Read: John 2:1-11
“A Sermon on Wine”
When you looked at the title of this sermon, you probably thought about the scripture written just above it. Even if you are not aware of the exact scripture the story came from or the details about it, you might have guessed that this message is about the miracle Jesus performed when he turned water into wine. Here’s the thing; that’s not where the title came from. The title, "A Sermon on Wine” was given to this message because the writer was drinking wine when he wrote it. That’s why it’s called, “A Sermon on Wine”. So, you will find that if you are patient, listen, and hang around for the whole experience, it gets better at the end.
I think it’s safe to say that most of us know the story, we've heard many variations of it, we’ve heard some jokes about it, and I think I've even received a Hallmark card or two referencing the story. That’s right, Jesus turned water into wine. It’s no wonder these disciples wanted to follow this guy. You know, they were all somewhere around late teens/early twenties. They were the age of frat guys. You can imagine their enthusiasm. I am sure culture has changed a lot but I feel certain this performance still gained the attention of these guys. I mean, some of them were fishermen! We all know fishermen like to have a drank every now and then.
Before we go any further, let’s have a little lesson on wine. Some people will argue that the beverage spoken about in the bible was not fermented and that it was simply grape juice. But the Greek word, "oinos", used in the Greek New Testament is unmistakably the fermented version of the juice. Also, juice didn’t become popular until later on because storing it requires refrigeration; wine does not. The beverage spoken about in the bible is wine. In many ancient cultures, beverages such as wine and various versions of fermented brew were consumed because it was safe to drink. Kind of ironic... Water was not safe because there were few methods to filter water unless it was taken from a flowing stream and, consumption was still a risk. Many of the cities had open sewage flowing to near water sources. Much of the water had to be boiled to remove it of bacteria. But wine, on the other hand, will keep. Bacteria cannot live or produce in wine because of the alcohol content. When people in ancient cultures traveled from city to city on long journeys, they did carry water but it was primarily used for cooking and other various purposes such as cleansing. It could be consumed but it had to be prepared and purified. But, they also carried wineskins, full of wine, to readily and safely consume on the journey.
If you know anything about wine, you know there is a process to create it. You don’t just whip up a batch. It takes weeks, sometimes months, to make a cheap batch of wine. A good vintage requires years. It’s quite a process. I don’t know of anyone who has ever made a batch of wine in less than two weeks….except for one person during a particular event. And, we have that story right here in front of us.
The very first miracle that Jesus performed was at a wedding party in a Galilean city called Cana. Cana was just a small village, easily accessible for travelers making the journey from the two great Roman cities in Galilee, Sepphoris and Tiberias. These two cities were two major metro centers. There was a lot of travel between them. With that said, there were many visitors stopping in Cana. So, we are at a wedding in Cana. Wedding parties in the Jewish culture are different from our Christian traditions. They are now and they were even more so then. They are huge and they draw a crowd. You wouldn’t simply attend a wedding; you would attend a wedding party. These wedding parties attract a lot of guests and they are political to some degree because they are a representation of the family. When a family hosted a wedding party, it was essential they put on a show because it proved who they were in the village. This was a shame/honor culture and that is what made it political. If people liked you, you had the people’s honor and a good way to gain it was through a good ol' shindig.
Leading up to the wedding party the host has slaughtered the best sheep and calf, he has made the best wine, he is prepared to serve delicacies, and he has saved a lot of money to invest in this party. When the party happens, everything is going down. People are dancing, merrymaking (yes, I said merrymaking), they are having a good time, and eating and drinking. The host is observing and enjoying what he has created. But, thunder strikes. He gets word that the wine has ran out!
Do you remember when you were in college? You are at a Saturday night, post-football game, keg party. Your team won and everybody is having a great time and enjoying the victory. You go for your next draught and notice the barrel is floating. What happens? You all leave.
Word starts to spread around the party. This is an embarrassment for the poor host. Perhaps there were more guests than he anticipated. Perhaps they were just really thirsty. At any rate, there was a problem. This was so embarrassing. It’s like being at the grocery store with a line behind you and you can’t come up with the money to pay for your stuff. It’s humiliating. It’s almost shameful. That’s the feeling this host is having. He is sweating. People are already talking about his failure to adequately host the party. His failure was like an insult to the bride and his family. So, he starts looking for solutions before people start leaving.
