“Recipe for Water to Wine”

by The Rev. William G. Lamont, Pastor

“Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’”  Luke 3:21-22

Jesus said to them:  “Fill the jars with water.”  And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them: “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” The steward called the bridegroom and said to him: “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.”  John 2:8-10

Sermon titles intrigue me.  You can tell a lot about a sermon just from the title.  You can usually tell from a sermon title which of the two scripture lessons in the preacher plans to preach on.  Today, for example, you can tell I’m preaching on the text from John’s gospel.  Sermon titles also give you a clue about the direction the sermon will take.  And since I am curious how other preachers will preach on certain passages, I read titles…in the Saturday paper or on church sign boards as I pass by.  I saw one that I am sure must be based on today’s text from John 2:1-11.  The title was “Listen to your Mother.”  Oh, I’d like to hear that sermon…and how that sermon unfolds!   

With all due respect to mothers, and especially my own, this passage is saying much more than “listen to your mother.”  In fact, John’s gospel seems to imply that no one has any claim on Jesus except his heavenly Father.  Jesus is following the will of his father all the way to the cross, and not Pilate, not Herod, not the disciples, not even his own mother can alter this course he is on!  That comes through loud and clear in today’s passage when Mary takes Jesus aside and says to him:  “They have no wine.”  And he responds: “Woman, what concern is that to you and me?  My hour has not yet come.”  In other words, “my timetable is dictated by God, not by your wishes or even my own!”  I suppose Jesus was worried about attracting followers for the wrong reasons…followers who only believe for what they could get out of the relationship – free wine or free food.  The journey of faith is not a self-centered one, and Jesus does not want to convey that message and start things off on the wrong foot.  

But it’s interesting that in spite of Jesus’ curt response to his mother – "my hour has not come".  His mother turns to the servant and says: “Do whatever he tells you.”

Dennis Dewey, a biblical storyteller who was here at Hidenwood back in January 2007, told this story when he was here.  His gestures in telling it say everything:  

Mary, Jesus’ mother says, “They have no wine.”

Jesus says: “Woman, what concern is that to you or me?  My hour has not yet come.” (Waving a dismissive hand towards her son she turns to the servant, winks and says, “Do whatever he tells you.”)

Mary dismisses her son’s comments and pushes on, not because she’s his mother and by God you better listen to your mother!  No, she dismisses his comments because she realizes that his time really has come – the stage has been set at the wedding for this sign to be performed.  You see, in John’s gospel all the characters together carry the design of the Father to create children of God; to make believers in Jesus Christ.  And this happens to be Mary’s contribution…she recognizes that the time is ripe for Jesus to be glorified through this sign or miracle.  Hence her comment to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.”
    

Now, there were six stone jars nearby for the Jewish rite of purification – each holding about 20 gallons, and Jesus told the servant to fill each of them up with water.  They did exactly what he said…filled each up to the brim.  Then he instructed them to draw some out and take it to the chief steward.  When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, he was so impressed that he called the bridegroom and said: “Most people serve the Kendal Jackson first and leave the Baby Duck till the end of the party, but you’ve saved the best wine till now!”  And John ends this story reminding us all that this was the first sign Jesus ever did to reveal his glory.  The first sign that Jesus is the Christ is seen in his miraculous changing of water into wine at a wedding feast.
    

Now, what are we to make of this story?  Well, some people have said that this story is really the early church’s answer to the 1st century Jewish question: If Jesus really is the Messiah, why would God wait so long to send him? Why wait thousands of years rather than send him early on?  And the early church’s answer is given in this story – God saves the best wine till last.  God sent Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, and all the other prophets, and when none of that was enough, God sent his own Son.  God saves the best wine till last.
  

Well that’s interesting, but I don’t think John is writing his gospel to score cheap theological points in a first-century argument between the church and synagogue. I think this story reveals a deep fundamental truth about God that we need to remember whatever century we live in.  Namely this: When the wine in life runs out…when your husband comes home and says “Honey, it’s over, this marriage is finished.”  When the doctor calls you in and says “I don’t know how to put this gently but the tests have come back and its cancer.”  When you get an envelope from your boss and she says “That’s not a paycheck, it’s a pink slip…we’re laying you off.”  When your 16-yea- old daughter comes home and says, “Mom, I’m pregnant but I think Charles loves me so we’re going to move in together.”  When the wine in life runs out and it looks like the party is over…it’s not over.  Because the first sign of God’s glory in Jesus Christ is that he saves the best wine till last.
    

It’s hard for us to believe that because that’s just not the way the world has taught us to look at life, is it?  We see life the same way the chief steward does…we believe that in life the best is served first.  The best wine in life is served first, right?  That’s why we all begrudge getting older, because we know the best years in life are the first years and it's all downhill from there.  If you’re 16 they have a celebration party for you and dad might even give you the keys to the car…but if you’re turning 40 they have an “over the hill” party for you.  Take a look in the magazine rack at your bookstore…they have a magazine called Sweet 16 but there’s not one for 55!  
    

The best wine is served first.  That’s why we run to be first in every lineup!  We know the best is first…the best seats in the theatre, the best deals at the mall’s January clear-out, the best selection on the seat sale to Florida.  Remember that story in John’s gospel about the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethzaida?  When the water stirred the first person into the water was healed.  Jesus came along and asked him why he was here after so many years, and he said it was because he was never first into the pool.  That’s just the way it is in life, the first get healed and there’s no hope for the rest of us.  Jesus says to the man, “That’s not the way it works in my kingdom, get up, take up your mat and walk!”  And he did!  In Christ’s kingdom the best wine is served last!
  

