Scripture: John 2:1-11

Micheal and I were married on a beautiful day in June.  We wanted to have a simple wedding with a few close friends and family members in attendance.  It was going to be at Camp Chippewa’s outdoor chapel followed by a barbeque and games.  It was going to be so much fun!

Then the church secretary discovered our plans.  We’ve never married off a preacher, she said.  You can’t deprive us of the experience.  The “mother of the bride” had spoken.  And while the outdoor wedding was obviously out, there were two rules that would not be compromised.  It had to be simple.  It had to be fun . . . and, if at all possible, we really wanted a barbeque.

Now allowing a congregation to plan ones wedding can be a little alarming and somewhat un-nerving.  But, in this instance, the mother of the bride had everything under control.  She even followed the rules.  It was simple.  It was fun and, yes, they did their absolute best to include a barbeque.  But the tents were too expensive and the smoker just wasn’t practical. 

When the day finally arrived, everything was absolutely perfect . . . right up to the moment Joshua called.  His pants didn’t fit.  Now why he hadn’t tried them on a week earlier was a total mystery to us.  It must have been a generational thing because what we soon discovered was that Dustin and Andrew’s pants didn’t fit either.  With a little creativity we did get Dustin’s pants to fit Andrew which meant we only had to find two pair of charcoal gray dress pants and have the altered.  But not to worry!  After all, we had four hours to do it in! 

Then there was the rust stain down the front of my dress.  My sister meant well.  She was just trying to be helpful.  I just wished she had put a towel over the dress before attempting to steam it with an iron!

But 4:00 came.  Everyone was there.  Everyone had clothes that fit and the stains were gone.   What made it even more remarkable was, despite everything that had gone wrong, everyone was actually laughing and having a good time.

Now, the day had obviously gone from being really strange to down-right weird.  Maybe that’s why when Elvis walked in the usher didn’t bat an eye.  He simply smiled and seated him in a pew where he was greeted very politely by two of the older women of the congregation.  After the ceremony he went through the receiving line and into the fellowship hall where he joined all the other guests in the food line.  Wherever he went that afternoon, Elvis was received warmly and treated kindly.  And not one person – not one person - asked Micheal or me the obvious question.  What on earth is that man doing here?  It was as if everyone had expected him to come and was delighted when he appeared.

Now, to be honest, it wasn’t until our own wedding that today’s Gospel story began to raise some serious questions in my mind.  If tradition is correct, Jesus was thirty years old when the wedding in Cana occurred.  Now Cana was about three miles from the town of Nazareth where Jesus had grown up.  Apparently Mary, his mother, was well acquainted with the bridegroom and his family.  They were either very close friends or somehow related.  So, it only stands to reason that the family and probably many of their friends knew Jesus, too.  He would have grown up in their midst.  Yet not one guest was surprised when Jesus walked in. 

Why was that?  Remember he was thirty years old.  Don’t you think by that time someone would have caught on that there was something different about him?  Yet, when we catch this small glimpse of Jesus’ “lost years”, it becomes strangely apparent no one in his home town, or even those who were closest to him, thought of Jesus as particularly religious.  If they had, the reaction to his appearance at the wedding would have been much different. 

Think John the Baptist!  Now there was a man who would have thrown a real damper on the party.  Yet people from all over the countryside were flocking to the desert to hear Jesus’ peculiarly religious cousin.  After thirty years, not even Jesus’ brother had joined his movement or had taken seriously.   As a matter of fact, the Scriptures tell us it wasn’t until after he turned the water into wine that Jesus’ own disciples believed in him.  And just to make the whole thing more confusing, we are also told this was the first of his “signs.”  But what was it a sign of?!?

Well, Christians, he turned the water into wine for no other reason than he cared for the bridegroom and his family.  He cared so much he wanted to spare them the humiliation and disgrace of failing.  And he wants to care for us in the same passionate way.  But in order to do it – in order to fill our lives with the same joys and blessings that were experienced that day at the wedding in Cana – we have to let him off the cross and into our lives.  We have to stop making him so holy that he’s untouchable.  We have to stop being so surprised when he shows up in our lives. 

In his book, Life from the Up Side, Edward Kalus wrote:  Sometimes when I look out on a congregation . . . I am distressed by many of the faces I see.  I’m not speaking of those persons who carry heavy loads; in truth, I’ve learned that the burdened people don’t necessarily look burdened and distressed.  I’m thinking of those persons who look as if church is a root canal experience without the anesthesia.  For such persons I wish Jesus would suddenly appear and let them know that this faith they profess to follow is full of life, abundant life!  I’m with Teresa of Avila, who prayed to be delivered from “frowning saints.”  In truth, of course, “frowning saints: is an oxymoron.  Saints have found the springs of laughter.  (p. 79)

When the wine runs out; when the party goes flat; when it seems as though the day is more of a chore than a joy don’t be surprised if Jesus shows up.  When he does, let him in.  What you’ll discover is that he not only cares, but he also brings the wonder of celebration and joy into the most unexpected, and unappreciated and unwelcome moments of our lives.  Think of all he could add to our lives if only we let him in!

To God be the Glory!  Amen.