On this day, years ago, I once heard a sermon on the Wedding at Cana (John 2) which I have never forgotten. The pastor, a sweet-faced, white-haired gentleman, spoke sincerely and earnestly.
He was my grandfather, and I have always remembered this sermon because it was at my own wedding, nineteen years ago.
The story of the wedding at Cana is significant because it was the setting of Jesus’ first miracle. While attending a wedding feast with his disciples, Jesus becomes aware that the couple have underprepared and are about to run out of wine for their guests – an embarrassing and disgraceful predicament, for which there is no quick or cheap solution.
Jesus quietly tells the servants to fill six large stone jars nearby full of water – each able to hold twenty to thirty gallons – and then when they dip some out and take it to the MC to taste, it has become excellent wine. Only the servants know where the wine came from, and the celebration joyfully continues without interruption.
Like the couple married in Cana who ran out of wine for their wedding celebration, even the most prepared person will eventually run out of something in the relationships in their life.
We are imperfect, selfish and broken people, unable to maintain levels of altruistic, unconditional love and kindness for any significant length without needing to be refilled or renewed.
Pride, hurt, self-centeredness, distraction, laziness, or sometimes just exhaustion creep in and our first fiery, intense and purposeful strength begins to fade, slowly burn out, and trickle instead of pour.
Even if we try to refill the supply on our own, what we often find we have is just… water. Great for survival, perhaps, but not so much for celebration.
This is why we must invite Jesus into our lives, our marriages, and our relationships!
We need to seek His grace, trust His compassionate kindness, and ask for Him to step in and do something we cannot: transform our acts of duty, of faith, of slogging service into deeds done from love.
He comes and takes the water we have and transforms it into wine.
Something ordinary and draining like serving and caring for a husband, a wife, a sibling, a parent, a child, in the gritty, unfiltered, day-to-day scenarios of living life together becomes a beautiful, celebratory, joy-filling delight.
But this can happen only if:
1. We invite Him and welcome His presence. (Jesus didn’t party-crash. He was an invited guest.)
2. We admit our own lack and ask for His help in our need. (His mother noticed the problem and told Him about it, trusting that He could and would do something about it.)
3. We listen to His instructions and obey them quickly. (The servants didn’t balk at the strange request but chose to humbly obey, thereby earning the place of being witnesses of the Messiah’s first miracle.)
This is not some rose-colored, pie-in-the-sky pipe dream of wedded (or other relational) bliss worthy of any Hallmark movie.
This is the same miraculous, stunning alchemy that happened when water transformed to wine: Our daily lives filled with miscommunications, dirty diapers, burned pancakes and traffic lights can become times to celebrate and rejoice because Jesus is present.
God with us.
Immanuel.
It’s not just a word for a baby in a manger.
It’s for a loving Friend who comes into your home and touches your marriage with hope, joy, and fresh life when you are burning out and feeling empty.
It’s for a tender Father who holds your hurting bewildered heart when you don’t have the foggiest idea how to parent your child but He does.
It’s for a sweet freshness and renewed strength in carrying on with a work you’re bone-weary of walking in.
He can come. He wants to come! He knows our need. He can take our offered colorless normal and transform it into something intoxicating and delightful, rich and vibrant, worthy of a party.
Because if we are His followers, the life we live now should carry notes of the music in the Wedding Feast to come. We should be practicing the steps to dance now. We should be looking ahead with joyful anticipation of the celebration and the smiles of hope should be shining on our faces today.
He gives that joy – He IS that Joy. His Joy is our strength, and our water becomes wine in His presence.
Nineteen years ago I married my best friend. We invited Jesus to our wedding, and into our marriage. Despite our own brokenness and frequent failings, in His gracious kindness He meets us daily in our lack, and we celebrate our love because of His.
{To my faithful, courageous husband – I love you. Thank you for marrying me.}
Cheers!