The Second Sunday after Epiphany January 17, A+D 2021
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God and before His Church to witness a union... a marriage. Or better to say to reflect on a marriage, actually a number of “marriages.” And perhaps along the way we will ask ourselves the question: “What have we gotten ourselves into?”
First we have the marriage of an unnamed couple in Cana, a small village in Galilee, on the edge of the Holy Land, out in the sticks. This couple, friends of the family of Mary and Jesus, receive an unexpected wedding gift from the Son of God: plenty, abundance, to fill and overfill their lack, an undeserved source of prestige and joy, the very best wine, dripping down from heavenly mountains, to gladden their wedding festivities. This unexpected gift is delivered just at the moment that their lack of planning, or lack of resources, was going to bring embarrassment, and probably cut the party short.
I preached this text at my son’s wedding, and we reflected on the great blessings that can result when we invite Jesus Christ into our marriages, how His presence not only strengthens and protects the holy bond between husband and wife, but also brings joy, even in the midst of struggles. A cord of three strands is not easily broken (Eccl. 4:12), especially when the third strand of a Christian marriage is the Savior binding the man and the woman together, even when their own affections and attractions begin to weaken. There is no other institution like God´s gift of marriage. Marriage is marriage, instituted by God, the union of a man and a woman, for mutual support, for joy in the midst of sorrows, and for, of course, the gift of children, when God grants this precious fruitfulness. Marriage is what God says it is, and this fact especially needs to be proclaimed today, in a world gone mad, insisting on redefining marriage until it means the opposite of what God intends. God grant that all of us, married and unmarried, grow to understand, appreciate, protect and promote the tremendous gift that is Christian marriage.
Our 2nd marriage to consider is fresher in our minds, and most pertinent to this day, as I preach my first Sunday sermon as your newly installed pastor. I am referring to the “marriage” between pastor and congregation... Now of course, strictly speaking, the relationship between a pastor and his congregation is not a marriage. Marriage is marriage.
Pastor and people together is ... well, how do we understand the relationship between a duly ordained and installed Christian pastor and the particular body of believers he has been called to serve? It too is unique among all relationships, and it has been said to be more similar to a marriage than to any other union.
Our Lord clearly teaches the uniqueness of pastor and people together. Even though for the purposes of the IRS I am more or less considered an employee of the congregation, this is only an accommodation we make to Caesar in order that he get his taxes. Fair enough, or not, depending on your view. But Jesus, most especially in John chapter 10, is very blunt: Faithful Christian pastors are not hirelings, they are not mere employees, who run away at the first sign of adversity. The undershepherd of Christ is to love his flock, and sacrifice himself for her, putting himself between God’s people and the wolves, if need be. Nor is the pastor to be in it for the money, but rather for the love of Christ and His Church.
Likewise, the congregation is not the boss of the pastor, ready to fire this one and hire a new one should the relationship get rocky. The pastor’s ministry is to be faithful to the doctrine of Christ, and the congregation is to listen, support and pray for their pastor, especially when problems arise.
At the same time, the pastor is not lord over the congregation, like some petty autocrat, ordering the members around for his own pleasure and benefit. As in marriage, so also in the relationship between pastor and people: both the pastor and the congregation are called by God to be all in, committed to holding up their side of the relationship, even if the other is struggling to meet their obligations.
The pastor is not a dictator, but he is certainly called to be a leader, called to teach and preach, lead worship, and maintain doctrine, and so also called to reprove error and sin, for the sake of correction and forgiveness. Clearly, the pastor has been given an authority to exercise, but not in the way that we sinful humans always tend to exercise authority. Now, simply speaking the Law and Gospel of Christ can come across as harsh. Very well, salvation requires that we speak God’s Law and Gospel. But the pastor should not use vindictive words, nor insult, nor nurse personal grudges. The pastor is to speak the Truth in love, and bear burdens, and serve. It is as Jesus said to the 12: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:42-44)
The authority the pastor exercises in the Name of Jesus is not his own, but has been granted by God to the entire Church. The pastor is charged to be the public mouthpiece, the public spokesman, and the first source of council when questions arise. To prepare, the pastor is set aside and given time to devote to prayer and the study of God’s Word. The members also share stock in this delegated divine authority. They are to listen intently to what the pastor proclaims and teaches, not only for their own benefit, but also to discern that the teaching continues to be faithful. I pray that the day does not come, but knowing my own sinful flesh, I cannot say it never will. So, if and when I preach and teach error, the first line of defense for correcting that error and returning my ministry to the faithful path is you. I pray the Holy Spirit grants you the wisdom and courage to fulfill this calling.
