I want clear instructions. Here are some examples of instructions that, for one reason or another, weren’t made very clearly:
• “Do not sit in chair without being fully assembled”
• “Please take time to look over the brochure enclosed with your family”
• at a private school grounds: “No trespassing without permission”
• brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo, Japan: When passage of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.”
• at a zoo: “Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.”
• cemetery in PA - “Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.”
• highway in OH - “Drive slower when wet.”
• in the vestry of a New England church: “Will the last person to leave please see that the perpetual light is extinguished.”
There are essentials in life that are pretty clear cut:
Do not drink Drano; stay out of the lion’s cage; Do not jump from the bridge; Keep hands and feet inside of car until the ride stops; don’t run with scissors; don’t put your hand near the mouth of the angry snapping turtle, and by all means, don’t pick it or it will never heal! Very practical essentials for life. No questioning the rightness of those things.
There are also biblical essentials that are pretty clear cut:
Take care of widows and orphans; don’t take the Lord’s name in vain; Be generous; Love one another; Keep yourselves from idols; Don’t cause others to stumble. Very straightforward. No questioning the rightness of those things. No, it’s not a matter of interpretation. The Scriptures are actually very clear on essentials, and honest people seeking God’s word on issues that matter can understand them. Black and White.
Then, there are the questions where the zebra’s stripes have kind of run together in the wash. We have to be honest this morning and admit that life has “gray areas” where there’s no direct Bible example, no "Thus saith the Lord." What do we do then? How do we decide what to do when there just doesn’t seem to be a clear answer?
You thought I was going to speak about alcohol this morning. This is a sermon about decision-making. Often times, in the “gray areas”, we simply need to decide what things in life are most important to God. We need to straighten out our priorities.
We need this in our everyday decision making and thought processes. What does God want our priorities to be? If we’d just stop and ask that question, we’d make a lot wiser decisions more quickly. We’d be confident that our actions are pleasing to God.
I’m convinced, As a church family, we’ve got to be asking this all-important question: "Are the things at which we’re working the hardest the things about which God cares the most?" The places where we’re using our budget, where we’re asking for the most help, where we’re making the most announcements and placing our focus – are those the things where God really wants us to spend our chips? And the things that we’re not giving much attention – is it OK in God’s plan for us to let those go?
How much should we give to missions? How many missions should we support? Which ones? How much should we be involved in functions at other congregations? How should we advertise ourselves? How much should we spend on it? Do we reach out to our community enough?
Some of these questions are easier to answer than others, but not one of them is answered directly in the Scriptures, and they’re the kinds of questions that many people have fought and divided over. They’re questions of quantity and priority.
When we leave the church building, things don’t change much: How many children should we have? How many cars should we own? Where should we live? How much should we give to the church? Do we spend enough time together as a family? Should we own or rent a house? Should I change jobs? Should both of us work? Should we do business locally? Should I send my child to a Christian School?
We could handle these and lots of other questions better if we’d could just answer "What matters most to God?"
The story we read today helps us to see that in the life of Jesus. I think we’ll see that Jesus gives some attention to everyday problems, but Jesus’ greater concern addresses life’s more important issues.
I. Jesus cares about our everyday problems
Everyone has them. So does every wedding…
Charles and Darlene Colliver’s wedding – at a small church in IN. The front is adorned with a set of candelabra in front of the baptistry, where there hangs a velvet curtain. Anytime the door at the other end of the auditorium is opened, a rush of air pulls the curtains forward. The door opens, and you guessed it, suddenly the curtains hanging in front of the baptistry are in flames.
If there was time this morning, I’ll bet we could hear what went wrong at a lot more weddings.
You’re the groom. It’s your wedding feast! For years you’ve looked forward to the 7 days when you’d finally have the big feast and your wedding day. The whole little community of Cana knows about the feast, and you have plenty of guests; even Jesus and His disciples and His mother. But, doesn’t something always go wrong at a wedding? You thought you had bought enough wine, but Frank the Wedding Coordinator was filling the glasses too full. You’d told him! A lot of the guests have already had enough to drink, but now the wine bowl is empty, and you’re going to be the talk of the town -- for months! Everyone will remember this wedding. It will be one for “Palestine’s Funniest Videos” – the one where one of the most basic details wasn’t covered.
This was a social problem. It wasn’t life-threatening, and except for some hurt feelings, it really wasn’t going to hurt anybody. In the big picture, it was a small, everyday type of problem. Don’t sweat the small stuff, right? But isn’t it the small stuff that causes 90% of our sweat in life?
Mary sees the problem. She’s been to some wedding feasts. She understands this is a problem. So, she approaches Jesus. "Son, they’ve run out of wine."
OK, here’s the part where I talk about wine in the NT – on a shoestring time budget, so I’ll be short a lot of details and conclusions that I’d be glad to discuss in a smaller setting if you’re so inclined.