In the meantime, Mary, the mother of Jesus, has observed all of this. She goes to Jesus and his disciples to inform them of the problem. “The host is out of wine.” She says. It’s in that moment that we wonder what Mary was asking for. Jesus’ reply would suggest that she knew what he could do. It was as if she knew the potential. His reply, particularly the second part of it, would suggest that she not only knew the potential, but she knew the long-term outcome. He says, “My time hasn’t come yet.” It was as if Mary asked, “Are you going to save the party?” And Jesus replies, “Oh yes, I am going to save them, but not yet.”
“My time hasn’t come yet.” I want you to think about that. Put that away for now and I am going to come back to it. I am going to make a point with it, but before I get there, it needs to be sharpened a little.
So, Jesus tells the servants, who would be like the waiters, to go and fill these big stones jars full of water. These jars likely already had a little water in them. Why? They were large thirty-gallon jars used for Jewish cleansing ritual. That’s a very religious way of saying, they used them to wash their hands and feet. Yes, that is right; these jars were used to wash the nasty from people’s hands and feet before they ate food. They weren’t completely full because people had been using them. Dirt. Bacteria. All the bad stuff people had on their hands and feet from doing what people do, along with the water already in the jars. Jesus says, “Fill them full. Then, take some to the headwaiter.” The servant did as Jesus asked and what happened in the distance from the jar to the head waiter? Dirty water became wine.
Let’s think about this. What did Jesus do? He made water into wine. What happens to bacteria and impurities when alcohol is present? It kills it; it cannot exist. It was cleansing water, it had bacteria and Lord knows what in it. When Jesus made it wine, he made it clean; he made it pure. He made what was once impure, pure again. Do you feel me? So, why didn’t Jesus just make clean water? Why didn’t Jesus just make grape juice? Here is why, and the writer wants us to know this. You see, if he had just made water, what would happen? It would get dirty again. After a bit of time, it would just turn into dirty water. If he had made some kind of juice, in just short time, it would start to spoil. Instead, he made something that would not spoil. He made something that, upon his miracle, would remain clean.
After Jesus performs the miracle, the product would be unsusceptible to impurities. You feeling me? Ok, hold on to that. Put that away with “My time hasn’t yet come.” We’re going to tie them together.
The writer tells us that the waiter took the water-turned-wine to the headwaiter. The headwaiter says to the host, “Hey, why have you withheld the good stuff, the vintage? Everybody knows you serve the good stuff in the beginning. You served the second-rate wine first and saved the best for last.” You see, people were already leaving the party. They were like the people that leave the football game when they lose hope for their team’s situation. But, when they do this, they forfeit the whole experience. Some of the party guests already lost hope for the party and the host. Little did they know; a miracle was in the cards. There was not the time to make more wine. As we know, wine takes a while to make and there were no package stores around. So, they didn’t see this event getting any better. Had they had some hope, they would not have only received a reward, but they would have received the best reward. There was a special play in the playbook that had yet been used. They did not know that Jesus was about to give new life to the party.
The true gift came at the end, at the right time, when it was needed the most. Now, put that away with “My time has yet to come” and, making pure out of what is impure. I am about to tie them up.
Here we have a story of Jesus’ first miracle. It wasn’t the greatest miracle in terms of miraculous things. I mean, I can make wine. He just made it faster and better than I can. He did some other miracles that cast a shadow over this one. As we now know, there are many more great things to come from Jesus. But, you see, this miracle has some poetic significance. That is because it is an image and a guide to Jesus’ last miracle. What was the last miracle? It was his own resurrection, which was the saving grace and the atonement of the sins of the world.
Let’s go in reverse. Point three: The true gift came at the end, at the right time, when it was needed the most. The people were giving up on the future of the party. There was nothing to have hope for. The wine wasn’t that good, to begin with. The people were starting to leave. Before the last miracle (after Jesus' death), Jesus’ followers had lost hope. They had almost given up. They wanted to hang around but they were afraid of what might happen. Things were not looking good anyway. His followers were starting to scatter. Then, the good wine shows up. Jesus appears to his followers showing them that he is alive, and affirming that he has given life to the whole party.
Point two: After Jesus performs the miracle, the product would be unsusceptible to impurities. He didn’t just make clean water that might become dirty again. He didn’t make juice that would spoil in time. No, he made wine. He made something that would never again be affected by contaminations or impurities. Jesus’ atonement didn’t simply remove us of our sins. He made something that would never again be contaminated by the sin of the world. He made something that could not be susceptible to bacteria of the world. Folks, we were once dirty water; we are now good wine.
