“But concerning that day and hour no one knows … As it were in the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.”

And God’s Word gives us accounts of marriage as the sign and symbol of Christ’s love for the Church. Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance and Jacob loved her. A deal was hashed out with Rachel’s father Laban that Jacob work seven years that he may then take her hand in marriage. Jacob served the seven years for Rachel’s hand.

The years of Jacob’s hard labor passed by as if only a few days because of the love he had for her. Then, when the time was up, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me Rachel as my wife that I may be with her.” But Jacob did not receive Rachel, rather he received Leah instead. It was another 7 years of labor until Jacob received Rachel as his wife. Yet, the greater reality told in this historic event is that the Lord is the Bridegroom who awaits eagerly the consummation of marriage with His Bride the Church.

And so we also cry out to our Lord, “How long? Wilt Thou be angry forever? Shall Thy jealousy burn like fire? Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation … My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.”

Our Lord, the Bridegroom is a refuge for us. And other accounts of marriage in the Scriptures provide further insight into the Savior’s love for us. In the days of the divided Kingdom in the Old Testament, the Lord commanded a graphic reality for the life of Hosea.

“’Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.’ So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.” In the marriage of Hosea, a greater reality is told in this historic event: Christ, the Bridegroom pursues His bride, the Church, even though she is unfaithful to Him. Our Lord is the Husband who is lied to, cheated on, and sinned against, yet He continues to love and care for you.

And His love cannot be separated from you, no matter your sin and rebellion against Him: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Christ’s fidelity is unmatched for you.

The Church receives life from Christ, who gives her His own life. She is bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. The Church is the Body of our Lord, and our Lord is the Head. He loves her, His own flesh, and so nourishes and cherishes her.

“In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” This Church ever receives the Lord who longs to give. The Savior was incarnate for her, kept the law for her, died and rose for her, and constantly intercedes for her.

You are always on the receiving end even as “[God] calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.” The Church is the bride who receives the love of her Husband, not once, not twice, but everlastingly. The Church is filled with His fullness and her body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord’s imperishable seed impregnates the Church. And therefore “… you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” Every Christian is born from Mother Church through the Word of God.

This Word of God, accompanied or unaccompanied by music is the essence of our salvation. Our music of Lutheran hymnody is often moving to people and creates an atmosphere of worship toward the Lamb of God who takes away our sin. Such emotional responses, however, are not the purpose of our Church’s song. While progressive Protestant denominations sing what they feel, Lutherans sing what they believe.

And today on the last Sunday of the church year, we welcome our new members; you have made it just in the nick of time. You enter into the marriage feast with The Bridegroom right before the end. Welcome into the full benefits of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb and His Kingdom with shall have no end. For you receive the same blessings of salvation, even if you have entered at this last hour.

“This kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.'

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.”

The Gift of God’s mercy is the same for those who have persevered as Christians for decades and those who have entered into the feast at this last hour. Until the Bridegroom comes again, it’s not too late, the door is still opened.

In our pilgrimage through this transitory life of doubts and fears before the coming of the Bridegroom, we have our lamps stocked with oil, even in this place. In our church our Lord gives the richest abundance of His oil, that is to say, He gives us the wealth of His spoken and living Word. He gives the prosperity of His sacraments.

And these are gifts of which we can never have too much; our vessels can never be too full. What’s more, we desire them as we receive them more frequently and more often. God’s forgiveness gives eternal life more than we can ever wish or know on earth.

And there is one final marriage of which I will speak. The very first marriage: from Adam’s side was formed the life of his wife, and Eve was made his. She was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Adam fell into a deep sleep and from his side new life sprang.

So also with the Second Adam, even Christ the Lord, life springs from His side and His church is formed. Christ fell into the sleep of death on the cross. Then from His side flowed water and blood –the very life of the Church. With water He cleans you in Holy Baptism. With Blood He makes clean your lips. Christ gives life to his bride the Church.

The Bridegroom’s coming is here. Come now to meet Him, you Redeemed of the Lord. Amen.

The Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

✠BJF✠