Pastor Tom Johnson, January 20, 2019
 |
| "The Marriage at Cana" by Maerten de Vos (circa 1597) |
Today Jesus is invited to a wedding. His mother Mary and his disciples are also invited. Weddings in those days were not just an afternoon and evening. The celebration would have been for several days. At some point they run out of wine. These first century party goers are not too different from us. There would be similar disappointment and even outrage if those who catered our weddings did not serve enough champagne for the toast...or did not have enough adult beverages for the dinner and dancing into the night. Jesus’ mother Mary reports this shortage of wine to her son Jesus. And his response may sound rude. But Jesus is basically saying it is not his problem. And even more than that, the hour for him to save the world has not yet come—let alone this wedding. This is our cue to see this story in light of the hour to come. I love Mary’s persistence. She tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. So apparently Mary knows her son well enough to know that he was about to do something to fix the situation.
Jesus tells them to fill up these huge stone jars with water and then take it to the chief steward—the same person who is responsible for having enough wine in the first place. At some point the water becomes wine. In this moment, Jesus steps into the groom’s responsibility and chief steward’s job. Jesus the wedding guest becomes Jesus the wedding host. The groom’s servants have become Jesus’ servants. They are even serving his wine. It’s not a power grab but a revealing of his glory as the true Groom of his bride the Church.
The reaction of the chief steward is there to make us laugh. He is so clueless that he takes offense by the high quality wine. He does not even realize that he just averted a disaster by this wine that literally came out of no where. It was likely his fault that they ran out of wine in the first place. And then he has the gall to confront and scold the groom for not serving the higher quality stuff first. All because he wanted to deceive their palates by the numbness of alcohol.
It makes me wonder. How often have I completely taken for granted the blessings in my life? When I complain about something not going my way, am I completely unaware that I am in the wrong and that God has just performed a miracle and a blessing in my life? Do we think we are the chief stewards or the ones calling the shots and do not recognize Jesus at work in spite of us? Or have we failed to invite Jesus into our weddings, our relationships, and our daily lives and missed the really good stuff?
Many of us have been taught to pray that little table prayer, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed.” We will soon pray before Holy Communion today, “Amen. Come Lord Jesus.” When we pray, we yearn to have Jesus come to our tables, weddings, relationships, and our lives. We want him to make a difference in our lives. We want him to clean up the messes we have made, fix our mistakes, and forgive our sins.
Thanks be to God he does not say to us, “What concern is that to me? My hour has not yet come.” Because his hour has come. Yes, he will pray for the cup of suffering to pass him but also that God’s will be done. The hour comes when he is arrested and drinks the poison of death on a Roman Cross. And three days later he rises triumphantly from the grave. He appears to be a guest in this world but he reveals who he truly is—Host. He is Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is able to defy the laws of physics, bypass juicing grapes, fermentation, aging, and refining. He takes ordinary water and, in an instant, transforms it into well-aged wine. The chief steward recognizes it as the good stuff.
And so Jesus takes ordinary water and with the Holy Spirit and his Word of his promise transforms it into Holy Baptism that washes away all our sin. He takes the bread and the wine and by the Word of his promise transforms it into Holy Communion and feeds us his true Body and Blood to forgive and strengthen us. And so Jesus comes into our ordinary lives with all our messes, mistakes, pride, and sin. Sometimes we witness his miracles. Sometimes we miss them even though they are right under our nose just like the wine under the nose of the chief steward.
And so Jesus will come again into this beautiful and broken world. And when he comes, he will right every wrong. He will make all things new. We pray he comes soon and quickly. He will come again not as guest but as wedding Host. He invites us to the wedding feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb in his Kingdom that will have no end. There we will celebrate our union between Christ our Groom and us, the beautiful bride the Church. And just like the wedding at Cana, there will be surprises. And the better stuff is yet to come.
Jesus, come! Surprise our dullness,
Make us willing to receive
More than we can yet imagine,
All the best you have to give:
Let us find your hidden riches,
Taste your love, believe, and live! (“Jesus, Come! For We Invite You” WOV v. 4)
No comments:
Post a Comment