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I typically officiate several weddings a year. And while I like to think everyone is there to hear me, I know the ceremony is but a 20 minute obstacle to what everyone is really there for. They’re waiting for me to shut up so they can get on to the reception. And I’ve seen some incredible receptions. The amount of money spent and alcohol consumed is astounding. It’s almost always a blowout of epic proportions. Can you imagine going to a wedding reception where they run out of alcohol? You can’t, because it doesn’t happen. The closest I ever saw was a reception a few years ago where everyone stayed so late and drank so much that the hosts had to send some of their guests to the local liquor store to restock the bar so the party could continue. Running out just wasn’t an option.
Which is why today’s Bible reading is so interesting. The text in John chapter 2 tells us of the time Jesus showed up at a wedding reception where everybody was having an awesome time, until they weren’t. The hosts ran out of wine. And there weren’t any local liquor stores they could run to, so they could restock. It was not only a huge disappointment but add the fact that the host of a 1st century Jewish wedding could have been sued for a breach of hospitality and this story takes on even more color and meaning. The Jewish rabbis had a saying, “without wine there is no joy.” At the wedding in Cana the wine and the joy had run out.
And yet, the story tells us that the presence of Jesus at that wedding changed everything. He saved the reception by providing wine for all who were in attendance. He took a disappointing and embarrassing event and turned it into something to be celebrated and remembered for all time. What this story teaches us is that God has the ability to take a seemingly tragic situation and transform it into a joyous celebration. Instead of this story being referred to as “the family who dropped the ball at their kid’s wedding”, it’s remembered as the time “Jesus turned water into wine”.
What Jesus did that day wasn’t simply about providing wine so the party could continue; he wasn’t just saving a reception and a family’s reputation, rather it was a clear signal that God has the ability to transform life’s greatest disappointments into something to be celebrated. One of the most common of life’s experiences is disappointment; the shattering of our hopes and expectations. We live in a world where things don’t always work out as we’d like them to. And yet, rather than allowing these disappointments to define us, this story reminds us that when we invite God into the situation, he has the ability to transform it into something completely different.
We need to invite God into our ruined receptions, our shattered dreams, our canceled plans, our challenging work relationships, our strained family dynamics, trusting that God has the ability to take these running out of wine moments and transform them into something we could never have imagined.
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