“Wedding at Cana”

John 2:1-11

(sermon note: 01-11 sermon note)

¹The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. ³ The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

⁵ But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, ⁸ he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.

⁹ When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. ¹⁰ “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

¹¹ This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a young couple who died on their way to their wedding. On their way to get married, a young Catholic couple were involved in a fatal car accident. The couple found themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to process them into heaven. While waiting they began to wonder: Could they possibly get married in heaven? When St. Peter arrived, they asked him if they could get married in heaven. St. Peter said, “I don’t know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out,” and he left. The couple sat and waited for an answer…for a couple of months. While they waited, they discussed the pros and cons. If they were allowed to get married in heaven, should they get married, what with the eternal aspect of it all? What if it didn’t work? Are we stuck in heaven together forever? Another month passed. St. Peter finally returned, looking somewhat bedraggled. “Yes,” he informed the couple, “You can get married in heaven.” “Great!” said the couple. “But we were just wondering. What if things don’t work out? Could we also get a divorce in heaven?” St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slammed his clipboard on the ground. “What’s wrong?” asked the frightened couple. “OH, COME ON!!!” St. Peter shouted. “It took me 3 months to find a priest up here! Do you have ANY idea how long it’ll take to find a lawyer?!”

I mean, come on, what better joke is there than one that takes a dig at both a priest AND a lawyer?! Well, I wouldn’t be a Lutheran if I didn’t throw a jab at our Catholic brothers and I wouldn’t be the son of an attorney father if I didn’t throw a jab at lawyers. Of course, ole Luther was throwing jabs at the little ‘c’ Catholics—the “universal” Christian church—not the denominational Catholics. There was only one Christian denomination in his time, the Catholic denomination, so he wasn’t necessarily fighting against Catholics but the organized Christian church. Likewise, only the child of an attorney is properly allowed to criticize the legal profession. And besides, I respect my dad’s particular flavor of attorney: the defense attorney. He’s actually fighting the good fight for those caught up in injustice…

But hey, that joke has to do with weddings just like our reading for this morning. And it does raise an interesting aspect of weddings. In heaven, there really is no need for weddings. Our souls will be one with all souls for all eternity. Weddings and the subsequent marriages provide a safe haven for two souls and bodies in this world. Two are stronger than one and God never intended us to be alone. Sure, He may have created one before the other so there was a time of being alone but that was simply for us to realize the importance of partnership. Aloneness wasn’t God’s intended state of being for us. He wants us to be in relationships, in partnerships, with each other just as He exists in eternal relationships as the three-on-one. And don’t get me started on the sexist implication of God creating man first and then woman from the rib of a man as if woman is somehow lesser than a man. God could have easily created woman first and taken a rib from her to create man, but the Genesis narrative chose the other way around. Perhaps to balance the scales of women being able to produce life within their bodies already. Regardless, one had to be created first to introduce aloneness and our compulsion to forever seek oneness. But these kinds of reflections are better suited for a wedding message than a message on Jesus’ first miracle at a wedding…

Today we get to reflect on Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding and ultimately saving the celebration from becoming a disaster. Weddings are meant to be celebrations. Celebrations of two people finding each other in this world and committing their lives to each other. The celebration can be enhanced with wine, but it isn’t dependent on wine, or at least it shouldn’t be. No, weddings are a celebration of commitment and fidelity but more importantly love. And love is far more powerful than drunken revelry. Love is the glue that holds the world together. Heck, the universe! Without love, there would be nothing but chaos in this world. Without love, there wouldn’t be a world! Friends, love is everything in this world…and the next world too. I can’t compete with Paul’s expounding on love in his letter to the Corinthians but let’s just agree that love is pretty important in this world. And it’s no small coincidence that Jesus performed his first miracle, essentially revealed himself as someone pretty extraordinary, at a public celebration of love. If he is all about love and sharing God’s love with the world, of course he’d begin his mission at a wedding. And not just a little love but an abundance of love as reflected by the abundance of wine he produced. 180 gallons of wine is enough to keep any party going for a while, even one involving a small village! God loves us abundantly! God wants us to love each other abundantly. God will do anything to both convey his love for us and encourage us to love each other. Heck, He sent his only Son to die for us…HE died for us! Why? Because He loves us and wants us to live. He wants us to overcome sin and death through love. And yes, love can conquer sin and death! If it can hold the world together, it most certainly can conquer sin and death! Friends, love is a pretty powerful thing in this world. I don’t think we can fully grasp just how powerful it is. And it’s a gracious gift from God. We don’t earn God’s love. He gives it to us to do with it however we please. We can squander it. We can misuse it. We can ignore it. But make no mistake about it, it is a pretty powerful gift.

I could go on about love just like many great poets and thinkers throughout history, but I think you’d all eventually tune me out. Today’s reading is about love and God’s love beginning to be revealed to us. This last week we moved into the season of Epiphany, a season dedicated to God’s revelation, a celebration of his love being revealed to us. Jesus’ miracle at Cana was a revelatory celebration of love. John tells us in his first letter, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (4:8) And a little later, “We love because he first loved us.” (4:19) Paul chimes in as well in his letter to the Romans, “But God reveals his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (5:8) As we head into this season of Epiphany, let us be particularly mindful of God’s abundant love for us as revealed through Jesus. Oh, and give thanks for it! Thanks be to God!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.