Jesus transforms life when the wine of life runs out   

    John  2:1-11

  LayReading sermon for Year C Epiphany 2

Dear friends in Christ,

I’m no expert on Australian country and western music, but I am familiar with at least one song.  These are the words of verse 1:

  It’s lonesome away from your kindred and all
  By the campfire at night where the wild dingos call.
  But there’s nothin’ so lonesome, so dull or so drear
  Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer.

Some might see this Slim Dusty song as a very appropriate song for our text today.  A wedding at that time involved a week-long celebration at home where it was the groom’s responsibility to provide food and drink for all the guests.  Alcoholic wine was the appropriate drink to offer guests at such an occasion of happiness and celebration.    What an embarrassing disaster for the groom when the wine ran out!  And that’s just what happened here – ‘the wine gave out’ (verse 3).

Even if you’ve never been at a wedding where the wine has run out, you can identify with what happened at this wedding.  As a result of life crises, the figurative wine of joy and celebration frequently gives out in our lives.  Illness, bereavement, unemployment, work difficulties, exam pressures, poor school results, financial difficulties, fractured relationships, stress – all drain the joy and celebration from our lives.  The current drought conditions in Australia have certainly dried up our joy!

When this figurative wine gives out in difficult times, the enjoyment of life gives out for many people.  The celebration is spoiled.  Distress, disappointment and discouragement can set in.  This experience is intensified when we feel that there is an apparent lack of interest by God, as we sense in the text today when Jesus answered his mother, “What concern is that to you and to me?  My hour has not yet come.” (v 4)

God does not always respond to our need as quickly as we might like.  When we don’t sense a quick response from God, we too can feel that our difficulty is not a concern to Jesus and his attention to our need is delayed.  Eventually we might even despair of ever receiving help from God.

Disappointment with God and despair about his apparent absence in our time of need are bad enough, but an even deeper difficulty is that when despair sets in, faith can be lost.  I remember an older man in my first parish who attended worship every Sunday until his wife drowned at the beach; after her funeral he never attended a service at the church again.  My sense of the situation was that he was so disappointed by his loss that he just couldn’t bring himself to worship God again.  It seemed his faith was shattered.  As you realise, there are eternal consequences when faith is lost. 

Today’s text reminds us that even in the wineless episodes of our lives, Jesus is present.  Jesus didn’t leave the wedding because the wine gave out.  He didn’t go home because he thought the celebration might end.  He was there because he had been invited.  He stayed on despite the shortage of wine and the threat of the end of celebration. 

Jesus is there in your times of crisis and need.  The Bible assures us in Psalm 34, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.”  It is precisely in your most difficult time, when you are crushed by your hardships in life, when you are brokenhearted, that the Lord is present and near to you.

Jesus is not only there in your time of need, but he is available to help.  In fact, Jesus is available to help especially in your time of need.  In Psalm 50 God invites us, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”  In Psalm 27 the psalmist writes, “God will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent, he will set me high upon a rock.”

And Jesus responded to the wedding crisis.  Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.”  (v 7).  The crisis wasn’t averted or overcome immediately, but Jesus had intervened and taken action.  Through this intervention came three powerful acts by Jesus to bring help to people at the wedding.  Each of these actions brings benefits also to us.

First, Jesus created.  He turned the jarfuls of water into wine, providing joy for the celebration.  The water amounted to 500 to 800 litres, which made a huge amount of wine – and the potential for a huge amount of joy!  That was an impressive miracle, the first of Jesus’ miraculous signs, we learn at the end of the reading.  But there was a greater miracle that we read about at the end of the reading.  ‘His disciples believed in him’ we read in verse 11.  Jesus had also created faith, a much greater miracle than creating wine, which involves changing inanimate objects; Jesus changed human hearts and lives and gave saving faith in him, which alone gives true life.

Second, Jesus rescued.  Through this first sign in John’s gospel, the miracle of turning water into wine, Jesus rescued the helpless bridegroom from the shame of running out of celebratory wine at the wedding.  In his ultimate sign in John’s Gospel, the miracle of his resurrection from death, Jesus rescued helpless humanity from eternal death.  His earthly mission began with a relatively minor rescue; it concluded with the greatest rescue you could ever imagine.

