Sermon Tone Analysis
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The New Beginning
Shortly after being called as the Associate pastor in Georgia, I recieved a message from some of my close friends in DFW.
They had been dating for a while and now felt like it was time for them to get married.
And they asked me to officiate the wedding.
I was honored to be asked.
This was going to be one of my first “official” duties as a newly ordained minister.
No joke this was a quick turnaround.
I was called to serve the church Mid-July.
We moved there at the beginning of August.
I got ordained at the beginning of September.
Then officiated the wedding on Nov 19.
There’s something special about weddings.
This wedding was no different.
They were a special couple.
That I had been able to minister to while we lived in DFW and I had watched grow in their love for each other and their love for God.
When you think of weddings what comes to your mind.
I can’t help but think of a celebration.
A party.
Joy and happiness flowing.
At a wedding, we get to witness the start of something new.
We get to watch as two people become one and start their new life together.
It’s an amazing sight.
And I don’t think that it’s an accident that Jesus’ first recorded miracle in John’s Gospel is at a wedding.
Jesus could have started his ministry anywhere.
But he chose to begin in one of the most intimate settings.
A New Beginning
We’ve talked about this before, but John is very precise when it comes to his choice of language when writing this gospel.
And it’s no accident that he uses the phrase “on the third day”
This is most likely the third day after talking to Nathanael in 1:47-51.
And Many want to equate this third day to the three days in the tomb.
They want to say that it’s point toward the resurrection and it very well may be doing that.
But I and others think something else is going on here as well.
If we look at the timeline from when John the baptist steps on the scene in 1:19 that’s day 1.
Then the next day 1:29 is day 2.
1:35 day 3 “the next day”
Andrew brings Peter to Jesus day four
1:43 day five “The next day”
2:1 “on the third day” or day eight.
Why is this important?
Why would I want us to see this and draw it out?
Because from the beginning of John’s gospel he is pointing to Jesus as the one bringing a new creation.
We see him being the creator of all in John’s prologue 1:3.
And here in 2:1 we see the beginning of something New.
Jesus’ ministry beginning on the eighth day.
Jesus is bringing about a new creation on the eighth day.
And he demonstrates his power, authority, and divinity by doing something that only God could do.
And where does he choose to demonstrate that power at a wedding.
We should also remember that the Bible begins with the wedding of Adam and Eve.
Where the two become one flesh.
Part of beginning of creation was a wedding and Jesus’ earthly ministry, the beginning of a new creation starts at a wedding.
And don’t forget that Jesus had just promised Nathanael that he was going to see some amazing things in 1:51.
What’s significant about that is that we learn in 21:2 that Nathanael is from Cana where this first miracle takes place.
We don’t know who this family is that the wedding is for, but it is likely that Nathanael knew them.
And he gets to witness Jesus’ first sign around people that he knows.
Another thing that we shouldn’t overlook is that Jesus was invited to the wedding feast.
People wanted to be around Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t a wet blanket or party pooper when it came to celebrations.
People wanted to hang around him.
If we’re being honest there are too many people who call themselves Christians that aren’t any fun to be around.
They don’t radiate the joy of the Lord.
But Jesus came to bring Joy.
And as his followers we should radiate that Joy that we have in him.
I know personally people who steer away from Christianity b/c they see us as absent of joy and fun.
We should take our faith seriously and not take ourselves too seriously.
It’s a shame that there are Christians out there that think having fun and cutting up is unbecoming of Christians.
Jesus had so much fun and spent enough time with sinners that he eventually got accused of being one himself.
Luke 7:34 “34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”
What this means is that the life of a Christian is not to be one living like a hermit cutting ourselves off from fun.
Rather we are to be taking part.
In fact, we should be the life of the party.
That doesn’t mean that we get to ignore God’s commands, but that within those boundaries we should be a joy to hang around.
We aren’t called to live as separatist monks, we are called to be the light of the world.
How will we shine the light of Jesus if we never go where the darkness lives.
We were created to experience the full gambit of the human experience.
Including joy.
Friendship, camaraderie, celebration.
Jesus came to bring the greatest joy.
And we should celebrate that.
We should point others to him as well.
.....
So Jesus is at this wedding but now there’s a problem that occurs.
A Big Problem
Weddings in the ancient world aren’t like they are today.
During Jesus’ time they really knew how to party.
Weddings would last up to a week.
They were full of food, fun, dancing, singing, and wine.
When I was thinking about this story this week I was thinking about my mom.
The reason why I was thinking about her is because her biggest fear when hosting a gathering is running out of something.
Because she feels as if running out of something whether it be food or drink brings shame upon her.
So what does she do she over prepares everything.
One year for Christmas dinner there were only going to be about 6 of us eating.
She fixed a 12lb turkey, a ham, mac and cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and 3 pies.
She didn’t want to run out.
Because running out of something would mean to her that she failed.
When weddings were going on during Jesus’ life the groom and his family were responsible for the festivities.
And it was a shameful if you ran out of wine specifically.
In fact the party would continue until the wine ran out.
Once it was gone people would start leaving.
Not only that but we do have some records of grooms being sued for the party not lasting long enough.
The shame that was felt by not living up to the social obligations could hinder a family in relationships, work, and trust.
This new beginning would be stained by a catastrophic event like running out of wine.
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