"New Wine - New Way" - John 2: 1-11
A Sermon by Alex W. Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
Text: John 2:1-11
“New Wine - New Way”
Today we get to go to a party. Even with the snow falling and all the other crazy things going on. How long has it been since you have been to a party - a real party, with happy people eating and drinking and celebrating life? Do you remember what a party used to feel like? It has been so long for most of us. People talking - without masks, and sharing life and laughter?
Today, we get to go, not just to a party, but to a wedding. So many weddings, so many parties, have been postponed because of the pandemic.
We are not really going to a party; we are not actually going to a wedding; but our Scripture passage from the second chapter of John is about Jesus and what happens at a joyful wedding. Listen to the story:
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and 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.” 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
We have said before that when Christ appears on the scene in each of the gospel stories, he comes to inaugurate a new era, a new order - God’s reign fully and finally. We have heard already in John, chapter 1, that Jesus comes “with grace and truth.” And then by chapter 2, we have an example of what his coming with grace and truth looks like: he turns water into wine at a wedding. And look - it is not just about water to wine - an amazing miracle in itself. It is not just a “wow” moment so we will be impressed with Jesus. This water to wine miracle is an embodiment of inaugurating that new era. It is a depiction of God coming to redeem the world. As we read in this passage, this is “the first of the signs” to reveal his glory, to show who he is and what he is about. “New Wine - New Way!”
So let’s look briefly at this passage.
The passage starts off with some words that should immediately get our attention but might be missed in a quick reading: “On the third day . . a wedding.”
“On the third day” should alert Christians to the supreme event of our faith: “on the third day, . . . he arose again from the dead.” “On the third day” - Easter!
“On the third day” - darkness and death have no more power or victory. God reigns!
According to commentator, Dale Bruner, the little phrase, “on the third day” throws “a Resurrection aura” over a simple story of a wedding in a nondescript town. There is much more going on here than a wedding, and water to wine. With Jesus on the scene - God is making a major point about who is in charge, what life is about, and God’s new way.
Then, let’s think more about the scene - the wine giving out.
No more wine at a wedding is certainly an inconvenience. Wine running out at this wedding is clearly an embarrassment for the hosts, and a concern too to Jesus’ mother. No more wine could mean no more party - and that would create great disappointment to the bride and groom and all their guests.
But remember, this is not just about the wedding. The fact that the wine runs out is really a metaphor for so much more.
When Mary, Jesus’ mother says, “they have no more wine,” it could be a metaphor for anything that is sad or bad that emerges in our lives.
This is how it often goes - we were celebrating but grief breaks in.
We have been singing . . . . . but now our thoughts turn to sadness.
When we hear the words - “no more wine,” it is really a metaphor for the shift in life that invariably comes to all of us.
We were happy and hearty, but then - loss, change, heartache that starts another, unwanted chapter. Or it can be even bigger and more prominent - we want to live in a better society, but polarization and party politics keep us stuck, and our democracy is teetering. We want to live in a wholesome culture, but guns and death from gun violence, remain at epidemic proportions.
Our scripture passage today is a story about a wedding and wine, but it is really a story about Jesus coming with grace and truth to make things right, to bring about life and light for all. And Jesus comes to call forth the best from our lives, so that we can work with Jesus on the redemption of the world.
Here is the deal: we live in a wonderful world. But very often it is not wonderful - it is full of loss and heartache, deep grief. This little story about a wedding and wine running out wants to teach us something very big, and important. As wonderful as the world is, what is going on falls far short of what God intends! Life as we know it is nowhere close to the joy and hope that God intends for all. The wine is out - but not to worry - Jesus comes full of grace and truth. And Jesus calls forth grace and truth from us, in our living and serving.
The depletion of the wine could be a metaphor of anything in our lives or world where we feel depleted, empty, lost. But not to worry - Jesus is on the scene - to redeem, to bring light and life. Are we going to go with Jesus?
And the importance of this message gets reiterated as the story unfolds. The images are vivid here: “now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus says ‘Fill the jars with water,’ and they filled them to the brim.”
When we find ourselves with a dilemma, a crisis, an uncertainty, an unsettling situation, we often turn to familiar ways. We might turn to religion, or religious rites, or some old way.
