Take it to the Lord
01/14/07
Epiphany 2
John 2:1-11
Dear friends in Christ,
A lot has changed about weddings since Melissa and I were married a little more than 28 years ago. When we were married, evening weddings were commonplace. Our wedding was at 7:30PM on a Saturday night. Not anymore. They’re all in the afternoon. I can’t remember the last time I either officiated or attended a wedding in the evening. In those days it was still pretty common to hold receptions in the church hall. We didn’t do that, but it was often done. Again, it has been decades since I’ve been at a wedding reception in a church hall.
The place of weddings has also changed and sometimes gotten a bit extreme. Couples no longer automatically turn to the church. I read about a bride named Michelle. Michelle is a Michigan woman who works at a 7-11. She loves her customers, her work and her fiancé. So she married him in the parking lot outside the 7-11 on 7/11—July 11th— carrying her bouquet in a Super Big Gulp cup. How levely! At the reception, hot dogs and Slurpees were served at reduced prices.
In Maine, one couple first met at their town transfer station—locally known as “The Dump.” He had just starting working there. She had just brought her first recyclables. Now they plan to be married where they met while standing in the bucket loader. Friends from the town have been donating returnable bottles to build a honeymoon fund. The couple is seeking ways to incorporate recycled objects into their wedding outfits. They can’t wait to say “I do” at The Dump. I’m just glad I wasn’t asked to officiate.
Truthfully, most of the weddings I have done have been quite normal. I do remember one time doing a wedding at the Japanese Gardens in Como Park. There is a man made brook running through the Gardens and I was asked to stand on a large rock in the middle of the brook, facing the couple and their guests on the bank. That made me a little nervous, balancing on this rock, fearing I may slip into the creek. But we did it and everyone thought it was lovely.
Much has changed since our wedding in 1978, and even more has changed since Jesus and the disciples attended the wedding at Cana in Galilee some 2000 years ago. In the first century, a typical wedding celebration lasted a full week, seven days. If you think planning a wedding is stressful today, just think about planning a seven day celebration! This wedding was only in its third day when the wine ran out. Wine was very important. It was the normal beverage at meals - and especially at festivals. Wine was a symbol of joy. One ancient rabbi is quoted as saying, “Without wine, there is no joy.” At the same time, drunkenness was a great disgrace throughout scriptures, so there is no indication
that Jesus or the rabbis were encouraging excessive drinking at these feasts.
The wedding celebration itself was quite normal. It’s the fact that the wine ran out and the response of Jesus, which makes it so memorable and why it became part of the scriptures. What are a few things we can learn from this miracle, this first sign Jesus does to reveal his glory in the Gospel of John?
Well, first of all it shows us that there will be times of stress and crisis in our lives. A problem arose at this wedding celebration. The wine gave out. I’m sure that the planners did their best to make sure they had enough of everything, but for some reason they were wrong on their estimate on the amount of wine needed. Mary was apparently sympathetic to the situation and told Jesus, “They have no wine.”
It’s kind of a host’s worst nightmare, and also very Minnesotan, the fear of running out of food. Those of you that have put on confirmation and graduation open houses know all about this. The worst thing that could happen would be to run out of food, so you order more than enough and end up giving out doggie bags at the end to relatives and whoever else might take it. I know that whenever the Martha’s Servers group serves a meal here at church, they always eat last. Only when they’re sure there’s enough for everyone will they sit down at a table. It’s a crisis when there’s not enough food.
The wine gave out at the wedding feast. But I see it as much more than an inconvenience at this particular wedding. I see it as any crisis, any time of stress that happens and overwhelms us. Maybe it’s the death of a loved one. Maybe it’s a major health crisis. Maybe it is marital or family tension. Maybe it’s trying to reach expectations that can’t be reached. It’s any of those times of stress, of tension, where the way out is unclear and you simply don’t know what to do.
Mary sees the crisis, and Mary shows us the way through such times when they come. The first thing she does is tell Jesus. Here’s the crisis, the wine has run out. Running out of wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee was a nightmare. The importance of having, serving, and drinking wine in the 1st century Jewish culture is difficult to overstate. Wine was a symbol of blessing and relationship and the holy. Wine was meant to inspire and comfort, to lend dignity and importance to an occasion; it raised an ordinary or even extraordinary human event to a higher spiritual level. So running out was a big problem.
