Sermon -- 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (January 19, 2025)

ISAIAH 62:1-5

THE LORD DELIGHTS IN A BLESSED UNION.

In the name + of Jesus.

     The first miracle of Jesus was done at a wedding feast where he changed water into wine so that the feast could continue.  We might argue that there were matters far more urgent to account for Jesus’ first miracle.  Jesus could have cured lepers or restored the limbs of the paralyzed.  Jesus could have restored sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf.  What if Jesus’ first miracle was to drive a demon out of one who had been possessed?  What a statement that would have made!  And yet, Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding banquet.  This begs the question: Why there?

     Perhaps the best reason is because of a theme that repeats itself throughout the Bible.  That theme is the blessed union between a husband and a wife.  The Bible begins with a wedding in the first chapters.  God had established this blessed union in the Garden of Eden, and called it very good.  It was not a reaction to sin entering the world, as if God said, “I had better come up with some arrangement so that people won’t behave like animals in heat.”  Rather, the Lord saw marriage as a godly arrangement which benefits both the man and the woman.  Each would be bound to the other, serve each other, and uplift each other.  Their sexual impulses would be fulfilled exclusively with one another.  The marriage bond would grow stronger as they built their lives together.  As God blessed them with children, they would raise them in a godly home.  This is what God calls very good.  It is still God’s plan, and it is still very good.  The Lord delights in a blessed union.

     The blessed union of man and wife finds his greatest fulfillment in the union of Jesus Christ and his Church.  Our Lord Jesus Christ binds himself to his Church.  He exalts her and provides her with good things.  The Church, in turn, honors and serves the Lord with loving obedience.  The Lord is faithful to his Church, and he looks for his Church to be faithful to him.  The Lord delights in this blessed union.

     But faithfulness is a two-way street.  Throughout the Old Testament, God’s chosen people were not faithful to him.  They turned to other suitors to find their happiness.  When there was a drought, they turned to Canaanite fertility gods and adopted their perverse worship.  At other times, they were enamored with nations which were powerful and rich.  They sought happiness and fulfillment through allegiance to godless kings.  The people were ruled by their belly, their purse, and their lust.  They violated the sacred union they had with the Lord.

     The Lord sent prophets, again and again, to woo his people back to him.  Eventually, the prophets declared a bitter divorce between God and his people.  They would be dragged into captivity, ironically, by the very nations they chased after.  The northern tribes of Israel were enamored with the Assyrians.  They came to Israel not to love them, but to conquer, to kill, and to drag them into exile.  The southern tribes did not learn the lesson.  Later, the Babylonians with whom they were enamored came to kill, to conquer, and to drag them into exile.  The people were abandoned.  The land was desolate.  The people, the nations, and the gods who were supposed to make them happy abused and failed them.  Trying to gratify their belly, their purse, and their lust left them empty.  The blessed union had been broken because Israel was not faithful to the Lord or to his word. 

     The Lord looks for faithfulness from his people.  But whenever we sin against God’s word, we prove ourselves unfaithful.  We chase after other things to make us happy.  We, too, are ruled by our belly, our purse, and our lust.  We, too, run after what we think will satisfy us more than God can.  This is true in all things, but it is especially common in regard to marriage and the marriage bed.

     The Lord established marriage as a blessed union between one man and one woman.  He called it very good, and it still is.  Any deviation from God’s design perverts what God has created.  But how many people seek their happiness outside of God’s design?  Marriage has been redefined.  Now it is the union of anyone.  It could be man to man or woman to woman.  It could include multiple people or be open to other partners.  It could even be a woman marrying her cat (which happened in the UK in 2022).  In some cases, people become bored with their own spouse and seek thrills through adulterous affairs.  Sometimes it is not an affair with a real person, but with an image on a computer screen.  God’s word says, “Marriage is to be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4), but many seize the bed without commitment to the marriage.  The Lord says this is worthy of judgment.  Besides incurring God’s wrath, it is also destructive to any relationship a husband or wife might hope for. 

     The Lord delights in a blessed union, and that is because marriage is an image of the union between Christ and his Church.  Those who alter God’s plan for marriage pervert the image of Christ and his Church.  That is why the Lord takes these sins so seriously.  These sins show disdain for God who established marriage as a blessed union.  We end up telling God that we know better, and that we will pursue our own paths to happiness —as if God is in no position to judge or even to comment on the holy estate he ordained.  Repent.

