Our wedding – ten days away, now – will feature a sermon delivered by Duncan MacPherson, minister of Hilton Church of Scotland, where Nicole and I both worship.
We have asked Duncan to preach on Luke 24, specifically the story of the road to Emmaus, when Jesus (after his resurrection) appears to his followers, who are slow to realise who he is. One of the key points of the passage is the dialogue between the followers and Jesus, a dialogue key within any Christian marriage.
Duncan has emailed me to suggest that, with blogs being a good form of dialogue, maybe thoughts from readers could be obtained through my blog.
So, if you have any comments – even just a single line – about what you think makes a strong marriage, Duncan says he will aim to incorporate such thoughts in his sermon. Just go ahead and post them here, anonymously if you like.
It’s a novel form of interaction in a sermon, and I wonder what thoughts folk will come up with.
I think this is a really lovely idea but not being married am not sure I can offer advice apart from the advice offered to me once at a wedding from the piper (who was lovely and had been happily married until his wife’s death) which was never to forget what made you fall in love and to kind of keep that special even through all the trials and tribulations, never let real life get in the way of the magic of love.
I thought that was pretty lovely. He was funny too but the funny stories seemed a bit too precious to share again here.
Ten days? Wow – if I don’t get to send you guys a message before then all the best xx
Time together, space given to each other, healing laughter, love in the open hand . . .
We try to celebrate in some way on the 27th of each month; we were married on the 27th August and an older couple at the wedding encouraged us to do this. 16 years on and we’re still managing! Sometimes it’s a walk, sometimes a favourite meal in the kitchen, sometimes poetry read, etc. Have a “Happy 21st” and many,many more!
Laura and I (in our 16th year of marriage) have over the years appreciated the gift of laughter – the ability to laugh together in our various predicaments over the years, to have a good laugh with our friends, to laugh with our children (who we are blessed to find increasingly making us laugh) and at times, even laughing at each other. But a word of warning about laughing at each other – choose how you do that very carefully, as it might do more harm than good!
Here’s my suggestion from 9 years of marriage (get me!):
Don’t depend on your spouse for what only God can provide.
Set aside time to read God’s word and pray daily together. Don’t allow faith to become something private. Remain accountable to each other and to God.
And regarding the Emmaus road, have you heard the folk song “easter evening” written by John Bell? See the lyrics here:
http://www.glenamaddychurch.ie/newsletters/080407.pdf
As we walked home at close of day,
a stranger joined us on our way.
He heard us speak of one who’d gone
and when we stopped, he carried on.
‘Why wander further without light?
Please stay with us this troubled night.
We’ve shared the truth of how we feel
and now would like to share a meal.’
We sat to eat our simple spread,
then watched the stranger take the
bread;
and, as he said the blessing prayer,
we knew that someone else was there.
No stranger he; it was our eyes
which failed to see, in stranger’s guise,
the Lord who, risen from the dead,
met us when ready to be fed
Allowing your partner to be who they are, rather than trying to make them who you want them to be, and accepting them for all their faults – without which they’d probably have married someone better. 😉
Hope you guys have a fantastic day and great fun in your life together 🙂
Thank you, all. Very much.
Hi Simon,
If I may, I would say that what I took most from re-reading these verses was the constant communication that was occurring.
Communication between the 2 on the road to Emmaus,
between the 2 disciples and Jesus
between the 2 again once Jesus departed
between the disciples back at Jerusalem
and again when Jesus appears to them…
Communication is very important in marriage, not to mention love, faith and trust in one another. In a marriage there will be difficulties, but effective constant communication can turn any difficulty into a little hurdle. Think of it as a three-legged hurdle race; in order to get over the hurdles, and onto the level again, you need to be travelling in the same direction and taking the same pace and communication makes this a whole lot easier.
I would also that both of you keep in mind Proverbs 15, v.1, and obviously the most important thing of all is to set God first in everything.
Kindest regards and best wishes…
david
Thank you all for your lovely comments – Duncan preached a great sermon, touching on many of these wonderful word of wisdom.