Guests will be angry. The blame game is about to begin. Someone didn’t plan right. Someone’s at fault. You can just see the gossip and accusations about to start flying. This could quickly deteriorate into a bad situation.
So Mary tells Jesus. Here we are reminded at what should always be the first move in any crisis situation- tell it to Jesus. Bring it to him in prayer. That’s not a sign of weakness, it’s not showing a lack of faith, it’s not an embarrassment, it’s being truly honest. There’s a crisis here. I don’t know how to get through it. I can’t see the way right now. It’s going to take a miracle for this to work itself out. And so the natural and necessary first step is to tell Jesus, who loves us and has a much bigger perspective on life than we’ll ever have.
Some of the best and most enduring hymns are the ones that bring the simple message we all need to hear. When I think of Mary telling Jesus of this crisis, I think of these words. “Have you trials or temptations, is there trouble anywhere, you should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness- Take it to the Lord in prayer.” That is, of course, verse two of the beloved hymn, “What a Friend We have in Jesus.”
Early in the lesson we read that Jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding. Mary then invites Jesus further into the situation as the crisis of wine breaks out. I see this as a helpful reminder to always invite Jesus into our lives, into our marriages, into our trials and times of crisis. It’s the first step in resolving whatever trial we face.
Mary then gives one further response. At first Jesus appears not ready to act. It wasn’t time for him to reveal his glory, who he truly was. “My hour has not yet come,” he says. To this Mary replies, “Do whatever he tells you.” Mary does not continue to ask him. Rather, she turns it over to him and his will. She trusted that he would do what was God’s will in that situation. “Do whatever he tells you,” she tells the servants. She has faith and confidence that Jesus can act, and yet gives Jesus the freedom to act however he deems best. It is after Mary submits to the will of Jesus, that Jesus acts. It is not her will, but his. It is only then that the miracle takes place. Six stone jars are filled with water. When the steward tasted the water, it had become fine wine. It was better than what had been served earlier. It was an act of God, totally unexpected, the first of the signs that Jesus did to reveal his glory.
I do believe that God, in Christ, continues to bring new wine and reveal his glory as we trust him through the many trials and crises we face. I’ve experienced this many times in my personal and family life. I’ve certainly experienced it often over my 18 years here as pastor, as something happens or something changes and you wonder, just how are we going to get through this. But if, like Mary, we tell it to Jesus, trust in his will, and act in ways that he leads, we will pass through the trial to a new place in life. New wine is given, life again becomes a blessing, and we rejoice at God’s leading and care.
There is a crisis in Cana. The wine gave out. But that was only for a time. Mary told Jesus. Mary trusted Jesus to act. And Jesus restored the celebration with new and better wine.
One of the pastors at prince of Peace in Burnsville recalled the following story for his congregation. “A number of years ago I had the privilege of doing a wedding here at Prince of Peace where the bride and groom were both in their 80’s. After each of them had lost a life-long spouse, they had discovered each other. It was one of the most precious experiences I’ve had. During the wedding I talked about this passage, about inviting Jesus not only to their wedding but to their marriage and I talked about calamity, chaos, and catastrophe—about which both of them knew—and what it meant to do whatever Jesus told them to do in those times. I also talked to them about the miracles that Christ could and would do in their marriage.
And to illustrate the miracle of water being changed into wine, I poured a glass of each and invited them right there to taste each of them and then describe the taste of each for me and the gathered guests. The bride and groom tasted the glass of water and each used words like “plain”, “ordinary”, “common.” They were playing perfectly into the point I was making. I then handed the bride the glass of wine. She tasted it and then handed the glass to her 84 year old sweetheart. She described the wine by using words like, “robust”, “fruity”, “uncommon”, “extraordinary.” The groom took the glass, put it to his lips and tasted it. He looked at me, he looked at his beloved and then he looked back at me. He then took another deep swallow of the wine in the glass. So I said to him, “Before it’s all gone and there’s none left, how would you describe the taste of this wine?” With a twinkle in his eyes, he took one more sip and then simply said, “Zippy!”
