Today's Sermon - Epiphany 2

Epiphany 2 – John 2:1-11 – January 18th, 2009

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +
During His earthly ministry, Christ Jesus our Lord does many great and wonderful miracles. He heals the sick, He makes the blind to see and the deaf to hear. He feeds those who are hungry. He casts out demons. He even on occasion raises the dead. And here we are in today’s Gospel – the Wedding at Cana, our Lord’s first miracle! What mighty wonder will He do – will it be something wild and wondrous – will Jesus start things off with a bang – a mighty healing? And then we hear what He does. He changes water to wine. Is that it? Really? For the first miracle – just making wine? We can almost be dismissive of this miracle – it doesn’t seem as lofty or as noble as the healing miracles to us today. In fact, in the Bible belt of this country, there are people for whom this miracle is even an embarrassment, Jesus making more wine, how scandalous. Dear friends, there are many good reasons why John records this first miracle for us – and that is what we are going to look at today – the importance of this miracle and what it reveals to us about Christ.

We know the story, but let’s review. Jesus and His disciples are at a wedding – and it’s probably the wedding of one of Jesus’ relative. We can say that because Mary seems to be in the know – she knows when the party has run out of wine very quickly – a fact that only people helping with the party would know. And Mary wants Jesus to act – and eventually Jesus does – but only in a quiet way. He tells the servants to fill some jars with water and then take them to the master of the feast – and lo and behold, the water has become wine. There’s not a lot of fan fair, Jesus doesn’t boast to the crowds about this – in fact, really only the servants and also His disciples, who would have been following Him around, know what He has done. And the master of the feast is confused – for this wine is good wine – tasty and strong – the stuff you start off the feast with. This is the miracle at the wedding in Cana.

So, why? Why this miracle, why this way? Let’s start at the end, because there John explains what this miracle is. This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. The key phrase for the moment is that Jesus manifested, made present and revealed His glory. Whereas we might diminish this miracle, where as we today might not think much of it – whereas we might be more impressed with other miracles – John says that this one manifested Christ’s glory. John can say this because John knew the Old Testament much better than we do. Think on our Old Testament lesson – Amos 9. “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen” – one day in the future the Son of David shall come. For years Israel will be without her king – but the Messiah will come. And what will it be like when the Messiah comes? “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.” This is actually a common way in the Old Testament of describing what things will be like when the Messiah comes. When the Messiah comes, things will be right again – and even the earth will overflow in its bounty. There will be so much wheat that we won’t have time to harvest it all before we have to plant again, there will be so many grapes that people won’t even have time to plant new vines. And there will be wine enough for everyone – because when the Messiah comes that will be a glorious time and the party and the celebration will not stop. We will not run out, we will not lack.

And so, the disciples see Jesus, this Teacher they’ve been following, the One they’ve heard is the Messiah. And what do they see? Here He is, at a party. And it’s an earthly party. Things are running out. The poor couple couldn’t provide enough for their guests – it would be just another reminder of poverty, of things in this world not working rightly. But, Jesus is there. And very quietly, what happens? Suddenly, there is no lack – and in this little town in the hill country of Galilee there is an overabundance of sweet wine, wine beyond comprehension. Whereas we today might shrug off this miracle – for the disciples nothing could be more wondrous. Prophets might heal, prophets might cast out demons – a prophet like Elijah might even raise the dead. But the Messiah is the One who brings about the over abundance of goodness. We acknowledge that it is God who makes the rain to fall and the crops to grow – and the disciples see that this Jesus is the One who does that – that He is the God who provides. And it is wondrous, it manifests, it reveals His glory completely clearly – it is a uniquely God-like thing that Christ does.

