All Saints Lutheran Church
Pastor Tim Johnson
January 18, 2004
John 2:1-11

A little boy was in a relative's wedding. As he was coming down the aisle, he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd. While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar. So it went-step, step, ROAR; step, step, ROAR; all the way down the aisle. As you can imagine, the congregation was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit. When asked what he was doing, the child, somewhat confused by it all, said, "I was just being the Ring Bear."

Talk to people long enough, and you’ll usually hear some good stories about weddings. One thing seems to be pretty consistently true of couples, is they work hard for their wedding day to be a real highlight of their lives. And, they, of course, try to cover all the bases so that their guests will be well cared for.

Well, this morning’s story is about a wedding—one that happened in the town of Cana. What we don’t know is whose wedding it was, but what we are told is that there was a problem. We’re not sure if the planners for the wedding underestimated the number of guests or if perhaps someone didn’t come through in delivering what the party needed, but what we learn is that the wine had run out.

Now, I don’t know if you can appreciate what that meant for the wedding feast, but for a Jewish wedding it was everything. The wine was part of what indicated celebration. But it had run out.

Jesus’ mother tells Jesus, as if he ought to do something about it. To which he responds, “What concern is that to you and me.” But Jesus’ mother, like most mothers, is undaunted by her son’s efforts to leave other people’s business to themselves, and offers her son’s involvement by telling the servants that they should do whatever he tells them.

Subsequently, Jesus does get involved by directing the servants to fill six large stone water jars, used for purification rites, with water, resulting miraculously with them being filled with fine wine.

At the end of the story it says that Jesus did this as the first of his signs, and in so doing revealed his glory.

I’d be interested in knowing how many of you this morning are looking for a sign…a sign from God. A sign that will help you to determine where to go or what to do with some particular challenge or dilemma in your life.

Perhaps a relationship that is conflicted, and you’re trying to figure out what to do, where to go, how to speak or act.

Maybe you’re at some new crossroads of your life and your trying to figure out how to manage the new challenges that are before you.

Or, perhaps your prayer is: “Lord, give me some sign so that I might discover the deeper purpose of my life.”

So, if you are looking for some sign for something in your life, it seems reasonable to consider how this very first sign of Jesus’ might teach or inform you.

As such, I want to share briefly three points from today’s story that I think have relevance to our own lives and relationships with Christ.

The first point is that Jesus is responsive, even when it might seem that he’s not going to be.

The second point is that Jesus has the power to transform that which is ordinary into something extraordinary.

And the third point is that life with Jesus includes hearty celebration.

I think that one of the more difficult aspects of faith is when you feel like God doesn’t hear your prayers or isn’t responsive to your needs. There was a time in my life when I was very much trying to discern what to do with my life. I hadn’t finished school. I had made some poor choices and had some regrets. I felt like my interests were just too varied and unfocused. I wasn’t sure that God could use where I had been and what I had done for anything good. I was sure that God was faithful; I simply wasn’t confident that I could hear Him when He spoke.

Years later, after seminary, I had to choose some Scripture texts for my ordination. I chose the story about the prophet Samuel, and how when God called to him, Samuel kept misunderstanding the voice as that of the priest, Eli. In fact, after repeated attempts by God to call Samuel, it finally took the wisdom of his friend, Eli, to help discern that the voice was that of God. And, he then directed Samuel, “Next time you hear the voice, simply respond, ‘Here I am Lord. Speak, for your servant listens.’”

At the very beginning of that story, it says this: “In those days, the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.”

Sometimes, there are seasons of life that feel like God is very silent. But I chose that bible story because I learned that God is faithful, and that God does speak, often through the voices of others. What I learned through that time in my life, and it’s something that I have clung to more tenaciously at sometimes than others, is that God in Christ is responsive. “Knock and the door shall be opened,” he says. “Seek, and you will find.”

Jesus’ first response to the dilemma of the party running out of wine could have turned his mother to look elsewhere. “What concern is it of ours?” he asks. And yet Mary his mother is persistent and confident that Jesus will respond to the situation. He, and not someone else, is the one to trust.

