This sermon was preached at St. John's Karoonda (9 am) and Trinity Tailem Bend (11 am)
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the things about being from another culture, is that, even when your new culture is pretty similar, you don't know anymore how to be a good guest or a good host. Then you realize how tightly these things are tied in to your culture. For example, in many cultures, you don't bring anything when you're the guest, that's like an insult. And when you're the host, you don't ask people, “oh, what do you want? Tea or coffee?” (that's the hint that you don't have either and they're supposed to say 'nothing thanks'). No, you put out everything you've got: water, tea, coffee, juice, and soft drink. And there's a reason why: guests are more important than money or things or yourself. Now, remember that and look at what Jesus does when he's invited as a guest at a wedding.
One of the things about being from another culture, is that, even when your new culture is pretty similar, you don't know anymore how to be a good guest or a good host. Then you realize how tightly these things are tied in to your culture. For example, in many cultures, you don't bring anything when you're the guest, that's like an insult. And when you're the host, you don't ask people, “oh, what do you want? Tea or coffee?” (that's the hint that you don't have either and they're supposed to say 'nothing thanks'). No, you put out everything you've got: water, tea, coffee, juice, and soft drink. And there's a reason why: guests are more important than money or things or yourself. Now, remember that and look at what Jesus does when he's invited as a guest at a wedding.
If
Jesus turns water to wine when he's the guest, he does even better
when he's the host.
Transition: This wedding Jesus goes to, he goes as a guest; so do his
mother and his disciples. But what happens at this wedding? Oh,
they just run out of wine. Well, you don't just run out of wine at a
wedding. In a way,
The running out of wine and Jesus' response are both bigger and
smaller than we think. The running out of wine is a bigger deal than
we think, because weddings are bigger than we think. Think about it,
everybody looks forward all year to the Australia Day barbeque
because it lasts all day, like the whole day. But every wedding
celebration in Jesus' day lasted 7 days – 7 straight days. It was
the biggest event on the social calendar. And it's a bigger deal
than we think because of the responsibilities that hosts had to their
guests. You can't just say “oh, no more wine” because you'll
lose your standing in the eyes of the community if you do that, the
same way that you'd be shocked if that happened at someone else's
wedding. You're prepared, though not exactly happy about it,
prepared to spend way way too much on your guests because they are
your guests, and they'll have weddings that you'll get invited to,
you know? Socially, this is a big deal.
But at the same time, running out of wine is smaller than we think.
Our heavenly Father didn't say to his only begotten Son: “now go
and make sure parties don't run out of fine Lutheran beverages.”
Jesus didn't come to be a bottle shop! So when Mary says “they ran
out of wine”, Jesus rightfully says, “that's not really our
business/you don't need to stick your nose into this one.”
But at the same time, running out of wine really is bigger than we
think. In Isaiah chapter 24, the prophet describes the state of the
whole world under sin, and he describes it this way, “The earth
lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the
laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant . . .
the wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh . .
There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown
dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.” So what happens at
this wedding? They run out of wine! Jesus came because sin is in
the world! He's right where he needs to be, which is where sin is,
not because the wedding is sinful or wine is sinful (they're not),
but because all people are sinful, have a sinful nature. Nothing
ruins a celebration like running out of wine? Nothing ruins our
relationship with God like breaking his holy commandments to fear,
love, and trust in him above all things. We see the results in the
verses from Isaiah.
So it's a good thing that Jesus response at this wedding is both
bigger and smaller than we think. His response is bigger than we
think. It's so great that we know the story so well that we can even
have a go at pastors and say, “hey, we're out of wine, why don't
you. . .” [I'm not saying that's funny, but people say those
things]. But this is a miracle, the water was turned into wine at
Jesus' word, at the word of the only Son of God. And the head waiter
of the feast, the master of the feast, he says “this wine is better
than the first wine, and that's not what people do, they usually
bring out the less quality stuff after people are in a good mood.”
But his response is also smaller than we think. The main point
isn't so much what Jesus did at this wedding, but why he did it and
what the result was. That's why John closes with this verse, “This,
the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested
his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” He did it so that
the disciples would believe! So that they would get justification by
grace through faith all over them (that's a good party)! [that's a
joke, justification by grace through faith by the blood of Jesus is
something you get all over you, in holy baptism, but that's because
justification is the gracious Father declaring you to be just, to be
completely innocent. This is done because Christ's innocence and
righteousness are declared to be your own. They are declared to be
your own because he died on the cross for you and he declares this
good news to you through his Word. And faith sits back and receives
this great gift in joy.]
And his response is bigger than we think. In the very next chapter
of Isaiah, chapter 25, Isaiah describes what the work of Christ would
be, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a
feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of
marrow, of aged wine well refined . . . he will swallow up death
forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and
the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for
the Lord has spoken.” And that's what he does. That's exactly
what he does, and at this wedding, he gives a sneak peak of what he
will do by his cross and resurrection for you.
Because,
What Jesus does as a guest here is amazing, so what about when he is
the host and you're the guest? When Jesus is the guest, he is the
best gift at the wedding. At weddings of the Church, he is host. As
host, he is the one who blesses marriages and shows that marriages
point to the special bond between him and the Church. [John starts
counting days for us in chapter one. So here in chapter 2 it's six
days after he starts counting. Hmm, six days and a wedding. On the
sixth day of creation God created Adam and Eve and conducted their
wedding and set up marriage when he said “be fruitful and
multiply”.]
When Jesus is the guest, he goes where sin is, when he is the host
he puts the sinful nature to death daily in baptism, creates and
sustains faith in baptism, and gives a totally justified nature daily
in baptism. So faith sits back when it comes to our salvation before
God by receiving this justification, but justified people don't sit
back, they give thanks to God and serve the world!
When Jesus is the guest, he does the work of the groom and the head
steward, because it's their job to make sure there is wine, but he
does it instead. As host, he is the one who gathers his Church for a
heavenly, holy meal of eternal life and in it distributes a holy gift
of his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. [John begins the
reading “On the third day there was a wedding”, and here he's
giving that sneak peak again, because where else do we hear “on the
third day”? "On the third day he rose from the dead”! So where
do we get the meal of the victory over death, a meal of the death and
resurrection of our Lord? His Holy Communion.]
That means that on Sundays you're the guest, and that means he's the
host here. And that means that Sunday isn't a normal, human get
together but a supernatural, divine, service that God gives. It's on
Easter that we sing, “this is the feast of victory” - because it
is! It's the victory that is Jesus' and is for you!
Conclusion: As a newcomer to this culture, I still have a lot to
overcome when it comes to learning how to be a good guest and host.
But as a pastor, I work for the Host, the One who died and rose and
lives forevermore. As a guest he turned water to wine. As Host, he
does big things for his guests, like justifying them by grace through
faith in his blood and death. He brings you from death to life.
Amen.