That was perfect. That’s the point: Christ wants to do the miracle of turning the water in our lives to wine. He is still there to take those crises, whatever they may be, overcome them, and renew the zippiness to our lives. I can’t know all the individual trials you are facing. But I do know this. Jesus is still doing miracles, transforming our trials into good wine. May God reveal His glory to you this week, in whatever way you most need it. Amen
John 2:1-11
Dear friends in Christ,
A lot has changed about weddings since Melissa and I were married a little more than 28 years ago. When we were married, evening weddings were commonplace. Our wedding was at 7:30PM on a Saturday night. Not anymore. They’re all in the afternoon. I can’t remember the last time I either officiated or attended a wedding in the evening. In those days it was still pretty common to hold receptions in the church hall. We didn’t do that, but it was often done. Again, it has been decades since I’ve been at a wedding reception in a church hall.
The place of weddings has also changed and sometimes gotten a bit extreme. Couples no longer automatically turn to the church. I read about a bride named Michelle. Michelle is a Michigan woman who works at a 7-11. She loves her customers, her work and her fiancé. So she married him in the parking lot outside the 7-11 on 7/11—July 11th— carrying her bouquet in a Super Big Gulp cup. How levely! At the reception, hot dogs and Slurpees were served at reduced prices.
In Maine, one couple first met at their town transfer station—locally known as “The Dump.” He had just starting working there. She had just brought her first recyclables. Now they plan to be married where they met while standing in the bucket loader. Friends from the town have been donating returnable bottles to build a honeymoon fund. The couple is seeking ways to incorporate recycled objects into their wedding outfits. They can’t wait to say “I do” at The Dump. I’m just glad I wasn’t asked to officiate.
Truthfully, most of the weddings I have done have been quite normal. I do remember one time doing a wedding at the Japanese Gardens in Como Park. There is a man made brook running through the Gardens and I was asked to stand on a large rock in the middle of the brook, facing the couple and their guests on the bank. That made me a little nervous, balancing on this rock, fearing I may slip into the creek. But we did it and everyone thought it was lovely.
Much has changed since our wedding in 1978, and even more has changed since Jesus and the disciples attended the wedding at Cana in Galilee some 2000 years ago. In the first century, a typical wedding celebration lasted a full week, seven days. If you think planning a wedding is stressful today, just think about planning a seven day celebration! This wedding was only in its third day when the wine ran out. Wine was very important. It was the normal beverage at meals - and especially at festivals. Wine was a symbol of joy. One ancient rabbi is quoted as saying, “Without wine, there is no joy.” At the same time, drunkenness was a great disgrace throughout scriptures, so there is no indication
that Jesus or the rabbis were encouraging excessive drinking at these feasts.
The wedding celebration itself was quite normal. It’s the fact that the wine ran out and the response of Jesus, which makes it so memorable and why it became part of the scriptures. What are a few things we can learn from this miracle, this first sign Jesus does to reveal his glory in the Gospel of John?
Well, first of all it shows us that there will be times of stress and crisis in our lives. A problem arose at this wedding celebration. The wine gave out. I’m sure that the planners did their best to make sure they had enough of everything, but for some reason they were wrong on their estimate on the amount of wine needed. Mary was apparently sympathetic to the situation and told Jesus, “They have no wine.”
It’s kind of a host’s worst nightmare, and also very Minnesotan, the fear of running out of food. Those of you that have put on confirmation and graduation open houses know all about this. The worst thing that could happen would be to run out of food, so you order more than enough and end up giving out doggie bags at the end to relatives and whoever else might take it. I know that whenever the Martha’s Servers group serves a meal here at church, they always eat last. Only when they’re sure there’s enough for everyone will they sit down at a table. It’s a crisis when there’s not enough food.
The wine gave out at the wedding feast. But I see it as much more than an inconvenience at this particular wedding. I see it as any crisis, any time of stress that happens and overwhelms us. Maybe it’s the death of a loved one. Maybe it’s a major health crisis. Maybe it is marital or family tension. Maybe it’s trying to reach expectations that can’t be reached. It’s any of those times of stress, of tension, where the way out is unclear and you simply don’t know what to do.
Mary sees the crisis, and Mary shows us the way through such times when they come. The first thing she does is tell Jesus. Here’s the crisis, the wine has run out. Running out of wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee was a nightmare. The importance of having, serving, and drinking wine in the 1st century Jewish culture is difficult to overstate. Wine was a symbol of blessing and relationship and the holy. Wine was meant to inspire and comfort, to lend dignity and importance to an occasion; it raised an ordinary or even extraordinary human event to a higher spiritual level. So running out was a big problem.
