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St. Matthew 19:5 – Lindsay Jonnson & Landon Reed Wedding
St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX
In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Clearly, our Lord Jesus loves you, Landon. Here is Lindsay, so beautiful. What she sees in Landon - a mystery to us all. Only Jesus. Only the Lord Jesus could do this!
And Landon, how can I not believe that the Lord alone could do this: Here you are, on time, dressed properly – no flip flops or cowboy's cap. Though, he seems a bit sickly and extra sensitive to light and loud sounds.
Yes, the Lord Jesus is going to have Himself a wedding! Christ loves weddings. Been doing weddings since well... day six!
Remember... on the sixth day, God made man. Now, Adam all by himself was not good at all. That's understandable, I mean, anyone who knows our Landon can understand – Landon all by himself – not good.
So, God went about to find Adam a helper. He brought before Adam all that He the animals, one by one and no suitable helper was found. Not even a Labrador like Sassy would be a suitable helper.
Then, a deep sleep. Then, from the rib, from near Adam's heart, God made a woman and gave Him to the man.
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called 'woman' for she was taken from a man.”
No more Mom and Dad running things. No more “I” or “my.” Now, there is “we” and “ours.”
The Lord made the two one. He did the wedding. And it wasn't just good, it was very good. The husband loved his wife. The wife respected her husband.
But, on a different day, it all went wrong. The serpent. The lie. The fruit not given them to eat. Nakedness. Shame. Hiding from the Lord who made them. Then, blame... “That woman, God, the one you gave me... she gave me of the fruit and I ate...” It was as if Adam didn't want his bride. As if the wife He was given was a chore.
Finger pointing. Sin. Judgment. Punishment and Banishment from Paradise. Birth pains. Suffering. And Death. For them, for you and me too. For in Adam all died, because all sinned.
To save us... the Lord had for Himself another wedding. He Himself would be the husband, the Church would be His bride. Yes, He found for Himself a bride!
He took on our flesh. Came into our fallen world and lived as Adam - as we - are required to live.
His bride rejected Him. She wanted other suitors. We always think we can do things on our own, don't we?
But, He is for her. He came to win her – to save us from her sins, from her death, and from her hell.
Jesus wins His bride by taking upon Himself all her faults and sins, suffering the penalty due us for all the times we lived as Father Adam lived – for himself, in his sins.
So, for His Bride, He is beaten. For her, He is bruised. For her, He suffers. And for her, for His bride, He dies.
He dies, not just for the Church, but for all – and that all means He dies even for you and me.
Risen from the dead, He presents His Bride to Himself. Holy. Pure. Undefiled. Without spot, blemish, or any such thing. She's glorious!
No blame. No sin. No hanging her out to dry like Adam did. He will have none of that. His bride is pure. She's holy. She's spotless. She's washed – washed in the blood and water flowing from His pierced-side.
The Church's one foundation, is Jesus Christ her Lord. She is His New creation by water and the Word. From heav'n He came and sought her to be His holy Bride. With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died. (LSB 644)
Be that husband for your bride, Landon. Be Christ for her. Love her with the love that went through death for you. Lay down your life for her.
Don't tear her up or find fault with her. She's without sin in Christ. So, let nothing come before her – not your friends, not the Cowboys, not even killing ducks.
You aren't good all by yourself. Lindsay is your bride, the one that the Lord made just for you. She's pure. Holy. Spotless. Washed by water and the Lord's Words. And her beauty will last long past this day ... in Christ, her beauty will last to everlasting life.
And Lindsay, submit to your husband as you do to the Lord. That is, let Landon be Christ for you. Let him be your husband. Let him love you as that delicate vessel you are – putting you before everything else.
Be the Church, receiving from him all that Christ has for you. Let him do everything that He does for you. You before anything else – even His own life. Respect him.
And when he fails, Lindsay. When He's Landon and not Christ, forgive him as God in Christ has forgiven you.
And after this wedding, who could ever doubt God's love for us in Christ Jesus again? Landon, she loves you. We don't know why. Lindsey, he's here. And Christ, He does weddings – loves weddings.
And Christ's forgiveness, life, and salvation will carry each of you, each day until death parts you. “For what God has joined together, let no one put asunder.” INI. Amen.
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