May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD." (Hosea 2:14-20)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: Our central though today is the familiar phrase: A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN. Maybe you have used that phrase, better yet; maybe you would say this of your marriage. The thought is this - a man and a woman get along so well that it must be that God brought them together, planned the marriage in heaven. The idea is wonderful and biblical. When God took a rib from Adam and made Eve, Adam could truly say, "This one God made for me." But every man and woman can say the same. Jesus said of marriage "God has joined them" (Matthew 19:6).

In today's readings God takes something that we are familiar with - his blessing of marriage - and uses it to teach us something about his love and loving actions toward us. Just as God leads a man and a woman together to bless them in marriage, so the Lord lead Jesus and his believers together to bring mankind eternal blessings. In this comparison Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom and believers, the Holy Christian Church, is the Bride of Christ. In the Gospel Jesus reminds us that when he, the Bridegroom is present with us it is a time of joy. And in the Old Testament reading God sets the life and marriage of Hosea before us to teach us something about ourselves, our God, our Heavenly Bridegroom Christ, and the marriage made in heaven. God bless us as we listen.

In our earthly marriages there is a time of alluring. Now it could happen that a man and a woman become interested in each other at the same time. If not, there is a time of alluring, a time when a man tries to awaken interest in a woman he is interested in, or visa versa - a woman tries to awaken interest in a man she is interested in. So it is in the great marriage made in heaven. Jesus, our Bridegroom pursues his bride. Hosea speaks God's word writing: I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. (2:14)

Hosea not only spoke about this alluring, he also lived it out, as on a stage. The Lord asked Hosea, as he did many of his Old Testament prophets, to act out his words so the message struck the hearts of the people in a vivid way. God asked Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer who had a reputation of having many boyfriends. She is called an adulterous woman. Not long after Hosea and Gomer were married, she went back to her old bad habits and was unfaithful to Hosea. And you might well imagine how Hosea felt sad, betrayed, hurt by Gomer's actions. Hosea most likely thought, "I don't want this person who has been so mean to me." But after Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea the Lord came to him and said, "Go after her." He said: "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods..." (3:1)

What a vivid and accurate picture this is of the sinful heart--unfaithful to God. We are born with a bad reputation; sinful from the moment we were alive inside our mothers. We start out as people not fit to be the bride of Christ. What a beautiful, true picture of Christ our heavenly Bridegroom and how he acts toward us! It is a story far more amazing than Cinderella that God would come courting you and me. And what is more shocking...even when he marries us, takes us as his own in the waters of Baptism, we don't give up our bad habits. Every sin is an act of unfaithfulness to him who loved us and betrothed himself to us. Yet, day after day, week after week, the Lord pursues us. Why? The reason lies alone in his mercy, grace and concern for us. Amazing Grace! Jesus still wants me!

In our earthly marriages there is also a time of making promises. The promise is really the crux of the marriage. In the wedding service the Pastor says to the groom and bride, "You have come here to be united in marriage which consists in your mutual consent, sincerely and freely given." The promise, the "I will" spoken with the power God alone gives, glues a man and woman together. So it is in the great marriage made in heaven - it's the promise. Jesus, our Bridegroom makes the promise. Hosea records God's words to us, his bride, when it says: "I will betroth you to me forever." (2:19)

It builds our faith and lifts us up tremendously to see that in the great marriage made in heaven, that of Christ and his bride the Church, the important promise is the one Jesus makes to his Bride, not the other way around. We could fill our lives with promises to our heavenly Bridegroom, but we each know how powerless we are to keep our promises. A thousand times we who love the Lord have said, "I will do better." A thousand times we have failed. But Hosea records Jesus promise to us. "I" am going to allure her..."I" will make a covenant..."I", "I", "I"...Nine times in 7 verses Jesus promises to love us and bless us. And so we rejoice that our heavenly Bridegroom will use his power to bless and save us as he promises. For Jesus always fulfills his promises.

And that takes us to the final facet of the great marriage made in heaven, that of Christ the heavenly Bridegroom and the Church. As in all marriages the years are years of blessing. Companionship, intimacy, children - these are the blessing of our earthly marriages. After Luther was married to Katie he said, "If God has made anything better than the love and life of man and woman in marriage it's in heaven, for there is nothing like it on earth."