Sermon - Epiphany II 2020 - John 2:1-11

 God loves marriage. Among all of the earthly institutions we have on earth, from rulers to schools, from the military to local employers, there is one earthly institution which stands above the rest: marriage. Marriage is the one earthly institution God created before sin. Marriage is the foundational building block for all of civilization. Marriage is God’s gift.

So what is marriage? Quite simply, marriage is the one flesh union between one man and one woman until death parts them. From Genesis we read: “The rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

In spite of sin, marriage is still a good gift from God and it is still His institution on earth. We see that He very greatly blesses marriage in our Gospel. Just as marriage was the first earthly institution God created, likewise the setting for Christ’s first miracle, which manifested His glory, took place at a wedding. He took 180 gallons of water and turned it into the best wine so that this marriage could be celebrated. Wine makes glad the hearts of man, thus God turned the water of sadness into the wine of gladness, since marriage is such a wonderful blessing.

Marriage is a blessing because it unites you with another for mutual companionship, help, and support, both in adversity and prosperity. A single strand of rope is much more easily broken than two strands bound together. Marriage is a blessing because it gives you another to find delight in. It’s a natural impulse to be attracted to another, and so to prevent you from lusting after anyone who walks your way, God gives you a spouse to love in chastity and honor. 

Finally, marriage is a blessing because from this union children are typically born. Within this marriage, children are brought up in the fear and instruction of the Lord by their father and mother. It’s a great lie today wherein we find our life’s purpose and fulfillment in our jobs, possessions, and entertainments. All of those things are temporary and boring. But the ability to procreate and fill the earth with more human beings who can be loved by God is a much greater thing! When we raise up our children to be Christians, they are the one eternal thing in this life.

Marriage and the family are our greatly earthly blessings in this life. These are the means by which God blesses the world and permits it to flourish. What is the singular factor which makes people less likely to be impoverished, less likely to have drug and alcohol addictions, less likely to engage in criminal activity, more likely to be better educated, have a better job, live a Christian life, and have a stable life? Having a father and a mother who are married to each other and live in the same house. It’s so simple it’s almost unbelievable, but the greatest indicator of human flourishing is a society with healthy marriages.

For that reason we honestly shouldn’t be surprised at the state of our society today. Many Christians act shocked and readily condemn homosexuality, transgenderism, and other extreme deviancies. Don’t get me wrong, those things are abominations, they’re corruptions of God’s design for marriage and the family. But we got here by way of winking at and even participating in a plethora of other abominations, corruptions of God’s design for marriage and the family.

Instead of living according to God’s prescribed gender roles with the husband as the head of the household, we’ve embraced a strange egalitarianism in which the household has no head. Just see from Genesis that Adam was formed first, then Eve, so that Adam would be head, the one held responsible. Eve wasn’t made out of Adam’s head to be his master nor his feet to be his servant, but his side to be his helper. There is a sort of equality in their value, but they are not the same with identical roles. Men and women are mentally, physiologically, emotionally, and functionally different, and that’s a good thing because it’s how God made us.

We’ve embraced a culture of no-fault divorce. Now, it is a good thing that a wife would be able to escape from her violent and adulterous husband by means of divorce, God does permit this in His mercy. But, we’ve taken this so far that divorce is common in our culture and often has nothing to do with violence or adultery. We’ve already mentioned what happens when you have broken homes. 

For decades now we’ve winked at and participated in pre-marital intimacy, unmarried couples living together, and a hook-up culture. These activities are even normal today, and they’ve been normal for a long time now! With the advent of birth control, we’ve created for ourselves an environment where children are just the unwanted fruit of physical intimacy and now we can do as we please without risk of that unwanted fruit. So birth control has made marriage optional, and even procreation optional, since all that matters is our physical intimacy.

This behavior is known as fornication and it’s strictly forbidden by the scriptures. St. Paul warns us: “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

We should not feign shock and surprise at the strange deviancies and other societal failures cropping up in our culture, when for generations now we’ve winked at and participated in a host of other sins against marriage and the family. What’s going on today is a direct result of our sins against marriage and the family. God’s Word speaks clearly and concisely in these matters, and God’s Word cuts us to the heart. 

We’ve all failed to keep our thoughts, words, and deeds pure. None of us are innocent, we’ve all failed. This failure isn’t anything new to today. In the Bible we probably firstly remember David and Bathsheba who fell into this sin. The Lord was greatly displeased at what his servant had done and so brought him to repentance through Nathan who pointed out David’s sin. David confessed his guilt: “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan forgave David’s sin: “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Nevertheless, the fruit of Bathsheba’s womb died as a consequence for David’s sin.

This story ought to remind us of One who comes in the lineage of David, one who is greater than David and kept all of God’s law: Jesus. Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem, was born unto all the world. In order to forgive us our sins, including those against the 4th and 6th commandments, this Baby died on our account. Unlike David, unlike us, Jesus had no sin, and thus He carried our guilt and atoned for our sins.

Jesus came as the Bridegroom, and we the church His bride. By our unholy works we’ve stained ourselves and should be unfit for such a marriage. Yet our Bridegroom, Jesus, covers us with His baptismal garment of salvation. He trades us for our impurity and gives us His holiness. He feeds us not just the wine of gladness, but the blood of His redemption here at the marriage feast. 

Thus, let marriage be held in honor among us all and let us keep it undefiled. For in this earthly institution of marriage we see the reflection of the greater and perfect marriage between the Lamb and His bride the church. Yes, when we honor marriage, we honor Christ. Since marriage is God’s gift, He blesses marriage among us.

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”