Last evening, June 13, 2025, Allison Sterling and David Scarborough were united in holy matrimony at All Saints Parish. Their wedding was a joyous celebration of God’s good gift of marriage—but more than that, it was a living confession of something sacred, something eternal.

Allison and David chose yesterday as the date for their wedding, in part, because it was the five hundredth anniversary of the wedding of Martin and Katie. Five hundred years ago to the day, Martin Luther married his beloved Katharina von Bora—His “dear rib,” as he affectionately called her. Their union was not just personal; it was theological—a declaration that holy marriage, far from being a worldly formality, is a gift from God and a holy calling. Allison and David’s wedding was a continuation of that same confession: marriage is very good.

When God created man, He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” So He made a helper fit for him. He brought Eve to Adam, and He gave her to him. And now, just as Allison’s father has given her to David, so God unites wives to husbands within this holy estate. But even in the Garden of Eden, marriage was never just about Adam and Eve. It was always pointing forward to something greater, to a divine reality.

Saint Paul tells us that the union of husband and wife is a “great mystery”—in Latin, a sacramentum—because it is an image of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Though Lutherans don’t generally refer to marriage as a sacrament in the same sense that Baptism, Absolution, or the Eucharist are sacraments, it is nevertheless a holy act of God and sacred mystery that proclaims the Gospel.

Holy marriage, when understood rightly and lived out according to God’s design, becomes a sort of sermon—an embodied proclamation of Christ’s love for His Church. The husband is called to love his wife as Christ loves the Church: sacrificially, tenderly, enduringly. The wife is called to honor and trust her husband as the Church submits to Christ: willingly, faithfully, and in love.

This kind of union is increasingly out of step with the world. Our culture often treats marriage as optional or temporary. Cohabitation has become common. Divorce is tragically frequent. Even the definition of marriage is being blurred. But Christian marriage stands as a holy resistance—a living witness to the enduring truth of God’s Word and the unchanging love of Christ.

And this is precisely why the devil hates marriage. Because he hates Christ. And anything that images Christ’s love and grace becomes a target. But through the Spirit’s strength, pious Christian couples like David and Allison are able to stand firm—not by their own power, but by the grace given them in Christ within the communion of His Church.

Marriage is good. It is good for husbands and wives. It is good for children and for society. But most of all, it is good because it proclaims Jesus. It reveals the love of the Bridegroom who laid down His life for His Bride. It tells the world that there is One who forgives, who redeems, and who remains faithful forever.

So we rejoice with David and Allison. We thank God for their union. And we pray that their marriage, together with every Christian marriage, may always reflect the holy mystery of the eternal union of Christ and His beloved Church.

To God alone be all glory. Amen.

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