So, whatever sign you may be looking for, remember this one thing above all others: God is faithful! And, God hears and responds to those who come seeking, though patience and long-suffering are sometimes a part of our journey and our waiting time.

Second point: Jesus can take that which is seemingly ordinary and turn it into that which is extraordinary. Unfortunately, you and I are living in a culture that is increasingly sensationalistic and even extreme, in what it values as being worthwhile. For instance, the other night Jennifer and I were watching some show that was highlighting Ed Sullivan’s finer moments. And, on it was Englebert Humperdink. Now, I was no big fan of his, but I do remember that he was considered to really be one cool singer. Well, there he was, young, good-looking, holding onto his microphone and, well…..just singing.

And, we commented, “Wow this guy would never make it in today’s music market.” Why? Because, for the most part, you’ve got to have a spectacular show to go along with your good music. Lights, sounds, dancers. And for so many, they end up being more and more provocative. And, take movies today. The stakes keep going up there, too. The quality of the production, the special effects, the drama, just keeps getting more and more remarkable.

Part of the problem is that we see this stuff, and we begin to think our lives should somehow look like their lives. The reality, though, is that there are a lot of our lives that are, well, ordinary. As Christians, we are not supposed to try to emulate the ways that the world creates extra-ordinariness, but we are to ask God to take our ordinary lives and for God to do something extraordinary with them.

One of the ways we’ve experienced that as a family has been to reclaim a weekly family day. Having a special meal together. Playing board games. Talking and catching up with one another about our lives, about faith and God. And, we’ve found that God can transform those ordinary moments into a deepened care for one another, and a deepened experience of being family. Even simple things like a bedtime ritual that includes sharing highs and lows, some reading, a prayer. And, God gently turns an ordinary moment into something more. Water into wine. At Holy Communion, wine into forgiveness.

This final point is one we need to lift up and enjoy more frequently. And that is that life with Jesus includes hearty celebration.

In his book, “The Kingdom of God is a Party,” Tony Campolo shares a story about returning late to his hotel room from his evening’s speaking engagement, only to find that he just couldn’t sleep. So, at two in the morning he goes out for coffee, only to come across a couple of women of the night, one of whom is feeling the hurt and loneliness of yet another birthday approaching with nothing much to do about it, as she feels that she and her life really aren’t something to celebrate.

Well, Tony describes how, after the woman leaves the coffee shop, he strikes up a conversation with the remaining woman and the guys who owns the coffee shop about throwing her a surprise party the next night.

The long and short of it is that they each take a part, get some of the others of their crowd involved, and pull off a great surprise birthday party for this woman of the night. Here’s how he describes her reaction:

Never have I seen a person so flabbergasted…so stunned…so shaken. Her mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle a bit. Her friend grabbed her arm to steady her. As she was led to sit on one of the stools along the counter we all sang “Happy Birthday” to her. As we came to the end [of the song,] she lost it and just openly cried.”[1]

Life in Jesus includes hearty celebration. Our worship should reflect that. Our community life should embody that. Our lives should reflect that fact that God has a joy to give to us, and a hope and a love to sustain us through every challenge and dilemma we face. Our model is Christ! In Hebrews, it says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross…”

I think too often we have perceived that to be Christian is to be somber. Even today, as you receive the forgiveness of your sins in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, feel free to smile, to say AMEN!, or even to skip back to your pews.

So, Jesus responds to us, even if we might not immediately perceive his response. Sometimes, longsuffering is a part of faith. But God is faithful!

And, when Christ is a part of our lives, the ordinary can become the extraordinary. God’s in the business of changing lives for the better!

And, never forget the Christian life is one to be celebrated! One to be enjoyed. One to smile about. One to affect your disposition. One in which our weeping will be turned into laughter.

So, why not begin today? You never know who might notice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] The Kingdom of God is a Party, Tony Campolo, Word Publishing, 1990, p.7.