Marriage, creation’s dance

25 years!

On the morning of summer solstice in 1986, between Candace’s solo of “The Lord is My Shepherd” and Michael Barfield’s performance of “Season Suite” (see Wedding music), best man David Noble read the following reflections on Isaac and Rebecca, written by Kerry based on Genesis 24:

Reflections on Isaac and Rebecca from Kerry Magruder on Vimeo. Watch entire wedding.

Generation after generation has observed the order and beauty of creation, discerning in the ongoing dance of planets, sun and stars the Creator’s wise and generous hand, and so in our time we perceive in your coming together, Kerry and Candace, the movement of the Creator’s hand and the accomplishment of His will in your lives. You who have traveled two separate ways will leave here today to travel only one. We recognize with you that you were made for each other, bone of one bone and flesh of one flesh, fashioned as the Lord’s careful and loving gift. Be confident that it is He who directs you in what you do today. The Lord of the heavenly spheres is also the Creator of those who dwell in the earth, and He guides us as a faithful Shepherd, holding history in the hollow of his hand. Today we marvel together with you at his mighty work in your lives, for He has done great things for you; holy is His Name.

Isaac and Rebecca likewise committed themselves to the care of the Sovereign Lord, in confidence that He who first directed their paths together would be faithful to sustain their commitment to each other. As we read their story in Genesis 24, we find that their love for one another depended on God’s promises and direction in their lives, rather than on vague and uncertain fortune in a world of chance circumstance.

Abraham said:

“The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and promised me on oath… He will send his angel before you so that you will find a wife for my son.” And to the servant sent to find her, God gave knowledge of his will, for “he worshiped the Lord, saying, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Abraham, who has guided me in the right way to find this daughter for his son.'” Likewise Rebecca’s parents answered, “This is from the Lord; Rebecca is here before you; go and let her be the wife of Abraham’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

Who today brings this daughter to stand beside this son?

(Junior Comstock replies: “Her mother and I.”)

Kerry and Candace, you have received the most important gift you will ever receive from your parents: the gift of life, which makes possible even the love that joins you as one today. The Father who gives life to us all therefore commands us to honor our parents, so to be rewarded with wisdom and long life on the earth. Now you will leave your parents to establish your home together, so be careful to care for them, to love them with renewed gratitude, and to honor them for their nurturing care for you from the moment of your creation.

Dear parents of the bride and groom, do you today testify, like the parents of Isaac and Rebecca, that this union is from the hand of the Sovereign Lord, and do you now send them to travel their own path together, as God leads them, and do you pledge to pray for them, and to support their marriage union as husband and wife?

If so, say, “We will.”

(We will)

The story continues, that

“Rebecca went on her way, and Isaac looked up and saw her approaching. So Isaac married Rebecca, and she became his wife, AND HE LOVED HER.”

With such a simple description is profound faith remembered: With nothing more than God’s direction in their lives to go on, they received one another and began to create their union as husband and wife. Kerry and Candace, know that love does not depend on a feeling or a fate that can slip away in this confusing world. Your faith in God grounds your love for each other in what will never pass away, the will of God, the Creator of suns, the Lord of history, the Shepherd of his sheep. In him go now, rejoice, begin to create your life together, confident in his call and presence, and your love will be a dance of beauty in this turning world.

25 years!