Marlon and Tammy, children and grandchildren, relatives and friends, may the God of peace and joy rule your hearts with the Gospel of Jesus Christ who died so that you may live in Him.
Forty years ago today, on a Friday the 13th, Marlon and Tammy were united in holy matrimony by a justice of the peace, as Marlon related to me. If you’re a superstitious fellow, that might have seemed like a foolish thing to do, as though from such a marriage no good could come. But as we’ve witnessed these past forty years, much good has come from the fruit of their union together. That’s because marriage doesn’t belong to superstitious Satan, but marriage belongs to God wherever it happens and on whichever day it begins.
The same words that describe Adam and Eve’s marriage, describe this marriage which we’re celebrating today. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” And as Jesus explained: “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
God, who is the author of life, and thus the author of your marriage, is responsible for every good blessing that’s made your marriage what it is, Marlon and Tammy. It’s fitting, therefore, that today on your fortieth wedding anniversary, we would celebrate your marriage firstly by giving thanks to God who has blessed you so richly these forty years.
Through your marriage, God has brought forth children, and given your children a home with a father and a mother within which they were raised. From those children, God blessed you with grandchildren and filled your life with more people for you to love. After forty years together, I’m sure you can think of dozens, if not hundreds, of other blessings God has bestowed upon your marriage.
Not the least of these blessings is that of your companionship you’ve shared and will continue to share with each other. God made it clear in Genesis that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone, but he needed a helpmate, someone who complimented him and made him whole. Likewise the two of you! Marlon, without Tammy, you wouldn’t be half the man you are today. Tammy, without Marlon, your life would’ve been incomplete. Together the two of you are stronger, and blessed by God, a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.
One of the most powerful things which makes your marriage so strong and enduring, is forgiveness. St. Paul said in Colossians: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Forgiveness. Marlon and Tammy, the thing which has sustained your marriage for so many years is your ability to forgive one another. I’ve only been married for 7 years, and in that time I know I’ve given my wife many opportunities to forgive me. I’m sure the same is true in your marriage as well.
As St. Paul so keenly reminds us, we forgive each other because the Lord has forgiven us. Marlon and Tammy, the love you show to each other and the forgiveness you share, is all a beautiful illustration of God’s love and forgiveness shown to us in Christ Jesus. Indeed, the scriptures often portray the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, as the bridegroom, and we His church as the bride. In this marriage, Christ loves His bride perfectly and completely, and He shows His love to us by forgiving us.
Your bridegroom, Jesus, loves you so wonderfully that He sacrificed His life upon the cross for your forgiveness. Because of Christ’s love, your sins are washed away. Like a husband might carry his bride across the threshold of their house, so does Christ carry us across the threshold into the mansion of heaven. Just as we shall feast today on delicious smoked meat prepared by the groom, so is heaven described as a marriage feast.
This marriage which we celebrate today is blessed by God. This marriage is for us an important reminder and image of the marriage between Christ and the church. Tammy’s submission to her husband’s love is a reflection of our submission to Christ who loves us. Marlon’s sacrificial love for his beautiful bride reflects Jesus’ sacrificial love for us upon the cross.
May God bless the institution of marriage, this marriage between Marlon and Tammy, and all of us who are united with Christ.
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