Listen to those words again, because they have a very important meaning for you. And I don't mean just for this day. For these are words important to you, John, since February 15, 1975, and you, Jane, since December 12, 1983. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Yes, these words were first spoken over you when you were drowned—as was heard-hearted Pharaoh; as was the world, spare Noah and his family—and as you were brought back to life; when you were brought back to newness of life. They were spoken over you in the waters of Holy Baptism, when you were converted from enemy of God to His precious and most beloved child. They marked your entrance into and beginning in His Kingdom.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. And these words are spoken over you time and time again. As the called ministers of Christ work in His stead to forgive you of your sins, they speak these words as a clear indication and reminder of the day of your Baptism where you first received the forgiveness of your sins.

And it must be noted, you gave your Lord and Savior—your God—no reason to be so gracious. To be gracious is in His nature, for His nature is love. He desires to save you and forgive you, and so He did when you were Baptized and clothed in a robe washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, and He continues to do so through His pastors as they speak God's forgiveness over you.

It was and is at those times that God placed His name on you, John, and you, Jane. And where He places His name, He also dwells, and He would not have you forget that. God has joined Himself to you, and does not want to be separated from you.

Now, that brings us to today, September Twenty-Fourth, Two Thousand Five. Those words are spoken again, today—In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit—a day on which you are fulfilling what is spoken in Scripture, as it says in all three lessons that were read today: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." You are standing here before the altar of God where you will pledge to each other that you are leaving your parents and will hold fast to each other. You will agree to this intent and speak vows to that effect—hear these words: "Will you love, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health and, forsaking all others, remain united to her alone, as long as you both shall live?" and "These things I promise you: I will be faithful to you and honest with you; I will respect, trust, help, and care for you; I will share my life with you; I will forgive you as we have been forgiven; and I will try with you better to understand ourselves, the world, and God; through the best and the worst of what is to come as long as we live." You see, mother and father are not mentioned there (that's not to say you can no longer consider them or should no longer honor them). This is now your life, your family, the two of you becoming one.

But what was not said in Genesis or Ephesians or by St. Mark is perhaps best visualized in the words of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes: "A threefold cord is not quickly broken." Fear not, dear redeemed children of God, for the two of you are not entering into this union alone. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. As your life began in the Kingdom of God, so your marriage begins; God is placing His name on your marriage, and blessing it with His presence. And as He does not wish to be separated from the both of you as His children, so He does not wish to be separated from your marriage, nor will He abandon it.

What great comfort this is for us. For the two of you as you enter Christian marriage and for each of us who have received His name on our marriages, it is a comfort that God remains the chief and integral part of our marriages.

For, just as we did not invite His grace into our lives, so we did not institute this noble and holy estate. As a result, we have a hard time keeping it noble and holy. It will be difficult to forsake others and remain united to each other, in thought, word, and deed. It will be difficult to be faithful and honest with each other, to respect, trust, help, and care for each other. Your eyes will wander, you will hate each other at times, and you will curse each other—the day they were born, even this day. You will break your vows to each other—you will sin against each other. And when you sin against each other, having broken these vows made at God's altar, you sin against God—you no longer hallow His name placed on your marriage.

But your marriage is a threefold cord, and your God is the integral strand. Therefore, hear these words again, and remember the day they were first spoken over you: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Hear these words again, and recall how they are continually spoken over you in the Divine Service: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Remember that it was with these words that the water became Holy Baptism, "a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit." Recall that it is with these words that your sins are forgiven by the called ministers of Christ in Holy Absolution, and "this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself." So, now you enter into marriage under these words, forgiven and set free to serve, honor, cherish, and love one another. You are set free in those weak and sinful moments to approach each other in repentance, and you are set free, then, to forgive each other in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in doing so, every evil plan and purpose of the devil is broken and hindered; that is, God's will is done, and His name is hallowed.

John and Jane, that is our prayer and wish for you. We wish you joy, peace, and happiness in Christ, into whose name you are being joined and with whom you are being joined. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. He is joining the three of you together. "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."