Love Always Hopes

1 Corinthians13:7b
Dear brothers and sister in Christ, family of the bride and groom, members of the wedding party, and especially you, Elizabeth and Michael—I bring you grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we gather here this evening to sanctify your marriage by the Word of God and prayer, we heard the Apostle Paul speak of faith, hope, and love—how these Christian virtues remain and endure when everything else fades away. God grant that it would always be so in your life!

We know of course how this high calling of faith, hope, and love is possible: that Jesus Christ is the content of our faith—it is his enduring love for us that enables us to truly love others—and that because he lives and reigns to all eternity, we can be hopeful that the future will always be filled with faith and love.

Not too long ago I read a little devotion that spoke of these virtues in a way that I had never considered before—from the standpoint of time.

The author said that faith is directed towards the past—that our living faith as Christians has the saving events of our Lord’s death and resurrection as its content. And I thank God that both of you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

He said that love is our present reality—it is the baptismal vocation that we are called to live out in our lives moment by moment—loving one another sacrificially as Christ loved us, laying down his life for us on the cross.

And then he went on to say that hope is directed towards the future—our confident expectation that the future will also be filled with love and faith because Jesus stands at the end of all things and is the fulfillment of all things.

Faith-love-hope—past-present-future. That is what we are celebrating and giving thanks for tonight in your lives: Two Christian people who have faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord—committing themselves to a lifetime of united love—looking forward with hope to the future.

In just a few moments you will make your solemn wedding vows. Christians have been speaking these same words for hundreds of years to give voice to the love that they have for one another-- and to give shape to the lives that they will share with one another until death parts them.

It is hope that fills your hearts as you speak these words about what the future holds for you as a couple. You will promise to Christ and his Church, to have and to hold to one another for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health.

Because of the joy of the moment, it often seems as if couples only hear the words: better—richer—health. And God grant that you would have a lifetime of all these blessings!

But the future will also hold challenges and hardships. We live in a world broken by sin and we are impacted by it. Every marriage has its own share of: worse—poorer—and sickness—even the marriages of Christians. These are the kinds of things that can tempt us to despair and cynicism—in other words: to lose hope.

Of course we know many couples do lose hope. One spouse believes that the other cannot and will not change. Couples fall into unending, unchanging patterns of conflict. Difficult situations and circumstances seem insurmountable. For many couples, the future seems hopeless-- and the marriage bond is broken.

But the Bible says: love always hopes. Love always hopes. And the Christian couple knows why there is always hope: because Christ is the unseen, though always present, third person in the marriage relationship—and his power and his love are able to conquer what seem hopeless.

When we were separated from God—Jesus brought us back. When our sins seemed unforgivable—Jesus forgave us by his shed blood—when death seemed like an unvanquished enemy—Christ rose from the dead.

Jesus is the enduring power and promise of hope that will give you the confidence to look forward to the future with gladness and confidence. There is no challenge that you will ever face in your married life that is greater than the power and love of Jesus Christ for each of you as individuals and as a Christian couple. And so…

For your relationship as husband and wife to remain strong—your relationship with Jesus Christ must remain strong. It is his voice that is heard in the pages of Holy Scripture as it is read in the home and church and preached from this pulpit. It is his presence that is received in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It is his forgiveness that is received in Absolution and when you forgive one another from the heart.

Your hope in the future will be renewed day by day as you grow closer to the Lord. Your faith will grow deeper and stronger as you receive his gifts of Word and Sacraments. And your love for one another will become richer and deeper and more sacrificial as you keep his sacrifice before your eyes.

In just a few moments I will be privileged to pronounce you to be husband and wife and you will begin your life together—no longer merely as individuals, but as one flesh, united to one another for life, called to love one another as Christ loves you.

Standing here this evening in this moment, we don’t know all of what your life will hold-- but we do know who holds your life in his mighty, nail-scarred hands and that will make all the difference as you go forward in faith and love into the future—filled with hope.

May God richly bless your marriage and may you always abide in faith, hope, and love! Amen.