Sermon For Marriage Blessing

Blessed, Clothed, and Kept: A Marriage Under the Grace of God

Friends, we have gathered today because something holy is happening. Two people are making a covenant before God and before witnesses, and that covenant is not a small thing. It is not merely a legal contract or a social custom. It is a sacred bond, woven together by the hand of God, and it calls for the blessing and the wisdom that only God can give. So before we celebrate, before we feast, before the music plays and the dancing begins, we open the Word of God. Because everything that will sustain this marriage, everything that will hold it together when life is hard and lift it higher when life is sweet, is found right here.

We have heard two passages read this morning. The first is ancient, spoken by God himself to Moses for the blessing of his people. The second is a letter written to a young church, teaching them how to live together in the love of Christ. Together, they form a picture of what a marriage shaped by God can look like.

The Blessing That Comes From God

Numbers 6:24-26 reads: "May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace."

These three lines are known as the Aaronic blessing, and they were given to the priests of Israel to speak over the people of God. Notice what the blessing does not promise. It does not promise wealth or ease. It does not promise that no storm will come. What it promises is the presence and the favor of God himself. To be blessed is to be protected. To have God's face shine on you is to receive his grace, his undeserved kindness poured out freely. To have God look on you with favor is to receive shalom, that deep Hebrew word for peace that means wholeness, completeness, nothing broken and nothing missing.

This is the foundation of a Christian marriage. Not a perfect house or a perfect income or a perfect set of circumstances. The foundation is the living God, who sees you, who is gracious toward you, and who gives you his peace. Every other blessing in your life together flows from this one. You can face the unknown future because you are not facing it alone. The Lord who made you, the Lord who brought you to this moment, is the Lord who goes before you.

Clothed In Love

Now Paul writes to the church at Colossae in chapter three, and what he says to that congregation applies with beautiful force to a Christian home. He says in verses 12 through 14: "Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity."

Paul uses the image of clothing. Every morning you get dressed. Every morning you choose what to put on. And Paul says that in the life of a believer, there are virtues that must be deliberately chosen and worn, day after day. Compassion. Kindness. Humility. Gentleness. Patience. These are not feelings that wash over you automatically. They are choices made in dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Notice that Paul grounds every one of these virtues in the grace already received. He does not say, "Put on kindness so that God will love you." He says, "As God's chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on kindness." The love of God comes first. Your identity in Christ comes first. And out of that secure identity, you are free to give generously to one another.

Then Paul adds the hardest and most necessary word: forgiveness. "Bearing with one another and forgiving one another... just as the Lord has forgiven you." There will be days in this marriage when you need to forgive. Not because what happened was small, but because Christ has forgiven you of something far greater. The cross is the model and the power for every act of forgiveness in a Christian home.

Above all of this, Paul says, put on love. Love is the outer garment that holds everything else together. It is not a feeling that comes and goes. It is a covenant commitment, a daily decision to seek the good of the other person even when it costs you something.

A Home Shaped By Christ

Paul continues in verses 15 through 17: "And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule in your hearts. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you... And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Here is a portrait of a Christian home. The peace of Christ ruling in your hearts. The Word of Christ dwelling richly among you. Gratitude rising like a constant song. And everything, every word spoken, every decision made, every ordinary Tuesday and every extraordinary anniversary, done in the name of the Lord Jesus.

This is the home you are being called to build. Not a perfect home, but a Christ-centered one. A home where the Bible is opened and taken seriously. A home where prayer is not a last resort but a first response. A home where guests feel the warmth of Christ when they walk through the door.

The Blessing And The Charge

So to the two of you, here is the charge and the blessing together. May the Lord bless you and protect you. May his face shine on you with grace. May he look on you with favor and give you his peace. Clothe yourselves in compassion and kindness. Forgive one another as Christ has forgiven you. Let his Word dwell richly in your home. And do everything, everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus.

The God who brought you to this altar is faithful. Trust him with your marriage. He will not let you down.

Sources Consulted

Allen, Ronald B. "Numbers." The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Zondervan, 1990.

Moo, Douglas J. The Letter to the Colossians and to Philemon. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Eerdmans, 2008.

Wenham, Gordon J. Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. InterVarsity Press, 1981.

Wright, N. T. Colossians and Philemon. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. InterVarsity Press, 1986.

Milgrom, Jacob. Numbers. The JPS Torah Commentary. Jewish Publication Society, 1990.