And this miracle also shows us quite a bit about how Jesus will operate, what kind of God He is, what kind of Savior He will be. First, this miracle shows us that Christ Jesus our Lord is full of Goodness. Sometimes we can have this image of Jesus as a stern, disapproving fellow – an angry judge just waiting to smack you down, scouring your life to find the slightest flaw and then lambaste you for it. Of all Christians, we as Lutherans should know that this is not how Jesus wants to operate. One of the things which spurred on the Reformation was Luther’s reaction to constantly being told that Jesus was an angry judge, a Divine Boogey-man who was going to come back and smite him. But look at the wedding in Cana. What is our Lord doing? Simply serving others – simply seeking to see that happiness and joy and laughter and celebration continue on. God does not want you miserable – He doesn’t want you to sin – but our God has created us with bodies that can enjoy many good things, and enjoy them rightly. Now, as sinners we can abuse these delights - but part of what Christ does in conquering sin is He restores to us right use of these blessings. Jesus is full of goodness – and He wants your life, your existence to be good and full of joy and happiness where you delight in His blessings. He is the God who made all things good – and He will restore them and make them good again. The heavenly party, the heavenly celebration will never lack any good thing, and we will enjoy it in all goodness with Christ.

Now, this is instructive for us. When we look at our lives, we should strive to enjoy the blessings that God has given us without abusing them and falling into sin. There is a balance, and falling off on either side is bad. Now, we here know very readily that falling into gross sin is bad. You don’t need me wagging a finger to know that you shouldn’t go out and get sloshed or have affairs or rob people or lie or gossip. That’s how we normally tend to think of sin – the big things. However, we ought to remember that the joys and blessings in our lives are gifts from God to us – specifically for us to use and enjoy. If we become dour, if we refuse to let joy into our lives, if we refuse to acknowledge the blessings God gives us – that’s sin just as much. That’s going against what God desires. God does not bless you so you can be miserly So, consider the blessings that Christ has given you in this life, both great and small, and then with thanks and rejoicing, use them with a good conscience and a clean heart. God provides goodness for you.

A second thing to note about this miracle is that Jesus is content to act rather than self-promote. Jesus sees what needs to be done – more wine is needed. Simple fact, they need more wine – and Jesus quietly, without a lot of flash, without drawing attention to Himself – provides more wine. Simple. Jesus isn’t trying to garner praise and attention – rather He has a simple and straightforward desire to serve. Jesus doesn’t tell the bride and groom what He doing – He doesn’t even tell His mother Mary who had asked Him to do something – He simply goes and acts – He serves and then lets His service stand. Christ’s focus is not on seeking His own glory but upon showing love.

Likewise, O Christian, this ought to describe how you act in your own life. As Christians we are called upon to show love, to act, to serve others. Do that. When it is time for you to show love, show your love and don’t spare time worrying about how to gain honor and prestige for yourself. And don’t worry what people think of you. Now, this is easier said than done. All too often when we do something – that little voice inside our head starts wondering about what thanks we will get, we can think about how nice it will be when people recognize how good we are. This is horribly dangerous to a Christian. Why? Showing love is something that looks outward, looks towards the neighbor. If you are worried about the neighbor’s response towards you, you have stopped caring about the neighbor and rather shifted the focus to yourself. You’ve stopped acting, you’ve stopped doing – and suddenly you are waiting for praise, like a dog with it’s tail wagging and tongue lolling out waiting to be petted. And what’s worse is when we don’t get the thanks we think we deserve – well, see if I help him again. We stop acting, we stop showing love. Avoid worrying what people think, what people will say, avoid worrying what you’ll get out of it. Your Lord calls you to show love – focus your time and effort on thinking of how you can best show that love.

It’s something we can all work on. We can be selfish, we can be dour and refuse to see joy. That’s how sin impacts us, that’s one of the ways sin tries to mess with us. But remember and behold Christ Jesus your Lord, who is tireless in His efforts to serve you – to rescue you away from sin and to bring you forgiveness and the joy of heaven. In fact, it is not a coincidence that the Prophet Amos, when speaking on what things will be like Messiah comes, mentions wine – nor is it inappropriate for Christ our Lord to have used wine in His first miracle. It is quite fitting, for in the miracle of the Lord’s Supper, the miraculous gift whereby Christ Jesus comes to us to bring with us forgiveness, to give us strength to fight against all sorts of temptations, how does Christ Jesus our Lord come to us and give us these gifts? He comes to us, giving us His Body and Blood in, with, and under bread and wine. This Supper we have not only provides forgiveness, but it is a foretaste of the feast to come, a continual reminder that we live our lives in this world as ones who look forward to the life to come, to the wedding feast of the Lamb to His bride, the Church, which will last for all eternity. There, no joy will ever be lacking. And know that Christ Jesus wasn’t you to be part of that joy, and He provides forgiveness overflowing for you. Amen.