Turning Water into Wine
George Gordon Byron, simply known
as Lord Byron, is considered as one of the greatest English poets, one of the
leading figures of the Romantic movement in the 19th century. The
following is the story when the young Lord Byron was taking an important exam
in religious studies at Oxford University. The examination question for this
day was to write about the religious and spiritual meaning in the miracle of
Christ turning water into wine. For two hours all the other students were busy
with filling their pages with long essays, to show their understanding. But the
young Lord Byron just sat, contemplating and looking out the window. The exam
time was almost over, and he had not written a single word. The proctor finally
came over to him and insisted that he had to write something before turning in
the paper. The young Lord Byron simply picked up his hand and penned the
following line: “The water met its Master, and blushed.”
Life without Wine
Today’s passage is a story about a
wedding banquet. The Apostle John led by the Holy Spirit carefully chose this particular
episode as the first story of Jesus’ official ministry. Today’s story goes like
this: one day Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as guests.
In Jesus’ time the wedding celebration was considered to be the pinnacle of
life. Instead of a honeymoon, the bride and groom had open house for a week.
They were considered to be king and queen. Oftentimes all the people in town
were invited to celebrate together. It was the whole town celebration. At the
wedding banquet wine was essential. At that time to the Jewish mind,
wine was a symbol for joy. So “without wine, there is no joy.” But in
today’s passage something happened. The wine ran out. “They have no more wine!”
the mother of Jesus said. Running out of wine during the wedding celebration
brought shame to the family. But even more than that, it meant joy had run
out.
A life without wine means life without joy – a joyless life. Of course, everyone wants to live a happy, fulfilling, joy-filled life. The question is, “How can we have this joy-filled life?” “How can we have joy?” Some people think that if we make a nice bucket list and cross things off the list one-by-one as we finish them, that would give us joy. Creating and completing the bucket list might give us a sense of achievement. But the thing is that joy doesn’t last long. That joy runs out.
Have you seen the film, “The Bucket List”? Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starred in this film. Both of them are announced they have lung cancer. They decide to do everything on their bucket list before they die. They go skydiving together. They drive a Shelby Mustang together. They ride motorcycles on the Great Wall of China together. They attend a lion safari in Africa together, and so on. They do lots of fun and interesting things together. But at the end the time comes. Although they did everything they wanted, they didn’t find lasting joy. They didn’t have free, full life that they were looking for. Eventually, Morgan Freeman dies on the operating tables, and Jack Nicholson dies at the age of 81 in the film. This film is entertaining. It relieves our fear about death on some level. But it never solved anything. Nothing changed. Doing what I want to do is like drinking seawater. The more we do what we want to do, the more thirsty we become.
Life with Wine
If you are searching for joy, or if
you feel like joy is running out in your life, today’s story is for you. Many
of us in this room already invited Jesus into our hearts, but oftentimes we
treat him as our guest, perhaps a special guest at best, but not as the
Master. There is a clear limit and boundary for guests. They are not
allowed to get involved in our private matters – such as our family matters and
finances. In today’s story at first Jesus was invited as a guest. So at the
beginning he couldn’t do any work there, even though he was the Son of God
Almighty (cf. Mk 6:5). But later, we see some people who believed in Jesus and
treated him as their Master. For example, look at the servants. At the wedding
banquet there were six stone water jars, altogether holding up to 180 gallons
of water. When Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water,” they filled them
up, not to half, but to the brim (v. 7). They showed complete obedience.
Then Jesus said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the master of the
banquet.” And they did. They showed immediate obedience. You see there
is no logical connection between turning water into wine and filling the jars
with water and taking it to the host. But the key is to trust and obey. When we
trust Jesus as our Master and obey him, he turns our water into wine. He turns
our tasteless, insipid, sparkless life into rich, fulfilling, joy-filled life.
I had to admit that although I always grew up in the church and was so familiar with the Bible and God, Jesus was a guest in my life for a long time, for more than 20 years. I didn’t take Jesus seriously. I was the one who planed ahead – whether it was about school, work, or travel. I was the one who made important decisions in life. I prayed, but deep in my heart I had already what I wanted. I didn’t seek his guidance. I didn’t listen to him first. I didn’t wait at his feet. I did what I wanted first, and then I asked God’s blessings later. I wished my decision was God’s will. I was always wandering and searching for joy, but I never had it. But Jesus was so merciful, gracious, and patient. He rescued me out of many dangers, broken relationships, fatal illnesses. And eventually, I came to my senses and invited him to be my Master. Then, everything began to change one by one. I began to have a sense of purpose, direction, and goal in life. I began to have a sense of being at home, a sense of wholeness. Most of all, I found joy that never runs out.
Joy, Joy, Joy
At the wedding banquet Jesus turned
water into wine at Cana. Jesus still turns water into wine today. Let me share the
story of one man whose life turned from a life like “insipid” water to a joy-filled
life – a life with wine. His experience is very personal and unique, but at the
same time, somehow it is a universal experience for every Christian.
His name is Blaise Pascal. He was perhaps the most brilliant mind of his generation. At the age of 19 he invented the world’s first mechanical calculator. He achieved both wealth and honor at a very young age, but for some reason at the pinnacle he felt miserable. He felt something was missing. There was no joy, no peace. Though he considered himself a Christian, to him Jesus was only a guest. On November 23, 1654 he got a major horse carriage accident, but miraculously he was saved. He saw this as a warning directly from God. That night he humbly surrendered his life to Christ and encountered him in his room. In his journal Pascal said:
FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac,
God of Jacob, not of philosophers and scholars. Certitude, heartfelt joy,
peace. God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ. "My God and your
God." . . . Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy. . . Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.
May I never be separated from him!
That night to Pascal, Jesus became his Master. Since Jesus came into his life as the Master, he always carried this note in his coat until he died. Since that day, in everything Pascal put Jesus in the center of his life. He listened to the Master and obeyed him day by day.
So how can we have joy? How can we turn our life like “insipid” water to a joy-filled life? “The water met its Master, and blushed.” It is not until we meet the Master that we can have joy everlasting. As we ring out the Old Year and ring in the New, may we commit and recommit ourselves to Christ and put him in the center of our lives. Let me close with the prayer of Missionary C. T. Studd:
Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
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