Wedding of Allison Snyder and Doug White

TEXT: Genesis 2:24

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear Doug and Allison… parents and grandparents… other family members, friends, and fellow saints of Zion congregation…

The text for this service of Holy Matrimony is Moses’ words from Genesis 2. But even more than Moses’ words, these words are the Word of God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth. In this simple phrase, God establishes and ordains marriage. No one should take this away from God and do with it as they please. It is the Father who said, “And the Two shall become One.” I must say, that I thoroughly enjoy the banners that are displayed here in the sanctuary. They beautifully and boldly proclaim this Word of God from Genesis 2
“And the Two shall become one.”

How interesting are the series of events that led to your wedding day, the day of you becoming “one.” The Father had this day planned, and nothing was about to foil God’s plan for the two of you. And while we might be tempted to point to mere coincidence or chance as the reason for this gathering today, I am here to tell you that your wedding day is no luck of the draw or chance meeting. God, the Creator, not only spoke to Adam and Eve on their wedding day and said, “and the two shall become one,” but God is here today and says to you, “Doug and Allison, you two shall become one flesh.”

Becoming one flesh is not something that the two of you have accomplished. The union of man and woman as one flesh in Holy Matrimony is something God does. Society has played havoc with God’s beautiful gift of marriage. This holy institution has been the target of many of the Devil’s schemes. The Devil loves to see God’s holy things made unholy. Doug and Allison, don’t be fooled. This wedding service of Holy Matrimony wherein God Himself joins the two of you as one flesh is something that the Devil hates… and he will do all he can to spoil it. He will provide temptations for you that will cause divisions so that you are no longer one… but two again. And he won’t stop until he’s put asunder what God has joined together.

And while you must be aware of this old evil foe, do not fear him. For remember that even as the Father has joined the two of you together as one flesh, he has already joined each of you to Jesus in that holy sacrament of Baptism. In your Baptism, God made each of you His own dear children. In your baptisms, the Father joined you to Jesus Christ and His innocent sufferings and death. St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” In your baptism the saying is also true, “and the two shall become one flesh” because in baptism you and Jesus became one… for the Scriptures teach us that you are in Christ and Christ is in you.

To be one flesh means simply that you Doug are to be a husband to Allison… and Allison, you are to be a wife to Doug. God has said that it is good for a man to leave his father and mother and be united to his wife. But to leave father and mother does not mean that they are no longer important or should no longer be honored. No, the fourth commandment is as valid and true after marriage as it is before marriage. In marriage, you will find your parents an invaluable blessing from God in new and different ways.

To be one as husband and wife means that you are to make each other your top priority. To be one in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for the mutual help, and support that each of you ought to receive from the other through thick and through thin, to laugh with one another and to cry together. To be one means that in your married life you will find delight in one another… to enjoy each others interests. To be one means to enjoy the blessings of children and to raise them up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord.

Most importantly, to be one is to remain in Christ Jesus, your Savior. And to remain in Him simply means that you regularly participate in the profoundly good blessings that God gives to you in Word and Sacrament. As husband and wife, sincerely hold fast to the old adage to “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the Word of God. Hold fast to the salvation which is yours in Baptism and make it a regular habit to receive the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

In this way, God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the Sanctifier will ever keep you two as one from this day forward and through out you married life.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.