“Two Little Words: I Will!” (Genesis 2:24)

S-1123 6/06/09 Pentecost 3B

Texts Genesis 2:18-24; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 1 Corinthians 13

Theme: “Two Little Words: I Will!” (Genesis 2:24)

SOLI DEO GLORIA, Armour, SD

Wedding for Eric DeWaard and Kim Morehouse Parkston, SD

Saints in Christ Eric and Kim, family and friends, in the name of Him who is LOVE Jesus Christ. Amen. Today, we stand in God’s house and in His Presence asking Him to be the honored guest and to bless you as you begin this new chapter in your lives. The text I have chosen for this wonderful celebration is from a man of God—Moses who saw first hand God’s love in action and left us a record to help us in life. Listen to Moses today. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 KJV).

Eric and Kim, I know you have worked hard along with your parents for this special day. Many hours of planning has gone in making this a reality. And we are here today to help you celebrate this special moment. I know from first hand experience that many weddings get done too quickly. But this one will not. It will be done with class and style. It might be a little longer than you thought, but why not spend more time in the Lord’s house, receiving His blessings, made stronger in His Word, rather than on the dance floor. So to those of you, who are gathered here today, relax and give thanks to the Lord for the blessings He gives us in His Word.

Eric and Kim there is an old proverb that says: “Sticks and Stones may break my bone, but words may never hurt me.” That statement is absolutely false. Words hurt. Words harm. Words encourage and discourage. Words build up. Words do matters. Today, by the grace of God you will speak words that matters a lot. Sure they are only two little words, but very important words to guide and guard your hearts, heads and home as you begin on the road we call marriage. And what are these two little words? “I WILL!”

In a few moments, I will ask each of you to answer the second most important question of your lives. Will you Eric take Kim to be your wife…? And you Kim will be asked, “Will you take Eric to be your husband…? And I hope (smile a bit) you will say, “I WILL!”

Two Little Words, but oh what important words. With these Two Little Words, you are telling each other and the world that from this day forward you will be committed to each other. To love, cherish and hold each other dear. From this day forward these Two Little Words, will have a different meaning to you. Kim with these two little words you say to Eric, “I will be your wife to hold you, care for you and love you, and in time bear your children!” These Two Little Word will help you Eric say to, Kim, “Kim, you are the most important woman in the world to me. I will be your husband, cherish you, honor you, protect you, provide for you and in time for our children and make you the happiest woman in the world!” PAUSE.

But know for certain that the devil, the world and your sinful flesh will get in the way of these Two Little Words. You actually are going to be challenged in thinking, did I really say, “I WILL?” Why? What did I see in Him? What did I see in her to say I will? But I WILL is what you say and by God’s grace you will be able to keep saying I WILL for the rest of your lives.

“I WILL” needs the grace of the last Will and testimony gift Jesus gave His bride from His side born of water and blood and love. Jesus gives you grace for your WILL with His WILL—the Love Supper. His gift of His body and blood taken by husband and wife brings you many gifts—forgiveness of sins to move ahead, grace to love, and mercy to be sympathetic to one another’s needs.

An old missionary former Seminary professor, Dr. E.C. Zimmerman had this prayer: “Jesus bend my will in the direction of Your will so that I might learn to truly love.” If you remember Eric and Kim throughout the Pre-marriage counseling sessions we often talked about changing our thinking pattern from “Me” to “We.” When you two say, “I WILL”, you are no longer thinking only of yourselves and what is good for you, you will begin to think of the “We” and what is good for the other.

Now if you paid attention, I read the verse of the sermon from the KJV of Scripture. I had a reason for that. Remember how the text goes: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”,

Now the word cleave can be translated as “united”, “bound”, “joined”, “Marries”, “embraces”. Of course all of these translations will do. However, the Hebrew word is stronger. It literally means to be glued. And it in the Present tense, not in the future but from now on till the day God calls one of you home.

For many leaving and cleaving is only about the physical act of marriage.  While that is important and God-pleasing for the mutual expression of love and the procreation of children, ‘leaving and cleaving’ involves much more than just a physical act.  To begin with, your relationship will be one in which you cleave/be glued to each other if you continue to cleave/be glued to the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation.  That’s what the world does not understand. 

That’s why Paul wrote, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.” “Wives be submissive to your husbands as to the Lord.”  You see, the “glue” that holds a godly marriage together is the Lord, Jesus Christ.  He is the One who “glues and cements” the relationship.  Because 2 sinners are marrying each other.  Without Him and His salvation through the forgiveness of sins, a marriage is built on shifting sand rather than on the Rock who is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the GLUE of the universe. St. Paul says in Colossians 1:17 that by Jesus all things hold together. By Jesus the universe is held together. He is truly the cosmic glue to hold together me and you. Science now reveals that every one of the millions of cells we have in our body are held together by a little invisible protein pieces of matter called laminens. Laminens are those little protein pieces that hold our cells together and they come in the shape of a CROSS—we are held together marriage-wise or otherwise by the Cross. So Jesus holds us together and all things in the universe by these trillions upon trillions of little crosses called laminens. So the glue Jesus holds us together is in the form of an invisible CROSS. That reality is to point us to even a greater reality that the “I will” needs to be held, empowered, enlightened by the message I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

In Jesus’ will is our peace. In Jesus’ will we find the boundaries of God’s love and the boundless love of God.

Saints in Christ Eric and Kim, you will very soon say, those Two Little Words “I WILL”. You have said that because God by His grace WILL GLUE the two of you together with permanent glue, and the two shall become one flesh. In Matthew 19 Jesus says “what God has joined, let man not separate,” so God is the One who has glued you together through your promises of “I WILL” and through their one-flesh union. PAUSE.

There is another proverb that is spoken of in relation to marriage. You actually have it in your bulletin: (ask the congregation to look to the back of the bulletin and read it together) “Something old, something new, something borrowed something blue.” But today, I want to change that phrase to: Something old, something new, something borrowed something Glue!

Well Eric and Kim, you have some of these items already. I, too, have something for you (walk over to the altar and get the doll that is made out of glue bottle)—something new for you—take this bottle of glue and place it in your bedroom where you can see it often and realize that you have been super glued on the hip and on the lip by the loving God Jesus Christ who said, “I WILL MAKE YOU HUSBAND AND WIFE”. Amen.