Best of the Best

John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

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I'm going, I'm going where the water tastes like wine
Well I'm going where the water tastes like wine

"Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat

The wedding at Cana was the site of Jesus' first miracle. This is where Jesus performed the miracle more people may know than any other, turning water into wine.

First century weddings are the same sort of production numbers we see today. There are wedding planners and banquet masters and pit masters and all manner of servers and clean up crews. What isn't like today is that it was harder to organize a wedding in Jesus' time than it is today. Yes, this is a message to anyone who has ever dealt with a bridezilla, it was tougher 2,000 years ago to put together a wedding.

A part of what was more difficult is that it was impossible to tell everyone "the service starts at 4:30." Yes, not having clocks made that impossible, but more than that, it was nearly impossible to predict when everything would be ready. So in the first century the wedding didn't start until everything was ready. That was the starting time, not some scheduled hour.

As embarrassing as it is today, in the day it was even more embarrassing to run out of food and wine. Beyond embarrassing, it would have been an even worse slap to business concerns, family members, and the church. So when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus was very concerned for this new family and their standing in the community. She wanted her son to do something about it.

Jesus objected, but finally took care of this new family. He had the servants draw water into ritual washing jars and told them to take a dipper to the banquet master. There he declared it the best wine.

In his way, the banquet master told a tale of the society. Bring out the good stuff early and when everyone's drunk, bring out the Mad Dog 20/20. So the banquet master was amazed that the wine that was coming out long after everyone was well on their way to three-sheets-to-the-wind, the best wine this catering professional had ever had was being served. He was amazed! He was surprised! He also probably thought it was a waste to give such good wine to a bunch of folks who wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

That's what Jesus does. He gives the best to the best to us, even though because of sin we can never really appreciate it. Even though because of sin we can never really appreciate it he gives us himself. What a gloriously generous gift he gives of himself, only the best of the best.

Sowing the Seeds of Love-The Surplus of God

Luke 3:10-11

And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”

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I spy
tears in their eyes
they look to the skies
for some kind of divine intervention.
Food goes to waste!
So nice to eat,
so nice to taste.
Politician granny with your high ideals
have you no idea
how the majority feels?
So with out love
and a promised land,
we're fools to the rules of a government plan.
Kick out the Style!
Bring back the Jam! yeah, yeah.

And anything is possible when you're sowing the seeds of love.
Anything is possible sowing the seeds of love.

"Sowing the Seeds of Love" recorded by Tears for Fears written by Roland Olazabal and Curt Smith from the album by the same name

We live in a nation where we want what we want, and many of us have worked hard so that we can get what we want. We have earned what we have. Blaming anyone for wanting to keep what they have worked hard to earn is foolish. Yet we run into one problem, the difference between having and hoarding.

I want to keep what I got, but is that what God is calling me to do? In a word, no.

When the crowds asked John the Baptist how to follow the Lord so that they won't be chopped down like large trees whose only value is as wood for the fireplace, he told them to give. He told them to give generously out of their surplus. He told them if their needs are met they are to share with those whose needs are not. What good is food spoiled? The best place to store extra food is your neighbor's belly.

It's penny wise to store surplus in a silo. It's pound foolish to store so much wealth that you invite a replay of the French Revolution--a time when so many were so poor that the weak toppled the rich. John says share, when everyone has what they need life is better for everyone.

We need a divine intervention because we can't figure this out for ourselves. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Maybe, the the grace of God and the generosity of those with two coats we can all stay warm. Maybe, the the grace of God and the generosity of those with food to spare we can all be fed.

On a side note, those who say Government programs aren't doing this well--you've got a point. Often those programs are built neither from personal surplus nor from God's love. That's the point, we need to sow the seeds of love.