Saturday, January 27, 2007

When The Wine Runs Out

John 2:1-11

2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it.9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom10 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."11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
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What do you do with a passage like this one, when you feel empty? When your faith and hope have run out?

What do you do when you’re a disciple who believes in Him, but you’re just at a place where the bottom has fallen out on faith and hope, and suddenly you find yourself saying something to the Lord like, “Don’t tell me anymore lies about the abundant life.”

(There is no point in pretending with the Lord Jesus Christ.)

What do you do then with a story that tells you He could and did miraculously turn water into wine, the first time He revealed His glory?

I don’t have an easy answer. I’m not even sure I have an answer. But, because I believe in Him, I want to struggle with this passage. At this time, this story serves me as a metaphor for running out of joy in life. (Have any of you been there?)

I see that when the wine is over, Mary goes to Jesus. She knew Him so well, and was the first person (quite literally) to receive Jesus into her life -- His first disciple. Mary goes to Jesus when the wine gave out. She doesn’t tell Him what to do. She just tells Him the facts: “They have no wine.” And, then, (like many good mothers) she ignores her son’s response, and says to the servants: “Do whatever He tells you.”

She does two things that strike me as smart: She goes to Jesus. She says, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Wine was a necessary part of celebrating a Jewish wedding. It certainly contributed to the joie-de-vivre of this occasion. Running out of wine is a real problem at a Jewish wedding, and a real embarrassment to the host. It could cut the celebrations short.

I wonder whose wedding it was that the Lord graced. Maybe a cousin of Nathaniel’s? An internet search showed me that Nathaniel is from Cana (John 1:45). Maybe that’s how Jesus and his disciples, all of whom were close to Nathaniel, were invited to this wedding, too.

I don’t know. But, I’ve always thought that this couple and their guests were extremely blessed to have Jesus at this wedding. Imagine a wedding guest list with Jesus on it! Of course, He really should be the chief guest at every Christian wedding.

But, now I digress.

So, what does one do with this passage, when His glory appears hidden, when His power seems absent, when the “wine” has long run out of one’s life?

Here’s this wedding celebration, people are probably laughing and talking and dancing, and there are large, impressive, jars around. But, right there in the middle of a grand celebration of marriage, in the middle of all the gaiety there is emptiness: The wine has run out. And there isn’t even any purifying water in the jars. The large jars look terribly impressive because they can hold 20 to 30 gallons of water – but look inside and they are empty. The laughter hides the reality that the wine has run out. There’s no more wine to look forward to.

It’s interesting to me that Jesus doesn’t think that this is His concern. Look at His reply to his mother: "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."
After all, I suppose, as Mary had said, “They have no wine.” Well, neither of them were the hosts, neither of them craved more wine and so, well, it wasn’t their concern. At least, that’s Jesus’ first response. “My hour has not yet come.” He adds. Maybe He just wanted to enjoy a wedding without much ado as the Son of God. Maybe He would have preferred if His first sign involved healing the sick, or bringing back the dead or restoring sight or setting the captives free. Maybe the ideal coming out for the Son of God would have been meeting a dire need miraculously.

Wanting more wine at a wedding seems almost greedy. Surely, unnecessary? It doesn’t have the same ring as needing your sight restored, for example.

It’s interesting to me that despite Jesus’ initial reluctance, He re-adjusts to the moment and request at hand. The wine isn’t about Him, and this isn’t his preferred or divinely ordained time for a miracle, but He responds to His mother’s request about the situation at hand anyway.

And how!

All He has to work with are empty jars.

Six stone jars that can hold twenty or thirty gallons are filled “to the brim” with water, which is then turned to the “good wine,” better than any that had been had so far. You do the math, but that’s a lot of extra wine! I imagine that the festivities did go on for a good bit longer and the wedding celebrations just got more riotous, and the joy overflowed.

This, John says was Jesus’ first sign, which revealed His glory.

When the chief steward tastes this wine his expectations are low. He’s expecting inferior wine. He was actually expecting too much, as reality would have it. Without Jesus, there was no more wine, not even the inferior kind.

But Jesus changes that reality.

This is a wedding. A cause for much celebration. A time of joy that is appropriately celebrated with gusto. And this is not lost on the Son of God. He does in the end turn water into wine – lots of it. I’m sure none have tasted the likes of that day’s Cana wine that Jesus produced miraculously and abundantly.

His disciples, who were there and witnessed the whole thing, “believed in him.”

Maybe this is what one takes away from this story, even after one has said to Jesus, “Don’t tell me anymore lies about the abundant life.” Maybe, especially after one has said that.

“Believe in him.”

I mean, here is a story of abundance in celebrating one of life’s great joys. Jesus is there, central and indispensable in prolonging that joy. This is not a place of weeping that Jesus transforms to singing. This is a place of celebration that Jesus raises to a whole new level – miraculously -- so that the party goes on with plenty more good wine.

This was the Son of God’s first sign.

It’s a little reminder of God’s great goodness. The abundance of it. The extravagance of it. The joy of it. The sweetness of it. The substance of it. The miracle of it.

A little reminder that God is not out to get us.

Jesus has jars filled to the brim with water – and then turns it into the evening’s best wine. All when it isn’t His concern, His initiative, or His hour.

What, then, will He do when it is His concern?

We are His concern. He took the initiative to save us and come to us. His hour has come. His glory has been fully revealed.

Perhaps that’s what one does with this story at a time when the bottom has fallen out of faith and hope, and emptiness rather than overflowing joy is the order of the day: Remind oneself of the character of the Lord Jesus. Remind ourselves that we are His concern. “The mother of Jesus” went to Him when the wine had run out because she knew Him well. He responded to His mother because she was His concern.

