and allow us to live together to a happy old age.”
Tobiah’s prayer, uttered back in the 8th century BC,
gives voice to what I suppose every couple wants:
a long and happy life together.
And, like every couple,
Tobiah and his new wife Sarah,
had obstacles to overcome.
Well… maybe their obstacles
were not exactly like every couple.
Sarah was hounded by a demon named Asmodeus,
who had killed her seven previous husbands
on their wedding night.
She prayed to God to die,
but God in his love had a better plan,
and sent the angel Raphael
to make sure that she met Tobiah,
whom she married immediately.
Sarah’s parents delayed the wedding feast
until the next day,
since they suspect that Tobiah would meet
the same fate as her previous husbands;
in fact, they went ahead and dug a grave for him.
But that night, instructed by the angel,
Tobiah drove away the demon
by burning a fish’s heart and liver,
which created a stench so bad
that Asmodeus fled
(and who can blame him).
were not exactly like every couple.
Sarah was hounded by a demon named Asmodeus,
who had killed her seven previous husbands
on their wedding night.
She prayed to God to die,
but God in his love had a better plan,
and sent the angel Raphael
to make sure that she met Tobiah,
whom she married immediately.
Sarah’s parents delayed the wedding feast
until the next day,
since they suspect that Tobiah would meet
the same fate as her previous husbands;
in fact, they went ahead and dug a grave for him.
But that night, instructed by the angel,
Tobiah drove away the demon
by burning a fish’s heart and liver,
which created a stench so bad
that Asmodeus fled
(and who can blame him).
I know Karlie and Mason
have faced some challenges
getting to this day,
but I’m hoping they didn’t involve
husband-murdering demons.
Also, I believe Mason and Karlie
met via a dating app,
not through the intervention of an angel.
Still, I am confident that God has had a hand
in bringing them together
no less than he did
in the case of Tobiah and Sarah.
And I believe that God
will answer their prayer
for a long and happy life together
no less than he answered the prayer
of Tobiah and Sarah.
And it probably won’t involve
burning a fish’s heart and liver.
But it will involve work on their part.
The key to this work is summed up
in our reading from the first letter of John:
“Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.”
Of course, words of love are important,
but the words ring hollow
without deeds of love.
And in marriage these deeds of love
are many and varied:
each day brings an opportunity
to show your love for each other:
grand romantic gestures,
but also mundane things
like taking out the garbage
or watching some television show
that you hate but know
the other one loves.
In the vows that they will take
in just a few minutes,
Mason and Karlie will promise
to be faithful to each other
in good times and in bad.
These vows have
a bracing realism to them.
As beautiful as it is,
this event we celebrate today is not
some sugar-coated fantasy.
In their promises today,
Karlie and Mason acknowledge
that there will be both good times and bad—
perhaps not husband-murdering-demon bad,but bad times all the same.
Despite this realism,
this wedding is a joyous
and a hope-filled event,
because God is here,
the God who is greater than our hearts
and knows everything.
Mason and Karlie,
your deeds of love will carry you
through good times and bad,
because in those deeds God will be at work,
the God who loves you in your love for each other
with a love that surpasses all human love.
Lean on that love.
Find ways to grow together in that love,
for the love of God will make you one flesh,
that no human power can separate.
May God bless your love,
and through your love bring blessings
to your family, your friends,
and all whom you meet.
