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When the Wine Runs Out                        John 2: 1-11                   January 17, 2010

The opening scene of The Godfather, the multiple Academy Award-winning film based on Mario Puzo's book of the same name, takes place on the occasion of the wedding of Vito Corleone's daughter.

The Don holds court in a dark interior office while the reception goes on outside - granting favors to one supplicant after another.

This epic, three-hour film catapulted Francis Ford Coppola into directorial superstardom, revived the sagging career of Marlon Brando and popularized one of the great movie lines of all time: "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

And it all begins with a wedding reception.

Our Gospel lesson for this morning, one of the truly great stories in the New Testament, is also a story about a wedding reception.

It's a story about the first miracle Jesus performs. It's a story about water turned into wine, and it's a story - most of all - about the limitless grace of God.

And it all begins with a wedding reception.

Though there is no shortage of scripture passages that are appropriate for reading at marriage ceremonies, John's account of the Wedding at Cana is the only wedding that's actually described in the New Testament. And it's the reception - the party, not the wedding ceremony itself - that is focus of the story.

First Century Jewish wedding parties would put even the most lavish present-day wedding receptions to shame. They lasted for a week, and the whole town was invited. Think of that great opening scene in The Godfather with its singing and dancing and eating and drinking and multiply it times seven.

I wonder why the author of the Gospel According to John chose a story about Jesus, his mother and his group of disciples enjoying themselves at a wedding reception as the introductory story in his message about the Savior? It's odd, when you think about it.

As miracles go, helping the hosts of a wedding party save face by replenishing the wine supply doesn't seem high on the list of Jesus' miracles. As one scholar puts it, "We could never guess that he would fling away his first miracle as a light-hearted bouquet to romantic love in the middle of a noisy wedding party."

But that is exactly the picture that John chooses to paint for us. The picture we observe on this second Sunday of the Epiphany Season.

The story, as John recounts it, is simple enough. Everyone is having a good time at a wedding feast when the wine runs out.

Now I know what I am about to say it is disappointing to all the Methodists, Baptists and other assorted Fundamentalists who would like to believe that Jesus would never support the drinking of anything stronger than the First Century equivalent of Welch's Grape Juice, but when John uses the word we have translated into English as "wine," he was talking about wine. Diluted a bit with water, perhaps, but wine nonetheless.

And running out of wine was a major embarrassment for the hosts. So Mary, who was most likely related to the bride or groom, intervenes. She turns to Jesus and says, "They have no wine."

"What does that have to do with me?" Jesus replies. And then, like so many mothers, Mary ignores the protests of her son and speaks directly to the servant. "Do what he tells you," she says.

We can only guess the look on Jesus' face, at this point, but, knowing his mother, he does what she wants. He says to the servant, "Fill those big jugs out there with water."

The jugs Jesus asked to be filled were huge. They held thirty gallons each. They were there because before prayers the Jews would wash their hands and their feet. These water jugs were for their ceremonial rites of purification.

When the jugs are full to the brim, Jesus says to the servant, "Take a sample from one of the jugs over to the head waiter to see what it tastes like." The headwaiter sips it and smiles. He then says to the groom, "Usually people serve the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have saved the best wine until last."

"This was the first of the signs that Jesus did in Galilee," writes John. "By this sign, Jesus revealed his glory. And the disciples believed in him."

In order to understand this miracle, we need to understand the quantity of good wine that Jesus created that day. Jesus -> if John's account is correct - created 120-plus gallons of wine for the wedding guests. If you do the arithmetic, that would be more than 2,500 6-ounce glasses!

In performing this miracle, Jesus works an unprecedented act. This is a miracle of abundance, of extravagance, of transformation and new possibilities. The grace this miracle offers and the glimpse of Jesus' glory it provides runs completely outside of conventional expectations.

The extravagance of Jesus' act - the superabundance of the wine - points to the unlimited gifts that Jesus makes available.

This story invites us to see what the disciples saw that day - to get a glimpse of the identity and character of God.

Brothers and sisters, the human tragedy and wreckage that natural disasters leave in their wake never fail to stun us. Never mind the grim images we've seen at other times of suffering and pain, the current pictures and stories coming out of Haiti - in part because we never get used to such images and in part because we know they reflect the experience of persons right now - the images we see when we view the news footage from Haiti are simply overwhelming.

This tragedy raises profound, gut-wrenching questions: How could this have happened? Why didn't God do anything? Where is God amid such pain and suffering?

There is simply no way to answer the many questions we find ourselves asking when we view, day after day, the mounting toll of death and destruction in a country which was already the poorest nation in our hemisphere. On such matters we see through a mirror dimly and must, at best, admit our limitations. *

Some preachers have foolishly tried to attribute this calamity to God's desire to warn, test or punish. These attempts, quite frankly, are offensive at best and sometimes do great damage. More importantly, they do not tell the truth about the God we know in Jesus Christ.

The simple answer to our questions is that we do not know, and when we admit that we do not know we stand with faithful believers over the centuries - from the prophets to the Psalmist and from Job to Paul.

God is present in the midst of this horrible tragedy - not causing the chaos but entering into it, not sending the calamity but suffering through it, not standing over us but holding tightly onto us and promising never to let go.

Wherever there is human tragedy and pain, the incarnate and crucified God is there. This is the belief that allows us, as Christians, to live our lives and hold fast to our faith, even when natural disasters like this occur.

While the wedding at Cana may seem like an unlikely text for a sermon in response to an earthquake, Jesus' response, in our lesson, to the immediate need of the community is perhaps strikingly appropriate.

I read an excellent sermon this week that pointed out that this sign comes at the wrong time in so many ways: it points to the resurrection but comes at the beginning of the gospel; it isn't attached to any long discourse of Jesus as are the other signs in John's gospel.

In fact, Jesus himself complains that it is the wrong time. "My hour has not yet come," he says to his mother. Yet, despite this, Jesus responds to the need and creates wine, the best wine, in abundant quantities.

Jesus recognizes a need and blesses abundantly. We - and especially our brothers and sisters in Haiti - need this blessing. We need this wine.

God does not only suffer with us, of course, but also works through us. When we Christians affirm that we are the Body of Christ we make a bold and profound statement of faith. To confess that we who are broken, limited, and sinful are those persons and people through whom Christ is active in the world can be incredibly empowering, as God sends us into the world to bear and to be Christ's healing and helping presence.

Even in the face of a calamity this immense, we are not helpless. We can donate to trustworthy and effective agencies like Church World Service, Beyond Borders and the Red Cross. And we can, as the needs there are clarified, participate in clothing or food drives. In time, some of us may even choose to travel to Haiti to assist with the rebuilding process.

We are, after all, the body of Christ and agents of God's extravagant, abundant, redemptive and restoring love in the world.

When Jesus visited a wedding in Cana he performed a miracle that served to remind his disciples of a brighter day, a day that transcends the imperfect present moment. His disciples understood the point he was making and decided to trust him to carry them to that day.

May we follow in their example and both trust him and act in his name.

                                                                             AMEN

* I have drawn, in this portion of the sermon, from an excellent essay by David Lose, posted 1/15/10 on the Workingpreacher.org website

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