August 31

Transcript

(Transcribed by TurboScribe.)

So there you saw it, we're starting a new series today on the miracles, but we're going to talk about the man behind the miracles. John 12, 21, when the Greeks come, when they say to Philip, Sir, we want to see Jesus. And we're going to see the man behind the miracles as we talk about that.

Welcome again to Grace. It's wonderful to have you with us always. We rejoice when we get together.

Thank you, Haniel, for just calling over the summer and saying, hey, we're not going to be done and ready. Can we come on over? You don't have to call. You can just come on over.

You're always welcome. The doors are open. That's how it works.

And I'm so grateful that I'm going to have the privilege to listen to my brother David this morning because he said he's going to... I tried hard this week, but just didn't work. Just didn't work. Lord, we want to see Jesus and only Jesus.

Thank you for the gift of your word. Thank you that your word just lights up our world. Thank you that we may hear the word, but above all, Lord, that the word will change us and that we will go and that we will live this word.

Thank you, Jesus, that we may see you. In your name we pray. Amen.

I'm going to start the series by looking at the story that we know well in John chapter 2 of Jesus changing the water into wine. That's why we sang new wine this morning. John 2 verses 1 to 11.

I'm reading from the NIV. I'm going to talk about the miracle of transformation today. So on the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine. Woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My hour has not yet come.

His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water.

So they filled them to the brim. And then he told them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.

He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, everyone brings out the choice wine first, and then the cheaper wine after the gets have had too much to drink. But you've saved the best till now.

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him. I wonder if you would agree with me if I said that the acid test, in other words, that which tests the true character, the genuine quality of something, that the acid test for our relationship with God is not how often we pray, as important as that is and essential as that is for our faith life. It's not how often we read the Bible, as important as that is and as essential that is for our faith life.

It's not how often I serve at the church or go to church, but the acid test for our relationship with God is the quality of our relationship with others, especially those that God had placed closest to us. The way in which we relate to them, the way in which we love them, the way in which we care for them. But don't take my word, don't take my word for that.

The same John writes in his letter, 1 John chapter 4 verse 20. This is what he writes, whoever claims to love God, yet hates, it's a big word in Greek, miseo, hates a brother or sister, is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.

And he has given us this command. Anyone who loves God has the choice, should decide if they want, no. Anyone who loves God must love their brother and their sister.

There's the acid test for my love for God. So how are you doing? How's it going, young people? How's it going in your relationship with mom and dad, teenagers in those years where changing and all things are happening? How's it going with that acid test? How's it going with your siblings that God has put right there for you, next to you? Parents, how's it going with your kids and that relationship with your kids, with those young adults in your house? Husbands, how's it going with your wives? Wives, how's it going in that relationship with your husbands? How's it going with your mother-in-law? Let's leave that one for a second, because if we want to be honest, let's just for a moment be honest, right? It's the church. Let's be honest.

Some of the most painful experiences happen in these gross relationships. Whether we like it or not, it's just the truth. How do we change that? This is where the story comes in, because this is a story of hope and transformation, a story that speaks of the impossible that becomes possible.

So let me take you back to the story. So it starts with this wedding in Cana in the District of Galilee, which is a wonderful northern part, and it's beautiful up there. So there's this wedding in this little place called Cana, and then all of a sudden there's this moment, because all of a sudden the wine runs out.

Now let me tell you a little something about the background of those days, right? So when they had a wedding, it wasn't the way that we do weddings. Like you start one o'clock in the afternoon, and maybe you go till one o'clock, two o'clock the next morning, it's done. It would sometimes take a few days, sometimes up to a week.

The other thing that happened in little places like Cana, it wasn't just the family that was invited and a few friends. It would be the whole village. Now here's the important thing about the whole village.

Remember, they lived in a society of honour and shame. So imagine you run out of wine, the whole village is there, and now you have to live in that village again. And they're saying, yep, David, he couldn't even supply wine enough for that day.

And it's interesting, if you look at how many gallons of water they had, there was a lot of people. There were six of those, taking 30 gallons each. That's 180 gallons of water, which became 180 gallons of wine.

There were lots of people in that village. And as I was thinking through all of this, of the shame and all of the stuff that would happen, I kind of thought, this is a beautiful metaphor. I think this can be a metaphor for the relationships in our lives, because often the wine runs out.

What do we do that makes the wine run out? That's the question I asked myself. And when I say a few things about that this morning, it's not an academical thing. It's not stuff that I read in books.

