“Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim.” – John 2:7
No matter how uncomfortable it makes us as teetotaling Methodists, we cannot escape that the first of Jesus’ signs is the turning water into wine at a wedding feast at Cana. In essence, Jesus’ first miracle is to save a wedding reception from becoming lame.
I am not saying that alcohol is what makes a reception fun, and that the lack of alcohol makes a reception lame. I have been to receptions flowing with every type of booze, and they were lame, and I’ve been to receptions with no alcohol in sight that were a blast.
What I am saying is that this passage contains the truth that all party-throwers know: you have to make your guests want to be there. If you’re having your wedding reception at a ballpark, your guests better like sports. If you plan to have lots of kids there, you’ll want kids meals and fun activities for them. And if you’re throwing a wedding for a bunch of chocoholics, might I suggest this?
So for the sake of avoiding a moral argument about alcohol, let’s just pretend it was the chocolate fountain that ran out, and Jesus turned water into chocolate. Whatever the medium Jesus worked, the point is the wedding at Cana is going downhill, and fast. Jesus’ mother is worried (as mothers tend to be at weddings), but he seems pretty chill about the situation. Nevertheless, he bails out the groom and makes him look pretty good in front of all of his guests. And the weddings guests “party on!”
So the introduction of Jesus the miracle worker is a guy who wants us to keep on partying. The first of his many signs is that we are to live life to the fullest. He came that we may have life abundantly – Christ wants us to live, not just stand in the corner crying because the keg is tapped out. Jesus wants us to party on. At the beginning of his ministry, he sends a message. And that message is, as our resident bishop might say: “Lighten up. Loosen up. And have a little fun!”
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