Yesterday, Robin and I were in Winter Park at the wedding of some good friends. The parents of the bride were the first couple to unite with our new church in Oviedo back in 1991. The bride, who was a preschooler back at that time, grew up in our new congregation along with her brother, cousins and our two boys. With much joy, I preached the wedding semon that follows, based on Colossians 3:12-17 and Mark 10:6-9.
Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Let no one separate?
It seems like everything falls apart. I’m not just talking about marriages. I mean all over the place, it seems like things are falling apart. In politics, business and even churches, it seems like things fall apart more often than not.
We live in a world where things are falling apart all of the time. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Business partnerships, churches, and marriages don’t have to fall apart. We can learn to live together. We can build marriages, communities and friendships that endure, that don’t fall apart.
Our Scripture reading tonight, from Colossians 3, was written when the Christian church was in its infancy. Many new Christians lived in a city called Colossae in the area of the world we now call Turkey. The Apostle Paul gave to these new Christians in Colossae instructions about how to build a new community, about how to build more loving relationships. These same instructions can help us as we try to build more loving congregations, more loving families and more loving marriages today. Things don’t have to fall apart.
The Apostle Paul wrote to these new Christians in Colossae about five (5) virtues that are needed to build a marriage or a community of faith: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. But--really-- if you’re not patient, what do you do? Do you just try harder? Most of us have tried that! You can’t just say, I’m going to be patient! And, just becoming a Christian doesn’t make a person more patient. Have you ever been to a church committee meeting? It’s not always a room full of patient people, is it?
So what do we do? Let me suggest that the secret is right in the Scripture lesson. The secret is thanksgiving. The secret is telling God, “Thank you.” To be more patient, humble, gentle, compassionate and kind, one has to be more thankful. We have to develop a practice of gratitude. I would suggest to you that things fall apart when people loose their sense of gratitude to God.
Anyone, who chooses to do so, can sit quietly in this sanctuary and begin to say prayers of thanksgiving to God. It may take a moment, but you can find something, tonight, that is worthy of your gratitude. We can be grateful even in the midst of darkness and difficulty. Sometimes we are most grateful to God when we experience God as our Good Shepherd walking with us through the lonesome valley. Therefore, on this joyful evening, witnessing this beautiful wedding, everyone can begin saying prayers of thanksgiving to God.
And, that’s when the transformation takes place! A thankful person will be a more forgiving person. A thankful person will be a more loving person. A thankful person will be a more patient person. Don’t try to be simply more forgiving, more patient, more compassionate, rather, begin by saying prayers of thanksgiving to God.
When we take time to give thanks to God, we will find love, love that endures, when we give thanks, we will forgive one another more easily and frequently. When we give thanks, we will be more compassionate, more kind. Then, we will know the secret of keeping things from falling apart. The secret is giving thanks to God.
All of us can begin and end each day giving thanks to God that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. We can know, that in Christ Jesus, we are forgiven, pardoned for all those times when we have let things fall apart.
So, Christina and Jacob, here is your first wedding gift, not from me, but from God’s Word. The gift is gratitude, and the reminder to say thank you, every day, all day long. Never stop giving thanks for each other, for your life together, and for all of your blessings. Christina and Jacob, don’t just give thanks to God for all of your blessings, but give thanks to God for Jesus Christ himself, our Lord and Savior.
All day long, always give thanks for this wonderful life you have together. And remember these words, from God’s Holy Word, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Amen.
