Wine as Symbol
of Joy
During the Civil
War it is known that President Abraham Lincoln often began cabinet meetings by
reading some humorous story from newspaper or a book of humor. If the cabinet
members did not laugh, he read it over again until they laughed hard. He would
then announce the subject of discussion. On one occasion one of the members
asked, “Why do you do that in this time of mourning?” Lincoln Lincoln
In this week’s gospel
lesson, John 2, Jesus was invited to the wedding, one of the most joyful moments
of life. But, something unexpected happened. The wine ran out. Everyone there
was embarrassed. In the Old Testament wine is viewed as a sign of joy
(ex. Ps. 104:15). In a spiritual sense, running out of wine may be seen as
symbolizing the “joyless” Christian life. Jesus was right there at the
wedding banquet, but the wine ran out. Jesus is right here among us, but we don’t
feel the joy of the Lord. What is the cure for this? Today’s passage gives us
two prescriptions: “trust” and “obey.”
Trust
When the wine ran
out, the people didn’t know what to do. But the mother of Jesus ran to Jesus
and said, “They have no wine.” She also didn’t know what to do, but she did
trust that he would do something. When David was challenged by the giant
Goliath, he didn’t just say, “I will go and fight him.” Instead, he said to
Saul, “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised
Philistine will be like one of them… The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the
lion will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine today” (1 Samuel 17:36 -37).
David had confidence and trust in the Lord based on his daily experiences with
him. Trust is not built at once. It is built from a daily walk with Jesus.
Even for David, there were times when he felt like he was going through an
endless dark tunnel. He didn’t feel the joy of the Lord at all. In Psalm 13, he
cried out, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you
hide your face from me?” But at the end, he said, “But Lord, I trust in
your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to
you, Lord, because you have been good to me.” David was able to trust
and even rejoice in times of trouble, because he had lots of testimonies and
experiences that helped him trust the Lord. In today’s passage, when Jesus made
a polite distance, saying, “Woman, what doest this have to do with me?” Mary
was not discouraged, because she had a lot of trust in him based on her
relationship with him. She said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Do
you trust Jesus in all circumstances? Trust is the first prescription for
restoring joy in our lives.
Obey
The second
prescription is “obey.” Trust is not something that
acts magically or automatically. It is something that has to be exercised. When
we put our trust into operation, it is expressed as obedience. In John
2, the servants obeyed Jesus. They filled the jars with water – 120 gallons of
water. And then, they were asked to take that water to the master of the
banquet. Obedience is a verb. When they did that, everyone tasted the best wine
abundantly. The joy of the Lord was restored. After marriage, there was a time
when the relationship with my wife, Joyce, was at risk. We tried all possible
means to improve relationship and solve problems. Nothing seemed to work. The
final method used was to sit down together and pray. We agreed to do prayers of
confession in turn. At first, I reluctantly confessed my sins. She confessed
her faults. We kept taking turns. The Holy Spirit revealed our sinful hearts. Only
then, we were able to see our own faults clearly. He melted our hardened hearts
and restored to us the joy of his salvation. And we found that the root of the
problems was a strong desire for blaming each other and pleasing each other.
What we learned from that experience is when each of us obeys Jesus,
instead of trying to blame or please each other, we find happiness and joy. Seek
for happiness and you will never find it. But seek after obedience and
holiness, you will be filled with joy and happiness.
Restoring Joy
to the Church
From today’s
gospel lesson, so far we have learned that our joy depends on how much we trust
and obey the Lord. The more we trust and obey, the more joy we will find in our
lives. Then, what about the church? Can we as a church experience that abundant
joy in this place? How many of you came to church this morning with the
expectation to be filled with joy? Is it really possible for the church to be a
house of joy? This week’s Epistle lesson, 1 Corinthians 12, tells us “Yes, it
is possible.” The Apostle Paul uses the metaphor of the church as the body of
Christ. The health of the body is something that results from right living –
for many of us, to eat less and to exercise more. In the same way, the
spiritual health of the church is the result from right relationship with
Christ. When the church is spiritually healthy, we find joy in this place. What
is then the right relationship between the church and Christ, between the body
and the head? The answer is “trust and obey.”
First, the
healthy church trusts Jesus as Lord. Early Christians had unity in
terms of confession of faith that “Jesus is Lord” (v.3). There are many ways to
acknowledge Jesus – teacher, mentor, great man, social activist, liberator, and
so on. But only Christians – those indwelt by the Spirit – can acknowledge
Jesus as Lord who is absolutely sovereign. In the second-century people had to
greet each other in public place with these words: Caesar is lord. At age 86, Bishop
Polycarp was ordered to confess that Caesar is lord. But he refused and said, “Eighty-six
years have I served the Lord Jesus. He has been faithful to me. How can I be
faithless to Him and blaspheme the name of my Savior?” Then, he was murdered. Early
Christians did trust that Jesus alone is sovereign Lord. Philippians 2:9-11
says, “Therefore, God exalted him [Jesus] to the highest place and gave him the
name that is above every name… and every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” So, Paul always put confidence
and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ no matter what happened to him and to the
church. He was thankful always. He was joyful always, because Jesus the Lord is
sovereign. He is in control. In the midst of chaos, Paul confessed, “I am
confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you [church] will
complete it” (Phil 1:6). The healthy church trusts Jesus Christ alone as Lord.
Secondly, the
healthy church obeys Jesus the Head. How do we know whether we as a church
obey Jesus or not? We can have a clue from 1 John 4:20: “If anyone says, “I
love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love
his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” In a communal
church setting, to obey Jesus means to submit to one another out of reverence
for Christ (Eph 5:21 ). In today’s passage, 1 Cor 12, Paul describes it in three ways. To
obey Jesus means to respect, recognize, celebrate diversity of the church in
unity (v. 12). It means to help, protect, treat the weaker members with special
honor (v. 23). It also means to suffer together and to rejoice together
as one body (v. 26). I would like to draw your special attention to this
relationship of mutual love and dependence. Pastor John Wimber told us this
story about how he was standing in church one time and a man came up to him and
told him how he’d been contacted by somebody in great need. And he talked about
his frustration in trying to get help for this needy person. He said, ‘The man
needed a place to stay, food, support, till he gets on his feet and looks for a
job.’ He said, ‘I’m really frustrated. I tried calling the church office, but
no one could see me, and they couldn’t help me. I finally ended up having to
let him stay with me for the week. Don’t you think the church should take care
of people like this?’ John Wimber thought for a moment and said: “It looks like
the church did.”[1] We are
the church. We are Christ to the world. Every time any of us feeds the hungry,
that’s the church doing it. Every time any of us visits the sick, that’s the
church. We are all inter-dependant. Each member is indispensable. We need
everybody else. We need the church. Don’t just be an attender at church. Be a
member!
Do What Your
Mother Has Told You to Do
Recently, I had a
regular checkup. It was found that I have pre-diabetes. When I saw my family
doctor for follow-up, he said to me, “Do what your mother has told you to do. Cut
down on starches. Eat more fruit and vegetables. Exercise more. Get enough
sleep.” Health is the result from right living. Spiritual health is exactly the
same. It comes from doing what God has told us to do. Christian life is a daily
walk with Jesus. Individually, let us spend time with him alone day by day. Let
us build our trust and relationship with him and obey what he says whatever the
cost. Communally, let us have clear confession of faith, “Jesus is Lord.”
Within this unity, let us submit to one another with respect and love. Let us
get involved. Let us build intimate interpersonal relationships with other
Christian brothers and sisters especially through small groups. And we will be
able to say, “I’ve got the joy in my heart. And I love this place, the house of
joy!” Amen.
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