THE STRAIGHTFORWARD PULPIT

 

 



Text:  John 2:1-11

Theme:  "Uh-oh, Jesus is on The Guest List"

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

January 20, 2013

First Presbyterian Church

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

 

+In the Name of Jesus+

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman,^[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^[b]

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

 

This may or not interest you or hold your attention.  I hope it does, but one never knows.  Let me give it a shot.   My line of work includes what are referred to, for lack of a better phrase, as official acts.  For example, as a minister I'm occasionally called upon give an invocation, an opening or closing prayer, or a benediction in public.  Most recently, I was honored to do so at the Eagle presentation for Daniel Jones right here at FPC.  I've done it for the Texas Judicial Commission at their memorial breakfast and for the Salvation Army at their thank you luncheon for donors.  Then there are official acts such as baptisms and funerals and/or memorial services.

Today's gospel lesson reminds me of another official act which is usually -- but not always -- a happy occasion.  I'm talking about a wedding.  I've officiated weddings in churches, homes, backyards, chapels, rented banquet halls, and so forth. I've been to casual and formal rehearsal dinners before the big day.  Some weddings have been simple and economical -- just a handful of people besides the bride and groom.  On the other hand, I've seen lavish events with many, many, many bridesmaids and groomsmen.  The guest list was long and impressive on both sides of the family. The decorations and attention to detail were extravagant, expensive, and sometimes gaudy. Months and months of nervous, nail-biting planning obviously had gone into it.   I've seen fathers of the bride literally wince when they think of how much of a hit their American Express Gold Card will take when the bill for the reception -- with a sit-down dinner and open bar -- comes due. 

My own experience with conducting weddings is actually quite boring.  For example, I've never officiated a wedding on a bungee jumping platform.  Although that's where one couple tied the knot only to take the plunge after saying their "I do's".   Moreover, I didn't officiate the wedding where the bride wore the 200 meter long wedding dress to set the Guinness world record!  I wasn't around for the wedding where another record was set with one hundred bridesmaids. Then there was the wedding that was held in a submerged shark tank.  I didn't suit up in scuba gear to officiate that!   "You're gonna need a bigger boat" is my thought!  Then there was the wedding performed as the bride and groom rode bicycles.  Did the minister ride backwards on a unicycle so he or she could face the happy couple?  I don't know.

With all the weddings I've officiated, there is at least one common denominator:  none of them have been perfect.  There has always been at least one little mistake.  I'm talking about what happens in the ceremony.  At the rehearsal, I share this with the wedding party and families to get them used to the idea. I tell them to expect the unexpected!   Great Aunt Sophie might show up from Schenectedy with a coughing spell; little Joey the ring-bearer might trip and fall;  I don't know.   I say that "The difference between a good wedding and a great one is how well you cover up that mistake." 

If I read it correctly, there was a whopper of a mistake at the wedding featured in today's story from John chapter two.  The scene is set at the town of Cana in Galilee.  It's just as few miles north of Nazareth where Jesus grew up.  Over to the east from Cana was Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee where our Lord had what I like to call His "Northern base of operation."  It was the home of the fishermen-turned-disciples, Peter and Andrew.

At any rate, back at Cana, the mistake was a difficult one to cover up because it was a problem of calculation.  In short, they didn't provide enough refreshments. They ran out of wine, and it wasn't like they could just dispatch someone to Kroger to pick up a case or two, throw them in the back of their Texas edition Ford F150, and head back to the party.  I wonder if there were angry words exchanged between the wedding families and what the text calls the "chief steward" or "master of the banquet."  That's who we, today, would call the "wedding coordinator" or "event planner."  I mean, c'mon!  You've got to figure!  You've got X number of guests; you need X amount of wine.  Do the math.  If you don't, you're going to commit an awkward, social faux pas. What's worse, by the time you run out of goodies it will be too late to fire the event planner and hire another.  What to do? 

Uh-oh, Jesus is on the guest list at the wedding. He must have responded positively to the RSVP.  His mother is too -- along with the twelve newly-called disciples of Jesus.  You can imagine them just blending in with the other guests.  Here Jesus and mother are merely faces in the crowd.  The happy bride and groom are the center of attention.

The mother Mary, like most mothers I know, was quite observant.  She mentions, in passing, to her son, Jesus, that "They have no more wine."  Oops!  Not good! 

The reply of Jesus, at first glance, seems rude.  He says to his mom:  "Woman, why do you involve me?"  I actually think He wasn't being rude.  I think it was more along the lines of "Mom, what are we supposed to do about it?  It's not our problem."  Mary and Jesus were not the center of attention.  Cryptically, Jesus says "My hour has not yet come." 

Not content to sit back and see what happens, mom takes charge -- like some mother do at weddings.  Referring to Jesus, she says to the waiters and waitresses (the text calls them servants), "Do whatever He tells you.  "I wonder if Jesus threw up his hands and rolled his eyes! 

Now there were six big jars nearby.  We are told they were used for ceremonial  cleansing-- for religious purposes, that is. They were big. They each held twenty to thirty gallons.  All together, that's 120-180 gallons of liquid. It's simple math, arithmetic!   They were empty at the time -- not in use.  "Fill them with water," says Jesus to waiters and waitresses.  They did.  "Now, take some to the wedding planner," Jesus says in effect.  Presumably, this took place apart from the wedding guests who had likely began to wonder about why the refreshments had run out. 

The wedding planner didn't see Jesus.  For all the wedding planner knew, he was just another face in the crowd.  The planner tasted the water that had become wine.  Perhaps the event planner was more of a sommelier -- or a wine connoisseur.  He calls the bridegroom aside and says:  "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."  "At most weddings, they serve the estate-bottled Cabernet Sauvignon first and then the Mogen-David from Kroger after the guests are happily buzzed.  But you saved the estate-bottled Cabernet, the best vintage, until now.  Cheers!"

The gospel-writer wraps things up by saying:  "What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he manifest his glory; and his disciples believed in him."

Did you catch that? There's a second miracle here -- and it is all but hidden.  We confess Jesus to be the Son of God or God in the flesh.  John declared in John chapter one that "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  We have beheld His glory."  Turning water into wine, therefore,  is,  nothing -- a mere trifle -- for the One who brought the universe into being with just a word.  No, there is another miracle here.  John says that Jesus' disciples believed in him. 

Do we?  Or are we, instead, overcome with that modern, polished, and popular skepticism that says:  "When is our water going to get turned into wine?"  "When will our little loaf and fish get to feed five thousand?"  "When will God choreograph our hopes and dreams to perfection?"  "When will it be our time?"

"My hour has not yet come," says Jesus.  But come it did.  He prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before He died.  He cries out:  "Take this cup from me."  Psalm 78:5 says:  "For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs."  Jesus drank that cup of wrath for us in His passion and death.   He did it so that we might, in turn, partake of the choicest vintage:  the cup of blessing at the marriage feast of the Son of God who is risen from the dead.  Every time you come to communion, you get a foretaste of that delightful vintage. 

No longer on the guest list, Jesus is now your host! 

Amen.