Love does not really make sense, does it? Back in 1948 I was up to my neck in my struggle to get a theological education so that I could be ordained to the ministry. Seminary studies were not easy for me. Studying Greek, Hebrew, church history, theology, homiletics and all the other required courses was responsibility enough. But to top it all I fell in love, fell in love with a classmate who was just as deeply involved in her preparation for a degree in Christian Education, while working to help pay her way. Margaret Olson (known now as MOM) certainly did not need extra responsibility, but she seemed to fall in love about the same time that I did. No, it didn't make sense! Common sense said that we should each complete our goals in preparation for our life's work and then think about falling in love and marriage. That would make sense, wouldn't it? But no, love could not wait. So, a year later Margaret had given up her educational goal and taken on the new responsibility of being a wife to a man who still had a year to go in Seminary while serving a church on Sundays and conducting funerals during the week.
To top it all we couldn't wait to have a baby until we were settled in our first parish. No, she had to struggle with a very difficult pregnancy and giving birth to our first son soon after I was ordained the next summer.
No, love does not make sense. Yet we fell in love and over 61 years later we are still glad we did. How does a love last for over 61 years or for a life-time? To last it must be founded on a firm foundation. It cannot be founded on sexual attraction alone. I believe that it must be founded on love that goes far beyond sexual attraction. Lasting love grows out of a common commitment to God and each other. I am sure that Margaret and I would have never made it if we had not had a common faith in God on which to build, a conviction that God had a plan and we were a part of that plan. Just as God had called us to be his faithful children he had called us to be a team in ministry and in bearing and raising children and in enjoying each other, our children, our grandchildren, our great-granddaughter and other members of our family, our friends, and our church.
I want to tell young couples entering into marriage that unless their marriage is built on faith in God as well as faith in each other, the chances of success are not very good.
As we grow older the newness and sparkle of the married relationship may fade at times, but the bonds of love continue to grow stronger. As we experience the boundless love of our loved ones, we catch a glimpse of the boundless love of God who never gives up on us.
In August of 1949 Margaret and I heard these words read by a beloved minister friend, the Rev. Jimmy Aiken:
“Dearly beloved, we are assembled here in the presence of God to join this man and this
woman in holy marriage; which is instituted by God, regulated by his commandments, blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be held in honor among all men. Let us reverently remember that God has established and sanctified marriage, for the welfare and happiness of mankind. Our Savior has declared that a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife. By his apostles he has instructed those who enter this relationship to cherish a mutual esteem and love; to bear with each others' infirmities and weaknesses; to comfort each other in sickness, trouble, and sorrow; to provide for each other and for their household in temporal things; to pray for and encourage each other in the things which pertain to God and to live together as the heirs of the grace of life,”
As I meditate upon these words, I remember that many years ago I promised, made a covenant, before God, family, friends and many witnesses that I would be a loving and faithful husband, “in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live,” I am overcome with a sense of humility and amazement at what it means to be forgiven time and again. How often I have failed and broken this covenant of love! How amazed I am at the forgiving spirit of my dearest loved one!
Well, that pretty well describes the Christian faith. God entered into a covenant with Israel that He would be their God and bless them and bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ He has promised to be our God and He has laid upon our shoulders the responsibility to be faithful to Him. Yet, how many times have we failed Him and how many times has He heard our confession, forgiven us and remained faithful to us!
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