# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_November 1862_S341
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

On Betrothal and Wedding Sermons. 341

seek a cloak of shame and a pretext with which to gloss over his evil
undertaking, etc. And I damn, in the name of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit, to the abyss of hell, all who cling to them and help to
further such devil's work (secret betrothal), Amen."

The most necessary of what should occur in wedding addresses is
gathered together in the masterfully chosen biblical lections which, after
the pattern of the Traubüchlein [wedding booklet], are inserted into our
marriage rite. They contain the four pieces: on the institution of the
holy estate of marriage, Gen. 2:18, 21–24; on the duties of spouses,
Eph. 5:25–29; 22–24; on their cross, Gen. 3:17–19, and on their comfort
therein, Gen. 1:27, 28, 31, Prov. 18:22. The more clearly these four
pieces ring through in a wedding address, the better it is. Naturally one
will always sound before the other, but none may be entirely lacking. If
one wished, for instance, to speak on the words of Gen. 24:50, "This is
from the Lord," it would above all have to be brought out that the holy
estate of marriage itself comes from the Lord, whereupon it would then
have to be shown which marriage bond is to be regarded as from the
Lord; further, how the commandments for spouses, and the willing and
carrying out of a life lived accordingly, likewise come from the Lord; and
finally, how the cross is laid by God upon this estate, and how, too, rich
comfort therein is promised by God. Many preachers are reluctant to
speak publicly, and in particular before a bridal couple standing before
them, on certain sayings that occur in these lections and elsewhere — for
example, on the words: "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow," etc.; "the
husband shall be the wife's head"; "be fruitful and multiply," etc. And
yet are not such words just as much inspired by the Holy Spirit as all
the others, for instance these: "For God so loved the world," etc.? Is
not all Scripture, and consequently this too, profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of
God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works? (2 Tim.
3:16–17.) Has not great harm been brought upon countless marriages
through the suppressing of such scriptural words and their exposition
and application, to which preachers have let themselves be misled by
man-pleasing or fear of man? If only all preachers and all hearers would
take to heart the words that Dr. Luther spoke in the introduction to his
sermon on Gen. 38: "We are so delicate that we cannot bear to speak or
to hear of human birth. It is true that this is indeed a coarse chapter;
yet it stands nonetheless in Holy Scripture, and the Holy Spirit has
written it, who surely has as pure a mouth and pen as we — so that I
know no better way to gloss it over than thus. If anyone has a purer
mouth and ears than he, let him leave it be; since he was not ashamed
or embarrassed to write it, we will not be ashamed to read and hear it."

With regard to the choice of texts, besides the lections already
mentioned, I would call attention to
the following passages.