“My Heart Christ’s Home”
(John 2:1-11)
Water into Wine
When in your life have you
experienced water turning into wine? In 2003
I was in Thailand
as part of an exchange student program. As you know, Thailand
is a Buddhist country. According to the official religious demographics
figures, 94.6% of Thais are Buddhists, and Christians represent only 0.7% of
the population. But, I was amazed when I went to the Thai church. It was just
like the early church, the church in the Book of Acts. They worshipped God with
joy and passion. They met together and had fellowship together at the church,
campuses and homes day by day. Many signs and wonders were taking place.
Believers spoke in tongues, they drove out demons, and when they placed their
hands on sick people, they got well. They had favor with all the people. People
around them knew Christians were something different. They were less than 1% of
the population, but they did shine like a star and turn many to Christ.
God wants us to experience
water turning into wine. He wants to do wonderful things in our lives, because
it reveals the glory of Jesus and brings people to faith.
John 2:11
says, “Jesus did this, the first of his
signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
How, then, can we experience water
turning into wine in our lives? Today’s scripture gives the answer to the
question.
Jesus, the Guest of the House
In the text, at first Jesus is invited
as a guest. The Bible says, in verse 2, “Jesus and his disciples had also been
invited to the wedding.” Jesus is a guest. Many of us in this room already
invited Jesus into our hearts, but oftentimes we treat him as our guest, not
the Master. We really want to see the
wonderful work of God in our lives, but we don’t, because Jesus remains as our
guest. For a guest, there is a clear limit to being involved in private
matters. In Robert Munger’s book, My
Heart Christ’s Home, one young man invited Jesus into his house. He gave
Jesus access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the work room,
and the rec room. He thought that Jesus had finally finished the remodeling and
was comfortable living there. But then one day he found that Jesus was waiting
at the door. Jesus said to the man, “There is a peculiar odor in the house. There
is something dead in here, in the hall closet.” The man knew about that closet,
but he had the key to it and wanted to keep it off limits. He certainly didn’t
want Christ to see what was in there. In fact, he was angry with Christ and thought,
“This is too much! I’m not going to give him the key!” All of us in this room
have our own hall closet. But, as long as we have the key to it, Jesus is our guest,
at best the special guest. But still, he is not the owner of our house. As long
as Jesus remains as our guest, he has no authority to run the house. He has no
authority to make changes in our lives although he is almighty God.
Jesus, the Master of the House
But later in today’s scripture,
Jesus becomes the Master of the house because there were some people who began
to acknowledge him as their master. At the
wedding banquet there are six stone water jars, which require 120-180 gallons
of water. And Jesus says to the servants, “Fill
the jars with water.” And they fill them up, not to half, but to the brim (v. 7). They show complete obedience. Then Jesus says to
them, “Draw some out now, and take it to
the chief steward.” And they do so (v. 8). They show immediate obedience. There is no logical relationship between
turning water into wine and filling the jars with water and taking it to the
head steward. There is no logical relationship between looking to the bronze
snake and being healed (cf. Num 21:9). But the key is “obedience.” When we acknowledge Jesus as our Master and
obey him, he turns our water into wine.
Let
me share my story. In summer 2008 Joyce and I had a chance to attend a prayer
meeting at seminary. One of the members asked for prayer for him. His family
and he were about to leave to England
for further study. His prayer request was about financial issue. He mentioned
the exact amount of money which he needed. At the end of the meeting we had a
time to pray for him. While we were praying for him, I sensed the Holy Spirit
saying to me, “Victor, I want you to help him. I want you to give his family a
tenth out of what they need.” At that time, Joyce and I just got married. We
were also financially supported by our home church and our parents in Korea.
We were hesitant. Shortly after, Joyce had to go back to Korea
for visa approval. That week the sermon text for Sunday service happened to be
today’s scripture. While I was meditating on the scripture, I was amazed by the
complete and immediate obedience of the servants. Finally, I decided to step
out and do it. I made a phone call to Joyce to share what I had learned from
the scripture. She got very excited and said, “Listen, today I met your
grandparents-in-law. They made an offering to our family. And you know what? The
amount of money they gave us is exactly same as what we want to give that
family.” It was the moment that Jesus turned my water into wine. Pastor Charles
Stanley always says that the most valuable wisdom he ever received is from his
grandfather when he was 17 years old. His grandfather said to him, "Charles,
obey God. If God tells you to run your head through a brick wall, you head for
the wall. When you get there, God will make a hole for it."
“Follow Me!” vs. “Charge!”
Some
of you may feel pushed when you hear about “obedience.” But actually, our Lord Jesus never forces us to obey him. Instead, he
leads by example. He shows us what obedience is. Though he was God, he did
not think of equality with God. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He
took the humble position of a slave and was born as human being. He lived a
selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death. He became
obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! (Phil 2:5-8) He became the Lord of lords by being the
servant of all. One time I had a chance to watch the film, Alexandar. There was one scene I was
very impressed with. It was a battle scene between
Alexandar and Ottoman Turkish Empire. At that time People thought Alexandar
would not win because he was so outnumbered. But the result was opposite. The
secret of his victory was as follows: Alexander did’t spare himself. He stood
in the vanguard to lead the soldiers, and he shouted, “Follow me!” As for
Ottoman’s emperor, he kept himself safe first, and then he shouted to his
soldiers, “Charge!” Our Lord Jesus never
says to us, “Charge!” but always says, “Follow me!”
God
gave us his law, but we didn’t follow it. He sent his prophets, but we refused
to listen to them. Finally, he sent his own Son, Jesus. He took up our
infirmities and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed
for our sins. He was rejected and died on a cross. This love disarmed our
sinfulness. This love softened our hardened hearts. This love made us look to
Jesus on a cross and turn to him. And now we call him the Lord and Savior.
Jesus Standing at the Door
In
Revelation 3:20
Jesus says, “Listen! I am standing at
the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to
you and eat with you, and you with me.” Artist William Holman Hunt is best
known for his painting, “The Light of the World.” It's a literal depiction
of this verse from Revelation. Jesus is literally standing at a door,
knocking. Probably, you may notice at first glance. In this painting there's no
doorknob. But it is intentional. Holman Hunt used to explain whenever people
asked about the doorknob in this way: “Jesus
is waiting for us to open the door of our hearts and welcome him in. There's
only one doorknob, and it's on the inside.” The first step to experience
the wonderful work of God in our lives is to invite Jesus into our hearts. But
there is more! Jesus says this verse not
to unchurched people, but to those in the church of Laodicea, who already professed to be Christians. Jesus wants us to invite him, not as our guest, but as the Master of
our heart.
All
of us in this room are like “inexperienced drivers” who drive along the road
called “life” that we have never been before. Though we have a “veteran driver”
with us, there is a limit to what he can do for us as long as he sits in the
passenger seat. There will be constant danger of accident. The best way to handle this situation is to get out of the driver’s
seat and let him drive. Today Jesus says to us, “My son, my daughter, give
me your heart.” Before we leave in this room this morning, let us say to the
Lord, “Here it is, all that I am and have forever. Now you run the house. I’ll
just remain with you as a servant and friend.” May Christ settle down and be at
home in your heart as Lord of all! Amen.
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