Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week we began a new series called Surprise the World.

I challenged you to bless three people.

Did you have good luck with this?

Don’t Stop! Make it a point to bless three more people this week.

Today I want to give you another way that you can live a life that will make people want to ask you questions about why you act the way you do.

I’ve entitled this message, “Changing the World One Meal at a Time.”

I believe that we can use the table to reach people with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Many of you are familiar with the first miracle that Jesus ever performed.

That miracle is found in the book of John, chapter 2. If you have your Bibles with you, turn with me there and I want to read beginning at verse 1.

Let me give you a little bit of insight into a wedding during Jesus time.

When a man’s daughter was born, at first he would be disappointed because he would need a son to carry on the family name, but after that he would begin preparing for his daughters wedding.

Each year on her birthday he would take a barrel of the homemade wine, it wasn’t very good.

It would taste like vinegar, but he would set it aside and by the time the wedding came that first barrel would be the best because it had set there for years.

And each year he would put a barrel aside and so by the time of her wedding at the age of 13 or 16 or whatever he would have enough wine set aside for the wedding feast.

A wedding at Cana would be a big party and feast.

Everyone in town would be invited to celebrate the wedding of this man’s daughter.

And if this man ran out of wine at the wedding it would be a huge embarrassment.

So, as the story goes, Jesus and his mother, and the disciples were at this wedding.

John doesn’t take the time to list who the wedding is for, but he focuses on what Jesus is going to do.

When they run out of wine, Mary turns to her son and asks him to do something.

She had known for a long time about her son’s divine commission.

She had complete and total trust in what her son could do.

And Jesus let’s his mother know that his life was following a different timetable; he lived to carry out his Father’s business, according to his Father’s plans.

So, Mary turns to the servants there and tells them to do whatever he says.

Jesus sees the purification pots over in the corner.

These were six stone waterpots that would hold about 20 to thirty gallons of water.

These pots were used for ceremonial washing.

When a person was deemed unclean, according to the Levitical Law, they were cut off from the sanctuary and the festivals and they would have to be restored to the enjoyment of all these privileges.

You would be considered unclean if you touched a leper or if you touched a dead body or so on.

They would have to use these jars of water to purify themselves so that they could continue to be a part of society.

Notice that verse 7 says, “so they filled them to the brim.”

This was to show that nothing was added to the water to make the wine.

Jesus completely turned each one of these six stone waterpots with 20 to 30 gallons of water into the best wine available for the entire wedding ceremony.

There was no setting this wine aside for 16 or so years.

There was no fermenting process.

It was the best, most delicious wine that had been served at the party.

What normally would have been the worst wine was now the best and it was served last.

Jesus begins his ministry at a wedding celebration.

Some people think of Jesus as a stuffing shirt man that always clashed with the religious leaders of his day, but we can look all throughout the scriptures and see that Jesus is all about being involved in entertaining, fellowshipping with people, spending time around the table.

Take a look at another party Jesus attending at Matthew’s house.

It is found in Matthew 9:10-13.

A few chapters later we see Jesus teaching on the hillside in front of 5000 people and the sermon gets long and the people get hungry and the disciples are wanting to send the people away so that they can eat.

Look at what Jesus does in Matthew 14:15-21

What about when Jesus was invited to Simons house for a meal.

And I could show you example after example of the times that Jesus ate with people and while he was eating he found opportunities to minister to those around him.

The table was common place for ministry.

I believe that each of you could use your table to break down the walls that separate people in our society.

Surprise the world by who you invite to share your table with.

I believe that if you will plan right, you can use the table to stir interesting conversations.

When we eat with one another we are fostering community.

Sometimes in our churches we get stuck eating and fellowshipping with the same people all the time.

We become victims of the holy huddle.

We only invite Christians to our tables because we feel more comfortable with each other.

But I believe that Jesus fosters community with unbelievers as well.

In Jesus’ time, a person would never eat with someone of a different social standing, and certainly never with someone of a different religion, you would never see a Jew eating at the table of Gentiles.

But Jesus turns this on its head.

he ate with them first, and asked repentance of them later.

Remember the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10

How awesome would that be if people were getting saved at your dinner table.

Or how awesome would it be if you got invited over to someones house and you ended up winning them over to the Lord at their dinner table.

We need to become radial socializers.

When Jesus came to the end of his ministry, He had one final meal with His disciples on the night before His death.

It was at this table that He told them as often as they eat and drink to remember Him.

Jesus wanted them to remember the suffering that he would go through for them.

He wanted them to remember all the lessons that He had taught them.

He wanted them to remember all the joyous occasions they had together.

He wanted them to remember.

The table is a place for teaching.

It is a place for communion with one another.

It is a place of fellowship.

It is a place of salvation.

Last week we talked about living questionable lives where when people are around us they want to know why we act the way we do.

When it comes to the table there is no better way to do just that.

On the day that Jesus died, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies in the inner courts was ripped into.

It was Jesus’ death that opened up the door to Heaven so that all of us could enter in and converse with God our Father.

Think about it.

Jesus began His ministry with turning water into wine.

He took the water that was used for purification, a symbol of separation, a symbol of exclusion, a symbol of religious piety, it tells us some are good and some are bad.

It was a symbol of division.

Jesus took that water and changed it and made it into something good.

He made it into the best.

Wine is the most fundamental symbol of inclusion.

And then when He dies three years later the veil that represented all those things was ripped open for all of us to enter into the throne room of God.

No more separation, no more just the select few, no more religious piety, no more some good some bad, but all of us can now go to the throne of God and worship.

If you are struggling with addictions, you can go to the throne room.

If you are living in sin and you don’t know where to go, you can go to the throne room.

You can now go to the Holy of Holies and make your petitions known to God.

He heals the broken hearted.

He heals the afflicted.

He heals the lame, the sick, and the lost.

It is open now for anyone to come to the throne room of God.

Jesus did that for you.

Here is the new challenge for you today.

The way we eat can be intriguing.

By refusing to be gluttons or drunkards we can model the character of God, foster community and surprise our guests with our table fellowship.

So, I’m calling you to foster the habit of eating with three people each week.

You won’t need to add a great deal into your often already busy schedule.

You already eat three times a day.

That’s 21 meals a week.

I’m simply asking that you bring another person to your table for three of those.