Sermon Text: John 2:1-11
If something is blessed by the presence and approval of Jesus, then that thing is – without a doubt – a good thing, to be enjoyed and celebrated.
Weddings are good. Marriages are good. Families are good. Or at least, they are supposed to be good.
But they are not always as good as they should be, or as good as God intended them to be. Sometimes, in fact, there are deep flaws and shortcomings in weddings, in marriages, and in families.
Today’s text from the Gospel of St. John recounts the familiar story of the wedding in Cana – at which Jesus, his mother, and his disciples were present at guests. This wedding started out as an unquestionably joyful occasion.
But then – as St. John reports – the wine ran out. There was now a deeply serious problem.
There was not a whole lot to celebrate in Galilee, in the first century. The people were poor, and oppressed by the corrupt and cruel government of the Herods.
But at a wedding – which was a multi-day affair – the friends and relatives of a bride and groom were able to forget about their troubles, even if just for a couple of days. These were therapeutic and cathartic occasions. They were occasions for social healing and community rejoicing.
Hosting a wedding celebration at this time and place in history was, therefore, a great honor – and a great obligation. A lot of people would be counting on the host to make sure that there was plenty of music and singing and plenty of food and drink.
A failure to provide enough of any of these things would be a great failure indeed. It would “let down” a lot of people. And it would cause a level of embarrassment for the newly-married couple that they would have a hard time living down – especially in a small town – for months or even years.
The wedding in Cana that Jesus was attending, was accordingly facing a major problem, when it became known to a small number of people – including the Lord’s mother – that the wine had run out. Not enough of this staple for a Jewish wedding had been provided.
The hospitality that was being offered to the guests was inadequate. Someone was guilty of a major failure.
But Mary somehow knew that Jesus could do something about this problem and that he would do something about it. And she was right.
“Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to [the servants], ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, ‘Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.’ And they took it.”
In this, his first miracle, Jesus turned water into wine – good wine at that! – and saved the day. He saved the wedding celebration.
And at least in some respects, he saved the marriage. He protected this couple from the shame that would have come upon them, if this failure had become generally known, and if it had not been remedied by the Son of God.
Jesus did not draw any attention to this miracle as he performed it. Hardly anyone knew that it had happened. The master of the feast for sure didn’t know that the original supply of wine had run out, and had been replenished in an extraordinary way.
Jesus had discreetly and graciously fixed the problem, without advertising that there had even been a problem.
“When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!’”
Again, weddings are good. The wedding at Cana was good.
And the wedding at Cana was a lot better than it would have been if Jesus had not been a part of it; and if Jesus had not covered over the shame, and filled in the gaps, of the human failures that otherwise would have marred and ruined that wedding.
If you are married, your wedding was a good thing, and your marriage today is still a good thing. The joining together of a man and a woman in a life-long committed relationship of close companionship and deep friendship – of shared love and mutual service – is an institution of God, to which he attaches the promise of many blessings.
And the family that usually arises from marriage is also a good thing: in which parents and children, brothers and sisters, can build each other up, encourage each other, and show support and love for each other in many positive ways.
So, even if someone is not married, he, too, can – in most cases – still know and enjoy the blessings of God’s institution of marriage. In the case of a single person, it would be the blessings of his parent’s marriage – and of the family of brothers and sisters to which he belongs – which can be an enduring conduit of blessing to him.
And so, regardless of the role we may play in a family, our family, and the marriage or marriages that our family is based on, are things to be celebrated.
But just as was the case with the wedding in Cana, our weddings today – our marriages, and our families – fall short of what they are supposed to be.
The marriage of a man and a woman is indeed a divine institution. But ever since the fall of our first parents – the first married couple – those who get married, and who form families, are fallen, sinful humans.
We fail – we always fail – to live up to our wedding vows, fully and completely. And sometimes we fail abysmally.
We also fail in our responsibilities to others in our families: children and parents; brothers and sisters. And from within our families, we fail those who are outside of our families, but who had the right to expect more from us than they got.
Our “wine” runs out. Our supply of devotion and loyalty, of faithfulness and patience, runs dry before our obligations to others are satisfied.
And so we come up short in what we offer to a spouse or another family member. And we come up short in what we receive from them, too.
Within the fallen families of our fallen race, we are all cheated. We are all disappointed. And we are humiliated and embarrassed by these shortcomings.
We are ashamed before others when our inherent human weaknesses manifest themselves in these ways. And even if people outside the inner circle of our household are not aware of these failures – if we have succeeded in hiding some or all of these flaws – we are still ashamed, in our conscience, before God.
We know that we have not fulfilled the duties that we owe to each other within his institution. We know that we have broken his law.