Guests will be angry. The blame game is about to begin. Someone didn’t plan right. Someone’s at fault. You can just see the gossip and accusations about to start flying. This could quickly deteriorate into a bad situation.
So Mary tells Jesus. Here we are reminded at what should always be the first move in any crisis situation- tell it to Jesus. Bring it to him in prayer. That’s not a sign of weakness, it’s not showing a lack of faith, it’s not an embarrassment, it’s being truly honest. There’s a crisis here. I don’t know how to get through it. I can’t see the way right now. It’s going to take a miracle for this to work itself out. And so the natural and necessary first step is to tell Jesus, who loves us and has a much bigger perspective on life than we’ll ever have.
Some of the best and most enduring hymns are the ones that bring the simple message we all need to hear. When I think of Mary telling Jesus of this crisis, I think of these words. “Have you trials or temptations, is there trouble anywhere, you should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness- Take it to the Lord in prayer.” That is, of course, verse two of the beloved hymn, “What a Friend We have in Jesus.”
Early in the lesson we read that Jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding. Mary then invites Jesus further into the situation as the crisis of wine breaks out. I see this as a helpful reminder to always invite Jesus into our lives, into our marriages, into our trials and times of crisis. It’s the first step in resolving whatever trial we face.
Mary then gives one further response. At first Jesus appears not ready to act. It wasn’t time for him to reveal his glory, who he truly was. “My hour has not yet come,” he says. To this Mary replies, “Do whatever he tells you.” Mary does not continue to ask him. Rather, she turns it over to him and his will. She trusted that he would do what was God’s will in that situation. “Do whatever he tells you,” she tells the servants. She has faith and confidence that Jesus can act, and yet gives Jesus the freedom to act however he deems best. It is after Mary submits to the will of Jesus, that Jesus acts. It is not her will, but his. It is only then that the miracle takes place. Six stone jars are filled with water. When the steward tasted the water, it had become fine wine. It was better than what had been served earlier. It was an act of God, totally unexpected, the first of the signs that Jesus did to reveal his glory.
I do believe that God, in Christ, continues to bring new wine and reveal his glory as we trust him through the many trials and crises we face. I’ve experienced this many times in my personal and family life. I’ve certainly experienced it often over my 18 years here as pastor, as something happens or something changes and you wonder, just how are we going to get through this. But if, like Mary, we tell it to Jesus, trust in his will, and act in ways that he leads, we will pass through the trial to a new place in life. New wine is given, life again becomes a blessing, and we rejoice at God’s leading and care.
There is a crisis in Cana. The wine gave out. But that was only for a time. Mary told Jesus. Mary trusted Jesus to act. And Jesus restored the celebration with new and better wine.
One of the pastors at prince of Peace in Burnsville recalled the following story for his congregation. “A number of years ago I had the privilege of doing a wedding here at Prince of Peace where the bride and groom were both in their 80’s. After each of them had lost a life-long spouse, they had discovered each other. It was one of the most precious experiences I’ve had. During the wedding I talked about this passage, about inviting Jesus not only to their wedding but to their marriage and I talked about calamity, chaos, and catastrophe—about which both of them knew—and what it meant to do whatever Jesus told them to do in those times. I also talked to them about the miracles that Christ could and would do in their marriage.
And to illustrate the miracle of water being changed into wine, I poured a glass of each and invited them right there to taste each of them and then describe the taste of each for me and the gathered guests. The bride and groom tasted the glass of water and each used words like “plain”, “ordinary”, “common.” They were playing perfectly into the point I was making. I then handed the bride the glass of wine. She tasted it and then handed the glass to her 84 year old sweetheart. She described the wine by using words like, “robust”, “fruity”, “uncommon”, “extraordinary.” The groom took the glass, put it to his lips and tasted it. He looked at me, he looked at his beloved and then he looked back at me. He then took another deep swallow of the wine in the glass. So I said to him, “Before it’s all gone and there’s none left, how would you describe the taste of this wine?” With a twinkle in his eyes, he took one more sip and then simply said, “Zippy!”
That was perfect. That’s the point: Christ wants to do the miracle of turning the water in our lives to wine. He is still there to take those crises, whatever they may be, overcome them, and renew the zippiness to our lives. I can’t know all the individual trials you are facing. But I do know this. Jesus is still doing miracles, transforming our trials into good wine. May God reveal His glory to you this week, in whatever way you most need it. Amen