What God Has Joined Together
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St Matthew 19:6 “Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord, and especially you, Doug and Jamie: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In the self-defense world of firearms, there is a saying that goes like this: “Two is one, and one is none.” It means that, heaven forbid if you are in a gunfight, one firearm is useless if it misfires or if you lose it; but if you have two, you’ll have a backup. Two is one, and one is none. That’s not Scriptural, it’s just standard operating procedure in that world. But I believe we can apply that worldly wisdom to this event today and, in fact, every Godly marriage.
And, to be sure, God says it much better than the world does. In Genesis 2:18-20, we read, “And Yahweh God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.” God knew that it was not good for the man to be alone. He also knew that the man would not be complete without a “helper,” a companion, a completion, someone “comparable” to him. So He set out to show Adam exactly what kind of companion he would need.
But immediately after Adam named all the animals, there is this at the end of verse 20: “But for the man there was not found a helper comparable to him.” Adam quickly discovered what God already knew – that among all these living things, there was nothing there for him; he was alone and incomplete on his own. We might say of Adam here, “one is none.”
Now Genesis 2:20-24: And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, (and, by the way, the Hebrew word literally means “part of his side”) and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib/side which Yahweh God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And the man said: “This is now 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 mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Did you notice what happened there? God literally took Adam apart by performing the world’s first surgery. And from Adam’s side God fashioned his true helper, his true complement, his true completion. And then God put the man back together by giving him the woman, who later in Chapter 3 would be called “Eve” meaning, “the Mother of all living things.” Previously the man was one, and felt empty, like nothing: “One is none.” But now that he has a true companion and has been joined to his wife, “two is one.” Or, as God said it so much better, “And they shall become one flesh.” And then in Matthew 19:6 Jesus adds, “Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Thus we have the world’s first Godly marriage – a marriage between one man and one woman, which, it needs to be said, is the only kind of marriage God recognizes and blesses. To be sure, Adam and Eve were literally made for each other, and there was no one else in the world who would vie for their attention. But that shows us exactly what marriage has always been meant to be – one man and one woman together for life. Two people prepared and made specifically for each other. Two is – or becomes – one.
And that, Doug and Jamie, is clearly what God has done for you. Indeed, God knows, even more than you do, all the things that have happened in your life up until now that have served to bring you to this wonderful and God-pleasing day and union. You can see how God has been preparing you for each other, and it is obvious that many others see that as well. And, to be sure, only God knows how your life together will unfold from this day forward; those things you will find out as you put one foot in front of the other starting today. So along the way, consider these three things.
This http://djpaulkom.tv/get-up-wit-me-remix-video/ buy generic cialis medicine should be taken by the patient with a glass of water, 1 hour before he plans to have sex to get sexual erection. Not for sale levitra to mention that there are various other reasons to ED pressure. tadalafil cheapest price This is because when the man feels confident about himself and finds sex so enjoyable, he usually applies himself to ensure that his partner also is pleased. Women mostly suffer from the cialis 100mg tablets problem of dysfunction of the cardiopulmonary system. First, may I suggest that you only need two pieces of furniture to have a marriage: a bed and a table. Everything else in that great big beautiful new house of yours is optional. You don’t need a TV or a stereo or a Lazy Boy recliner, but you do need a bed and a table. You need a place to eat together and a place to sleep together. Those are the places of communion in a marriage; those are the places where the liturgy of marriage takes place and is played out, where husband and wife commune with each other in the bonds of Holy Matrimony which God blesses and sanctifies.
Sometimes couples come to their pastor for a tune up because their marriage doesn’t seem to be getting the mileage it used to be getting. When that happens there are two simple diagnostic questions to be asked: Do you eat together? Do you go to bed at the same time, presumably to the same bed? And all too often the answer is “no,” or “hardly ever.” There’s no communion there. It’s like a person who claims to be a Christian but never prays, never sings a hymn to Christ, and never shows up at Jesus’ table except for Christmas and Easter. In the military they call it AWOL. Don’t go AWOL on your marriage vows. Tend to your Bed and your Board. Eat together. Pray together. Worship together. Sleep together. Talk. Commune
You’ll notice that the words “communication” and “communion” have the same root; that’s no accident. Communication is important. Couples that don’t talk much to each other have a hard time staying together. Marriages certainly need more good communication, but even more importantly they need more communion. The best marriage talk is pillow talk and table talk. So guard your Bed and your Board like a hawk. Don’t let anyone or anything interfere. Don’t give in to the modern selfish notion of “me time.” Instead, drown yourselves in “we time.”
Second, recognize that Christ is in the middle of everything in your marriage. Notice I didn’t say “put Christ in the middle” because you don’t put Christ anywhere that He hasn’t already put Himself. As we heard in Genesis, marriage is already God’s thing; it is His show, it is His institution. I didn’t say put Christ first, as though He were a priority among your other priorities. He is already the middle, the center, the focus, the source, the glue, the Word. Embrace that with God’s gift of faith.
Christ is the Word who made you. He is the one who called you into existence. He is the one who holds you in His death and His life. Christ is the one who reconciled you to God on that very first Good Friday between noon and three. It is His robe of righteousness that you wear, like a suit of forgiveness. It is His innocence that God sees when He looks at you. It is His blessedness that is yours. You live under the sign of His Baptism. You are citizens of His kingdom. And so worship Him both at your table and at His table. Hear His Word together and pray together at your table. Worship Him in bed, at your table, and at His Table. Worship Him at work and at play, doing all to the glory of God. Deal with each other and receive each other through Him. He is the center of your marriage, not you, which is a truth that rings out in this service today where God is worshipped and glorified, and oh, by the way, you get married too.
Third, forgive one another. Do it regularly; do it recklessly. Jesus pours the good wine of His forgiveness with generosity. Your cup runneth over. Let the overflow flow over to each other. Like all of us, you are sinners to the core; but more importantly you are justified by God-given faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for you. That means you will step on each other’s toes, but don’t let it stop you from dancing. God is not stopping the music. You are dyed-in-the-wool sinners, but your robes are bleached pure white by the blood of Jesus the Lamb. You are real sinners who really sin, and you are really forgiven in Jesus. Live and love in the freedom and giddy joy of that forgiveness.
Forgive one another. Take out the garbage in your marriage and do it frequently. Don’t let it accumulate; don’t sweep it under the rug or hide it in the attic. Don’t be like a cat and try to cover it up and pretend it isn’t there. Confess your sins to each other and in the name of Jesus forgive each other as God in Christ has forgiven you, lest it interfere with your bed and your table. Jesus stands in the middle between you, reconciling you to God, and reconciling you to each other. Forgive each other through Jesus. Drop dead to each other’s sins and failings and weaknesses as God has dropped dead to yours in the death of Jesus.
Doug and Jamie, we are thrilled for you and we are thrilled be here today to celebrate your wedding and marriage and what God is doing here and will do for the rest of your life. We pray for you, we bless you, and soon we will raise a toast of Cana wine to you. May your lives together be rooted in the goodness of God’s creation and the freedom of His redemption. God grant that your lives are a continual blessing, and that you are overwhelmed in every way by the power of Christ’s death and resurrection for you.
And finally, may God indeed bless you “for as long as you both shall live.”
Now, this service will go off with a hitch where two will be one.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