True story – the vineyard of the Neckar Valley in Germany produces some of the finest wines in the world.  One year, however, the grapes were hit by an early frost and it dried and puckered the grapes on the vine.  It looked like all was lost…the wine had literally run out.  But the growers decided to press the grapes anyway and the astounding result was a vintage of exotic appeal!  Today the vineyards in Neckar and in the Niagara region of Ontario deliberately leave some grapes on the vines until after that first frost so it can be made into a delicacy that has come to be known as “ice wine.”  So don’t be surprised, people, if after a killing frost in life you find the best wine still to come.  Ours is a God who serves the best wine last.
    

So what has all this to do with the church?  Well, there’s a belief that’s been circulating in the church for decades now that goes like this:  “The glory years of the church are over.  Oh, back in the 50s and 60s this place was really humming.  We were teeming with young families with children and youth.  The Sunday school was so full there wasn’t room for all the classes.  But those days are over; church is just a mere shadow of its former glory now.  It’s all downhill from here.”  The wine has given out and the party is over.  Ever hear that sort of talk around the church?  Old talk about the way we were!
    

That sentiment is absolutely lethal because it assumes there is no real future for the Church, that God has given up on her.  There’s no new Word for us, no new mission for us, and no new wine for the party.  Now, who’s going to invest in an institution that thinks it’s fading into obscurity?  Worst thing is that it’s just not true, people.  Our God serves the choicest wine last!  God is surprising us with a fresh word, a new mission, new energy, even new members to help take us forward.  Even now God is calling us into this new age and has some new and exciting things in store for us.
  

So what is the recipe for water to wine?  I think Mary gives us the recipe in her words to the servants at the wedding.  Remember what she says: “Do whatever he tells you.”  In other words, obey him.  And that’s exactly what the servants do isn’t it?  Jesus tells them to fill the water jars up with water…each one took 20-30 gallons!  Even if there were six servants it would have taken some time to go down to the pool, get some water, come back and pour it into each of those water jars.  But nobody complained, they obeyed and filled all six up to the brim!  Then he told them to draw some off and take it to the chief steward.  Again they did it, although they must have wondered why they were taking water to the steward!  And when he tastes it he is utterly amazed at the quality of the wine it had become.  
  

I guess “listen to your mother” isn’t such a bad sermon title after all.  I know there are lots of mothers out there who have been saying the same things as Mary to their children over the years.  “Do whatever he tells you.”  Pretty good advice!  Mothers who took their children to church and said, “It’s important that you go to church and learn the stories of the Bible.”  Mothers who sat on the bed of their children and read to them from the Bible each night, and then bought their kids their own Bible and said, “You need to keep reading that book.”  Others who prayed for their family each night and told their kids, “You need to say prayers, too.”  But there’s lots of those children who got away from it…don’t go anymore, don’t read the Bible anymore, don’t pray anymore…and they wonder why life is as bland and unexciting as a warm glass of water.  It ought to be sparkling, tingling, zesty and inspirited like a fine glass of wine.  And if we listen to him, do what he tells us, life can be abundant.
    

If the church is a shadow of its former glory, don’t blame God.  God didn’t leave!  God’s been at work in our midst all along.  Even now God is planning exciting things for us, but we need to listen and do whatever he tells us. We need to obey our Lord who will nourish us with the best wine we’ve ever tasted.  And we need to obey the Lord by sharing this nourishment with others too…because there are lots of thirsty souls out there who are longing to drink from that cup.
    

Eileen Lidner, a Presbyterian minister and noted speaker, was on her way to a conference one time and had to land in Denver to catch a connecting flight. The airport in Denver is quite large and the walk from one terminal to another is like walking clear across the county!  After walking what seemed forever Eileen got to the gate for her connecting flight and sat down exhausted.  She just wanted to open up her novel and read quietly for awhile.  She sat down next to an older lady, who looked up and smiled and said in a very loud voice:  “Hello, you'll have to speak loudly, I don't hear too well."  Eileen was a little tired and didn't really want to engage in idle chit-chat…and especially in a chit-chat that was approaching 100 decibels, but the lady kept persisting in conversation.
    

Then she said, in her very loud voice. “I can't hear the announcements, could you tell me all the announcements.” Denver is a big airport and there are constant announcements and for the next hour Eileen spent most of it yelling the announcements from the intercom to this lady next to her. So when boarding came, Eileen was somewhat relieved, she reached in her handbag for her mystery novel and was looking forward to getting to her seat relaxing, reading quietly and having no conversation. She helped the older woman to the kiosk where they were checking boarding passes and ids, and the woman pre-boarded ahead of Eileen. Eileen got on the plane and made her way down the aisle to her seat. And guess who was sitting in the seat next to the one Eileen was about to occupy.

Yep.  

Eileen sat down, in some fear and dread that for the next two hours she would have to engage in loud conversation….but the woman didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. They were getting ready for take-off. The flight attendants are doing their seat belt and emergency exit spiel…when the woman tapped Eileen on the shoulder.  “Here it comes,” she thought.  The woman said loudly: “I don't care about all that safety stuff, but if they say anything about wine, could you tell me?”
    

Eileen said, in some ways, that is what ministry is about. There are people we come across who have needs--they're thirsty and looking for a drink. They may not know what they’re looking for exactly but they do know they are thirsty.  We know where to get that drink.  Jesus feeds our hunger for love and quenches our thirst for acceptance.  Let’s share him with others who thirst like we do…and let the celebration begin!
  

Amen.