A few months ago I asked Mandy, “How did Jeremy pro= pose to you? Did he get down on on= e knee and pull out a ring? Did he t= ake you to a romantic spot and surprise you with flowers?” She said, “No. I went shopping for the ring with him. And when we got it, I st= arted wearing it, and we were engaged.”&nb= sp; Now, I love big, romantic, complicated, tear-jerking engagement stor= ies, but I thought this one had a unique charm to it. It indicated that often in life so= mething is already there, and when you realize it, you act on it. I think this is a natural experien= ce, and it has a supernatural counterpart.

When the Book of Genesis describes the creation of woman,= it implies that the man was created with the capability of forming a partnersh= ip; it was already there. God pro= vided a partner for the man, who realized it and acted on it, and the two became one. We believe that God stil= l does this. God makes people capabl= e of forming a partnership. ItR= 17;s hard to explain how two people fall in love – how they find each othe= r (even when they grew up near each other) and yearn for each other so strongly. We think God puts them togeth= er, a belief that even the Book of Genesis agrees with. It’s just that we don’t always realize what God has done until later. Once love is there, you look back = and say, God was already there. Y= ou realize it, and you act on it.

St. Paul was probably addressing a similar situation when= he wrote his letter to the Romans. We heard a short piece of it this afternoon.&= nbsp; Paul seems to be writing to people who didn’t have much good experience with religion in the past. The temple sacrifices seemed like empty rituals. Instead, they did what seemed fun = or happy to them, but not necessarily what would praise God or help other people. Now they had come to realize who Jesus was, and how they should act as a result. Paul says this to these people who= had probably given up on religion: Don’t worry if offering a sacrifice of= dead animals in the temple is not your thing.&n= bsp; “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,” he says, R= 20;holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” Give God yourself. To these people who were thinking = only of their own selfish pleasures, Paul demands something more: “Do not conform yourselves to this age,” he says. “Discern what is the will of God.” And lest these people think that the will of God is something that will curb th= eir enjoyment, Saint Paul says when you discern the will of God, you will disco= ver “what is good and pleasing and perfect.” You will want to act on it. Doing God’s will doesn’= ;t just please God – it will bring you pleasure.

So, Mandy and Jeremy, that’s our prayer for you today. That you will offer yourselves to God, discover God’s will, and enjoy the good and pleasi= ng plans that God has for you. Y= ou will discover in your love something that was already there: God is already there. When you realize it, y= ou will act on it in ways that please God and give life to you and your new ho= me.