This story reminds me of Jesus. Of who He is. Not just of His power, but of Him. Isn’t it telling that His first sign was intended to extend and heighten a joyous celebration? He’s not meager in His giving. Gosh, no! He’s not Scrooge. He’s Jesus. He gave His life for us.

And I know Him. And I believe in Him. So, I go to Him.

“Lord, the wine has run out.”

Now, will I trust Him enough to do whatever He says?

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

God's Star

Matthew 2:1-12

2:1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2:2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 2:3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 2:4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 2:5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 2:6 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" 2:7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 2:8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 2:9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 2:10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 2:11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
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Have you ever wondered what happened to that star after its rising? I haven’t. Not before today. But, it seems clear to me today that the wise men from the East lost sight of the star some time after its rising.

And because they lost sight of the star, they first went to Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem. The star started them in the right direction – Israel – but somewhere in between the first sighting and the last sighting, they couldn’t see it. But, they were already on their journey, and they kept going. The Gospel is light on these details. But, we can conclude that the star put them in the right direction, so that they went towards Israel, instead of any other country in that neighborhood. And, we can surmise they kept going even when they lost sight of the star because some indescribable gut instinct urged them on, telling them it would be worth the journey. As seers of stars and other heavenly bodies in the vast universe, they were probably accustomed to finding their way in darkness and in star-studded vastness.

In these Scriptures, here they are first in Jerusalem at King Herod’s palace, asking, “"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?” How did they come to that place, I wonder? They say that they saw the star at its rising. Yet, here they are looking for this king of the Jews in the wrong place. In a terribly wrong place as it turns out. How did they end up here, having begun well enough? Probably because, when they couldn’t see the star anymore, these wise men trusted their wisdom, and figured that the king of the Jews could be found in the palace in Jerusalem. That makes sense. It’s completely logical thinking. That’s probably what most of us would have guessed, if it were up to us without Scriptural reference to depend on.

Do you see how the wise men from the East might have ended up in the wrong place in Israel because they relied on their own wisdom? Somewhere along the way, they had lost sight of God’s star, which they had observed at its rising. After a length of some time (isn’t it frustrating how nebulous time is in God’s word? Maybe that should tell us something, too.), when they come out of Herod’s palace, the wise men see the star again. Herod has just told them to go to Bethlehem, but it looks like God had already set about putting them on the right road. They were asking for directions in the wrong place from the wrong person, while God had gone ahead of them, to show them the way: “When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star.” That star, that mystifying God-sent star, reappears and takes them directly to the place where Jesus is!

The good news is that God put them back on the right road, even though they were in the wrong place. The good news is that the star reappeared to guide them, even as they were seeking directions from the wrong person. The good news is that God’s path led them straight to Jesus, and their wrong turn didn’t prevent that.

I think we can learn from these wise men’s journey – from the fact that they never stopped looking for Jesus. They didn’t give up and go on home when they lost sight of the star. They had begun a journey that they knew was worth the effort. They began this journey of faith when they saw this star at its rising, and they kept going in that general direction, even when they couldn’t see it anymore.

It’s significant, I think, that they faltered when they probably depended on their own wisdom, ending up in Jerusalem. It’s comforting to me that God brought them back on the right road eventually. He reaffirms the strange faith that prompted them to begin this journey.

This is good news for followers of Jesus Christ. Have you ever been in a place where you’ve lost sight of that “Star” – God’s guiding hand -- that you saw so clearly and followed so eagerly before? Those of us who have begun this journey of faith will, inevitably, lose our way somewhere, some time, even if we’re headed in the right direction, even with the best of intentions. There will come a time when God’s guiding hand is no longer visible. We could even end up in the palace of the enemy. But, it doesn’t mean He isn’t there, still guiding. Here’s the lesson from these wise men: if we earnestly seek the Lord Jesus Christ, He will guide us. He will not fail us, even when we lose our way. Eventually, we will find our way again – not by our wisdom or our sense of direction, but by God’s guidance and God’s intervention.

You can’t follow a star that you cannot see. But you can trust God’s faithfulness even when you’re lost.

Do you see all that God uses to bring these seeking wise men to His son? Do you see how He brings them to Jesus? First He uses something they are familiar with to draw them on that journey -- a star brings these stargazers to Israel. Somewhere along their journey, they end up in the wrong place. But, even here God’s truth shines through. Bethlehem is to be their destination. So, off they go. But, suddenly they are no longer groping in the dark. The star reappears. It takes them exactly where God intended for them to go all along – the place where they find Jesus Christ.

It’s not clear if it was the wise men’s negligence that made them lose sight of that star for a while, or whether God, in His mysterious wisdom, hid that star from their view temporarily. (Did these seasoned stargazers need to learn about the limits of their own wisdom?) Still, they persevered. And God was faithful through it all.

When they finally arrive at the place where Jesus is – when the star stops -- these Gentile stargazers are “overwhelmed with joy.” And they very appropriately bow down and worship the Lord, before giving Him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. What an extraordinary thing for them to do to a young child found with his unknown mother, not in a palace, but in a house, not in the illustrious city of David, but in the little town of Bethlehem. Slowly, but surely, God’s wisdom was overriding their own.

And, so it should be with us.

God’s ways are not our ways. That’s why it’s so easy for us to lose our way. Not so much at the beginning of our journey as followers of Christ, but more often far along the way, we lose sight of God and His guiding hand. But, just like that reappearing star, it will make itself known again. God is faithful to the journey’s end. He can be no other way.

Persevering with our faith, we will find, like these wise men did, that God will eventually make His way known. We will see, like these wise men did, that our wrong turns don’t hinder God’s ability to accompany us to His chosen destination. We will see, like these wise men did, that if we earnestly seek our Lord Jesus, He will become more real to us than He has ever been before.

God’s star does reappear in the darkness.