Sounds pretty sweet, doesn’t it?  And, truly, it is.  But we are not naive, nor ignorant of the hurts and fears, the burdens, challenges, and difficulties of marriage in this fallen world.  This ain’t no Disney princess movie, Cinderella!  Adam & Eve didn’t go riding off into the sunset, but were driven out of Paradise on account of their sin.  The curse lay heavy upon them, and upon their children’s children to the present generation.  The marriage rite, therefore, realistically expresses, not only the godly purposes of marriage, but also its inevitable termination: “Til death parts us,” that is the limit of what you can promise to each other.  Ben, you and your family have already known that, painfully.  Fathers and mothers do not always live to see their children get married and have families of their own.  To paraphrase the Prophet:  The food spoils, and the wine runs out.

Even before death comes, mortal life in this perishing world is always dying; and that means more than sickness and infirmity.  Even the best of human efforts will still fail, fall short, and fall apart.  Some marriages do not end with death, but in divorce.  Other marriages persist, but are unhappy.  You already know this, I’m sure.  It’s no surprise, really, that so many are so jaded about marriage.

No, we’re not naive, nor ignorant.  But, of course, you know that I’m not saying all of this out loud to discourage you or put a damper on this day.  On the contrary, we stand here today, before God and the whole world, to rejoice and give thanks for the goodness of marriage, and to face down sin, death, the devil, and hell with the Word and promises of the Lord.  For while it is true that all the sons and daughters of Adam die, it is also true that Christ has died, and He has risen from the dead.

So, then, approach and address the hardships that you’ll face, and every aspect of your marriage, with all its ups and downs and highs and lows, with all its joys and sorrows, with the Word of the Gospel of Christ, and by faith in that Holy Gospel.  That means listening, to start with, to His Word and the preaching of it; and, then, as you have heard, so also speak and sing, pray and confess the Word of Christ, to and for and with each other.  And, whatever He says to you, do it.

Ben, love Anna, even when she’s not so lovely and loveable as she is today.  Make her beautiful with your loving devotion to her, and with your faithful delight in her.  Forgive her sins, overlook her faults, and bear with her in love, as you bear her burdens in patience and peace.  Set aside your own desires, in order to comfort and take care of her.  When Satan would beguile her with his sly temptations and his brutal accusations, take up the Sword of the Spirit to defend and protect her.  Do not stand by silently while she is slain, but breathe Life into her by the Word of the Gospel.

Anna, entrust yourself to Ben, and learn to follow his lead and rely upon him.  I don’t mean that you should not think for yourself or speak your own mind, but let Ben be your husband and your head, as Christ is the Head of His Church.  When the devil would show you his weaknesses, his faults and failings, remember that Ben is clothed and covered with the majesty of Christ’s Word.  He is the one man to whom the Lord Himself now gives you, to protect you and provide for you.

No Christian would deny that Christ, the Son of God, has become true Man, and that He has died for us, to forgive our sins, and has risen again for our justification.  You know and believe, and you confess, that He is your Savior, who saves you by His grace alone, through faith in His Gospel.

But the question is, what does any of that have to do with your marriage?  How does it help?  What is there between the two of you and Christ Jesus?  I mean, aside from the fact that both of you are Christians, baptized into the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ: That’s already been the case for many years now, but what difference is that going to make in your life together as husband and wife?  What does your marriage and its daily wants and needs have to do with Him?

It is a great Mystery, as St. Paul has said, but from the beginning — from before the foundation of the world; from before either one of you were even a twinkle in your Daddy’s eyes or a baby in your Mother’s womb — it has been about Christ and His Bride, the Church.  Not only marriage in general, but your marriage, in particular, as it begins today, and as you move forward in faith.

Christ is not simply a guest, with His disciples, at this wedding, but at the heart of the matter, He is the Bridegroom.  It if for His sake that each and every one of you are here; not only that you are in attendance, but that you exist and are alive to this day.  It is for the sake of Christ that Anna and Ben have been created, and for His sake that they are bound together as one flesh by His Word.

Behind the father of the bride stands the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who brings the Woman to the Man and gives her to him.  Behind the Groom stands Christ Jesus Himself.  And behind Anna stands the Holy Christian Church.  That is the reality at work behind the scenes.  Not as a metaphor or a mere analogy.  It’s not that Christ and His Church are like a husband and wife, but that marriage has been made by God to be like Him, to live and to abide by faith in His Love.

Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, begotten of the Father from eternity, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary in time, is the Image and Likeness of God in Man.  In His own Person, forevermore, is the perfect Union — the perfect “Wedding,” if you will — of the one true God and true Man: without any confusion, but also without any division or separation.  And so it is in Him that the whole Christian Church in heaven and on earth is called and gathered together, and united or “married” to God, by the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel.

