Untitled Sermon (3)

Intro

I love puzzles. Well, that is not entirely true. I do not like jigsaw puzzles.Now, don’t hear me say what I am not saying, I don’t dislike jigsaw puzzles, I am happy to work on a puzzle with you. But, I don’t have great spacial skills compared to many people. Seriously, I get confused by right and left and really can’t picture a puzzle piece rotated in any way at all. Fitting the pieces together is just random luck for me.

I used to think everyone did puzzles just randomly guessing and getting one right every so often. And then one day I visited with someone from Zion after they had a surgery and we did a puzzle together. I truly was in awe. This person put piece after piece into the puzzle. For everyone one I got right, they got at least 20 pieces into the puzzle. I was humbled and just wowed. So, I am not good at jigsaw puzzles and am impressed by those of you who are.

But, I do like doing logic puzzles and trying to solve math problems. I like looking for clues and trying to solve a mystery in a novel before the protagonist. It is fun to try to put those pieces together and figure out the story the author is trying to tell.

Our passage in scripture today is a lot like a puzzle. There are clues for us to put together. Allusions and images that point to some truth John does not want to say explicitly yet. The entire gospel of John is written around 7 signs of Jesus that are designed to help us see the true glory of Jesus. But they are like clues in mystery and we have to think them through carefully to get the right answer.

This morning, as we continue following the lectionary, we turn our attention to the first sign in the gospel of John, the wedding in Cana. Before we dive in, let us pray. Let us pray:

Almighty, gracious Father, the true understanding of your holy Word helps us to grow into the fulness of the salvation you so freely offer in Christ. Grant to all of us that our hearts, being freed from worldly affairs, may hear and grasp your holy Word with all diligence and faith, that we may rightly understand your gracious will, cherish it, and live by it with all earnestness, to your praise and honor. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Text

John 2:1–11 NIV

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

L: This is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

P: Praise to you, O Christ!

Walk through the Story

On the third day...

Moses turns water to blood, Jesus turns water to wine which symbolizes his blood in church

Messianic feast as a wedding feast… The new Jerusalem is the bride of Christ.

Heaven is Breaking In

Heaven Transforms Life

Even the inconsequential… who really cares about wine at a wedding

The stone jars can no longer be used for purification, ironically, Jesus made them unclean by filling them with wine. These beloved aspects of religiosity have found new purpose in Jesus.

How might God be transforming you this year?