I'm just talking about my own life. What are the things that make the wine run out in our relationships that are so important for our relationship with our father, too? Because if we can't handle these, how do we handle that? I think one of the things that makes the wine run out is that we do not often make enough time for those that God had gifted us in our own life. It's Labour Day weekend.

Tuesday, the school starts, and then life starts, and then we start running. And all of a sudden, we have no time. All of a sudden, it's just, I've got to run, run, run.

No, I'm busy. Mom, I'm busy. I've got to do this.

How are you going? Oh, man, it's crazy. Life is busy. I'm busy, right? And what about those that God had put right there in front of you? Where's the busy with them? Where's the time with them? We're so quick to take out the phone and say, just keep yourself busy with that thing or the iPad.

If I don't make time for them, when do I make time to be with my father and talk to him and be in his presence? What if my father all of a sudden says, I don't have time for you. I've got some stuff to do in the universe, but right now I can't talk to you. And I'm saying, dad, but it's important.

And dad says, I'm busy, but don't you know I got some stuff to do in Europe? I can't worry about you right now. If we don't make time, the wine runs out. I'm going to give you an example.

Went to dinner with my family one evening at 50's Diner. We sat there, father, mother, and a young girl around 10, 12 years old came in, sat down, got the menu. They were sitting right next to us.

And when they ordered, the dad took out his phone and he's on the phone. And the next thing, mom and the little girl are talking. Dad gives her this phone and he says, watch this video.

The little girl says, dad, can we watch the video at home, please? Dad loses it. He slams that phone down on the table, crosses his arms, doesn't say a word. Food comes, he munches his food down.

When they're all done, he pays, gets up, walks out, and they have to come. Just as a side thought, I wonder who was the adult in that moment. Where was the time? There's this beautiful moment of not just sharing a meal, but being able to talk.

Talk about life, talk about joy, just talk about stuff. Because it's not just the talk, it's the spending. It's saying, I care about you.

It's saying, I see you. It's saying, you're important in my life. If we don't spend the time, how do we grow when you were courting each other? If you didn't spend time, how could that relationship grow? The wine runs out if we do not make that time.

Maybe it's time we learn how to spell again, because the word love is spelled T-I-M-E. And didn't our good Lord teach us about that? He gave this beautiful rhythm in this world. Remember Genesis? He said, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, rest.

And we do work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And then we wonder why the wine runs out. Maybe the wine runs out when I want to be the one who fixes everything and changes everything so everything works my way.

These kids are going to make it. What? I'm going to tell you, I'm going to make you do this. You're going to be like that.

This is how it's going to be. And I do not allow. If I do that with my husband, if I do that with my wife, if I'm always trying to play God and fix it and make them into my little image, how in the world do I allow them to grow and become what God had made them to be? Yes, I'm that beautiful, beautiful example.

But also when I allow them to grow, wine will flow. But if I don't, I've used this example for Central before they know it. There's a little book by John M. Drescher.

It's old, but it's beautiful. If I could start with my family again. And in this little book, he writes, if I could start over with my family, I would stop praying for them.

And it's like, no, that's wrong. And then he explains it. He says, because this is how I prayed.

God changed my son because look at him. He's not doing what I'm telling him. Look how wild he is.

He's just too active and he never listens and he's doing this. Change him. Oh God, my wife.

Oh, Holy Moses, Lord, if you would just change Elsie. So Elsie can just be like this and Elsie can just do that and Elsie can do the way that I think that it should be done. And those little grandkids, Lord, they're wild and active.

He says, I'll stop praying for my family and I'll start praying for myself. Lord, change me. Transform me.

Lord, make me the best father that I can ever be so that when they look at me, they can see you in me and they'll find the father in you that they see that I am reflecting you. Lord, make me the best husband that I can ever be for Elsie so that I can be what you expected me to be and the way you made me. Lord, change me.

Transform me. When I talk to the young folks when they get married in marriage prep, I always ask them to do two things. I say, go write down everything you like about this person that you're going to marry and they'll come on this nice list.

And then I say, now I want you to go write down all the things that you really don't like and they'll bring the list and I'll ask them the question, this list, have you often had conflict about this? And they'll look at me like I've lost my mind and say, well, why? And then I ask them, and this list, have you had conflict about this? And they say, oh yes, we have. And I've proven my point because we always want to fix. And we never see this and the wine runs out.

I think the wine runs out when we're way too sensitive and become so defensive. If someone says in my family, maybe this is not so cool, maybe. And then I just all of a sudden want to defend and that's when we get into the conflict stuff, right? I used the example last week because I changed my sermon and I used the example of why I changed the sermon.

