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Pastor Dan Eddy

The Holy Gospel according to the Apostle St. John the 2nd Chapter (NIV):

1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."

5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Timing. One of my best friends once told me about one of his friend’s comments made at a wedding reception. He said his friend approached a woman he knew, looked her up and down, and said, "I see you‟re pregnant again."

She responded with a "No, I am not pregnant, and have never been."

Well in order to save face the guy said, "So, how are you and your husband doing?"

The woman responded: "We‟re getting a divorce." 2

But on 3rd and 6, deep in Packer’s territory, Cardinal Cornerback Michael Adams stripped the ball out of Packer Quarterback Aaron Rodger’s hand. The ball careened off of Rodger’s foot, right into the hands of Cardinal player Karlos Dansby. He had no problem running 17 yards for the touchdown to give the Cardinals a 51-45 victory over Green Bay. Not a good time to fumble the ball.

Timing was a big part of this morning’s Gospel lesson. For many of us we are waiting for the Lord to turn the water of our problems into the wine of our solutions.

Well whether in First Century Palestine or the 21st Century America, running out of wine or alcohol for a celebration like this would be extremely embarrassing, especially if, like Mary, you are assigned to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

But she, like you and me, approached Jesus to make a prayer request. In verse 3, Mary said: "They have no more wine."

And did you note Jesus response? We might think He’s saying, "So what? What does this have to do with Me?"

When you pray to our Lord to resolve your problems, whether they are bigger or smaller than running out of wine at a wedding reception, do you feel like God is saying to you, "So what. Why do you involve Me?"

Do you feel like the Lord’s timing is not right? God is not getting the aches and pains in your body healed fast enough. God is not getting you out of your financial struggles at this moment. God is not resolving quickly your relationship problems with your spouse, siblings, children, parents, or others. You feel like our Lord sees you as this big, this important. (Show a ½ inch between two fingers.)

I mean after all if God the Father knew about this wedding in advance, why didn’t He make sure the party had enough wine in the first place? (Look up) "Is that too much to ask of You, Lord?"

Did you note Mary’s confession of faith in her Son as more than her child? "Do whatever He tells you," she said to the wedding servants in verse 4.

At this wedding, the problem set up a perfect scenario for Mary and Jesus’ Disciples to put an even greater trust in Him as their provider, because the best was yet to come in Christ‟s timing.

There’s more going on here. Throughout his Gospel, John records Jesus frequently saying "My time has not yet come," testing the faith of those around Him. And many times, people were trying to superimpose their timing on Jesus, for example in John 7, when they said He should leave Galilee and head to Jerusalem.

You see, Jesus’ time had not yet come to reveal Himself as the One who would be suffering and dying for their sins and ours. Finally in John 17:1 Jesus prays on Maundy Thursday night to His Father that "the time has come." And the best was yet to come as Jesus had followed the law perfectly, so He could redeem sinners under that law, as shown when He miraculously turned His dead body to life on that first Easter morning.

Now you may be asking "Okay Pastor Dan, that‟s all fine and good, where‟s my miracle…like Mary, the Disciples and the wedding party saw?"

You received your miracle at your baptism when the water by the Word turned you from condemned sinner to a forgiven, saved child of God. You will receive your miracle in a few moments when this bread and the fruit of the vine will be turned also into Christ’s true body and real blood, and will again assure you that He turned your life from eternally lost to everlastingly saved. You have and continue to receive your miracles. Just as Jesus’ words turned water into wine, so does His Word preached turn sinful hearts into saved souls. The miracle in John 2 was a prelude, pointing to other miracles that all culminated in the ultimate miracle from the Cross.

God tests our faith through the problems we have, so He can show He is who He is and you are who you are, so through the power of His Spirit, He can get you to trust Him more, to be more like His Son, to show others His glory. And I think that the Lord turns the water of our problems into the wine of our solutions more than we think.

So here’s what I want you to do? Take an assessment of all the problems and needs in your life at this moment, and bring them to the Lord just like Mary did. (Pull out sheet with big letters on it: "Turning water into wine list") Take time to list your menu of problems, and look for the Lord‟s best solutions. Then you will see how the Lord is meeting your needs. When you can identify how Christ Jesus is solving your problems, then you are showing your trust in Him, just like Mary did when she told the servant to do what Jesus commanded. And 5

I spent much time updating our Prayer List, and will rarely move a request off the list until we can pray a prayer of thanks. Each week (hold up prayer list) this becomes a testimony of how God turns people’s problems into His solutions.

I can’t tell you how many times over the past month, Berta and I have seen Him answer prayer and prayer as our Lord and Savior keeps resolving the problems with Berta’s mom, Julie. We’ve gone from a woman having gangrene in her body and almost dying to a person today who physically looks the best she has in a long time. We’ve gone from "How are we going to tell her that she can‟t go home" and "Where are we going to place her after the hospital" to Berta telling me late Friday she found a good place for her mom to live and receive good care as Julie rehabs from her amputated leg. It would be too easy to see only the lack of wine and not see how the Lord keeps turning problems into solutions.

Why am I suggesting you do what may appear to be a silly list? Because I have a feeling over the next few years as we move to turn this congregation’s vision into reality we are going to think we are running out of a lot of things…like money, time and talent. We may feel the Lord is not turning our problems into solutions. It’s really easy to think that at a congregational meeting. We may feel that the Lord is not producing what we need here for this "wedding" gathering.

But when we can identify where the Lord is providing and praise Him, then that will be a witness to others who themselves think that God is saying "So what…what do you want Me to do for you" in meeting their needs.

And when we can show them that Christ Jesus has, in His own time, turned their sin into salvation by faith, then it will be easier to show them how He is loving and providing for them every day…just like Jesus did for the Banquet master who was oblivious to what Jesus had done to produce the best wine yet.

And, remember the best is yet to come. Jesus’ final time has not yet come because no one knows the day or the hour when He will return in the flesh to the earth. Just as Jesus fought for our salvation on cross when His time was right, so He will come again to end time, in His own time. Then He will turn this corrupt creation into a perfect paradise. 6