This Lord Jesus Christ, this Bridegroom from heaven, has come to you in His Incarnation, that is, in His becoming flesh, and in His Resurrection from the dead, and in His Ministry of the Gospel.  He seeks you out and calls you to Himself; He woos you, as the perfect Lover that He is, by His Word and Spirit of forgiveness.  In His great Love, He delights in you.  He joins you to Himself, and He to you, in body and soul: In your Holy Baptism, He has grafted you into Himself, into His riven side, from which the blood and water of His Passion have been poured out for you; and in the Holy Communion, the great Wedding Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom, which has no end, He feeds you with Himself, putting His own Body and His Blood into your mortal body, to raise you up by the power of His Resurrection, and to abide in you with His own indestructible Life.  As He thus gives you Himself and His Life, He is fruitful in you, and He brings forth good fruits of life and love for others.  For the Tree of His Cross surely bears such fruits after its own kind.

This is what the Lord Jesus does for His whole Church, and for each and all of her members; and this is what He does for you, dear Anna and Ben, within the Communion of His Church on earth.  Do not doubt that, by these ways and means of His grace, within the sacred fellowship of His own Holy Bride, He bestows these very gifts and benefits upon your marriage in His Name.

“Take time to learn your marriage benefits.”  That’s what the front page of the business section of today’s South Bend Tribune advises.  The paper is talking about money, but I’m talking about a richer and more lasting treasure than that.  The goodness and benefits of your marriage, above all else, are those of the Gospel.  Which means that your marriage points beyond itself to that which is divine and eternal; to that which is freely given to all who are wed to Christ Jesus by His Word and faith: to your family and friends who are not married, and who may never be; to those whose marriages are difficult and disappointing; and to those whose marriages have ended altogether.

“The food spoils, and the wine runs out.”  But Christ and His Word of the Gospel abide forever, and He gives life, even in the midst of sin and death, under the weight and promise of His Cross.

Your “happily-ever-after” isn’t in your marriage to each other, but in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, for whom the Father has fashioned you, and to whom He has brought you and given you by His gracious Word and Holy Spirit.  That is the very thing which gives joy and gladness, and grace and every blessing to your marriage, “happily-right-now,” and even til death parts you from this life.

This Gospel of Christ Jesus is the confidence in which you begin your life together, and in which you live in the New Creation: “Naked and not ashamed,” with each other, like the first man Adam and his wife Eve, and like the New Man with His Bride.  Not only on your honeymoon and in your marriage bed, which is to be kept undefiled; but in bearing each other’s burdens and sharing each other’s weaknesses; in the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual intimacy of life together; in the cut and thrust, and bump and grind, of life under the Cross; in bearing the Cross for each other in faith.

Live together in mutual repentance and forgiveness; for Christ is with you, with His Love and His forgiveness of all your sins.  He is with you in your vocations for each other as husband and wife, to strengthen and support you in your callings, to sanctify and save you by the grace of His Gospel.

Take heart, and do not be afraid of anything.  Your heavenly Bridegroom is faithful, and He will never leave you nor forsake you.  He has joined the two of you to Him, as members of His Body and His Bride, and so He cleaves to you forever; He shall not allow your sin, nor Satan, nor even death, to separate you from Him.  He has pledged Himself to you, and has vowed to have you and to hold you as His own; He has sworn an oath by His own honor, and His Word cannot be broken.

That is what He does for His whole Church, and in the two of you today we see that pictured in a wonderful way.  Today, Ben, you and Anna are the icons set before us: of Christ and His Church.  We love you both, but you do us the service of pointing beyond yourselves to Him who loves us.  As beautiful as Anna here appears, so much more beautifully does Christ adorn the two of you, and all of us, with the brilliant and stunning white wedding gown of His own perfect righteousness.

Not only that, but His good wine is not restricted or reserved to this happy day of celebration; it is no less poured out for you in the crosses you will bear together in days ahead.  From His side you have been taken, and to His own side you are returned, even as the two of you now make that journey side-by-side together.  For He who is your Savior, by His Word, turns “ordinary water,” and, yes, even the bitters waters of affliction, into the sweetest of wine; not for drunkenness and debauchery, but for joy and gladness and delight through all your days, unto the life everlasting.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

From the Water to the Blood

The great joy and gladness of holy marriage, and of this day — in all its personal particulars and bodily specificity — is found in Christ Jesus: in His loving service to His Bride, the Church.

