Grace and peace to you from God, our creator and sustainer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that abides in each of us.

Our Gospel lesson this morning is one of those stories in scripture that almost everyone I know has heard before, even non-Christians.  Jesus turns water into wine!  According to John, this is the first of the “signs” that Jesus did that revealed his glory, and because of it, “his disciples believed in him” (2:11).  John doesn’t use the word miracle for Jesus’ “miraculous” works because they are not supposed to be about Jesus or the act; their purpose is to point to something greater, the Glory of God.
  
Now, oftentimes our readings on Sunday mornings are inadequate because they are only pieces of the whole story.  In this case, starting where we did, we do not know that this first miracle occurs only a few days after Jesus has gathered his first four disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael.  As Jesus invited these men to follow him, they are invited to “come and see” (2:39; 2:46).  To the hearer of this story, the question should be, What are they being invited to see?  That question is answered at the very end of Chapter 1, just before our story begins this morning.  Jesus tells Nathanael, “You will see greater things than these (1:50).  Then, as we read today, “three days later,” these disciples see and believe in Jesus. 

In the grand scheme of things, this is actually a pretty minor miracle.  Let’s be honest, all Jesus did was create some wine out of water for a wedding.  It isn’t like someone died and Jesus brought them back to life.  It isn’t like so many of the other miracles/signs that we are told about in scripture.  No, this is just a simple story about how Jesus acted at a very common occasion, a wedding. 

We had a wedding here yesterday.  Matt Brown and Lorel Fox were married right here in this sanctuary and, as important as that day was, I don’t think if they would have run out of punch over in Luther Hall at the reception the world would have come to an end or that their marriage would have gotten off to a disastrous start.  So what is so important about this story that John begins his Gospel with it? 

Well, first of all, it was this action that helped those first disciples “see” who Jesus really was.  Secondly, I think what makes this story so important is the fact that Jesus (God) intervened on behalf of the bridegroom in something as mundane and seemingly unimportant as the need for more wine.  In the grand scheme of things, as unimportant as something like this really was, especially when you think of the poverty and disease that were widespread in those days, Jesus chose to get involved.  Now, that is good news!

With that said, I also want to point out that in Jesus’ day weddings were a pretty big deal.  A typical wedding would last anywhere from three to seven days, and it was the responsibility of the bridegroom and his family to provide wine for the entire event, and to run out before the wedding was over would have been a loss of honor for the bridegroom and his entire family.  In fact, by law, the bride’s family could bring a “lawsuit” against the family for not meeting their marital obligations.  So although this was only a wedding, it was a huge issue for this particular bridegroom.

I love how this story plays out.  It is Jesus’ mother who comes to Jesus and says, “They have no wine” (2:3).  Now, although she doesn’t say she wants him to fix the problem, Jesus knows what she means. She means, “Jesus, I want you to do something about this problem.”  My mom used to do that to me all of the time.  I would be in my room, and she would come in and say, “The garbage is full,” or “The grass needs to be cut.”  Now, when I heard statements like those, I knew she meant, “David, go take out the garbage, now” or “David, go mow the lawn.”  Apparently, this is a very ancient form of how mothers instructed their children to do things that is still done today.

Last week, during our staff meeting, we used this text for our devotion, and like a good mother, Kathy spoke from a mom’s point of view.  She said she thought Jesus’ response was so typical.  She noted how so often moms ask their sons to do something and the son responds, “Ah, Mom, not me,” but then the son does it.  I love that perspective, and that is kind of what we hear here, isn’t it?  Initially, Jesus doesn’t seem to want to fix this problem because we hear him say, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?  My hour has not yet come" (2:4).  But Mary, just like a mom, knows he will do what she wants, so she tells the servants to do what he says (2:5). 

Jesus knows that his job, his call, is to do his Father’s will, but he also knows that even if it isn’t a convenient time God always responds to His people’s needs.  As we heard last week, God always comes to us.  Because there is a need, Jesus does what he must do, and he brings about healing and wholeness.  Now, I am well aware that for many of us there are times in our lives when we say, “Why didn’t Jesus bring about what I needed when I needed something?”  I have asked this question many times.  I asked it when my 17-month old niece, Julianne, died of leukemia, I asked it as I sat with my father when he died, and I have asked it in my silent prayers sitting with some of you.  But every time I ask this question eventually something happens to remind me that God did and continues to respond;  I just don’t always see or hear His response because often it isn’t the response I want.  As difficult as it is to understand at times, our very lives are about giving glory to God, not glory to ourselves.

Jesus received no glory in this miracle.  The wine steward thinks the bridegroom did something to provide more wine.  Those that know the truth say nothing, and Jesus goes on with his mission.  Those that saw believed, and as we will learn later, because they believed they would come to the point where Jesus would tell them that they will be able to do things that are even great than what he has done (John 14:12).  Because they believed, they were able to begin to understand that God was breaking into this world in a whole new way, a way they had not thought of before.  They were going to have to look for God in new and ordinary places.  They were going to discover that God couldn’t be confined to the temple.  God’s actions and love for His creation were bigger than anything they had ever imagined.
 
As we think about what this story means for us, we must begin to ask, Where is God at work in my life?  What is He up to and do I see Him and all He does?  As hard as we try, God will not allow us to “keep” Him here in our sanctuary or in our own little world.  Believe it or not, God is out in the world creating wine in the most unholy, un-churched, un-Christian places, and He is calling us to do the same.

God does respond to our needs, but it isn’t always the way we want Him to.  Two weeks ago, the property across the street came up for sale.  When I saw that, I thanked God for his response to our need.  Now, for some of us, it isn’t exactly what we wanted.  It will cost us money.  If the sale goes through for us, it will mean we will have to reach deeper into our pockets, it will mean more work for us, but it is what we need.  God has responded.  In this and in all we do, do we see God at work here like Mary saw him in her son?  Will we respond by believing and giving glory to God?  He is amongst us and he desires us to come and see what he is up to.  Are you willing to come and see?  Amen.