When we speak of wine today, we’re talking about the juice of grapes or some fruit that has been purposely fermented. That means, bacteria are allowed to grow in it. The bacteria eat sugars in it, and give off a waste product: alcohol. In wine, the alcohol reaches a concentration of about 12%, and then it kills the bacteria. The “wine” of the NT was a drink more common than water, because most of the water wasn’t safe to drink. If you’ve ever visited a country where the water was dangerous, you can appreciate the gravity of that. You keep your mouth shut when you shower, and you don’t even rinse your toothbrush in it. If you’ve ever failed to pay attention to that danger, you can especially appreciate the gravity of that – namely cholera, dysentery, and a number of parasites I can’t pronounce.
Some people say that all the wine in the 1st century was fermented because they didn’t have refrigerators. That’s just not true. There were at least 3 different ways to preserve grape juice unfermented in 1st century Palestine, but it was also allowed to ferment for a reason. They’d take they’re unsafe water, and add fermented grape juice to it at a ratio of 1 part wine to 2-3 parts water, an alcohol content of about 3%. Among Greek, Roman and Jewish cultures, anyone who drank straight wine, undiluted, was considered a barbarian. The alcohol of the juice would make the water safer to drink because it would kill some of the microscopic beasties in it, and it would add some flavor to it as well. Paul instructed Timothy in I Tim 5:23 to no longer drink just water, but to add a little wine for the sake of his stomach and because he was frequently sick. It served a healthy purpose. This is the wine we’re speaking of when we talk about the wedding feast of Cana – the common drink of the day. Back to the story...
Jesus seems indifferent at first: "Why make it our concern?" And with a small rebuke, Jesus reminds His mother that He’s living by a heavenly agenda. The time to announce His position as Messiah hasn’t arrived…yet. Imagine, Mary, who 30 years before gave birth to what was viewed as a child out of wedlock, who’d stored up the memories of the miracles that surrounded Jesus’ birth. At last she could be vindicated. At last, her servanthood could be proven. But Jesus doesn’t accept that an earthly dilemma is going to set His agenda. It’s not time for that. There’s some other reason for this miracle. Start by looking at v11 – the result is that His glory is seen and that His disciples believe in Him. We’ll look at that more in a minute.
Does He care about the wedding feast? Apparently so. In the first of His recorded miracles Jesus creates somewhere around 140 gallons of excellent wine out of only water. (would we expect any less?!) The feast is saved! Jesus showed that He cared about a realtively little problem.
How often do we fail to remember that Jesus is concerned with our little problems? Why do we fail to take them to Him? After all, it’s often a lot of little problems at once that get us down, just like a character in a book called: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Ill - being a late for an appointment isn’t usually a big problem, neither is a flat tire, neither is a flat spare, neither is rush hour, neither is getting supper late, neither is a rain storm, neither is a screaming 2 year old. Really, those are all small problems. But put them all together at once, and little problems are hard to deal with.
In His ministry, Jesus dealt with little problems: feeding a crowd; getting a place to celebrate the Passover; how to pay the temple tax; who would take care of His mother after His ascension. He showed a sensitivity for the little things that sometimes seem big. It reminds me of an ad I saw for a certain repair shop: "No Job Too Big or Too Small."
We ought to take the little things to Jesus as well. The little thank-you’s and the little cries for help. Jesus cares about those things. He demonstrated that in a lot of ways.
That’s what you do when you love someone, isn’t it? You get on the phone with your sugar babe, and what do you talk about for an hour solid? Little stuff – what you did today; what you saw; something you thought of. You don’t do that with anyone else – only with the person who’s close to you. Shouldn’t we have that kind of closeness with Jesus?
Ill - I remember Wilbur Fields saying about some small problem he prayed, "Lord, I know you’re busy running the universe and all, but I could use a hand," and God did.
If you’re wondering about what it’s like to be a follower of Jesus, or if you’re just taking a step back and considering it from the inside, remember this – Jesus cares about small stuff. You don’t have to be on your deathbed or trying to pick who you’re going to marry for it to matter. Don’t make petty stuff the focus of your life, but don’t act like the Lord has no idea what that’s all about either.
Jesus cares about our little everyday concerns, but...
II. Jesus’ Greater Concern Addresses Life’s Most Important Issues
We could conclude from reading just this story that Jesus was a nice man who cared about and helped people with their everyday problems. Who wouldn’t like someone like that?
A few weeks ago, I was having a day like that. Within a few minutes of coming home from a day when work was a challenge, a list of things falling apart began to form. It was right after the heavy rains that caused a lot of flooding, so I thought I’d check our basement – where the sump pump is supposed to have kicked on and kept it from flooding. Alas, there was no sump pump in sight, because it was under 4’ of water! Just then, my daughter came in and muttered something about her car falling apart. At that point, I was ready to just dive in with the sump pump! Wouldn’t it be nice to just have someone around to take over when little stuff begins to accumulate?
