A Grace-full Moment at Ascension

Today I celebrated a wedding and it was special in so many ways.  The bride and groom are in their 70's and wonderful. I don't know if I have ever enjoyed premarital counseling quite so much.  The wedding took place at Church of the Ascension in Vestavia Hills, Alabama where I served for 7 years.  We had a wonderful time visiting with good friends.  

Now I have celebrated weddings for the past 26 years as a priest and each one is special, but this was different in a very unique way.  Today I had the opportunity to serve with the Rev. John Harris.  John is a good friend of the groom, Adrian Blackmon, and some months ago Adrian asked if John could assist.  Little did he know that John was my family's pastor many years ago in Baton Rouge, LA.  My father was at LSU earning his PhD.  We attended Grace Baptist Church and John was the pastor.  Later John and his family moved to Pineville Park Baptist Church in Pineville, Louisiana as pastor and we followed some years later when my father went to teach at Louisiana College.  The Hall's and the Harris' reconnected.  Now, many years later, we worshipped together again.  It was a moment full of God's grace.

Here is the sermon from the wedding (I forgot to record it, so apologies for no audio).

The Wedding of Cheryl Davidson and Adrian Blackmon

Colossian 3:12-17, Matthew 5:1-10

The Episcopal Church of the Ascension

April 28, 2018

           There are moments in this life that can only be described as grace-FULL – times when God is so close it is as if we can feel His touch.  Early Christians called these THIN times and THIN places FOR it is at these moments THAT the distance between heaven and earth becomes ever so very close.   Today we celebrate such a moment of God’s grace - the marriage of Cheryl and Adrian.  We gather as friends and family to pledge our support and share in their joy.  Adrian and Cheryl will promise to love, honor, and cherish one another from this day forward.  We have known them EACH before they even knew one another.  When they are together THERE can be no doubt that there is love – the kind of love that makes them one.  From this day forward Cheryl and Adrian will forever know and be known as husband and wife.  And we are invited both to celebrate today AND the rest of their lives.  We come here today for both a wedding and the beginning of a MARRIAGE.  This is truly a moment FULL of Grace.

            Cheryl and Adrian have CHOSEN to be married here at Ascension.  They could have said I DO on the beach or in Hawaii or ON BOARD a ship.  There have been weddings at football stadiums, on top of the Eiffel Tower, and in AIRPLANES.  There is even a “Skydiving Preacher” in Las Vegas who will marry you on the way down from 12,000 feet.  You ALSO receive a high-quality DVD of the ceremony.  But today there will be no jumping – at least none planned.  Rather, Cheryl and Adrian come to Ascension this day to BE in the presence of God and SURROUNDED by the Body of Christ.  They make their vows, ask for our support, and pray for God’s blessing and presence and grace in their life together.  Hudson read a few moments ago from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians that we are to clothe ourselves “with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”   In our Gospel reading, Jesus teaches the disciples that we are truly BLESSED when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, when we are merciful, when we bring peace to our world.  These are the virtues of a life lived in God’s love, a life lived in faith, a life LIVED in the sure and certain knowledge that God is here at every moment.

Cheryl and Adrian - BEGIN each day pledging your love for one another and your faith in our Savior WHO first showed us how to love.  Let your life together be full of compassion, kindness, and patience.  Thirst together for righteousness, bring peace to everyone you meet, let your love for one another shine as the very reflection of God’s love for the whole world. 

Let us who gather here this day with you CELEBRATE – not just today on your wedding – but in each moment of your life together.  LET US hold you in our prayers every day – SO THAT your life together will be TRULY blessed with the sure and certain faith that God is always so close you can’t help but feel HIS touch.  May every day be a celebration of your love for one another, the love of family and friends, and the love of our Savior.  And in your life together, may there always be many THIN times and THIN places.  AMEN.