Topic:
Jesus Turns Water to Wine
Scripture:
John 2: 1 - 11
Date:
29th February 2017
Time:
8.30pm
Venue:
Christ Church Melaka
Preacher:
Rev Lionel Gan.
Scripture:
1
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was
there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3
When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4
“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood
six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each
holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the
jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now
draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 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 10 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.” 11 This, the first of his
miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his
glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Opening
Prayer:
Our
gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us together to worship you
this morning. As we open your word, pray that you also open our ears to hear
your voice, open our minds to receive your eternal wisdom, open our hearts to
receive your wonderful love! May the word of my mouth and meditations of our
hearts be pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!
Sermon:
Good
morning to all of you! Today is the second day of Chinese New Year, I would
like to take this opportunity to greet our Chinese members and friends a
blessed and abundant New Year. May the Lord embrace you with His presence, His
peace and His joy as you continue your walk with Him throughout the year and
throughout your lives.
The
gospel we read this morning is a very familiar text. I believe we have heard
this passage being preached many times in our church, even you could share many
good insights upon contemplation of the text. As a celebrant of Holy Communion
this morning, I am privileged to be here to share some thoughts so that we may
encourage one another in the Lord.
Today,
as Chinese communities throughout the world celebrate their New Year, or the
Spring Festival so called, you could hear exchange of greetings and wishes in a
jubilant atmosphere. In fact, Chinese are wonderful and generous people who can
give away their best wishes lavishly even though you find it incredible at times.
Why
I say it is incredible? Just because the wishes you come across is too good to
receive. Here are some auspicious words or phrases which you can hear, “May
your wealth come to fill a hall”, “May your happiness be without limit”, “May a
small investment bring ten-thousand-fold profits”, “May your happiness and
longevity be complete” and many other good wishes.
As
you can see, the greetings come in bountiful expressions. In a nutshell, they
are focused on prosperity, abundance, fullness, longevity and so on. I am sure
all these good wishes are not confined to Chinese alone, they also ring true
for the people from all parts of the world. Just ask yourselves sincerely, who
do not want prosperity, abundance, fullness and longevity?
I
believe all these wishes are the goals of many today who regard it as the
ultimate fulfillment in their personal lives! However, in the midst of all material
pursuit, have we ever paused for a moment to ponder the graciousness of our
divine Provider? He is the One who makes our ends meet under all circumstances,
whether it be abundance or deficit we experience in our lives.
The
passage we read this morning is relevant to our daily life experiences. It
serves as a kind reminder to us especially when are carried away by the clamor
of celebration. At times, we shared the same experience with the host of
wedding feast in the Gospel, something crop up last minute at the climax of our
celebrations. We are caught by surprise and will find this saying “Nothing is
so certain as the unexpected” is always right.
However,
from the experiences of many God’s children, no matter what happens in lives, our
Lord is ever gracious to let us experience His wonderful provision, just like
the host of wedding feast in Cana, because the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall
not be in want. When we encounter shortage or deficit in lives, the key to His
provisions always lies in whether we stand true to God and trust Him enough.
May be we could learn some lessons from the host of wedding feast who experienced
divine provision when supply of wine was depleted.
Dear
friends, to run out of wine in a wedding was more than embarrassing, it broke
the unwritten law of hospitality in Jewish culture. During Jesus’ time,
weddings were community events that lasted several days and involved countless
details. It takes plenty of time to plan the days for this big event. As such,
the host would ensure sufficient supply of food and beverages. Shortage is
definitely out of the question. However, the case we studied today, wedding was
held in a humble village. Most likely, the host was poor and he could afford
only low-budget reception.
I
am touched to learn that the host did something wonderful for the Lord. He invited Jesus and His disciples with open
arms, serving Jesus with whatever he had. Yes, this should be our attitude in
serving our Lord. Serving God with whatever talent, gift and resources you have
today. Don’t procrastinate until the day when everything goes well, only then
consider offer yourselves to God. The host never turned down Jesus by saying
please join me when the supply is plenty. No, he just offered Jesus whatever he had, and
miracles followed suit.
On
top of that, the host demonstrated humility in serving our Lord. At this moment
in time, Lord Jesus just began his ministry on earth. He is nobody in the
Jewish community, especially in the eyes of the religious leaders. When Jesus
came for the feast, he had recruited only 6 disciples, in the process of
getting more. In fact, this number was no match with Pharisees who had 6,000
disciples at that time. The host was willing to usher the lowly and meek, the
humble ones…to receive them as guests of honor in his wedding celebration. As
for Jesus, our Lord entered into the normal experiences of people’s life and
sanctified them by His presence. Wise is the host, the newly-wed and the family
who invited Jesus to their wedding.
Today,
as we hold celebrations in our personal lives, whether it be your Wedding
celebrations, your wedding’s anniversary celebration, New Year celebrations and
so on…may the Lord help us to be mindful of the need of others, especially
those who are needy, lowly and humble, marginalized by our society. Pray that
we will receive them with the love of Christ in the midst of our celebrations.
We must be reminded the purpose of Jesus’ attendance in the wedding feast, not
for food or wine, He joined in the festivities because they involved people,
and Jesus came to be with the people. We pray that our mission entrusted by God
could be accomplished even in the times
of joyful celebration with others.
Closing
Prayer:
Heavenly
Father, we thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to be the Savior of
mankind. He has accomplished the mission entrusted by you, it is our calling to
continue His work on earth. Father, even in the celebrations at this point in
time, help us to be the channel of blessings to others, especially those who
are needy, lowly and meek, marginalized by our society. May your love, grace,
mercy, provision and salvation come upon them through us. In Jesus’ name we
pray, Amen!