This past week, in a column in the NY Times, David Brooks makes the case that “America is falling apart at the seams” (NY Times, January 13, 2022) His point: “all kinds of bad behavior are on the rise.” Teachers are facing terrific challenges. Drug use, and drug overdoses are escalating. Hate crimes are surging. The number of guns purchased has soared. And evidence shows increased hostility among citizens. We all have a sense about this too.
This past week, we experienced some of this coming apart at the seams in an unusual incident related to our Shower ministry. I hope you know, and celebrate, that every week now we are offering hot showers in our renovated Hawes building. We have a schedule, and volunteers, and we are trying to serve God by helping our most needy neighbors. And it has been working very well - a hot shower, clean under garments, and a warm place to be. But this week, when I entered the Hawes basement to check in and to thank those volunteering, Officer Debbie, who does security for us, greeted me as usual, from across the room: “Hello, Pastor!”
One of our guests who had just finished a shower looked up inquisitively: “Are you the pastor?” I said “yes” which initiated a casual conversation. He asked me if I read and spoke from “the good book” each week. And I said, “every Sunday.” And he asked about our church, and how many people came to worship, and what all we were doing. He mentioned his church in Tulsa, and some of the books he had been reading. And I told him we were glad he got a shower, and how we want him to know God’s love.
And then I came upstairs for a meeting. Not long into that meeting, I heard some noises downstairs, and shortly after, Officer Debbie came and reported that she had to throw someone out of the building. In fact, as she put it, she “had to put hands on him” and ban him from ever coming back. Our guest from Tulsa, so interested in the Bible and church, had gotten aggressive, violent with another guest, and hostile with Officer Debbie, which called forth her best training.
Now, I understand there are likely mental health issues involved. But it is also a reminder of how we - all of us - quickly and easily fall into the old ways, the worldly ways. We can all do this: take matters into our own hands. Allow the worst to come out. We assume confrontation is better than compassion, that aggression is better than agape love, that selfishness and turf wars get us more, that meanness is more appropriate than kindness.
There is so much evidence around our culture that we keep staying stuck on the old ways: it is more about individual rights than the common good, more about securing what we have than sharing with all, more about taking than giving, more about greed than grace.
Jesus fills the old stone purification jars used for the Jewish rites, and turns the water into wine. The old ways are empty, lacking. Jesus does this to show again - new wine - new way! Jesus comes with grace and truth to inaugurate the reign of God - a way of grace and truth for us that overflows - more than enough, brings peace with justice, joy with hope, light over darkness, and more.
How open are we to this new way of Jesus? Or are we stuck in the old, the oppressive, the regressive, the selfish and closed? Jesus comes to bring life and life in abundance - through love and care, outreach and help, kindness and peace.
New wine - intends to point us in new ways - the Jesus way!
And then, the final sentence of this passage: did you notice what happened? It says, this was “the first of the signs” - and they believed - put their trust in him. Those who saw this miracle get on the new way of Jesus.
Can we do that? Can we see Jesus in our midst - and put our trust in him, and become the kind of people he calls us to be? How much does our fractured and divided world need this? We put our trust in him and we keep striving, with God’s help, to be the loving, serving, listening, peaceful people of God! This is our ongoing, living, daily endeavor, like breathing and walking - to become more and more the loving, serving, caring people of God.
Today, as we keep on this journey - it has a particular focus - guns and gun violence. Guns and gun violence are certainly part of the old way. Jesus keeps calling us anew. Can we find new ways to live as God’s people in our violent and dangerous world? We have to keep working on it! Do we worship our guns, or worship God? Can we not get better laws for a safer society? Can we let go of the old way - guns and violence - and move into the Jesus way? We have real work to do - following the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. We remember Martin in gratitude . . . And we pledge, amid our stressed ambiguities, to dream as he did, to walk the walk, and to talk the talk of God’s coming kingdom. This is our ongoing work, together! May it be so. Amen
Prayer of Commitment: O Lord, to turn from you is to fall; to turn to you is to rise; to open our hearts to your New Way, to see and sense your power and purposes, and re-align our lives, well, that is to abide forever. We seek to follow Jesus. By your Spirit, guide us in the new way of Jesus. Amen