One Sunday after church, my son came to me and he said, dad, that was horrible sermon. So here, I can immediately be defensive and be sensitive and say, you shut your face. Who are you to tell me about my sermon? I asked the Lord to give me the sermon, so it has to be good.

But God was gracious to me that day. I didn't. So I said, let's sit down.

He said, that sermon was like a guy flying a plane and he was just circling, but he never put the plane down. And I said, explain. So we sat down and we spoke about the sermon and guess what? He was right.

I never landed that plane. It wasn't a good sermon. But I learned something and I grew and we grew because he knows he can come and talk to me, not just about a horrible sermon, but he can come talk to me about stuff that he messed up in his life.

But if I close that door, the wine runs out and the relationship doesn't grow. Let me put one more. I need to stop.

You asked, I should do an hour service, David, hour and a half? Good. I think the wine runs out when we do not manage our anger properly. We all get angry.

Jesus got angry. We all get angry. When we use the anger to ridicule, to attack, to emotionally hurt, the wine will run.

I don't know. I've just talked about stuff in my own life. I don't know what it is in your life that you need to look at and that you need to place before the Lord that happens that makes the wine run out in your relationships.

You need to give that to God. Let him talk to you about that. Thank the Lord this is not the end of the story.

This is a story of transformation and hope. Go to verse three with me again. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine.

In a sense, it's to me, it's like Mary's taking charge and she's saying, hey Jesus, come on up bud. You can do a miracle. You take care of this stuff.

This is what I want. This is what I want you to do. Now look what Jesus says.

He says, woman, now don't take this as a mean woman. In the Greek word, it can be a term of endearment too. It could be, hey mom, you're a woman.

Why do you involve me? Jesus replied, my hour has not yet come. This moment of when he's going to die on that cross and that greatest miracle is going to happen where God forgives our sin and then he's going to walk out that grave and we're going to walk out the grave with him. That moment has not come yet mom.

It's not time for me to be kind of come do a little miracle thing because it's not about the miracle. It's about the relationship with the man behind the miracle and somehow it seems as if Mary immediately gets that. So she says, verse five, so his mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you.

That's as if in that moment the penny drops and she's like do what he says and there's that moment of surrender to Jesus because here's the thing. In the moment I surrender my everything to Jesus. In the moment I surrender in those moments of struggle and heartache and brokenness, he meets me right there where the wine runs out.

He meets me right there in my heartache and in my heartbreak. He meets me right there when I've come to the end of my rope. If only I surrender when I go from wilfulness to willingness to letting Jesus be Jesus and not me playing God.

That's when the change will come because look what happens. Verse seven, Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water and so they filled them to the brim and you know the rest of the story. In that moment of surrender it is also a moment of obedience and the miracle only happens in that moment of obedience.

Think of the miracles. Let's take two. The person who was blind and Jesus put the mud on his eyes.

He told him go to the pool of Siloam and go wash your eyes there. Only in him going to the pool and washing the eyes the miracle happened. The guy was sitting at the pool of Bethesda who couldn't move for how many years.

Jesus comes up to him. Jesus says get up, take up, walk and only in the moment when he is obedient and not say I can't walk dude. What are you saying? He gets up, he takes up and he walks and the miracle happens.

The miracle will happen in the moment of obedience. When I stop taking this command, when I stop taking over, when I surrender and I let Jesus be Jesus, that's the moment when Jesus makes the miracle happen. When I am obedient because grace and obedience are both part of the miracle.

Now I don't know what you need to do to make that move, but I have an idea you have. You have an idea what you need to do. Maybe maybe Jesus is saying to someone today you got to go look at your time.

Go make a little more time for those beautiful people that God has gifted to you. Maybe Jesus is saying to someone today you need to go say you're sorry and you're thinking it's not gonna happen. Well here's the thing then the miracle won't happen.

Maybe someone is Jesus is saying to someone today it's time to forgive. It's time to let go of that bitterness, of that resentment because you are holding yourself back from receiving that miracle of joy and transformation in your life. Maybe Jesus is saying to someone will you just let go and let God be God.

For in that moment of surrender the miracle of transformation will happen and the wine will flow. Six jars with 180 gallons. Amen.

Take a few moments of quiet prayer. Thank you Lord Jesus that it's all about you and our relationship with you. Thank you in that moment of obedience is when the miracles happen.

We spoke about our relationships Lord and these are things that we live with every day and we thank you. We thank you for those gifts that you have given in our lives of our loved ones that are so close to us. May you fill those jars Lord with new wine and if we need to take a step in obedience whatever that might be that you are asking will you help us Lord to take that step and to do what Jesus says we need to do.

Thank you Lord Jesus that we may see you every day in everything.