Rory & Anne-Marie’s Wedding
Well, it’s an emotional day for us all.
I bet even the cake’ll be in tears!
(Boodoom choo!)
(Tough crowd)
(You are allowed to laugh in church – try to get the right moments)
Do you know the story about the Old Vicar rehearsing nervous bride for her wedding?
It’s simple, he said.
All you have to do it walk down the aisle, to the altar and we’ll sing a hymn.
Just remember that:
The nervous bride comes in on her wedding day and is heard muttering to herself all the way in:
AISLE, ALTAR, HYMN!
I’m sure Anne-Marie wasn’t saying that
And even if she was, I suspect the
Rory and Anne-Marie chose our Bible reading from Ecclesiastes.
It speaks of the advantages of a partnership.
2 are better than 1.
That’s true, and very applicable to marriage.
Here are some of the blessings of a good marriage.
Today, Rory and Anne-Marie will become one.
The Bible says its not good for man to be alone, so God makes a helper suitable for him.
Woman is equal to the man but different – complimentary!
Imagine 2 Rorys!
Those of you who know Rory better than I do know what that would be like!
(Best man’s job to be nasty about Rory, so I’ll try to resist!)
How much better a Rory and an Anne Marie than 2 Rorys!
They’re suitable for each other, they go together.
They’ll go together like salt and pepper or a horse and carriage
Or to quote those immortal words from Danny and Sandy in West Side Story:
We go together like
rama lama lama
ke ding a de dinga a dong
remembered for ever like
shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yipitty boom de boom
Hopefully they’ll not go together like chalk and cheese or itchy and scratchy!
From now on, Rory and Anne Marie are a kind of BOGOF – a buy one get one free.
Buy Anne Marie, as it were, and you’ll get Rory thrown in.
The Bible says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh”
Husband and wife become one.
Leaving and a cleaving (cleaving, separating)
It’s healthy for the parents to have a good old cry today
You might have said, “we’re not losing a daughter, we’re gaining a son” – and that’s wonderfully true
But Anne-Marie’s first loyalty now is to Rory, not to Mum and Dad.
Rory and Anne-Marie will form a new household, a new social unit, friendly and welcoming to their former families and friends, but not run by them!
There’s a sense in which Rory and Anne-Marie do have to forsake all others – at least kind of, a little bit.
From this day on, no one else is a prospective husband or wife till the current one drops off the perch.
Rory and Anne-Marie’s 1st relationship is now with one another, and that will change all their other relationships – we trust for the better.
Marriage is a life-long exclusive unique relationship.
It’s no good if you live as if you’re not married, or as if you’re married to your family and friends, or your jobs, or your hobbies, or whatever.
Remember your married!
And remember to whom your married!
So back to our reading.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work”
Rory and Anne Marie, you’ll be more effective together than you would have been apart.
Marriage is not just an addition, it’s a multiplication.
Anne Marie, you’ll have strengths that make up for Rory’s weaknesses, and presumably vice versa, too.
In our house, I come in handy for emptying the bins and lifting heavy objects.
Mrs Lloyd is marvellous and pretty much everything else.
(She even likes putting up flat pack furniture, can you believe it? What a catch is that!)
2 are better than 1!
“If one falls down, his friend can help him up”
You’ll both fall and fail many times.
You probably will have squabbled by the end of the honey-moon if you last the day!
So be quick to say sorry and forgive.
Don’t get into the blame game
Be friends!
Yes, be lovers and husband and wife and housemates, and partners, and all that: but never forget to be friends!
Help one another.
Be kind and considerate.
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves”
Be intimate allies.
Be on one another’s side.
Defend one another.
At times, it may have to be Rory and Anne Marie against the world.
And Rory and Anne-Marie right or wrong.
Even when the other person messes up, be there for them, back them up.
No little comments that put him down.
No jokes at his expense.
No criticizing him behind his back with your friends.
So 2 are better than 1.
Marriage is (normally speaking) better than singleness.
But marriage is for better or for worse.
You need to be committed to this marriage even if it doesn’t work out quite as you dreamed:
If one of you, gets sicker and poorer and you think you could maybe upgrade to a better model, that’s when the solemn vows you make today will kick in.
It’s easy to be in love on your wedding day, the challenge comes when you’re tired and broke and one of you is puking up in the middle of the night again, or whatever…
But last of all, how can you make your marriage better and not worse?
Finally, “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken”
Until now its been 2.
Why suddenly this talk of 3?
Remember that Princess Di famously said of her marriage to Prince Charles that:
"There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded”
Make Jesus the only 3rd person in your marriage.
He wont make it crowded.
He’ll make it better, not worse.
(Triangle – Jesus at the top, you 2 at the bottom) as you grow closer to Jesus, you’ll grow closer to one another too.
He needn’t come between you.
Wedding at
He produced 750 bottles of the finest Châteaux Neff d’Pap
A watery marriage would be good.
A wine-filled, Jesus empowered marriage would be better.
Invite Jesus not only to your wedding, but into your marriage and lives.
Amen.
Well, it’s not too late to change your minds?
You still want to get married?
Okay, let’s do it!
(Please stand)
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