Saturday, June 30, 2012

WEAK-KNEED MARRIAGE PARTNERS


I’ve performed hundreds of weddings since my ordination to the gospel ministry in 1973. The numbers have increased dramatically over the last five years as I’ve turned more attention to working with young couples and bringing them to the point of “I do.”  It’s hard work and lots of fun.

At the wedding this afternoon one of the groomsmen felt woozy right after the service started and his comrades had to guide him to the nearest pew for rehab.  He was fine; even rejoining the others later up front and marching in the recessional.  It struck me that a similar “falling out” has occurred two other times during the last year when not one had happened in the 39 years before.

It’s always the guys; the big strong guys.  We could conjecture on the cause:  locking the knees, the heat, one too many adult beverages, drop in blood pressure, extreme nerves, testosterone gone awry. Who knows? 

It’s true marriage will leave you weak in the knees.  Sometimes it’ll drop you to the ground and if you’re not careful, leave you there.  You may not realize that until you walk down the long aisle and join your forever partner in the front of the church before your family, friends, and the Lord God. Or you may realize it much later.

The sermon today at the wedding spoke of the lesser graces so important in building a great marriage.  Working off of Colossians 3:12-17 we celebrated humility, forgiveness, and thanksgiving, three vital building blocks.  They seem so weak, so passive. Yet they are the qualities that make the weak strong. In marriage they, when practiced regularly and adeptly, strengthen a faithful couple beyond imagination.


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