Cat & Jonny's Wedding

Introduction

The first passage that we heard was about a wedding … it’s the same wedding that David mentioned in his explanation of marriage

Jesus did some amazing works and teaching for three years in what is now modern day Israel and Palestine, and this was right at the start of those three years.

And the first miracle that he does is to turn water into wine at this wedding.

Now, planning weddings can be stressful, but some people just seem to sail through it. When you have a chartered engineer and a chartered surveyor planning a wedding … you know you are going to be in safe hands! The attention to detail is always going to be pretty impressive, isn’t it … and the planning … well that’s always going to be second to none!

I was so impressed the other day … now Cat had a few days off work before her wedding, and I’ve seen brides, even organised ones, being very busy, doing the final bits and pieces … but Cat had time to go for lunch with Corrine, my wife, and our kids … and she was very chilled … and then casually, after lunch, they took a few glasses over to the church … no hurry, no fuss … everything was in hand.

Last weekend Cat and Jonny asked us to help with one small thing … and I think Cat said … sorry, I completely forgot about it … she ‘completely forgot’ but remembered with a week still to go!

And it’s interesting - I don’t know if you’ve noticed - how organised and skilled people seem to attract and have as friends other organised and skilled people … I mean, of course they have a graphic designer as a friend who made bespoke invitations … and then look at the plan for the hen do!

Generosity and Hospitality

It’s interesting that Jesus’ first miracle is at a wedding. I often think of Jesus’ miracles being in front of people … he’s either teaching and someone who is sick is dropped through a roof in front of him, or he multiplies food in front of thousands of people, or in the midst of crowds he goes and raises a child back to life … all of this stuff happens in public, but this first miracle happens behind the scenes.

He was just a guest at a wedding, like many others, and somehow he finds himself with the servants away from the other guests, and the miracle takes place behind the scenes. The master of the banquet sees the results of it, but he doesn’t know how it happened, only the servants know.

I think many of us will have experienced Cat and Jonny’s hospitality over the years, and this passage reminded me of it. They are people who often work so hard behind the scenes.

Just after Easter it was Cat’s birthday, she hadn’t got anything planned, then someone suggested doing afternoon tea, and it was Cat and Jonny who made everything - there was tea and coffee, nice cups and saucers, and then they made all the cakes … and it was amazing … you have to try Jonny’s creme egg scotch eggs if you haven’t already … very rich but soo good!

At this wedding in Cana, Jesus turned water into wine (that’s your next trick Jonny - I mean, you have got the hair for it!) Now, to start with it’s a miracle, and in that we see Jesus’ authority and power - but it shows us a couple of other things. Firstly, Jesus was motivated by a desire to serve and bless others. He was motivated out of a desire to serve and bless this couple. He didn’t want them to experience any shame or embarrassment for having run out of wine. Remember these were big community events where you lived alonside your wedding guests. His first miracle is not about anyone hearing the good news of that God saves, it’s not about healing and the transformation of life - it’s simply just being kind to a couple in need and making their wedding day go smoothly.

Now, I guess maybe you could say he was warming up … just practicing his miracles in the small settings before hitting the big stage … but I don’t really buy that.

And also Jesus didn’t want any acknowledgement for it - he didn’t go and tell the master of ceremonies or the groom ‘I did that’ - he was quite content to remain behind the scenes.

That’s the heart of Jesus. It’s full of kindness.

Secondly, he gave his best. He didn’t turn the water into cheaper wine that you would expect at that time in the wedding banquet, instead he made it into the finest wine - he wanted to bless them and give his best. He wasn’t half hearted in helping others, he went above and beyond to serve and bless this couple to the best of his ability.

Cat and Jonny, God’s given you that gift as a couple of generosity and hospitality … and we’ve all been blessed by that … thank you, and please keep it up!

Loving Service

I’m sure that you’ve also noticed that linked to this generosity and hospitality is this desire to serve that features throughout Cat and Jonny’s lives … in their jobs they work hard for the sake of others … often ensuring that things work well - that huge machines do what they’re supposed to when you press the right buttons! - that buildings big and small are secure and well maintained - but also ensuring the safety of others … I’ve already talked about how they serve in their personal lives … but I ‘would be remiss’ if I didn’t mention their service of others through Guiding and Scouting, which is how they met. I’m sure there isn’t any rivalry between both groups … and I won’t say anything to fuel any rivalry, I have no real affilliation with either group … apart from to mention that I do own a cap from the International Scout Centre as I served as a chaplain there once … but as I said, I’m not trying to encourage any rivalry.

Now, I am not an expert, and I’m sure there’ll be lots of people who can correct me if I’m wrong … but I believe the foundation of scouting and guiding goes back to Robert Baden-Powell and he encouraged the development of the whole person, spiritual, moral, physical, mental, social, intellectual, emotional … and all of these aspects were instrumental in the creation of Scouting and Guiding promise. This is what the original promise was:

On my honour, I promise that I will do my best: To do my duty to God and the King (Or God and my country); To help other people at all times; To obey the Scout/Guide Law

Now, obviously the promise has been edited more recently so that scouting and guiding could be inclusive to all, but the roots of the movements lie in Baden-Powell’s Christian desire to shape men and women holistically to serve God and one another. He said in 1917 that “Scouting is nothing less than applied Christianity”.

Doing one’s duty and the promise to help others doesn’t always feature in life today throughout the world … serving others often comes further down the list after prioritising yourself. But Cat and Jonny have put service high on the agenda for their lives, and we’ve all seen that.

In the second passage that we heard, Jesus talks about love. The first words of that passage were ‘dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God’.

The heart of God is love.

And that love is worked out in service - love one another.

Jonny and Cat are promising today to love one another. I’m sure they’ve been doing that already for quite some time, but today they are making this promise to each other for the rest of their earthly lives togther. It’s a love that is worked out daily. It’s based on service … and the best example of it is Jesus.

Jesus shows us what true love is like - he came ‘not to be served but to serve’ and he came to give up his life for us. We have all done wrong, we have all been selfish, and that selfishness and wrong is called sin, and that sin separates us from God. Jesus came to deal with our selfishness and wrong on the cross, he took the punishment for our wrong, so that we didn’t have to and so that we could know forgiveness and the love of God.

Jesus was motivated by love for God and for us … his desire to serve came from his knowledge that he was loved by God and from his love that he had for each of us. Love was what gave him the strength to serve, even when it was really hard and it required sacrifice. We start to see true service when we are pushed beyond our own strength and we need to rely on the love of God to serve others.

So Cat and Jonny, I can give you no better advice than to follow the example of Jesus in your marriage. May you know the love of God at the centre of your marriage. Cat and Jonny, thank you for your generosity and hospitality, thank you for your example of service to us. May you know the unending generosity of God in your marriage, and may you know the strength that the love of God gives as you love and serve each other, your families and friends, and all those you meet.