Good morning church. It’s good to be back with you this morning! Last time I was up here it was due to an assessment in my studies, this time, however, I believe I’m here simply because Dad didn’t want to preach the day after his 59th Birthday! Growing up, I have many fond memories with Dad. From kicking the footy, building jumps for our bikes, cycling around Hodgson Vale, Dad was there when we needed him to be. I don’t see him as the man nearing retirement – he’s simply my father, who has always been there. He’s always worked here, and a fair portion of you will remember me as a young lad when we first came here. That’s heading towards 25 years ago!
It’s easy to look back and think: where has the time gone! All of a sudden, here we are in 2022, starting off a new year. Perhaps the past two years have been somewhat of a write-off for you, for others they may have been a period of personal growth. This new year brings about a new opportunity. It’s a new season of life. Some people love to make New Years Resolutions at this time of year – they love to challenge themselves to grow. Personally, I don’t much care for resolutions: I ask myself, what’s the point of a resolution? I’m not too fussed by changing seasons, I’m more than happy for the routine to continue. But if we don’t take times to reflect, how can we journey and grow as an individual? Time passes by far too quickly for us to simply sit back and watch it. We spend our time wishing for the next challenge, wishing for retirement, or for grasser that’s greener on the other side! All of a sudden, we realise we’re not so young anymore. I’m so very guilty of this, I’m often dreaming about what is next to come, about a new job, about the new car I want, about the next race I’m training for. There’s always something in the future! But if I’m not careful, I’ll miss what’s right in front of me. I can miss the beautiful moments that God has given me, because I can’t stop thinking about what’s to come. This morning we’re going to be looking at what is seen as the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry: the turning of water into wine found in John 2:1-11.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m fairly purpose driven. I want to know the goal, what the intended outcome of a process is. A big question that rattles through my mind is this: what are we trying to do here? If I don’t see the outcome, or the desired purpose, I struggle with the task. That’s one of the main reasons why I love the Gospel of John: he specifies the purpose of his book! He’s not just writing for any old reason; he has an ultimate end, a point, a message that he wants his readers to understand!
We’ll find that goal in John 20:30-31. If you don’t have your Bible with you this morning, you can follow along up on the screen.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
I think it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the Gospels, each of the four titles by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are biographies about Jesus – they tell us the story of his life. But here John’s point contrasts: Jesus did many other signs. In chapter 21:25, he writes that “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”. Jesus did a stack load of stuff in his short, 3-year ministry! I wish I was there to see it! Instead, I’ve got the best account His closest followers could create. These Gospels, John in particular, are pointed, they have a specific message in mind. It’s a summary of some things Jesus did, with the goal in mind that believers in the days of the Early Church, all the way down history until now and beyond will come to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name”. That is the gift that John is seeking to provide. I pray that God may enter this space and bring about this supernatural belief within all of us today. So, this is the lens that we keep in our mind as we read the text this morning.
Let’s begin at John 2:1:
“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. 4 And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Woman. Can you imagine greeting your mother in such a way? It seems so disrespectful, so distasteful, so uncharacteristic of everything we love about Jesus! It’s one of those passages where you really have to wrestle with the text. Surely John isn’t advertising that we should greet our mothers with disrespect! Perhaps there was something cultural about the response, perhaps back then it was normal to greet people in such a manner. The short answer is no, it wasn’t cultural. As with the entire Gospel of John, there’s a specific point here, a specific message about who Jesus is and His character that’s important for us to grasp!
In the Gospel of Matthew, there is a passage that will help unlock the point here. We’re looking at 12:46-50:
“46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
When I was growing up, my mother and father, were my guardians. They taught me, cared for me and disciplined me when required. I was dependent upon them and their guidance. Now as an adult, the relationship changes, whereby we respect one another and attend to each other’s needs where possible. It’s not due to a requirement of debt, rather, it’s a choice of love because us humans hold family so tightly.
For Jesus the relationship was different and it needed to be. If He was to follow God’s Will throughout his life and ministry, then his earthly family ties could not hold any sway over his actions. For Jesus, his entire life was all about displaying God’s glory! And so, Jesus sought to treat his family in the same way he treats everyone else, with truth, honesty and care.