Point one: I think this one is sharp enough now. Jesus said, “My time hasn’t come yet.” It was as if Mary said, “Jesus, save them.” And Jesus said, “It’s not time for me to save them. But, I’ll save the party.” I am convinced that Jesus could have saved the world right then. He might have been able to turn himself in for what he was going to do and they might have killed him. If he can eliminate the months or years it takes to make good wine, he can eliminate the time it takes to start a revolution. But, it wasn’t time. Why was it not time? Because, the people, his followers, the writers, they all needed to experience the whole journey. They needed to travel with him, witness the other miracles, make mistakes in his presence, question him, see him, hear him, touch him, walk with him… In order to receive the gift, you have to accept the experience.
Now, we have a sermon.
As a culture, we are losing sight of journey and experience and the significance of it. Things are becoming more and more abbreviated. All things considered, experience takes time and, for many people, time is not cheap. But, with technology growing as it has been, we are finding ways to skip over the experience. The bad part of that is the loss of value for the final product. At the end of a journey or the end of an experience, there is a final product or result. If we skip the experience, the product or result is less valuable. If the disciples at the party never saw Jesus again after the party, then he turned up after his death, I am sure they would have been enamored but it wouldn’t have had the same effect. They might have been like, “Isn’t that the guy that made the wine at that party? I thought he was killed! That's weird.” No, they needed the entire experience. They needed to develop emotions, passions, loyalty, faith, and zeal to continue a legacy. That required the whole journey.
I was reminded of this not long ago when I synced my iPhone up to a Bluetooth speaker and played the first Nirvana album, Nevermind. It came out when I was thirteen and it changed the way that I listened to music. I was blown away. It changed my feelings about music. It was the major transition between 80’s hair band rock to grunge rock. What I was thinking about when I was listening to this the other day was how different it would be if I had a smartphone when this album came out. I would have pulled it up on Apple Music or Spotify, listened to Smells Like Teen Spirit (The first song), listened to Smells Like Teen Spirit a few more times, skipped through some of the others, and moved on. But no, when I first purchased the album, it was on a cassette. I walked around with my yellow Sony Walkman on my belt and that tape playing for weeks. I didn’t dare hit fast forward and risk missing any part of that album; I just took it all in. We did that with cassettes; we listened to the whole thing. For me, with that album, I needed to take in the whole experience to appreciate what it was and what it would become.
This is applicable with so many things in our lives. Experience and the journey are everything. That is not just with music. Books… sure, you can read the first few pages and put it down, then later read the last couple of pages. But, what good is it if you miss the whole experience. Movies… you can’t rush the experience; you have to make the journey with the characters to appreciate the outcome. What about vacation. In order for it to be beneficial, you need not rush it. What about rest or sabbath time? It’s not something that can just happen. Even though you are doing nothing, it is the experience with God that makes it beneficial. Here’s one of my favorites: food. We want it fast as soon as we can get it and eat it. But, we are losing the experience of cooking it. Sometimes it takes me over an hour to cook dinner for myself but I appreciate it so much more because I watched it happen. It was a journey.
What about people? Ah, now we are making a little sense. You can’t just have an immediate relationship with someone. You can’t just give someone a friendship without, what? Experience. You have to take some journeys with them to build the ultimate result, a friendship.
Here’s is another example, coming to know God. Building your faith and Spirit. It doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes experience. I don’t want people to tell me who God is, I want to have the experience from the miracle of birth to the finale miracle of life after death. From making wine to the resurrection and all of the miracles and experiences in between. Yes, I want the whole journey. “But, the Bible says…” Yes, I know what the Bible says. Knowing what the Bible says is like looking for corners in a round room; It leads to circles. All of the corners are on the outside of the room. I want to find the corners the doors and the spaces in between. What the Bible says is fascinating, but the experience happens and the journey begins when we start to dance with the blank spaces between each word. And, it is in those blank, white spaces that we find the experience with God. We take journeys with God. Not everybody takes these journeys because it takes too much time and we need immediate results. But, you cannot appreciate the results unless you have the experience and make the journey. You have to listen to the whole album, read the whole book, watch the whole movie, feel the sand in between your toes, rest in the Lord’s presence, cook the meal, laugh, cry and embrace people and you have to dance with the empty spaces. That’s the experience. That’s the journey.
In order to have and appreciate the result, you must be patient until the end. You must take in the experience, the whole journey, from the beginning to the end. From the first miracle to the last.
Cheers
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