Which is why the Lord God Himself, the blessed Holy Trinity, rejoices and delights in this day and in this couple — in Nathaniel and Sarah, and in their Holy Matrimony, and in His Holy Church.

For God the Father takes you to Himself as a beloved daughter, even as He gives you to His only-begotten Son, to be His holy Bride. That is where the only true and lasting joy is found: in Christ.

Apart from Christ Jesus, it is all in vain; everything is finally in vain. Because there is, first of all, your natural finitude as a creature. Which is to say that you are not self-sufficient, but entirely dependent on your Creator for life and health and every good. But now, beyond that, there is also the mortal frailty of your fallen flesh, which withers and perishes; so that, not just “the wine,” but everything runs out. In yourself, and of yourself, there is no life nor love, but only sin and death.

Yet, you have been created by God to live by His grace. And you are called — by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel of Christ Jesus — to live by faith in His Word; that is, the Word of the Cross.

True, the Cross puts to death the Old Adam in you, with all your sinful lusts and desires; your self-idolatry and selfishness; your false belief, despair, and all your shameful vices. But the Cross also raises you up — in and with the New Adam, that is, Christ Jesus, who has suffered your death, and has submitted Himself to the dirt of the ground for you, in order to redeem you from sin and death.

The Cross does not destroy you, because it has been the Cross of Christ for you, first of all.

Indeed, for all its pain and agony, shame and humiliation, the Cross is the Hour of Christ’s great Glory; for by it, by His divine grace, mercy and love, He has atoned for the sins of all people, and He has reconciled the world to God.

So, too, it is from His side, as it has been opened up in His deep sleep of death upon the Tree of the Cross, that His Bride is formed and purified with His Glory — by the water and the blood.

And on the Third Day, the fruits of His Cross are borne forth in His Resurrection from the dead, and there is the beginning of the New Creation — in the glorified Body of this great New Adam.

All of creation — including God’s good gift of marriage (the union of one man and one woman) — it has all been redeemed and made brand new. In fact, it is completed, perfected, and better than ever — in the crucified and risen Body of this true and perfect Man, Christ Jesus. By His holy Cross, and in His Resurrection, He has become the new Head of a renewed humanity. He is the new King of a new Creation, and the Church is His beautiful Queen, His beloved Body and Bride.

So, then, you and your marriage, and your whole life, are sanctified by the Word of God in Christ, and by prayer in His holy Name. That is both how and why you invite Jesus and His disciples, and holy mother Church, to your wedding (today) and to your marriage (until death). For by His Word and prayer, His righteousness and holiness are granted to you.

He Himself cleaves to you, dear ones, as to His own beloved Bride, by the Ministry of His Gospel. He provides for you, in love, and He grants to you His good gifts for both body and soul, for now and forever — by the means of His good creation.

In the Divine Service, in particular, as also on this day, He brings you from the waters of Holy Baptism — which have purified your conscience before God, and have cleansed you as a Bride for her Husband — to that good Wine which is the New Testament in His Blood, and to that Bread of Life from heaven which is His own Body.

And in this you find that His good creation and good gifts are taken up by His Word, and given back to you all the better: like dirt into a man, a living creature; like a rib into a woman; like water into wine — and this good wine now points to something better.

For just as He is risen from the dust of the earth to live and reign forever (also as true Man!), you also are now flesh of His flesh, and blood of His blood, so that your body is raised up from death to life in His Glory. As it shall be at the last, so also is it now in your life and marriage here — although it is still hidden under the Cross, and for now it is visible only to the eyes of faith.

His Glory — His gracious gift of life — shall be manifested in your life together, Nathaniel and Sarah, as husband and wife: As you love each other in Christ, as He loves both of you. As you live by His forgiveness of all your sins, and so you forgive each other.

And as you also serve your neighbors within your vocations.

Your sufficiency and life are not in yourselves, but in Christ. Do not worry. Do not be afraid. And do not despair. But for your part, simply do whatever He tells you — and do so in the hope and confidence of His Resurrection, because it is Christ who works in you and for you. Therefore, do not be timid in that which He has called you to do, but love boldly and gladly.

When a husband loves and serves his wife faithfully and well, there’s almost nothing she can’t do or accomplish. So, then, take this to heart, dear ones, that Christ cares for His Bride; He nurtures and cherishes her; and so she is well able to care for others (by His grace, in His mercy and peace).

Beloved, He cares for you, and nurtures and cherishes you. You shall not be put to shame.

As He has grafted you into His Body and joined you to Himself as a member of His Bride, so do you find yourself at home with Him. And He shall likewise make His home with you forever.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.