Wedding homily for the marriage of Jack Allen and Heather Kelly

Genesis 2:14-18

18 Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ ¹⁹So out of the ground the LordGod formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man^* there was not found a helper as his partner.²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said,
‘This at last is bone of my bones
   and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,^*
   for out of Man^* this one was taken.’
²⁴Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

This is a familiar story, and yet it's a strange one, a story about divine surgery, complete with holy anesthesia.

It's a story about the nature of covenant.  It reminds us that this wedding today is not a show. It's not about the flowers, or the pictures, or the programs, the dresses, the music, or even about the bride.  You are not the audience.

Today we have gathered in the house of God in God's presence.  As is always the case when we gather for worship, God is the audience.

Our response the the glory of God, the proclamation of God's Word, and, most importantly, God's faithfulness, is to form a covenant.

A covenant is a kind of promise.  It's a promise beyond a promise, a promise that binds those who make a promise together and makes something new.

Today, Heather is making a promise to Jack.  Jack is making a promise to Heather.  Heather and Jack are making a promise to God.  Most importantly, God is making a promise to Jack and Heather.  God is binding Himself to them.  He is faithful, and God will surely be true to His promise.  This is why Dietrich Bonheoffer once said in a wedding homily that we often say to couples that their love will hold their marriage together, while the exact opposite is true.  Because your marriage is a covenant and because God has promised to be with you always, your marriage will hold your love together even when it waxes and wanes.

The image we have in our text of a rib being taken from the man to make the woman is an image of covenant.  It's an image that reminds you that because you are in covenant with each other, you are part of each other.  It's an image not unlike that of the Church as the Body of Christ--because we, the Church, are in covenant with God and each other, we are part of each other and belong to each other.

That means that from today on, each of your joys will be the other's joys.  Each of your hurts will be the other's hurts.  Your dreams have become each other's dreams.  Your children, your choices, your money will always be shared.  Nothing good can happen to one of you without the other being blessed.  Nothing bad can happen to one of you without the other hurting.

So be always be good to one another, because in being good to each other you will also be blessed.

And know that you are not alone.  Your life together is a new thing and your life has become different. And God is with you in your life together.

Just as God's presence is here in this place of worship, God's presence will always be with you, and you will never be alone.