In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
Just when the master of the feast thought he would suffer embarrassment when the wine ran out, it turns out that there was more than enough wine to go around…and the best wine was saved for later rather than the cheap wine.
The miracle of water into wine at Cana shows us why Jesus comes to us according to the flesh. As John writes toward the end of his Gospel, these [things] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may life in His name. The miracle at Cana’s wedding feast also teaches us to seek Jesus’ help and mercy with confidence whenever in need. Jesus will provide help and mercy at the proper time.
The struggle for all of us is those last four words just said: at the proper time. Sinful human nature has a built-in martyr complex. When something bad happens to us, we sometimes wonder if God has sent this thing to us to punish us. Perhaps God doesn’t want to hear our prayers so He sends something rotten to occupy our time. Maybe we have prayed over and over for something good to happen either to us or to our loved ones. The more we pray, the more nothing happens. So we groan and grumble about how bad things are and how things will only get worse. We want everyone to feel sorry for us. We wish God would do something about it, but for some reason He doesn’t care.
We might think that is what Mary thinks when Jesus responds to her plea for help with a seemingly flippant comment: woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come. We can almost hear Don Meredith warming up to sing “Turn out the lights, the party’s over”. But Mary’s response is unexpected. She tells the servants: whatever He says to you, do it. Great is Mary’s faith. Not so great is our faith.
Mary’s example of patient waiting is one we can learn. Yet Jesus’ response to her question is answered not long after she asks it. We’ve asked for things far less than water into wine and all we get is silence. People die. Mortgages default. Bills remain unpaid. Bad things happen to good people. Random stuff happens in our lives every day. Yet not a sound from God; not even a still small voice.
What if God were to give us everything that we wanted and then some? What if there was a cure for cancer? What if no one would lose their job? What if we never had to go into debt? What if we got along with our family members? What if we all graduated from school with a perfect 4.0 grade point average? We think we would quickly thank God for His many blessings. Or would we thank Him? We would probably take the blessings and run. We would forget that there was a God who loves us and saves us from sin and everlasting death. We would grow impatient when something we want is tardy in coming. When we hear Mary’s words: whatever He says to you, do it, we won’t want to do it because we expect it to happen no matter what. We have no need to do what Jesus says because He gave us everything we wanted already.
The best things come to those who wait. It’s a trite statement but it’s a true statement. Those at the feast had no idea that they would soon drink the choicest of wines. They didn’t know that Jesus would show a glimpse of His glory that looks nothing like the back side of God Moses saw in the Old Testament reading. Jesus would do something about the lack of wine but only in His time. That time wasn’t long. Jesus will do something about our petitions for what we need. That time might be long. That time may never come. Yet Jesus does something that goes beyond anything we ask Him.
Jesus saves us. Jesus redeems us from the devil and makes us His precious children. Jesus redeems us not with silver or gold, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. Jesus takes our fears and baptizes them in His blood and righteousness. Because we are baptized, we approach the throne of grace with courageous confidence and make our petitions known to Him. Courage is fear that has been baptized. Though we may not receive exactly what we want, we believe we have everything that we need because of Jesus.
Jesus turns water into wine to show us who He is. It’s not as if Jesus hides His glory under a mask. He doesn’t rip off His clothes to reveal a superhero costume. He speaks and it happens. It doesn’t seem possible that asking servants to fill six water pots used for ritual purification to the brim, drawing out that water, and taking a sample drawn out to the master of the feast for his approval is all it took for water to be made wine. We have a God who makes the impossible a reality.
If God can send His only-begotten Son into the flesh to fulfill the Law on our behalf, yet suffer, die, and rise from the dead as victorious Lord of all, then God’s only Son can change water into wine. God’s only Son can also provide all our needs, but in His time, not ours. We don’t know how good we have it with Jesus! He gives us many a bitter cup to drink in this life; nevertheless, He eases the cross and renews us after the affliction. One day He will give us the best He has: fullness of joy and pleasures at God’s right hand forevermore. The blessings of God we enjoy here on earth, His gracious Gospel, give us a foretaste of the future, perfect glory that will be revealed in us (Stöckhardt).
The blessings of God we enjoy here on earth are found here in His house. God blesses us through the proclamation of the Gospel. God forgives our sins in Holy Absolution. He cleans our baptismal garment of incorruption in His blood. He puts His Body and Blood in our mouths. He restores to us the joy of our salvation so we may live our daily lives in Christ’s joy and peace.
God bestows so many blessings to us that we don’t have enough fingers and toes to count them. He has indeed kept the good wine until now! God grant that we may always see the Lord Christ feeding us and leading us Home to heaven, believing that He hears our cries for mercy and will answer them at the proper time and according to His good and gracious will.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit -- Rev. David M. Juhl Our Savior Evangelical-Lutheran Church Momence, IL http://oselcmomence.googlepages.com ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons...@cat41.org Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons-...@cat41.org Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/sermons@cat41.org/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <m...@cat41.org>
