When The Wine Runs Out

When You Run Out of Wine

Pastor J. Benjiman Wiles

John 2:1-10

I. Introduction

a. READ TEXT

b. This was supposed to be a joyful occasion

c. We had a wedding here at the church yesterday and from start to end of reception we went for about 3 hours (including cleanup)

d. Weddings in Palestine went much longer

e. They would have festivals that lasted a week

i. (If you were going to walk that far for a wedding, you needed to get more than cake!)

f. People would literally feast for days

g. There would be wine flowing in generous amounts

h. All the preparations had been made and everything was wonderful until something happened

i. I want you to understand that, sometimes, things happen

j. You can do everything right, plan everything out, get everything you need ahead of time, and something can still happen

i. I don’t know if someone took more than their fair share

ii. I don’t know if more people showed up than were invited

iii. I don’t know of the bridegroom’s family miscalculated how much they would need

iv. But I do know that they ran out of wine

k. In the Bible, wine speaks of joy, healing, abundance, and salvation

i. Isaiah 55:1 (NKJV) “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

ii. Joel 2:19 (NKJV) The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.”1

iii. Luke 22:20 (NKJV) 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” 1

iv. Luke 10:34 (NKJV) 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 1

l. Sometimes, no matter what you do or how happy the occasion is, life can just suck the joy right out of you

i. People will take advantage of you

ii. People will take more than their fair share of you

iii. You may have assumed you could handle something and found it is was more than you could handle on your own

iv. And you find yourself broke, busted, and disgusted

v. You find yourself “out of wine” and everyone is standing around wondering what you’re going to do about it

m. Your kids, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends, your family, your church - all of them are counting on you to have your wine, and you’ve just run out

n. What are you going to do?

o. This family may have messed up by running out of wine before the festival was over, but they had done at least one thing right:

i. John 2:2 (NKJV) “Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.”

II. Admit you have a problem - Repentance

a. It may seem hard for some of you to believe this, but you can be saved and still run out of your wine sometimes

b. I know that some faith preachers may not believe this, but sometimes you just run out of wine

i. Notice, it doesn’t say here that they stood around and said, “We aren’t out of wine, it just looks like we’re out of wine”

ii. Instead, Mary made the decision to go to Jesus with the problem

1. Verse 3

c. Sometimes, we want to sugarcoat our problems

d. Sometimes, we want to try to convince ourselves and God it’s not really as bad as it is

i. “I’m just tired”

ii. “I just made a little mistake”

iii. Your blowing things out of proportion

iv. I’ve just been busy, lately.

e. But what we really need to do, is go to Jesus and say “I’m out of wine”

i. Life has taken it out me and I need a fresh touch from you, Lord.

ii. Lord, I blew it and I need you to help me.

f. The Lord is waiting on some of you to come to Him and tell Him what you need, because He is not going to force His will on you.

g. He won’t bless you if you don’t want Him to.

III. Whatever He tells you to do – do it! - Faithfulness

a. Jesus’ response to Mary almost seemed like a mild rebuke

i. Verse 4

b. Sometimes, it seems like the Lord doesn’t hear you and isn’t doing anything about your problem

c. But I want to show you something here.