And so, a wedding, a marriage, or a family, which are supposed to be occasions and settings for rejoicing and celebration, so often become, instead, occasions and settings for sadness and grief, for remorse and regret.
We have failed and fallen short. And by our own abilities and inner resources, we cannot fix what we have broken.
But that’s where the presence of Jesus in your life – at your wedding, and in your marriage – makes a very big difference.
Because Jesus had been invited to the wedding at Cana, he was available and able to save that wedding and that marriage. And in love, he was willing to do so: intervening miraculously, yet discreetly, to make up for the shortcomings of those who were in charge of the hospitality that day.
Jesus graciously covered over the shame, and filled in the gaps, of the human failures that were evident on that occasion.
And if Jesus is a part of your life – if he is actively present in your family – he will graciously cover over the shame, and fill in the gaps, of your human failures. Yes, he will.
If you have hurt or failed your husband or wife – your son or daughter, your father or mother – Jesus will forgive you; and he will cover over your shame before him, on account of that sin, with his own righteousness.
And, he can and will comfort the one you have hurt, or let down, or disappointed. He will fill in the deficit of the love that your spouse or children expected from you, with his own perfect love.
If you have been wounded by the shortcomings or betrayals of your parents or siblings, your husband or wife, the grace of Christ takes away that hurt. By his stripes, we are healed.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. On the cross, where he atoned for all human sin, he took away that sin.
This means, as far as your standing with God is concerned, that he takes away the sins you have committed: against others, and against God.
But this also means that if you have been the victim of sin, and if sins that have been committed against you weigh down on you, and make you feel humiliated and dirty, Jesus – as the Lamb of God – takes those sins away, too.
He lifts from your conscience and cleanses from your emotions, the burden of your disappointments in others; and the burden of the pain that has been inflicted upon you by others.
But Jesus helps, forgives, and heals, not only with respect to such major failures in your relationships. He helps also with the little things: the small irritants, the minor shortcomings, the relatively unimportant personal faults.
These things can wear down a marriage, though. They can, over time, poison a relationship. They can erode respect, and dampen affection.
When Jesus is a guest at your wedding; and when his means of grace – through which he works – are present with you in your marriage and family every day thereafter, he helps you, through his gospel and sacraments, every day thereafter.
Jesus helps, by showing you how to love as he loves, with patience and forbearance. And, he helps you through teaching you, by his Word and Spirit.
He teaches husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters: to repent together; to pray together; to believe together; and to forgive together.
But you know, when Jesus is a “guest” in your life, what that really means is that he is in charge of your life. And that is a good thing.
Jesus came to be in charge of the wine supply at the wedding of Cana. If he had not been, there would have been no wine.
And he comes to be in charge of fixing what you have broken in your relationships. He is in charge of saving you and your marriage. He is in charge of forgiving you and healing you.
And he does not fail, or fall short, in what he does. Your sins really are removed from you as far as the east is from the west. And Jesus really does give you rest, when you are heavy-laden.
He fixes what you have broken in your family, and among your friends. Where you fail and fall short, he, as your perfect Savior, “does all things well.” And he makes all things new.
And he is discreet. He will help you in ways that most people do not know about.
Perhaps a pastor in whom they have confided, or a small number of trusted Christian friends, might know about the struggles that a couple is going through. But a lot of people wouldn’t know. And a lot of people wouldn’t need to know.
But Jesus knows. Jesus cares. And by the power of his gospel – in sermon and Supper – Jesus turns water into wine for you.
Jesus takes care of your problem and prevents the embarrassment that would otherwise come to you, if he had not taken care of it. If need be, by his Spirit who dwells within you, he renews a lost love. He restores a lost trust. He reestablishes a lost peace.
Sometimes, of course, due to circumstances that are beyond our control in this world, a broken marriage or family relationship cannot be healed or restored. But our broken hearts can be healed by God’s pardon and heavenly peace. And we as children of God, clothed in Christ and filled with the hope he gives, can be restored.
Jesus can then lead you by the hand into a new future, with new blessings to come. Sometimes you might think things are so bad that no one can make them better. But Jesus can make them better. In regard to his beloved sheep, He says, elsewhere in John’s Gospel: “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”
If your family is still intact but is currently under the strain of failures or shortcomings for which you are responsible – or of failures or shortcomings for which someone you love is responsible – before it is too late, invite Jesus to come to your wedding.
By a penitent faith – with unpretentious honesty about your need, and with a God-given confidence that Jesus will meet that need – receive him as your guest. And ask him to help you. He will.
What Psalm 28 says about the Lord, you will be able to say about your Lord, Jesus Christ:
“Blessed be the Lord because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song, I will praise Him. The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.” Amen.