The Best is Yet to Come
Gospel reading: John 2:1-12 from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Wedding at Cana
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.
The address: THE BEST IS YET TO Come.
JOHN 2:1-12.
We have just heard a story about a most unusual wedding.
It must have been a very festive occasion, because all the wine had been drunk before the celebration was over.
How embarrassing this would have been for the family; it would be the talk of the village for years to come – the humiliation.
So, Jesus in response to His mother's prompting saved the day by changing gallons of water into wine of the finest vintage.
What a party!! 180 gallons of vintage wine – over 1000 bottles!!
The surprise of the head waiter when he tasted it, "Why have you kept the best wine till now."
The guests would have been expecting the best wine to be served at the beginning of the festivities and then later when some couldn’t tell the difference the cheap stuff.
Some people look at life that way.
They think the only worthwhile years are at the beginning of life… Middle age and old age have nothing to offer…. I totally disagree with them!
• They would say that childhood is the time of wonder and the time of joy.
• The whole world is filled with mystery and charm.
• Then follows youth with its ideals and visions.
• Then comes adulthood with its plans and promises.
The world is still an exciting place with infinite prospects of work, things to do and pleasure.
This is followed by the heat and the battle of life's middle years, and finally the weakness and weariness of old age.
Then it is all down hill.
That’s a very pessimistic view of life and leaves God totally out of the picture.
Is this why our society is so obsessed with youth?
Nobody wants to get old, because everyone thinks life belongs primarily to the young.
They fail to appreciate the good things that maturity has to offer.
By all means enjoy the opportunities of youth for they will never return.
But we should not forget that later years also have their own joys and pleasures.
Perhaps the best is yet to come.
Some parents enjoyed the days when their children were small and they regret when those days have gone by…. Children seem to grow up so quickly.
But we hope the time will come when they will have grandchildren and enjoy their company, but this time without the parental responsibilities.
As a grandparent it is a unique relationship – the grandchildren confide in you in a way that they don’t with their parents; with the promisor, ‘don’t tell mum and dad’.
And you can always give them back to their parents.
Relationships and indeed marriage can change, perhaps there was a time when life was filled with courtesy, kindness, warmth and affection.
They could sit across a crowded room, and make eye contact that spoke volumes without saying a word. Now, all that has gone.
The warmth and kindness has been replaced with boredom and irritable tempers.
Could that voice be the same voice that was so tender not so many years ago?
The truly sad thing about this kind of existence is that its doesn't have to happen that way.
Marriages and any relationship change with the passing of time; that is inevitable, but they do not have to change from good to bad.
They can change from good to better on their way to the best. Life doesn't have to be a process of decline and decay.
Unless we die young we have to get old, but we don't have to grow bitter and turn sour.
Old age with its failing health and financial strain can be and often is difficult, but it can also be good.
A 75year old man said to a young boy, 'I have learned two things about life; one is that it gets harder and harder; and the second is that it gets better and better.'
We don't have to lose our love for life, not if we drink the choice wine that gets better and better with the passing of time.
There was an elderly man who supplements his pension by giving golf lessons. He is well in his 70’s.
His wife sits in a chair nearby as he instructs his students. Her mind is almost gone and she is like a helpless child.
He bathes her, feeds her, and watches her constantly in case she wanders away and gets lost.
To the casual observer, she must seem a terrible inconvenience; but that is NOT how he sees her, precisely because he loves her.
He said, 'If I had my life to live over again there are some things I would change and do differently, but there is one thing that would stay the same. I would do it all over again with the same woman."
They may have started with a lesser vintage, but it was a choice wine that kept getting better and better with age.
Whatever our role in life may happen to be--married, single, rich, poor, young or old, if we go with Christ and do it His way, we can truthfully say, 'The best is yet to Come.'
