John 2:1-12
October 30, 2005
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Serving as a minister, I do weddings. Some people compared the Church Anniversary banquet three weeks ago to that of a wedding banquet. We even had table favors to take home. We all know that wedding planning is almost a science. There are guidebooks, magazines, wedding coordinators, rehearsals, and timetables in multiple pages to plan a successful wedding. But once the wedding is over, after all of the built-up and excitement is over, there is a let-down. We want to dance and party the night away, but eventually, the DJ needs to go home and the restaurant needs to close.
No offense to those many weddings that I have officiated, truth be told is that most weddings, as lovely as they are, are forgettable—except your own! There are some unforgettable weddings like when the best man drops the rings or the bride faints. How about the smiling minister who repeatedly and confidently calls the bride and the groom by the wrong names! At that wedding, I’m sure they wanted that service to come to an end fast!
Jesus, his mother and his friends attended an unforgettable wedding in Cana. People are still talking about this one.
Wedding at Cana
Apparently it was just your typical, traditional wedding celebration with an average and pleasant reception—until the wine gave out. The custom was to serve the better wine first at Galilean wedding receptions. This made sense when you think about it. When the palate is fresh and expectant, you could taste and enjoy the good wine. But as the party went on and the guests have perhaps had a few too many, the taste buds are now dull and the cheap wine can be brought out at the end of the party.
But to run out of wine before it is time—that was an unforgettable embarrassment. The host would be humiliated and their guests would be talking about this lack of hospitality for some time. The host and the servants must have been worried about what to do.
For whatever reason, Mary, Jesus’ mother got involved in the wine problem. We don’t know why. Maybe it was the wedding of a relative. Maybe Mary thought that marriages were worth celebrating. We can almost hear Mary saying, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll talk to my son—he can fix anything.”
So Mary tells Jesus, “They’re out of wine.”
Jesus replies, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?” Jesus was saying to his mother, “Why don’t you tell that to someone who is in charge?” Then Mary says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Mary already knows that her son could fix things like no other son could. She knew that Jesus can perform miracles as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
His miracle was simple. Fill six large stone jars with water. Dip a cup. Take the cup to the wedding coordinator. Let him taste. Suddenly there were 120-180 gallons of excellent wine. There was no doubt that there is now enough wine for the rest of the reception.
Jesus has been performing miracles including this one at the wedding in Cana to reveal signs of his glory as the Son of God. This was not only a supernatural event but it also has significance. Take the word, “a significance,” and we can break it down like this: “a-sign-if-I-can ce.” The water changing into wine is a sign if you and I can see it!
Ordinary to Extraordinary
Miracles by God are happening every day as signs of God’s glory if we can see them. Did you noticed what these six stone jars were used for? The Bible said, “Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.” By using jars that were used for ceremonial washing in Judaism, Jesus is saying that when he comes into his glory, he would be superior to the old. He used ordinary stone jars and transformed them to hold extraordinary good wine.
The miracle at the wedding in Cana took ordinary water that was transformed into good wine. The guests could taste the quality improvement. They speculated, “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.”
So what does all this mean? It means that the wedding in Cana is where Jesus revealed his glory and when the disciples first “believed in him.”
But what does all of this mean to us? It means that if Jesus can change water into wine, he can change us too. This is the miracle of transformation. We who are ordinary persons can be transformed by Jesus to become extraordinary Christians like how excellent good wine tastes. It’s a significant event—a sign if you can see it!
As one wife put it after her alcoholic husband encountered the transforming power of the resurrected Christ, “Jesus changed beer into furniture.” That is, money that had been spent on beer was now being spent on the needs of the family.
Jesus can turn the sourness in your life into sweetness.
Jesus can turn bitterness into satisfying peace.
Jesus can turn hatred into love.
Jesus can turn anger into joy.
Jesus can turn you and me from being ordinary people to becoming extraordinary Christians for God’s mission and ministry in the world.
