"Love will find a way."

It was so awesome to see my brother marry such an awesome person. I also just adored Pastor Nick's Sermon so I am going to leave his words here for those who are interested!

"For the wedding of Carl + Leidy

I’d like to blather on in a sermon and get to say all kinds of great things about Carl and this family, about how exciting it is to get to know Leidy a little bit, to give a big ol’ sermon about Jesus and the joy of love. But since they may come and kick us out of the garden any minute, I better be quick.

But even in quickness, I want to go big. That Bible reading (1st John 4:7-12) seems so perfect for the moment and for these two and for the task of marriage set ahead of them. That it’s good to love. That love involves self-sacrifice for the good of the other. That we know joy and know the core of creation and know God when we love. That this somehow re-embodies the embodiment of God in Jesus, that the incarnation is reincarnated in their love. And that that’s life, and God living in us.

That’s already immensely big, but I want to go bigger. Or maybe in some way smaller, even though it seems big to us these days. We’re forced to set this wedding and this love in the context of the United States government and laws and immigration policy. This is stuff that seems to have so much control over our lives. For some of us in privilege, we can usually exist outside of those concerns and hard realities. But it still pops up to confront us, to try to claim control over us.

We regularly say that “love conquers all.” Clearly, I expect some of that. With this love of God in Christ Jesus, even death won’t have the final say. We expect resurrection. We expect more life to come. We believe love wins. So certainly injustice won’t win, and something so small and stupid as prejudicial racists won’t get the last word. Much less following rules of a garden!

But even if love wins and conquers, still we know that there’s a lot to face in the meantime. So maybe instead it’s the phrase “love will find a way.” And Leidy and Carl have been working at that. They’ve been working at it since they met and found this to be the right time and the right relationship and to be so excited about each other. Love is finding a way as we’re here today, working so that their lives together can continue. Love will keep finding a way as they figure out what it is to love each other, to be together. Love will find a way as they embody God, and as God’s love continues to take on flesh in them and us so that this blessing may abound, abundant love from God." - Nick Utphall

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