Wedding Sermon / Jordy & Merissa Leitch / Colossians 3:12-14 - Pastor Lucas Albrecht / Lumsden, SK - June 17th 2017

Wedding ceremony: Merissa and Jordy
God’s love is always there for you
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Dear Merissa and Jordy:

          I would like to start my sermon today proposing a round table debate here on this topic: City or country – which one is the best to live in?

          Yeah, I know, I should problably not start that, because I don’t think this ceremony would end let’s say... before Christmas or so?...

          In our previous contacts, especially during pre-marital classes, I learned that Merissa and Jordy have particular answers to that question. They both can make their arguments to sustain that position, from a more natural life to the convenience of having a 7-11 shop on the next block.

          But you know, I think if we actually would open it up to everybody here, we might come to a conclusion such as: “Well, perhaps both life styles have their ups and their downs. If you manage to deal with the down side of them and enjoy to the fullest the upsides then you can have a pretty well balanced life.”

          Now, does that sound like marriage? I guess so. Because in marriage, no matter how long we know each other, how much we love each other and how far we can tolerate each other sometimes, we are still two very different persons. Man and woman. Sun and moon. Earth and Ocean. Saskatchewan and Quebec. City and Country. Two different worlds that aretogether and that complement each other in various ways.

          Think for a moment on this phrase: “To love is when your soul moves to another address”. Not in the city, not in the country. When you love, one of the choices you make is you are going to live as though you live in the other person’s heart. Because you want to understand him/her, you want to walk their shoes, you want to provide, to help, and to care.

          When we look to Colossians 3 we see a very important and timely recommendation for marriage. “And above all these put love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”. Love is:

-The perfect gift;
-it covers a multitude of sins;
-It binds together everything in perfect harmony.

          God loved us first. God loved us to the point of giving his own Son’s life for us. So that we might have by faith the opportunity to be a part of his family. You belong to his household – whether in the city or in the country. From that unconditional love, by faith, you can love also your neighbor. In this case, not only your neighbour but the one who lives under the same roof. When our marital love is rooted in Christ’s love, it grows stronger, it stays firmer, it lasts. Because unlike the world’s love, that uses to be conditioned to circumnstances – some of them actually very thin and frail – we are rooted in that unconditional and never ending love, which supports us, forgives us, and binds us together with him. That’s the essence of marriage too: To support, to forgive, to be bound together – in LOVE.

          Here it is also worthy to bring to mind that verse 14 is not a loose text in the middle of nowhere. Paul is inviting Christians to be clothed with: compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meeknees, and patience, bearing with one another. All those things flow from Love that, above everything will push us forward in loving and caring for one another.

          Something we must keep in mind is that LOVE is not just a feeling, like Hollywood movies keep trying to tell us. To LOVE is a verb of ACTION. It is a constant. If we think of love just as a sentiment, it can’t be reliable. Feelings come and go. Even sometimes bad feelings are the ones who stick around. We need unconditional love, in good or in bad times. Spouses can say “ I love you” for sure, but way more than that what we need are actions of love. Small or big. Not only on Valentine’s Day or Weeding Anniversaries, but also – and especially – in the worst days. There’s a phrase that goes “I need you to love me when I least deserve it, because that’s when I need it the most”. And yes, we have lots of those opportunities in a marital life! That’s what God did for us. His love came to us when we didn’t deserve it – but when we needed it the most!

          And another important thing I’d like to mention to you today, dear Merissa and Jordy: keep in mind in your marriage that you are not supposed to live under a 50/50 agreement type of thing. You know, that’s how logically we think of it. “I do my part, my spouse does them and we will live happily ever after.” What usually happens in that mindset is that I tend to logically assume I am doing my 50 or at least close to that. And then I start bringing up the other 30, 40, 50 that are not being done. “Someone around here must do some improvement, eh?”

          Keep in mind always a 100 per cent mentality. I am married to a person to which I intend to give myself 100 per cent. I know I can’t always go that far, but that’s what I’ll try to do with all my heart. And you will be surprised how much per cent you’ll start to notice from the other end...

     “And above all these put love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”. Merissa and Jordy, God’s love is not 7-11 at our side. He is there 24/7, through faith in Christ. We don’t need a round table debate to know that. He has revealed this to us in His word. So as you live your lives together balancing every thing, know always that every hour of every day he cares for you, for us, wherever you choose to live and share your lifelong walk together. Amen.