Party Never Ends
When you are at a great party whether it’s at a wedding or at the Church Anniversary banquet, you want the great times to never end. The wedding party in Cana points to the future. It has meaning beyond the moment. When Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come,” he was referring to himself as an offering to the world on the cross. The wedding party in Cana is like the Lord’s Supper that points beyond itself to the party in heaven that will never end.
When we come together as sisters and brothers in Christ, we represent the Body of Christ in the world. We make sure that everyone is welcome and has a place around the table and receive plenty of good wine. We celebrate together because we have seen the miracles that God has performed in our lives. We have seen the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Like the disciples, we believe in Jesus as the Son of God.
Until Christ returns to reign in the world, we have been invited by Jesus to keep on partying as the Body of Christ in mission and ministry. There is now in Jesus Christ, plenty of good wine for us to serve in the world. The wedding reception doesn’t have to end.
Today when we turn in our pledges, tithes, and gifts to support the work of our church, we are saying to God that we believe in the promise of what the future holds in our church. We believe that in 2006, we will not run out of wine because we are seeing the glory of God in the Lord whom we serve. God will provide for what we need and for everyone who seeks the love and forgiveness from God when they know that they have come up short in God’s expectation of them. When that happens, there will be good wine to serve them.
We want to serve up good wine to the constant stream of new Chinese immigrants who come to San Francisco seeking instructions in English, learning to pass the US citizenship exam, and looking for the answers to the question of why our church continues to be loving hosts in Chinatown. The answer to that is because we want them to know the love of Christ.
We want to serve up good wine to the growing number of worshipers who are young adults and adults attending the 9:30 Worship service praising God in worship and finding meaningful Christian fellowship in the Xplorers group.
We want to serve up good wine to the many little children whose parents drop them off at the Sunday school before going to work. They may be seeing our Sunday school as free babysitting but God is transforming these children to know Jesus as their Savior.
We want to serve up good wine to the senior adults who come to the Senior Center twice a month for fellowship, for a healthy lunch, and to be equipped to serve as mentors and wise persons in our community.
We want to serve up good wine to those who have an ache in their hearts to serve in missions, to those who have been called by you to attend seminary, to those who want to live out their faith in radical discipleship in the world.
We want to serve up good wine to the many young people in our church who study the Bible with dedicated teachers, who serve as counselors at Day Camp, and who want to have a closer walk with Jesus at Youth Camp.
Plenty to Go Around
One of the reasons why we have an annual Pledge Sunday is that if we don’t remind you to give to God, you won’t. It seems that no matter how much we spend on ourselves, we feel it is not enough. Many people think that they have not accumulated enough possessions to satisfy themselves. Until all of their own wants and desires are fulfilled, they consider their giving to God as a lesser priority.
Last weekend, the Sojourners group went to San Simeon for a short vacation and to visit Hearst Castle, the California home of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon. We were all impressed over the opulence of this beautiful home built from the unlimited wealth of Hearst. Everyone remembered Hearst for his grand building scheme. But hardly anything was mentioned about what he contributed to worthy causes to better society. If Hearst didn’t die, he would have continued building his unfinished castle because he probably felt he had not accumulated enough.
When it comes to spending money on ourselves, we often do not seem to be able to tell when we have enough. I know that gasoline prices are high right now but I wish we came equipped like gas pumps. When the gas pump senses that your car’s gas tank is full, the pump automatically shuts off. In that way the pump makes sure that the gas tank is filled without losing a drop.
Not until we give our lives to Jesus Christ is when we will learn how to discipline our lives to believe that what we think we need to find worldly fulfillment can only be found in our loyalty to Jesus Christ. Jesus has changed plain water into plenty of good wine. We can party in Jesus’ name as sisters and brothers with no end because God wants us to keep on serving good wine in this world as we have done in the past 125 years.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord God, we commit our lives to the work of your church on earth until that day comes when you will return and reign over the entire world. Challenge us to trust in your promises that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, death is no more; Satan has been defeated; and we are called to become active members of your kingdom work on earth. Help us to believe that all good things have come from you and it is now our turn to return a portion of our blessings back to you in the ministry and mission of FCBC. Grant us a merciful and generous heart, O God. Amen.