2
December 2009
St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Advent 1
Midweek Vienna, VA
“A Royal Wedding: The Betrothal”
Text: Genesis 3:14-15; Like 1:26-35; Ephesians 5:25-32
The
Scriptures use the image of a Bridegroom and bride to give us a picture of the
relationship of God in Christ to us, the church. That’s remarkable. To
think that God wants that kind of relationship with us. So intimate, so close, so personal. The union of a man and a
woman as one flesh is as close and united as two persons can be, and this is how God wants to be with you and me. He doesn’t want to be a God far away, or
unapproachable, or unknowable, but a God who promises to be with us for
better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love
and to cherish, in a union that not even death can part. That’s remarkable, to have such a God.
It’s even more remarkable when you
consider when God made this promise to us, when He betrothed us. For that’s how marriages start - with an
engagement, a betrothal, a promise made by a man and a woman that soon we will
be married. Betrothals used to be much more serious matters than
engagements are today. Today, it seems as if engagements are more like stating
a wish than making a promise. But it was not always so. Until modern times,
betrothals were as legally binding as marriage. It was truly a promise made,
which the marriage completed.
So when
did God make such a promise to us? You heard it again tonight - it was right
after Adam and Eve fell into sin; right after they turned their backs to God;
right after they decided the word of satan
was more trustworthy than the Word of God; right after they became dirty,
rotten, smelly, stinkin’ flesh. It was when Adam and Eve were at their most
undesirable, that God pledged them His faithfulness. He did not reject
them, but promised that He was with them, on their side. He promised to undo
what they had done; namely, that one of the descendants of Eve - the
offspring of the woman - would come and bruise satan’s head. And so, in love,
God betroths Himself not to a beautiful, pure bride, but to a sinful, impure
bride.
Now, the
words of God’s
promise here are important, and help us see the marriage imagery here. For
here, God calls the one who would come and bruise satan’s head her offspring.
Hers, and hers alone. There is no mention of “his” offspring here. His mother would be a woman, but he would
have no earthly father. A situation to which one would ask: How can this be?
Which was Mary’s very question when the angel Gabriel
came to her and told her that she was going to be a mother. How could she
be a mother when there was no he? And Gabriel answers: God will be his
Father. He will be both the Son of God and a son of man. God and man united in
one flesh.
And so
God’s
promise in the Garden to Adam and Eve really was a betrothal - a promise that
soon there would be a marriage, a uniting. That the division between God and
man, caused by sin, would be overcome, and God and man would be one. And this
promise was fulfilled at Christmas, when in Jesus, God and man become one
flesh, and when the one flesh God-man bruises the serpent’s head by ascending the cross to
atone for the sin of the world. That in Him, the sin that
separates may separate no more. That in Him, we be reconciled to God in
the forgiveness of our sins.
And no bridesmaid are you in all this - for to you also God has
pledged His faithfulness and joined you to Himself. Where? When? Well, when
just like Adam and Eve, you too were at your most undesirable; when you were at
your dirty, rotten, smelly, stinkin’est moment - God
did not reject you, He baptized you. He washed you in water and the Word. For
to do so, Paul told us tonight in Ephesians, is why Christ has come. For you were foul and wretched and dead in your trespasses and sin,
until your Saviour took you to Himself and made you
one with Him. One flesh, that your sins be forgiven. One flesh, that the
separation between you and God be overcome. One flesh, that you be His in a
union that death can never end. For joined to Him, all that is His is now
yours. His life, His salvation, His victory over sin, death, and the devil -
all are yours in Him.
For as a
husband and wife give themselves completely to one another, so has your Saviour given Himself completely
to you. Even though you had nothing to give to Him.
St. Paul calls that a mystery. And indeed it is.
But what
Christ has also done is unite us to each other. For Jesus is no polygamist! We
are not a whole bunch of brides, but one bride, the church. And so united in
Christ, we are also united to one another, to give ourselves completely to one
another. And reconciled to Christ, we are reconciled to one another, to forgive
one another. That there be no yours and mine, nor aloneness in joy or in
sorrow, but all that’s His be
ours, as we live as His bride in this place.
And when
we fail to live as His bride - when we roll around in the slime pit of sin,
when selfishness gets the better of us, when we follow in the footsteps of our
first parents and consider the words of satan and the
world more trustworthy than the Word of God - what then? Divorce?
No. Though we be unfaithful, our Bridegroom remains
faithful. He will not deny us the forgiveness we need, and rejoices to welcome
us back. So great, so remarkable His love. That what
God has joined together, let no man separate. (Matt 19:6)
And so
to this Royal Wedding, you have not only been invited, you are the guest of
honor. The Bride, in royal splendor. And do not let
the fact that you, me, or our church, do not look very splendid fool you.
Things are not what they appear - things are what God calls them. And to you He
has given His promise and has betrothed you to Himself. What we are will one
day be made known (1 John 3:2). Until then, we cling to His promise, living by faith, not
by sight. Waiting and preparing for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb in His
kingdom, which will have no end.
In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.