I cannot think of a greater honor and responsibility than to be invited to speak a word to my friends this afternoon.  For all of us this is a day to which we have been looking forward for years.  Two people with such grace, wit, talent, generosity and love of life being called together for a new life of purpose. 

I like the texts you have chosen..They tell us something about Steve and Polly because they selected them.  I want them to remember these texts for the rest of their lives together because they are pointers to true north.  If you hold to these verses you will not lose your way. 

Genesis is always a good place to start.  A place of beginnings.  A place where we meet all the first times in our lives.  A place where we discover all the first things – the principles and people that give our lives meaning and direction.  A place where we find our true names.  I remember meeting Polly in Philadelphia when she was a young woman looking to find her way and  her own name and identity.  I sat down next to her on a bus because we were at a conference together and I remember thinking then that this was someone extraordinary – someone with great curiosity, compassion and deep convictions.  Over the course of the next several years I watched her find her true place and her own way  It was not easy work and it came at a high price as it always does but she is here today as the person God created her to be. 

Years after that when Polly introduced me to Steve with a voice that told me this was not a casual acquaintance, I saw that Steve and Adam had something rare in common.  Adam was given the responsibility of naming.  Of looking into what God had created and seeing what it was about that creature that was most true and most real – and that would be its name.  Steve has that same gift of discernment.  The simple gift of listening and sifting out what is real and what is false.  It is a gift from God.  And all gifts bring responsibility. 

Solomon says in Ecclesiastes:  Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth and I would say the same to you here today.  Remember your Creator and your beginnings with Him.  Remember from where you have come. 

Colossians reminds us that we are not just created but we are chosen.  Paul says, “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Polly and Steve, you are chosen.  You are not together simply because you are in love but because you are loved by the Father who desires you to be together from this day forward.  There are going to be times when you doubt that.  You are going to think this is too hard.  There are too many differences.  Too much giving in and changing comfortable habits.  Don’t fall for that.  You are chosen to be together and the challenge is to bear with each other, forgive each other, to love each other in a unity that you will not always naturally want to do.  You will want your own way of doing things.  You are both very intelligent and opinionated people and you will have differences. And it is right that you challenge each other just like this Scripture says.  “Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other…Instruct and direct one another”  You are not just to learn to live with each other but to teach each other and to help each other grow.  The desire to have the last word will always be there but the last word – like God’s first word – is always love.  

But these words from the Apostle are not just for your relationship with each other.  You have been born with great privileges and you are going to live with great responsibilities and some prominence.  These are also words for how you are to deal with other people in your lives.  People of less privilege and means.  People around you because of your position and standing.  You will be wise to remember these words to deal kindly, respectfully, compassionately and with humility toward them. 

You are going to have to learn all over again how to get dressed in the morning.  Up until now you could wear what you wanted but now you must get up each day and first put on kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love.  Believe me.  It will take you longer to get dressed in the morning than it does now.  Putting on all these things takes time at first but your life together will be infinitely better for it. He has chosen you to sing together with gratitude in your hearts to God and you will… and He will bless you. 

First and above all else, remember your Creator and whose you are.  Second, remember who has chosen you to be with each other. Finally, remember your calling. 

What a remarkable final verse you’ve chosen from the Gospel of Matthew.  So many weddings are focused on the couple themselves and their love for each other.  You’ve added something that is unusual and I am so pleased you have done it.  You have begun your marriage with an announcement that you have a responsibility to others.  You are wise in knowing from the start that, like the city on the hill, your lives will be visible.  You are both going to have responsibilities and expectations that are not ordinary.  People are going to be watching you and your lives are going to be truly like lampstands in a dark world.  You are light and you each have a calling on your lives.  Everyone here knows that about you.  You are not going to shrink back and be satisfied with a hidden life.  I’m not sure you’ll even have a choice about that.  You will have a mantle of stewardship individually and together that will seem extremely heavy at times and you’ll want to get out from under it.  You’ll want to hide the light or be less visible or move to an arena that is less exposed and conspicuous.  But I believe and others believe as well that you have not just been created, not just chosen but you have been called to serve and called to good works that will result in praise to the Father.  You cannot be hidden or concealed.  You have a calling to be light and to shine. 

This is my prayer for you this afternoon.  That you would remember your creator and whose you are.  Remember who has chosen you to be with each other and, finally, remember your calling to be light to shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.   

We are here not just as friends and family but as witnesses to your commitment to Christ, to marriage and to your calling in this world.  Nothing could please or honor us more than your asking all of us to be here.  This is your beginning and like God the Creator we see it and declare it good.