Gracious God, who gives generously, give to us again this morning the gift of Your own Son for our life and salvation. As we consider the first miracle that Jesus performed, please use these words to give and sustain our faith in Him. So that living by Your grace we might always have joy no matter what our earthly and temporary circumstances might be. Amen.

Last month when we were struck with a terrible ice storm I found myself in a bad situation. I was driving home from St. Louis while the ice was pouring down. Everything was going OK until drove under one of the bridges along I-64 and decided to turn off my windshield wipers. In a few moments I came out into the open on the Poplar Street Bridge. But my wipers had frozen, and wouldn’t move. The ice quickly made it impossible to see, and there was no place to pull over. I was in real trouble until I spotted a set of tail lights ahead. Unable to see the road or the the bridge barriers on either side, I concentrated on those tail lights, and I followed them across the bridge. Once across I was able to pull over and break my wipers loose. The lights saved me.

In a lot of ways that little incident reminds me of the way John presents Jesus to us. The Apostle John tells us in the Gospel Lesson that Jesus "manifested His glory" at the wedding at Cana. In our dark and distress ridden world we need the glory of Jesus. In a world where we can’t even see the dangers ahead let alone overcome them, we need the light and life of our Lord.

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

It is still a Jewish custom to celebrate weddings on the third day of the week. When I was in Israel a few years ago our tour began on a Tuesday (the third day). While we were visiting the ruins of a crusader fortress, a Jewish bride and groom came up in their wedding dress and tuxedo to take some pictures for that special day. The reason for this custom is connected to the creation account in Genesis chapter one. Several times in the creation account God tells us that what He made was good. But twice on the third day of creation God says what He created was good. Jewish couples, even in Jesus’ day, were looking for God’s blessing of goodness upon their marriage.

Marriage is a good thing, and it is very important to God. Jesus’ acceptance of the invitation to this wedding and the fact that He chose this moment to perform the first miracle of His ministry show us that marriage is very important to God. The reason for this is that marriage is God’s idea. As a famous pastor said many years ago: "Marriage is from God not the gorilla." Sadly many people accept the mistaken philosophy of evolution. They are told that sex is an accident and that marriage is just a social institution that evolved along with everything else. There is nothing holy or sacred about it. And that is why we see people today advocating the legitimacy of homosexual marriage and even group marriage.

Marriage is very important to God. He created marriage. He supports marriage. He views His love for us and our for Him like the love of a bridegroom and bride. It is no surprise that Jesus accepted the invitation to attend this wedding celebration!

However the celebration didn’t get very far when Mary, the mother of Jesus, discovered a serious problem. They had run out of wine. This was a great embarrassment. Perhaps some thought of it as a bad omen. This was not a good way for this couple to start their lives together. Nevertheless, all marriages have their difficulties sooner or later. Many marriages have serious difficulties. Half of all marriages do not make it. Why is marriage so often filled with problems? Why isn’t it the other way around? It is because of the darkness that fills our world and even our own lives.

The lack of wine at the wedding in Cana can be thought of symbolically. It is symbolic of the neediness of this world. It is symbolic of the fact that problems grow naturally like weeds, but blessings have to come from above. The message of repentance here is that we must accept the world and our flesh for what it is. It is fallen and flawed. No matter how compatible a couple may be, no matter how many highly skilled counselors we seek, the fact is that our sinful human natures will perpetually turn marriage into difficulty if not disaster.

This problem runs through all of life. Love runs out in all our relationships from time to time: Children and parents, brothers and sisters, neighbors, conflicts with fellow workers, customers, or businesses. Arguments over community standards of morality as well as wars between nations are the result of people failing to live by God’s righteous standard. Sooner or later all human beings discover "there’s not enough wine" in this life – we just don’t have the love and goodness that we need. We all end up being needy and empty.

Mary’s words are perhaps some of the most important words that have ever been spoken by any human being. I was once teaching a Bible study in which I said that there is not a human being in the Bible that doesn’t mess up somewhere. The Bible consistently presents all human beings as flawed people. A person in the class pointed out that this may not apply to Mary. She nearly always does the right thing. That is true. However there was one point in her life where she thought her Son was nuts, and it appears that she and the rest of her family were trying to intervene in His ministry. She too had her flaws, and if she were here today, I’m sure she would readily point them out. That’s also why Mary referred to God "my Savior" in her great song in Luke chapter one. But if John the Baptist was the greatest man born or woman, I would say that Mary is the greatest woman born of woman. She amazes me. What amazes me the most is that what she does is rarely complicated or attractive by our standards. She probably did not have the beauty of Queen Esther. She wasn’t a Harvard graduate. She didn’t have a network of great friends. But she had the one quality that God looks for the most in people: She lived by faith.

After realizing the problem she goes to Jesus. She asks for His help. At first it seems that Jesus rebuffs her. Why does He do this? It is not a rebuff. It is just God’s way of always making sure we remember that He is God and we are His children. We can ask. We cannot order. You see when Jesus says, "My hour has not yet come" He is referring to the hour of His crucifixion, when all the problems of this world will get fixed. That special time is yet to come. But this does not dissuade a woman of faith! Nor should it ever dissuade any true child of God. You may think that God is not listening. You may think that God does not care. But God is only being God. He knows what you need even more than you do. Do not be discouraged just because God sticks to His overall plan of salvation and does what always needs to be done. Mary turns to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you."

Sidebar: It is not a sin to drink alcohol. Those who say it is a sin to drink alcohol are making the Bible say something it doesn’t say. Such an approach is dangerous and can weaken the authority of the entire Bible. On the other hand there are those who ignore what else the Bible says about alcohol. It is a sin to drink alcohol in order to get drunk. Drunkenness is especially insidious because it opens the door to the demonic, to madness, and to a slavery of the soul.

Of course the result of doing what Jesus said to do is glorious. There were some stone jars which the servants filled with water. Jesus tells the servants to take some of the water to the master of the wedding celebration. In a matter of seconds the water turned to wine. It was not only wine – it was good wine – and lots of it. It was better than what was needed and it was more than what was needed. It was a miracle of quality and of quantity. But that is the way things work out ultimately when people follow Mary’s advice: "Do whatever He tells you."

What need or lack are you struggling with in your life right now? Sometimes we describe sin as a burden that is difficult to bear. But another way to describe it is to consider it an emptiness. It can be a gnawing disappointment with life. When we feel like that, we would do well to follow the advice of Mary: "Do whatever He tells you to do."

Michael P. Walther, Copyright, 2007