Yesterday we celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary and offered words of thanks to them. Next Saturday I have the blessing of officiating a memorial service and a wedding. Preparing for these three events has had me reflecting on the weight of our choices and the gift of God’s design for marriage. In a world where marriages are often built on shifting sands—self-interest, emotional highs, or cultural expectations—Bonhoeffer’s sermon reminds us that marriage is not sustained by love alone but by God’s design and God’s love. What lessons can we draw from this sermon for today?
Go To a Funeral
We Westerners avoid death.
When was the last time you walked through a cemetery? When was the last funeral you went to? Our churches no longer have cemeteries, those who are older head to retirement communities and then to head to long-term care or assisted care facilities. The number of funerals held in churches has diminished. Death has become professionalized, antisepticised, and remote.