Saving the Best for Last/Now!

How many times before this had Mary asked Jesus to use his powers to fix things… either for themselves or for others?   When he was three, did she ask him to restore a broken egg she had accidentally dropped, so she would have enough for the meal she was preparing?  When he was older, had she ever asked him to heal one of his brothers or sisters when they were sick?  When he was a teenager, did Joseph ever ask him to use his divine powers to fix a wagon wheel or repair a leak in the roof to keep out the rain?  And if, in the first thirty years of his life, his mother had never asked him to use his powers to help others, how did she know that he possessed the power to solve the problem at this wedding?  Why would she ask him to use his powers in this particular case?   Was it because she was the wedding planner and she felt responsible for the guests?  Or was it because the bride and groom were family and the honor of the family was at stake?   And why would Jesus agree to do this?  Did this wedding feast and the wine have something to do with teaching us about the Kingdom of God and about God himself?  Am I the only one who wonders about things like this?

There are some things that we should know about weddings in first century Palestine. First of all, Jewish weddings of the day were usually seven days long.  Travel was difficult and weddings were one of the events that brought family members together from great distances.  Hospitality for those who had come to the wedding was a central theme… one on which the host family’s honor was measured.  If this was the third day of the wedding, then there were still several more days of celebrating ahead and it would be considered a catastrophe if the wine ran out.

Secondly, the wine was very important. It was the normal beverage at meals… especially at feasts and festivals. Wine was a symbol of joy. One ancient rabbi stated, "Without wine there is no joy."  The jars typically used by the Jews to hold the water used for purification rites in those days held twenty to thirty gallons of water.  By filling all of them to the brim and changing the water into the finest wine that the steward had tasted, Jesus provided anywhere from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty gallons of fine wine… certainly more that this small village wedding needed on that day.  At the same time, drunkenness was a great disgrace and was condemned in scripture.  Thus, Jesus never intended for the guests to drink up all the wine in a single day. After his miracle, there was more than enough wine to satisfy a large number of guests throughout the rest of the wedding feast week.

Thirdly, weddings in a small villages were a community affair and the entire community came together to celebrate.  Wedding guests usually sent their gifts in advance and, if they provided food or drink, it would be expected that the food and/or drink would be served at the feast.  In an agricultural society, food and drink would be the most natural gift for members of the community to provide.  If the amount of food or drink provided at the feast was of limited quantity or ran out, it would imply that the family had a lack of friends within that community.

Finally, a wedding in first century Palestine… like a wedding today… celebrated a change in relationships.  A wedding marked the beginning of a couple’s life together as a new family… while at the same time, reinforcing the ties between families that held the community together.  New relationships were celebrated… while old relationships were cemented.  Life would go on… but it would be different… and the wedding feast was the marking of that milestone… the beginning of something new within the old.

Notice that this miracle happens on the third day.  It is significant that, although Jesus told his mother that his hour had not yet come, he then performed a miracle that restored the celebration to more than it had been prior to the miracle by providing an overwhelming abundance of fine wine.  And yet, because of the way in which it was done, most of the guests at the wedding never even noticed what happened.  Was this a sign pointing to Christ’s resurrection when, on the third day, God would restore life in abundance and a higher quality of life than that experienced prior to the resurrection?  And yet, that miracle, too, would go unnoticed by many who were present at the time.  Certainly the abundance of wine that Jesus provided pointed to the abundant grace of a merciful God.  Just as the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand not only fed those who were present, but resulted in twelve baskets of leftovers, this miracle also provided far more than was needed.

Let’s take a closer look at this story, for there are several things about the jars of water that point to our relationship with God and God’s power to transform us.  I know that you have probably heard this story before, but did you notice that the jars are empty when our story begins?  Jesus has the servants fill the jars with water before he turns the water into wine.  Now, the jars themselves were not new.  They had been used before… probably many times… for the purification rites required by Jewish law.  The water that was poured into the jars was new… fresh water that had just been drawn… presumably from the village well… gallons and gallons of fresh water.  But fresh water, served to the wedding guests, would not have enhanced the celebration of this wedding.  It may have been fresh… newly drawn… but it was not a beverage commonly served at a feast.  It was the power of God that transformed ordinary water into the finest of wine… the finest wine that the steward had tasted.  Normally, the steward shared, the host of such an event would serve the finest wine at the beginning of the feast when everyone was sober… and would reserve the poorer quality wine for later when the guests might be less observant of the quality of the wine.  Instead, the steward was struck by the reversal of that plan when this host saved the best wine for last… for now.

Each year, in January, I speak about the new year and how a new year provides opportunities for us to start over again… to begin anew.  Most years, my words are directed to each of us and our personal lives… how we might review and revise old entrenched patterns… how we might examine and eliminate hurtful or harmful practices.  This year, I have spent more time thinking about the ways in which we live in community in this congregation… and how we might re-imagine our life together as a church… and our ministry as a congregation.  Yes, we are an old jar… almost one hundred and fifty years old as a congregation in this place.  But God has given us another new year… freshly drawn from the spring from which all life comes.  What will we do with the new year that we have been given as a congregation?    Will our life together as a community of faith be the same as it has always been… following the same patterns of ministry and mission that we have grown accustomed to in years past?  Or will we be transformed into something different… something that marks this year as the beginning of a new life together?

Yes, we will spend a lot of time this year looking back at the past… re-living all the history that has brought us to this place.  And that is not a bad thing, for it is good for us to honor those who have gone before us and to celebrate the journey of this congregation.  There is much that we can learn from those who have labored in this field… ministered to others in this place… and shared the good news with this community in the decades that have passed.

And yet, the prophet Isaiah tells us that God is doing a new thing among us.  The Bible often uses the analogy of a marriage to speak of the relationship between Christ and the church. The text that I read earlier tells us that… like a bride… we will be called by a new name, for as the bride of Christ, we have been transformed from one ‘forsaken’ and ‘desolate’ to one whom God calls ‘my delight is in her’ and ‘married’ … married to Christ himself… and one with him in ministry in this place.  It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Certainly, the beauty of the bride is in the eye of bridegroom.  He has chosen her to be a part of his life… to share his work and his pleasure.  The church is the bride of Christ. Are we beautiful in his eyes?   In this new year, will we allow ourselves to be transformed into fine wine for his feast?  Or will we be more like a broken record… endlessly playing the same tune over and over again… hoping that we will somehow see different results?  Emerson once said, “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.”  If we want something to be different, then we need to change… for the cook who follows the same recipe will always produce the same meal.  As Thoreau has said, “things don’t change, people do”… we do.

This I know for a certainty… that God has put you and me in this particular church… in this community… at this time in history… to do his work… and, in God’s eyes, this is not an accident.  You and I have been called to be church in this place now.  The exact combination of people and gifts that are present in this congregation today has never been present in this church before… and will never be present again.  We are the fresh water that God has poured into this old jar.  The question is “What is it that God is calling us to be”… as a community of faith… in this new year?  Has God saved the best for last?   Has God saved the best for now… or has the good wine already been poured out and consumed?  I believe that the answer lies in our willingness to be transformed into that which God can use for his glory.  For with God, all things are possible.  This we believe.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

John 2:1-11