The Wedding at Cana

            I love a good wedding. In fact, this Saturday, I will be attending one of my good friend’s nuptials. We all have been to a wedding; we’ve all enjoyed seeing happiness. This reminded me of a story we often hear of Jesus beginning his earthly ministry with none other than, a wedding.

            I must admit, when it comes to big crowds I can be somewhat of an introvert. Now don’t get me wrong I can put on my extrovert hat and ‘work the crowd’ just as well as anyone else, but I feel sometimes like Jesus did, hesitant to make a scene when it’s easier to sit by the punch bowl and talk with your close friends. As Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come” But there is something very interesting about this text, something profound that we often miss when gleaming through the New Testament.

            Interestingly enough it is suggested that most of the water in the time of Jesus’ life and teachings was not fit to drink. They didn’t know what we know about purification. Christ, the one we call Lord took unclean, undrinkable water and made it into wine, what the Jews considered to be fit for drinking. How marvelous! Jesus took something dirty and made something beautiful! How often do we sit on the sidelines and expect transformation? How often do we just wait for God to send a sign? God is in our midst, working, now! God is in the business of taking something ordinary, like dirty water, and making it extraordinary, like the good wine.

            Dr. Samuel Wells, the Dean of Duke Chapel puts it this way, “The best advice I can offer is that it's not love that teaches you what marriage means - it's marriage that teaches you what love means.” We are constantly learning, constantly transforming, that is the beauty of the Wedding at Cana. Jesus came out of his shell in the sense that he found the transforming power of ministry. We too must be willing not to wait for our hour to come, but to bring that hour about!

            The next time you’re at a wedding, look at the transformative power of what is happening. Two beings, are becoming one. It is truly marvelous and appropriate that Jesus would start his ministry at a wedding. God invites us, if we are willing to become one with our Maker. God invites us to transform our lives and the lives of others into ‘good wine.’

            I really am looking forward to my friends wedding, and I wish them all the best for a happy future. There is something to be said to be willing to commit your life to someone else. I certainly don’t claim to be the foremost scholar or experienced practitioner of marriage, but what I do know is this: God, like a groom is waiting at the end of the aisle, are you willing to walk towards the beauty and splendor of a future in God’s kingdom? That, my friends, is a wedding we can all look forward to.