     Even though the Lord has been a jilted lover, he is steadfast in his love.  He remains faithful and seeks after those who are his.  He persists in his commitment.  That’s what Isaiah told the people of Israel who would be taken into captivity.  The Lord would restore their blessed union.  He said, “You will never again be called Abandoned, and your land will never again be called Desolation, for you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land will be called Married, because the Lord delights in you, and your land will be married.  …Just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, your God will rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:4-5). 

     The Lord delights in a blessed union, and he is the one who brings it about.  Isaiah declared the word of the Lord: “For the sake of Zion I will not be silent.  For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth shining brightly, and her salvation burns like a torch” (Isaiah 62:1).  The righteousness which goes forth comes through Jesus.  The salvation which shines emanates from Jesus.  He is the light of the world which shows us the faithful love of God.

     The Lord Jesus is a faithful groom whose delight is in his bride, the Church.  Jesus will not leave you abandoned or desolate.  Although you and I have not been faithful to him, he persists in his love for you.  As a benevolent groom, he has assumed your debt and made it his own.  In Old Testament times, a woman who was proven to be unfaithful to her husband could be put to death.  Jesus, taking your place, was put to death for you.  By his death, he covered your debt and settled your account.  He has been faithful to you.  And now he dotes on you, seeking your highest good and promising you eternal pleasures.

     The Lord delights in a blessed union.  Jesus has acted to reconcile you to himself.  He is the dowry that wins you for himself.  St. Paul reminds you that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, by cleansing her with the washing of water in connection with the Word.  He did this so that he could present her to himself as a glorious church, having no stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but so that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27).  Jesus Christ expunged your record and wiped it clean.  If Jesus had mercy upon prostitutes (whose sins were obvious and repeated) and restored them to morality and purity, then he does the same for you no matter what your past has been.  There is no sin which stands against you—no infidelity, no lustful cravings, no lingering blame for chasing after happiness from other suitors.  All past offenses have been pardoned.  “Just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, your God will rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5). 

     The Lord delights in a blessed union.  He has restored you to purity.  Isaiah tells you, “You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will assign to you.  …For you will be called My Delight Is in Her” (Isaiah 62:2,4).  The Lord Jesus not only delights in you; you are evidence of his glory.  Isaiah said, “You will be a beautiful crown in the Lord’s hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God” (Isaiah 62:3).  The Lord keeps you like a crown in his hand because he is proud to show you off.  He likes to gaze at you, as one might gaze upon jewels to admire their beauty.  The Lord does not see your flaws or dwell on your weaknesses, for you have been purified by his blood.  Do you see how much your Lord loves you?  He does not deceive you, abuse you, or manipulate you.  Rather, he seeks your good.  He gives you precious gifts.  He guides you in paths of righteousness.  He protects you from death and the devil.  Where else could you possibly turn to find greater satisfaction, greater joy, and greater hope?  The Lord delights in this blessed union.  And what other delight could we hope for?

     So, Jesus’ first miracle was done at a wedding.  He turned water into wine so that the feast would not come to an embarrassing end.  And typical of our Lord, what he supplied was far better than the people had previously and far more than they needed.  His grace is always poured out in excess.  His love and forgiveness do not run out.

     The Bible begins with a marriage, and it ends with one, too.  St. John was given a glimpse of the glories of heaven and wrote, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give (God) glory, because the wedding of the Lamb has come.  His bride has made herself ready, and she was given bright, clean, fine linen to wear.  (In fact, the fine linen is the ‘not guilty’ verdicts pronounced on the saints.)  The angel said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:7-9).  The blessed union will culminate in the wedding feast of heaven which will be celebrated through all eternity.  The feast will be endless, and our joys will go on uninterrupted.  Blessed are you who, by God’s grace, will be there.

     And blessed are you now who already get to partake of the heavenly feast.  The holy Bridegroom nourishes his Bride so that his Church can serve him in strength and in joy.  The feast goes on because your Lord provides all you need.  Blessed are you who have been united to Jesus Christ.  And he delights in this blessed union.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.