Sunday Sermon at St. Paul Lutheran Church

Minden , Nebraska

Second Sunday After Epiphany

“No More What? Amazing Abundance!” (John 2:11,12)

January 14, 2007

It surely is true that sometimes we forget what a good thing something is - until we don't have it.

That's the way it's been for a lot of people in our area at the beginning of this new year. Following a terrible ice storm, a lot of New Year's Eve partying & celebrating & eating & drinking was cancelled. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it was people having to get along without; without light, without heat & warmth. And some are still without. In some of the harder hit areas it's not been unusual to hear people say how thankful they are for hot water, hot food, a hot shower wherever they can find it & enjoy it. And a man who works for NPPD told me recently, we're still not entirely out of the woods; that some of the large power grids that supply our electricity are hanging together by a thread.

Such a common, everyday blessing is the blessing of abundant electricity. Just the flip of a switch or a plug into the wall and it's there for us. But when it isn't there, what a difference it makes.

And to live by generator? Well, there's no place in the Bible where it says this, but man cannot live by generator alone . Even though a little power used sparingly is better than no power at all, better still is the blessing & abundance of power that we're all use to.

Which is what a second “if” for this second Sunday after Epiphany is about! It's the “if” of running out, the “if” of coming up short, the “if” of not having. Which I hope to show you is an “if” that can lead to greater faith & trust in who Jesus is and how God's grace is abundantly manifested & made known in Jesus.

Writes the apostle John as he comments on the outcome of an amaz-ing miracle of abundance at the wedding at Cana :

This, the first of Jesus' miraculous signs, He performed at Cana in Galilee . He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Just how important is it that we in our every day lives see God's glory revealed in Jesus Christ and are led, are drawn, are inspired, are encouraged to put faith in Him?

Martin Luther once wrote:

Here is the truly Christian life, here is faith really working by love:

when a man (or woman) applies themselves with joy and love to the works of that freest servitude,

in which he or she serves others voluntarily;

himself or herself abundantly satisfied in the fullness & richness of his or her own faith.

At the heart of all true Christian living and serving others in the name the Lord Jesus, says Luther, is living & serving that flows from one being “abundantly satisfied in the fullness & richness of his or her own faith.”

Now this is not an abundance of being religiously, self-righteous-ly satisfied with ourselves like the Pharisees were in Jesus' day.

This is not a fullness & richness of faith that is self-generated or self-supporting! It does not work to say if I'm a good person, if I try to do good, if I go to church, if God is pleased with me, good things will happen.

You see, sinners that we are by nature, there is a down-side, a dark side, a helpless side to “if” when “if” is the “if” of things beyond our control or the “if” of coming up short. Life is full of examples.

If we take things for granted . . and most of us do.

If the wine runs out . . . and it does.

If the drought out west is still a long way from being over . . . and it is.

If it turns out to be longer than expected before some families finally get their power on . . and it will.

If a family has to live with less income . . or use up Vacation pay . . or borrow to pay bills . . that happens.

But as real as all those “ifs” are, the one we struggle with the most, is the “if” the apostle Paul confesses when he writes:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love . . what good is that?” (I Cor. 13)

If (in the cold & dark of winter); if amid (the aggravation, the frustration, the weariness, the stress, the frayed relationships of life; if it only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up in it's glowing, and that's how it is with God's love,” how does that spark get lit? How does one tap into and experience and grow in the abundance of God's love?

What we all struggle with in this life is the “if” of when things are left up to us. All manner of determination & resignation on our part to make things right or make things work or make things better might work for a time, for a day or a week, but eventually the wine of what we ourselves can do or say runs out, gives out.

But miracle of miracles! What a blessing is the abundance of God's saving, amazing grace manifested in Jesus Christ for every unplanned or unpleasant “if” that is beyond us to change or to reverse.

When the wine was gone and Jesus knew what it meant to the bride & groom and all their friends & family to be together & to rejoice & celebrate the gifts of love & marriage with good food & good wine, Jesus acted accordingly. Jesus did not act to do what his mother suggested he do, but Jesus chose to do what He knew His heavenly Father had sent Him into this world to do. That was to make known His Father's glory; to make known God the Father's earnest desire for His name to be hallowed, His kingdom come, and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So quietly, without anyone other than a few servants and his own disciples watching, Jesus instructed the servants to fill six big stone water jars to the brim with water, and once they had done that, Jesus directed the servants to draw some water out & take it to the master of the banquet, who was amazed at how excellent the water-turned-to-wine tasted. And the master of the banquet complimented the bride-groom on saving the best for last.

The apostle John's comment in vv. 11,12 is that this was the first of Jesus' miraculous signs performed at the wedding at Cana in Galilee . . and that Jesus thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

So much wine, such an abundance of excellent wine, six huge water jars filled to the brim; a bright & joyful wedding, a glad & on-going celebration of love -- it was all a good beginning to God's good gift of marriage that Jesus did not want to see disrupted by a shortage of wine.

Thus was this a sign of God's glory. Thus Jesus used the occasion of a wedding, not to draw attention to Himself, not to impress His disciples and a few servants, but Jesus used this occasion to let his disciples see for themselves & believe for themselves that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, whom God sent into this world to save all who would believe in Him and follow Him.

“Prominently displayed as the first sign of Jesus' ministry,” writes Eugene Peterson, “the miracle of Cana establishes joy at the center of all Jesus does.”

And Peterson's own personal comment about that is, “Jesus does this a lot. Just, when I think there is nothing that can be done with life reduced to mere survival and all resources exhausted, the Lord steps in and miraculously restores joy, better than anything I thought possible.”

Another author, Herbert Brokering writes in a little CPH book titled,

“Lord, if . .”

Lord, if You took on so much to do, and if so much can go on and on without any worry, and be so consistent and continuous (like water turned to wine), then we can take care of each other more than we know, and we have more going for us than we can imagine.

If Jesus steps in and can miraculously restore joy, better than anything I thought possible; If the love of God & the grace of God made known to us through the life & ministry, the death & resurrect-ion of Jesus means we have more going for us than we can imagine, let it be so. May it be so.

One of my favorite hymns, “All Depends On Our Possessing”, ends with this verse:

If my days on earth he lengthen, God my weary soul will strengthen

All my trust in him I place.

Earthly wealth is not abiding, Like a stream away is gliding; Safe I anchor in his grace. (LW, 415, v6)

Last Sunday's first spiritual “if” was if a person is in the dark, if the way be drear, if the foe be near, let not faithless fears o'er take us, let not faith & hope forsake us. What new directions; what greater courage & guidance we do achieve - when we by faith God's son receive.

This Sunday's second “if” is this: if the wine runs out, if God's good gifts look to be in short supply, if an abundance of joy & exuberance in believing seems to have passed us by, let not our hearts forget, let there be no need to fret, the first of Jesus' miraculous signs still speaks to us yet.

Jesus thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in Him.

May we who by faith have seen his glory, experienced his grace and been embraced by his love, may we be abundantly satisfied in the fullness & richness of the faith and ask the Lord Jesus to grant us such faith, day by day, and week by week.