Tying the Knot

It's official...Andrew and Britt are married! I was honored to be a part of their big day. Everything in the ceremony - the vows, the exchange of rings, the music - centered on the person and work of Christ. Erik Thoennes officiated, and offered a sterling exposition of Philippians 2:1-11 and its implications for marriage. Weddings are good for the soul. They remind those married what they've entered into, and what God demands of them. Dr. Thoennes admonished Andrew with the following words, and they hit me like a Buick in the chest.

Do you want your wife to be obedient to you, as the Church is to Christ? Then be responsible for the same providential care of her, as Christ is for the Church. And even if it becomes necessary for you to give your life for her, yes, and even to endure and undergo suffering of any kind, do not refuse. Even though you undergo all of this, you will never have done anything equal to what Christ has done. You are sacrificing yourself for someone to whom you are already joined, but He offered Himself up for one who turned her back on Him and hated Him. In the same way, then, as He honored her by putting at His feet one who turned her back on Him, who hated, rejected, and disdained Him, as He accomplished this not with threats, or violence, or terror, or anything else like that, but through His untiring love; so also you should behave towards your wife.

From St. John Chrysostom, “On Marriage and Family Life” Homily 20

I thank God for Andrew and Britt. They are Christ-like people, and thus I'm confident that their marriage will magnify Christ. May those of us who are married strive for no less.