Coming back to the passage in John, when Jesus said: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come”, he was addressing Mary for who she was: she was not the all important Mother of Jesus the Catholic Church has come to admire. Being the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God does not elevate her above the rest of humanity. Mary was simply a woman. Today we might say: “ma’am”, Mrs Joseph, or even doctor if she had a PhD. By addressing Mary as woman, Jesus was responding to her, gently calling her by who she was.
Jesus moved on, questioning Mary as to what the problem had to do with Him. He did not believe His hour had yet come.
“5 His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you.”
Despite advising Mary that his time had not yet come, it’s interesting to note that Jesus does end up helping the servants as she asked. But we must realise this isn’t due to Mary’s request. Jesus wasn’t obeying his mother! Instead, I would suggest that He heard God’s whisper, God’s Will, advising Him to step into the situation. For Jesus it wasn’t about obeying his mother, it was about showing God’s glory – about his obedience to the Father. The apparent obedience to Mary is coincidental with the fact that God wished for Jesus to step into the situation. For the entirety of Jesus’ ministry, it was always about God’s glorification and that desire continues to be passed on from one generation of believers to the next.
“6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.”
For those interested, that converts to around 90-135L per jar. Considering this was the second batch, that must’ve been a big party!
7 Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he said to them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
10 and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
His disciples believed in Him. That’s the miracle! That’s John’s hope, that the same belief he came to have, you also will find. Yes, Jesus turned water into wine. Who else can do that? But that was simply a catalyst for the miracle within the hearts of the disciples. Firstly, they see Jesus declare that nobody but God the Father has lordship over Him. Not his mother, not his brother, not anybody!
Your life may seem a bit like water right now. It’s plain, sometimes bitter and other times, tasteless. You might be looking for more, for the grass that’s greener – just over there! But when you get there, you might just realise, they’ve had more rain. Your turn will come.
In your life, Jesus may ask you to fill some jars with water. He may ask you to volunteer at the soup kitchen. He may ask you to house the homeless. It might be something simpler, like talk to your neighbour. Smile at the next person you meet (even despite the masks). Whatever Jesus asks of us, sometimes it can seem really insignificant and inconvenient. Like the servants, we can ask: what on earth! Why are we filling these jars with water? But because they obeyed, they saw transformation. They got to witness a little speck of who Jesus was in person, that very day. So when you hear that still, quiet, small voice asking you to do something out of the ordinary, are you going to do it?
In this new season, this new year, whether you’re a New Years Resolution person or not, can I encourage you to bring whatever you have to God’s table. Jesus’ invitation has always been “come all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”. That covers everybody. Every single one of us battles through this life. There’s no easy road. Whatever your political persuasions, we’ve all had a gutfull of COVID and the way it’s intruded on our lives. Our way of life has changed and sometimes we don’t get a say in the matter! Whatever stage of life you’re at, Jesus invites you to the table. He invites you to come as you are. Whatever hurt is in your past, He can handle. Whatever pain you’ve caused in others, He can forgive. Whatever challenge lays before you, He can resolve. Everyone, no matter what your past, is welcome.
My challenge to each of you this week is this: what can you bring to God’s table? What can you give God full control over? Instead of chasing the next nice car, a better job or dreaming about a brighter future, remember this very moment. Remember that Christ is calling you to come as you are and follow Him.
Let’s take this a little further though. Instead of giving parts of our lives to Christ, what if we gave Him our hearts? What if we gave Him our entire lives? If you’re chasing the wine in life, Jesus is the answer. My favourite passage in the New Testament, Philippians 4:8 reads:
“8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
As we grant Jesus lordship over our entire being, we pray regularly, we seek to honour Him at every point. We spend our moments thinking about whatever is true, what is honorable, what is just, what is pure, lovely, commendable. There’s a change in mindset. No longer are we looking for the next thing, we’re already busy thinking about how beautiful each moment we’re given is. And when we’re in this space, that is where transformation occurs. Romans 12:1-2 reads:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
If you’re looking for a new direction this year, if you’re looking for God’s leading. If you’re not sure where God is in a world that seems so broken, turn to Jesus. We’re all part of His family, all invited and welcomed at His table. Will you come? Will you bring what you have? Where is God leading you in the mundane weekly tasks? I trust that over the course of this week, you’ll ponder these questions.
I’m going to invite the band back up, we’re going to stand and sing. I invite you to Come and worship our Lord with me.