As in a godly marriage, both parties in the union between pastor and congregation are to be all in, 100% committed, each accepting and fulfilling their respective roles, even when it gets difficult... Preach the Law and the Gospel... Serve and give sacrificially... Put the best construction on everything, but don’t put up with false teaching or sinful living.... As I was asked last Sunday evening: Will you faithfully instruct both young and old in the chief articles of Christian doctrine, will you forgive the sins of those who repent, and will you promise never to divulge the sins confessed to you? Will you minister faithfully to the sick and dying, and will you demonstrate to the Church a constant and ready ministry centered in the Gospel? Will you admonish and encourage the people to a lively confidence in Christ and in holy living?
Yes, I promised, I will with the help of God.
And as you promised in my call documents: We the baptized people of God obligate ourselves to receive Pastor Warner as a servant of Jesus Christ, to give him the honor and love and obedience that the Word prescribes, to aid him by word and deed, to support him with diligent, faithful assistance and prayers, to work with him to glorify God and extend His kingdom by living out our baptisms...
What have we gotten ourselves into? As those of you who have been married may have asked yourselves some time after your honeymoon, when the bloom came off the rose of marital bliss, “Can I really do this?” “Is keeping the vows and fulfilling the Lord’s plan for this relationship even a possibility?” These are hard questions for husbands and wives, and also for pastor and people: ¨Can we really make this work? Can I really do my part?”
Sad to say, for you, and for me, the answer is “No.”
We are not sufficient for the divine callings that we have been placed into.
Sinful women, and that’s all of you, you do not naturally like the Word which calls you to submit to your husband, because your husbands are not without sin, they are not perfect servant leaders. Submission in this world always seems to bring unjust suffering. This is not Godly submission, for with God, leaders are wise and serve sacrificially.
Weak and sinful men, and that’s all of you, you do not naturally thrill to the idea of giving yourselves up for your wives, sacrificing yourselves, even unto death, in order to serve the good of your wives. But that is the call of your Lord.
Similar challenges apply to congregations and pastors. And you and I are not sufficient to the task. We are sure to make a mess of things.
Thanks be to God, there is a 3rd marriage for us to consider this morning, the highest marriage, the eternal marriage that gives hope to our struggling relationships, and even to us in broken relationships here on this sinful earth. Indeed, there is another marriage, a joyous and foolproof union for us to celebrate, a mysterious union that is renewed again here today, through the power of forgiveness. For as Paul declares at the end of our epistle, all this talk of marital commitment and submission and service and self-sacrifice is fundamentally about Christ, and what He has done and continues to do for His Bride, the Church.
There is no eternal salvation in being married, or in being single, nor in being a good congregation or a good pastor. But they all point us too and help us understand the love that Christ the Bridegroom has for us, His Bride, the Church, for whom He shed His blood, in order to present us to His Father, dressed in the sinless white gown of His Righteousness.
The key to making a Christian marriage, or the union of a pastor and congregation work is the blood of Christ. His forgiving grace, His Word of pardon and peace, is the cement that holds the union together, it is the salve that heals our wounds and turns mourning into dancing, the powerful love that turns wash water into the very best wine. Christ’s divine presence gives joy to the marriage of a man and a woman, and to the life of pastor and people together. All this is true and sure because the miraculous, self-sacrificing submission and service, to which we have all been called, is already complete.
It is finished, 2000 years ago on a hill outside Jerusalem. And because it is finished, we live from the limitless supply of God’s wine of celebration, we are honored guests at the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end.
The purpose of a Christian marriage is to bless people, to bless you, and to grow God’s family. The purpose of pastor and people together is to bless people, to bless you, and also those outside this fellowship for whom also Christ gave Himself, that they might be added to God’s family.
So, my dear married couples, and also you who will marry some day, you are free to commit 100% to your marriage, despite the imperfections of your spouse, because Christ who is with you can and will reform and renew what is lacking in the two of you, with His forgiving love. And so also, my dear congregation, I can commit 100% to you, and you can commit 100% to me, not because we are such impressive Christians, but rather because Jesus is truly the impressive Christ, whose blood washes away all our sin, and gives us a fresh start, day after day, until He returns.
Because Christ and His Spirit are with us, we can live in this mysterious union, pastor and people together, speaking and praying and meditating on the Truth that is Christ for us. And we can, despite our imperfections, invite other sinners to come and buy bread and the very best wine, without cost.
We will struggle. We will make mistakes. But our sins and weaknesses are not greater than the holiness and strength of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. In Him, we are already seated at the right hand of majesty. In Christ, we are, right now, citizens of heaven, and so we are free to love our neighbors, and to confess Jesus’ Name, while we await our final call home.
In this promise there is joy, and true peace, the peace which passes all understanding, which will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, unto life everlasting, Amen.
