Water into Wine
Jesus’ first miracle: water into wine. Of course, turning water into wine is common, especially here in the Okanagan Valley. The trick is to be able to turn water into wine without grapes, without yeast and without the passage of time.
Jesus turned water into wine without grapes, without yeast and without any passage of time. That is the miracle. His first miracle. All those rumors about little boy Jesus turning little clay birds into real birds are wrong. This story in John 2 is our Lord’s first miracle.
I want to say two things about the Water into Wine miracle. 1. What the Bible says about Wine; and 2. What the future Holds for the Follower of Jesus Christ. The first point has to do with our behaviour and the second point has to do with our destiny.
The Bible and Wine
It needs to be said that in the New Testament there is only one word for wine. It is used, for example, by Saint Paul in Ephesians 5:18: Be not drunk with wine. It is the same word used by John here in our Gospel story to describe the Beverage Jesus made by the Power of His Word. Wine is a fermented beverage made from grapes, usually, and if drunk to excess makes one intoxicated. Jesus did not turn the water into Welch’s Grape Juice. He made real wine.
There are 247 references in Scripture to alcohol. Forty of those are negative. That is 16 % of the Bible’s teaching on alcoholic drinks in their various forms is of a negative nature. There are stories of people abusing alcohol, warnings of excess; verses like Proverbs 23:32: Wine bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. We all know about Noah and Lot getting drunk and how terrible that ended up.
Today we know that Alcohol is a carcinogen, that alcohol causes cancer. There is strong evidence that drinking alcohol increases people's risk of cancers of the breast, liver, mouth, throat, esophagus, and bowel. So that is the dark side to alcohol.
On the bright side, there are 145 positive references to drinking alcohol in the Scriptures. That is a whopping 59% of all the verses dealing with this subject. The Bible talks about the abundance of wine as a sign of God’s blessing; there is the text in Ecclesiastes that says: There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw is from God’s hand. And then there is that Psalm where David thanks God for wine.
So, 16% of the Bible references to wine are negative; 59% are positive and that leaves 25% as neutral references. It is clear that the Bible is in favor of wine but too much wine is an abomination. In other words, we need to be balanced. We need to live all of life in moderation.
We humans find it very difficult to live balanced lives. We want all or nothing, it seems. But the teaching of John 2 in part is that we need to live life in balance. Jesus turned water into wine, but He didn’t get drunk. Even when we take into account all of the ruined lives Broken homes; all the damaged bodies and destroyed marriages caused by alcohol the Bible still has much more positive things to say about wine than evil and what’s significant: Jesus chose to turn water into wine at a wedding as his first miracle.
As many of you we have a long Anglican tradition of serving wine at Holy Communion. But we also recognize that there are some in our congregation who come out of an alcoholic past or who come from a tradition that frowns on alcoholic consumption. So, we give people a choice when they come to the Table so as not to offend anyone. Worshippers can have wine or grape juice.
But let’s move onto Lesson # 2: What does the future holds for the follower of Jesus Christ. What is our destiny? What is up ahead? What might we expect in the next 20 – 30 to 100 years?
What’s Up Ahead for the Christian
Most of you know the story – right after Jesus turned the water into 700 bottles of vintage wine the servants took it to the Master of Ceremonies for a taste test. It’s like when you go to a restaurant today; you order wine, and the waiter pours a little wine into a glass and lets whoever is paying the bill taste test the wine. If it passes his scrutiny, then everyone gets their share.
So, the Master of Ceremonies takes the Jesus wine to his nose; lets the aroma pass his nostrils; takes a sip and is pleasantly surprised. His exact words are: 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 wine till now.
This Master of Ceremonies had been raised to except things to get progressively worse. In science it’s call entropy - the entire universe is running downhill. It’s also called the Law of Diminishing Returns. Things are not getting better they are getting worse. It’s the Rollercoaster Principle.
About ten years into our marriage Muriel talked me into my first rollercoaster ride. As we slowly cranked our way up the first slope, I wondered how on earth I had let anyone talk me into this; I wondered if perchance the Lord in mercy might come again before we reached the crest of the hill; I wondered why I was throwing my life away like this.
As I was thinking these thoughts suddenly, the bottom fell out of everything, and we were screaming toward the earth. Muriel laughed all the way down whilst I griped the bar and prayed. Fortunately, a rollercoaster operates according to the law of diminishing returns – each hill is a little bit lower, a little bit slower, a little bit less thrilling.
The Law of Diminishing Returns is in effect in all the devil’s games. We expend more and more on something and get less and less pleasure out of it. Robin Mark in his hauntingly beautiful hymn talks about the ‘lost soul reaching for a higher high’.
But it’s not only true of drug addicts and alcoholics, but I’ve also seen it in the faces of world travelers. If you want to see the Law of Diminishing Returns go on a cruise sometime. Been there, done that – bored to death. Every trip cost more and brings less pleasure. Doesn’t matter what it is: cloths, food, drugs, sex, travel – the wine is getting worse; we must drink more to get the same high we did last time.
All I can tell you friends is this: Jesus doesn’t give rollercoaster rides. Jesus serves the best wine last! The path of the just is as a shining light that shines more and more as we get closer to the other side. Jesus serves the best wine last. Abraham’s best days were after he passed 90; John the Beloved had his greatest Revelation in his 90’s. Jesus serves the best wine last.
I read the following this week:
An extensive study in the States found that the most productive age in human life is between 60-70 years of age.
• The second most productive stage of the human being is from 70 to 80 years of age.
• The third most productive stage is from 50 to 60 years of age.
• The average age of NOBEL PRIZE winners is 62 years old.
• The average age of the presidents of prominent companies in the world is 63 years.
• The average age of the pastors of the 100 largest churches in the U.S.A. is 71.
• The average age of the Popes is 76 years.
It appears that the best years of your life are between 60 and 80 years.
You’re not getting older, you’re getting better! That is not some Hallmark card slogan. That is the truth!
We may feel frailer but that does not mean life is petering out. The best is yet ahead. When we step into Eternity!!! What a day that will be!
Do you think anyone is going to be bored in heaven? Do you think anyone is going to talk like this in heaven? I suppose that gold is all right, but you know if you’ve seen one gold street you’ve seen them all. I don’t know what’s with these harps? I don’t particularly like that kind of music. You know, Hazel, some days I get bored – mainly because we never have nights. Day, day, day, it never quits.
Nobody will be bored in heaven. Jesus doesn’t give rollercoaster rides. Jesus serves the best wine last! My sense is that the original disciples were never bored around Jesus. And my conviction is that when we sense boredom it is because we are not following the Lord as close as we should. I can’t picture John Wesley or Mother Teresa becoming bored. Friends,
The best is yet ahead! Jesus serves the best wine last!
Let us pray:
Holy Father, we thank you for wine.
We thank you for the wine you create every year in our beautiful Okanagan Valley. For the many happy times we have gathered around a glass of wine. We also pause to pray for those who cannot control their consumption of wine; spare them good Lord and show them and their families mercy.
We confess Lord that we do not understand why you have created things that can kill us: like gravity, and food, and wine. And yet when handled with great care and wisdom can be such a blessing. Teach us self-control good Lord.
We thank you that you serve the best wine last. We praise you that the path of the just is as a shining light that burns brighter as the years go by. We thank you for the glorious hope we have in Jesus Christ that 100 years from today we will be far better off than we have ever been or that we can now imagine.
Build our faith until we are bursting with joy and hope. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.
