The Wine is Giving Out
The Wine is Giving Out…
And it is only the third day!
(yes the third day is pointing to Jesus’ resurrection, no doubt)
but there is also a more mundane point to be made as well…
the wine is giving out on the 3rd day of a 5 to 8 day wedding…
—did you know the Song of Songs was thought to be regularly read, a chapter a day, at ancient 8 day royal weddings…
three days in…
But, The Wine is Giving Out…
There is such shame in that, shame enough to go around.
-The Host has not provided for the guests; he is failing in his obligation, that comes with throwing such a party.
-The Guests have not held up their end of the bargain either. It is their obligation to bring a gift to be shared, to keep the festivities going.
No one brought enough—the Wine is Giving Out…
It feels like that for us too, right? The wine is giving out…
The whole world was running on empty, and THEN we got the Delta Omicron one two punch…
any road map for navigating the Pandemic we have is well smudged by this point
—ad libing and calling audables can go on for a while, but it isn’t sustainable…
certainly not for years…
Some of us have experienced painful losses beyond words…
Others are exhausted and depressed, landing so low.
Still others, are bouncing balls of anxiety,
shouting at the top of our lungs “Just do something!”
I heard of a Superintendent who collapsed the other day when he was asked to make a decision on whether or not to cancel an event,
and when he got back up, he simply said,
“I can’t be responsible for canceling one more thing.”
The wine is giving out.
That’s what she told her son…
It’s a strange interaction between the two—Mother and Son,
but I think implied in the conversation is that she knows what so few do yet—the Ahah! The Revelation! of Epiphany!
he’s the Messiah
—the messiah at a wedding feast,
a wedding banquet.
She says to him, “Gee, son, none of the scriptures that talk about the Messianic Banquet,
where all shall be fed,
where richly strained wine shall flow for the feast,
and where death itself will be on the menu…
none of them talk about running out of wine…
especially on the third day…”
And this leads to Jesus’ first sign in John’s Gospel (that’s what this Gospel calls Miracles, because they point to something beyond themselves)
—before the healings,
before the feeding,
before walking on water,
before raising from the dead
—it begins with this celebration,
this removal of communal shame,
this joyful abundance…
He takes these stone jars filled with water for ritual purity
—things of holiness…
(When I was in Israel I got to see some of these, well preserved all the way form Jesus’ day—they were maybe three times wider than me and nearly as talI as I am)…
He takes this holy water and makes it into a banquet of joy
—180 gallons of wine…
1,000 bottles of wine
—rivers of abundance.
And they respond, struck with joy, these servants and the wine steward
“At the last, good wine!
At the last,
at the end,
hope!”
On the third day, when all seems lost,
it is found, found in abundance and with great joy!
He was in the tomb,
at the end, his disciples and friends filled with terror and despair and all kinds of worry and disappointment,
and then… New Life!
Resurrection!
The wine is giving out
—but we have hope, we have God’s promise…
The promise and clarity of wine strained clear…
The promise that in the midst of holiness, there is also joy!
The promise that God made life for more than just living,
but for abundance
—a life more than mere existence and certainly more than the acquisition of things
—an extravagant, sustained and sufficient life in the presence of Christ.
A promise that banishes shame,
transforms obligation,
tames anxiety,
uplifts exhaustion,
holds us in his Abundant love,
in our loss and sorrows.
A resurrection promise,
a promise of hope,
even at the last.
A+A
