7          PREACHING OF THE WORD

Sermon for Alan and Nam               by Reverend Esmond Dowdy

A marriage is a wonderful occasion, filled with hopes and dreams and expectations. And we, today, are joining in the celebration of your marriage, a celebration of the love you have for each other, as you journey forward in your lives as a married couple.

A marriage requires a lot of preparation, a lot of planning, and a lot of organizing. And in almost 50 years of ministry and conducting marriages, I must say that I have never met anyone who has put more time and effort into the detailed planning of their marriage service than Alan has.

I am thinking that this is because Alan is a retired Associate Professor of Mathematics, with a specialty in Probability Theory. His attention to detail for today is probably because he doesn’t want to leave anything to chance!!

Your journey has been longer than a lot of peoples. You have been together for ten years, but 10 years ago you couldn’t get married. Even one year ago you couldn’t have been married in this church.  But with recent changes to the Laws of Australia, and with the decision of the 2018 Assembly of the Uniting Church, this is now not only possible, but is a cause for celebration. 

We have been part of a heavily gendered society, and I am proud to belong to a church that has addressed this, and has significantly moved in the direction of justice for all, of equality, of love and compassion. The church’s teachings are based on the teachings of Jesus, and I believe that the life and teachings of Jesus are the visible evidence that a better world is possible.

And your marriage today is visible evidence that a better world is possible.

Alan chose the readings for today’s marriage service, all readings that have particular meaning for him, and he has given me quite a task to find common elements and themes in them, some concept that can draw all the readings together. Not surprisingly, there is a strong focus on the theme of love in the readings. So I will highlight one particular thought from each of the readings, and look at the readings through the lens of love.

One of the readings chosen was from the Song of Solomon (chapter 8, verses 6 & 7), a very adventurous choice by Alan. The reading reminds us that true love is as strong as death, that passion can be flashes of fire, even a raging flame. But many waters, even floods cannot quench that true love.

And from the First Letter of John, there is that beautifully put concept that “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” This is the rationale for your marriage today, and for the celebration of this marriage in a service of worship. Those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them. Marriage is between two people who love each other.

And we heard read the Parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke’s Gospel. This parable is prefaced with the greatest priority of a life of faith:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

There is that love theme again, and the parable highlights the fact that love reaches across difference. And there can be no doubt that the love you share today is a love that stretches across a whole range of differences.

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Nam and Alan, as today you begin your life as a married couple, I want to mention that a successful marriage is not just a matter of choosing the right person, but a matter of being the right person for each other, day by day, as your marriage unfolds.

Alan, of all the multitudes of men in the world, you have chosen Nam to be your husband. And Nam, of all the millions of men in the world, you have chosen Alan to be your husband. And the strength of your relationship will be determined by the way you journey together with the husband you have chosen.

And I’d like to think that your marriage journey might be characterised by the fourth reading we heard today, Psalm 121. That Psalm was a song the Hebrew people sang as they made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, their Holy City. The psalm captures the confidence and assurance the pilgrims had as they journeyed to a place of hope, of comfort and of peace. And may that, indeed, be your experience, as you journey together in love for each other, love for God and love for neighbour.

Alan and Nam, let me congratulate you on the love and commitment that you celebrate today, and let me offer you both God’s richest blessings on very many years of happiness and fulfilment in each other.

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This Bible is a presentation Bible, and I present it to you today, that you may receive it with your hands, with your hearts, and with your minds, and live by its principles and its precepts.

May it be for you a reminder of the love and commitment you have celebrated today, and promised to each other, and above all, may it be a reminder to you that its teachings are the visible evidence that a better world is possible.

AMEN