I was talking to Carrie and we somehow came onto the subject of polygamy – that’s having more than one wife. They do that in some cultures. I was smarting off about it and saying maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. What did she think? Without a pause, she looked at me and said, “Will she do laundry?”
There have been a lot of inventions to help relieve life’s everyday little problems: if you have gray hair, falling hair, overweight, under tanned, or if you just haven’t got time for the pain, there’s something for you to help with that problem.
But was Jesus just a problem solver? Dr. Phil of the wedding feast world?
John 2:11
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Jesus had a purpose behind this miracle, and John helps us see it when he concludes this story:
1) Revealed His glory,
John doesn’t use the word "miracle," he uses "sign" – 17X. That’s a miracle with a purpose of proving His deity and authority. It points to Jesus, not the work itself. This was the first sign that Jesus performed. The glory of wine wasn’t revealed; the glory of Jesus was.
John even points out in 20:30 that Jesus did many other signs that aren’t recorded in this book, but the ones that he has recorded are written so that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.
Jesus didn’t come to just take away our little problems. HE INTENDED TO REVEAL HIS GLORY.
I love the outdoors. Last summer, several men and boys from here were privileged to make a trip into the mountains in Colorado. Words can’t begin to describe the beauty of it. Pictures of it fall way short of the experience. What’s the point of that? For us to love the mountains or to praise the One Who created them?
Our little minds and little selves can’t begin to really comprehend the hugeness of space. Tell me, what purpose does it serve? What’s the point of the billions and billions of galaxies and all they contain? The Scriptures tell us!
Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
He could have not made the stars. He could have made all of life just black and white…and flat. But He didn’t. Instead, God created a world with variety – with huge contrasts of quietness and loudness, of dark and light, of color, of massiveness and of detail. He gave us the gift of those things and the ability to appreciate them. Still, God has a greater concern than our enjoyment of beautiful and magnificent things.
Let’s look at the 2nd outcome of this miracle in Cana…
2) Evoked His disciples’ belief
The ultimate reason for His miracles was to cause men to believe in Him.
John 10:37-38
Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."
Jesus performed a mighty miracle on the shores of Galilee. He fed over 5,000 people with one sack lunch…and there were leftovers. So, a crowd followed Him around. Jesus wasn’t very impressed:
John 6:26-27
"I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
Loosely paraphrased: ‘There’s more to me than filet-o-fish sandwiches.”
His purpose in coming wasn’t just to make life easier and more pleasant; it went far beyond that. It was (Lk19:10) “to seek and save that which was lost.”
If you’re impressed by the miracles Jesus worked and wowed at how kind and caring He is, but fail to believe He’s God’s Son and worthy of our lives, you’ve missed the boat.
Yes, the miracles of Jesus are wonderful. Yes, they were real miracles, and Jesus certainly had care and compassion for the sick and afflicted. But unless those stories we read about Jesus end up with us asking, “OK, Jesus, now what do you want from me? What should I do?” they’re useless to us.
Romans 2:4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
Does it really? Does the kindness of Jesus to work miracles, even to take care of little everyday problems, bring you to real life change? Does it bring you to your knees in sorrow when you see that you’ve rejected His kindness?
That’s what Jesus is most concerned about.
Eventually, the wedding feast was over; that wine ran out again or was wasted. Eventually, Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, died again. After some years, the lame He healed probably began to cripple with old age, the blind He healed probably had failing eyesight; the multitude He fed was hungry after just a day. There was more to His miracles than just helping us for the moment.
Jesus’ priority was the healing of our worst sickness, the correction of our biggest problem. These things are written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we might have life in His name.
application:
That fact gives us a usable tool. When it comes to making difficult decisions, when it seems like life is one big gray area, remember God’s priorities. Suddenly, small decisions (what kind of car to buy, what time to have church services) will seem small, like they’re supposed to, and we’ll have the material to make big decisions (Whom should I marry? Should I change jobs? How shall we reach our community?) more wisely.
Conclusion:
God knows the number of hairs on your head, and not a single sparrow falls without Him knowing. But you’re worth much more than sparrows, and your soul’s more important than the number of hairs on your head. What matters to God is that He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for sin. What matters to Him is that Jesus died on the cross in your place. What matters most to God is what you’ll do about Jesus, and if you’ll have a relationship with Him. Do you care about what matters most to God?
You may have a lot of concerns at this particular moment. Just like the people at the wedding feast were concerned about the wine running out.
Whatever your worry this morning, nothing is more important than this moment and what you will do with Jesus Christ...