Third, Jesus’ transformed.  In taking the water set aside for the Jewish rites of purification and changing it into celebratory wine, Jesus pointed to a more significant transformation that was occurring through his ministry.  Through his own holy life and his atoning sacrificial death on behalf of all people, Jesus replaced the barren and futile rites of the whole Jewish religious system of purification and sacrificial worship with the life-giving kingdom of God found in himself. 

The benefit for us from Jesus’ transforming work is immense.  In words that Martin Luther adapted for his explanation of the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed, Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:18, ‘You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.’

In his transforming work in your life, Jesus also works to bring benefit to you and to others from the crises that beset your life that make you feel that your celebratory wine has run out.  ‘All things work together for good for those who love God’, promises St Paul in Romans 8:28.  Even your crises and hardships can work for good purposes through Jesus’ transforming work.  St John writes that the outcome of this event at the wedding of Cana was that Jesus revealed his glory (v 11).  The transformation of the water turned to wine at Cana defined Jesus’ whole ministry and pointed to the ultimate purpose of his rescue mission to save the world.

In this event in Cana Jesus made use of people to bring his help to others.  Jesus chooses people to help people.  Jesus gives people a variety of gifts to use for the benefit of others.  ‘There are varieties of gifts’, writes St Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, ‘and varieties of services.’  We see at least three examples of gifts and services in today’s text.  These are ways in which Jesus also wants to bring benefit to others through you.

First, Jesus calls you to intercede for others, like Mary did that day in Cana.  Mary knew Jesus’ availability and his readiness to help: she went to Jesus and said to him, “They have no wine.”  Mary, the model disciple, was confident that Jesus was able to help and was willing to help, and she took the need to Jesus.  She didn’t tell Jesus what to do; she didn’t further embarrass the host by telling him to seek Jesus’ help; she didn’t draw attention to the host’s plight by taking him to Jesus; she simply brought the host’s desperate need to Jesus.  “They have no wine.”

Jesus calls you to intercede.  You know people in need, people for whom the wine of life is running low or has run out.  You know Jesus’ availability and readiness to help.  You too can bring their need to Jesus and pray, ‘They have no wine.’  Pray specifically for these people.  Pray consistently for these people.  Pray confidently for these people.  Claim God’s promise and his commitment to his people to work all things for good to those who love him.  Who will you pray for this week?  Take a quiet moment in this service to write down some names.  Start a prayer diary to help you keep regular in your prayer.  Set aside time each day to pray.

Second, Jesus calls you to obey him explicitly in your life, like the servants at the wedding.  In our text St John writes, ‘Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.”  And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”  So they took it.’ (verses 7-8)  Every time Jesus spoke to the servants, they obeyed explicitly.  In effect, they trusted that Jesus knew best, listened carefully to what he said, and then they carried out his instructions. 

Jesus calls you today to grow in trusting that he knows best for your life.  He calls you to grow in listening to his voice.  He calls you to grow in recognising his will for your life.  He calls you to obey.  The more you reflect on his word, the more you will see of his will for your life.  The more you see of Jesus’ will for your life, the more you will reflect on what he says to you.  The more you hear his voice, the more he will empower you to obey.

Third, Jesus calls you to be a witness to the benefit of Jesus’ presence in your life, like the steward.  Our text says, ‘When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it had come from, the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now” (verses 9 & 10).  Even though the steward did not fully understand what Jesus had done, he still spoke to others about what he had seen and experienced.  Imagine how the bridegroom would have wondered about what had happened and would have asked around for more information!  Eventually he too might have been led to Jesus!

You might not always understand the work of God in your life, but God calls you to speak to others about the benefits you experience from God’s gracious work in your life.  Jesus’ intention always is to create and nurture faith, and he makes use of you to speak what you know of his activity to others to encourage them and to make them think more deeply about what is happening to them.  What benefits of Jesus’ presence have you seen recently?   Maybe Jesus’ presence in this worship service has brought a benefit that you could share with someone else!

Through the miracle of his transforming work in Cana, Jesus revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him.  He also brought benefit to others and gave joy to their lives.  This miracle pointed to Jesus’ ultimate mission to freely provide eternal life for all who believe in him.  Jesus also reveals his glory through his transforming work in your life, and he wants you and others to believe in him.  He also wants to bring joy and benefit to you and others.  Above all, he wants you to believe in him and celebrate forever with him and many others at the heavenly feast, where the wine never runs out!

Amen

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.