Joyful Celebration of Life
John 2:1-11[1]
Most of you know that
my daughter, Carolyn, was married last month. While she and her new husband
Peter made every effort to keep their wedding simple, there was no shortage of
food and no shortage of drink. And I think it’s safe to say that everyone thoroughly
enjoyed themselves. My father was able to be there, at 90 years old. And my
youngest granddaughter Betty was there at 18 months. My wife’s family were
there. My step-son and step-daughter and their family were there. We were all
there to celebrate Carolyn’s wedding, and to give our blessing to her and Peter
in their new life. Having four generations of a family that has blended
together for over forty years made for a joyful celebration of life!
But what if the means
for celebrating had given out? What if there had not been enough food for
everyone? What if there had not been enough to drink? These days, the wedding
reception is a party with a DJ playing music. What if all of a sudden his
equipment had a glitch and the music stopped? I think we all know what would
have happened. The guests would have stood around for a while, feeling awkward.
But slowly, they would have made their excuses and found a way to leave. The
joyful celebration of life would have been interrupted. And perhaps it would
have marred the joy of my daughter’s new life with her husband.
That is precisely the
situation that Jesus faced in our Gospel lesson for today. Jesus was a guest at
a wedding feast in the small village of Cana in Galilee. It would appear that this family was not
wealthy, because their feast was only going to last one day. Traditional
wedding feasts, even now, extend over more than just a day. Unfortunately, even
at this meager feast, the family had not been able to buy enough wine. And to
run out of wine at a wedding feast would have been humiliating to the family,
and not least to the couple who were starting their lives together on this
special day. It would have been a mark against them and their family that would
not have been forgotten in a small village.
Now, at this point I
think we have to recognize the place of wine in biblical festivities. In some
respects it’s a bit naïve. We now know that for some people even a sip of
alcohol can be pure poison. Of course there are places where the Bible
criticizes drunkenness as a habitual practice. But there are several places
where drinking a lot of good wine is an essential part of joyful celebration.
Whether it’s a wedding feast, or even the feast that God promises to set for
“all people” when the Kingdom comes in all its fullness (Isa. 25:6), wine is
there as something that is supposed to make the celebration of life
joyful.
I think that’s why
Jesus’ first sign by which he revealed the light he was bringing into the
darkness of this world was the creation of a huge quantity of very fine wine.
If the wine had given out it would have ruined the celebration of these two
people beginning their new life together. The joyful celebration of life that
should have been a time for their family, their friends, and the whole community
to give their blessing to the new couple would have been spoiled. It would not
only have marred the joy of the day, it would have potentially marred the joy
of their life together as husband and wife. And so Jesus made enough fine wine
to ensure that the joyful celebration of life continued.
Another aspect of this
story is that John tells us this was Jesus’ first “sign.” That may sound
strange to us, because in other places Jesus refuses to perform signs for
people. But in John’s Gospel, the “signs” are a central theme. The signs Jesus
works are the actions by which he demonstrates what he is about and what God’s
Kingdom is about. They are the means by which he reveals the light that he was
bringing into the darkness. As John says in our lesson for today, the signs
reveal Jesus’ “glory” (Jn 2:11) and they conclude with his being “lifted up (on
the cross) in order to draw all people” to himself (Jn 12:32).
It may seem strange in
church to hear that the inaugural sign of Jesus’ ministry in John’s Gospel was
the creation of a huge quantity of wine—and very fine wine according to the
steward of the feast—so that a wedding party could continue as long as it
needed to. But we have to remember that the whole point of this miracle was to
ensure that this couple’s joyful celebration of their new life together could
continue. It was meant to keep the wedding celebration going so that they could
receive the full blessing of their family and their community. The main point
is that Jesus’ first sign, the first thing he does to demonstrate what he’s
about and what the Kingdom of God is about, is to promote the joyful
celebration of life.
We live our lives “in
the fast lane” these days. Our daily calendars can be crammed so full that we
don’t even have a moment to catch our breath. It’s a feature of life in this
culture. We are a people who are driven: driven to have more and to do more.
That approach to life doesn’t leave much room for “stopping and smelling the
roses.” But the Bible insists that God’s creation is “very good,” and that one
essential element of wisdom is to enjoy all that is good and to celebrate the
life God has given to us. At a wedding in Cana, Jesus not only endorsed that
point of view, he provided the means for the joyful celebration of life.
[1] ©
2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 1/16/2022 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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