When The Wine Runs Out!

If I wrote a book about weddings I would entitle it, A Funny Thing Happened on the Day of a Wedding.   I had a groom pass out in my arms; a bride get cold feet at the door and couldn't walk down the aisle; a ring bearer freak out halfway down the aisle and run screaming out the door, with the rings!; the entire family of the bride show up a half hour late as a sanctuary full of people waited and wondered;  a ring drop to the floor, hit the edge of the step and project itself  under the pews; the power go out as I made the announcement of marriage; and numerous other bizarre things. 

Jesus was attending a wedding at Cana in Galilee and there was a crises and it was not so funny. They ran out of wine!  A wedding was the biggest event in peoples' lives with the bride and groom treated like royalty for a week of festivities.  Everything had to be just right.  The host was to provide the appropriate resources and the host's reputation was stake.  To run out of anything was to insult your neighbors and embarrass yourself.  It was not the way for your children to begin their lives, under the shadow of embarrassment.  It was a crisis.   

And Jesus changed the water into wine - and so much of it!  Simple arithmetic: 6 stone water jars at @ 30 gallons x 6 = 180 gallons - and the steward missed it!  He thought the bridegroom had engineered a shrewd ploy of holding back the best until last.  But it was Jesus all along, and it was no ploy, no trick, and no magic. They went to Jesus for help, and what Jesus had to give was nothing short of transformation.  You see, Jesus is not into tricks, manipulations, maneuvers or magic.  Jesus is into transformation.  Jesus is into so thoroughly changing things beyond our wildest expectations that he catches us by surprise, sometimes so much so, we, like the steward, we may miss it altogether, mistake it for something else, or not believe it to be true.   

It is appropriate that this water-to-wine wedding story appears at the beginning of John’s Gospel because it’s a prelude of things to come.  You see, Jesus spent much of his ministry changing water into wine, and people kept missing it. 

Soon after the wedding, back in Jerusalem speaking from the temple steps he told the people, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up!”   But they missed it!  He was speaking of his crucifixion and resurrection and the new transforming power it would bring into human life, but they missed it!   They could not conceive of such a thing--and when it finally did happen--except for a handful of them they missed it!   He was, we could say, changing the water of their old rigid law-based religion into the sweet new wine of Gospel freedom--and they missed it! 

In chapter 3 he told Nicodemus that God offered a whole new way of living; a whole new way of re-centering one’s life; living your life in a way that could only be described as a rebirth. But Nicodemus did not get it.  He missed it!   Jesus was changing the slack water of Nicodemus’ hardened old life into the sweet new wine of a new Spirit based life--and he missed it!

In chapter 4 Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well and spoke to her about “living water” that could quench the deepest emotional and spiritual thirst in her being, but at first she did not get it!  He was trying to change the murky waters of her old sinful life into the sweet new wine of a life of grace--and she missed it-at first!

 In chapter 5 he healed a man who had been lame for 38 years, and those standing around observing this marvel missed it; they missed the power, glory and transforming wonder and joy of it.  Instead all they saw was that Jesus performed this healing on the Sabbath Day which happened to be against the religious law--and they condemned him for it!   He was changing the old stinky, stale water of their lives based on legalism into the sweet new wine of the freedom of God’s love--and they missed it! 

In chapter 6 Jesus feeds over 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish; next he comes walking on the sea towards the little boat carrying terrified disciples being tossed to and fro by the winds and waves and  calms their fear.  The next day he preaches a powerful sermon proclaiming that he is the Bread of Life.  And after all of that, these first incredible six chapters of his life according to John, the best that many of them were able to say was, “What’s he talking about? Isn’t this Joseph son?  You know, the carpenter’s kid?  Who does he think he is anyway?”    Water into wine--and they missed it!  They did not expect it, they did not trust it so they missed it! 

You can follow this theme through the entire Gospel of John, chapter by chapter--Jesus turning water of one form or another into glorious new wine and so many missed it!  A part of the reason they missed it was that they could not let go of their misplaced, misguided, and limited expectations in order to receive what Jesus had to give--transformation--new life--new wine--the best wine! 

My dear friends, the wine in your life is going to run out.  It may catch you by surprise--most likely it probably will because you and I live with so many operative denial mechanisms that prevent us from seeing things that are coming to blind-side us.  But one way or another, the wine is going to run out! 

Sometimes the wine runs out when we reach a crises like: sickness; a great loss like: death of a loved one, job loss, a move, failure, betrayal, divorce, estrangement, facing your own death!   Suddenly you find you are filled with fear, regret, guilt, anger, depression or worse yet, despair-feeling hopeless.    The wine runs out!

Or you may wake up at 60, 50, 40, or 30 something (whatever) and realize that nothing much excites you anymore.  You’re bored, lack motivation, feel empty and shallow. The wine has run out! 

Or conversely, you may have a brief moment of clarity when you realize that all of your hectic running around; all of your consuming, all of your busyness, all of your thrill-seeking, all of your quest to live the good life is only a mechanism to cover up the muffled voice of anxiety speaking deep within you that is telling you at the depths, where it really matters, that you’re empty; and that you feel alone!  The wine runs out when we face disappointment, when things don’t work out like we expect, like we desire or like we hope for.    

My friends, the wine is going to run out!   Maybe it has for you right now!  Maybe that’s just the way you feel at this very moment!

When it does and if it has I’m standing here today to tell you the good news!  Jesus turns water into wine!   But it’s so easy to miss!  It is so easy to miss because the hard knocks of life can leave us numbed by cynicism and blinded by low expectations.  We can get stuck in such a deep rut we can’t see over the sides to see the new possibilities, the new perspectives, the new transformed life he brings: a life filled with burning purpose; a life filled with eternal hope; a life filled with abiding love.   Jesus turns water into wine and he can do it in your life.

 It begins by yielding to him.  Jesus' mother said, "Do whatever he tells you!"  He told them to fill six stone water jars to the brim.  It seemed a strange thing to do!  They could have questioned or resisted, but instead they did it - and after they did it, they had more quality wine than they ever could have imagined - surprised beyond their wildest expectations!

 He tells us to do some rather strange things too.  "Love your enemies"   "Forgive 70x7"  "Take up your cross"   "Do not fear"  "Follow me!" - and many, many more.  As hard and bizarre as his invitation may seem, and intense the pressure to ignore him, you need to not only hear his invitation, but hear Mary's exhortation, "Do whatever he tells you."  If you do, you just may be surprised and transformed beyond your wildest expectations!