The Lutheran Hour
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"They Needed Wine"
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Text: John 2:1-5
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The Savior who has already done so much for you, remains eager to do more. Today He stands ready to hear your heartfelt concerns and your deep worries. He has promised to listen, to help, to strengthen, and direct. May the Lord who has saved you from eternal death; strengthen you in this life as well. God grant this grace to us all. Amen.
The year was 1915 and nations were at war. That is hardly news. You would be hard pressed to find a time in history when nations haven’t been at war. But the war being fought in 1915 was different. For the first time in history, almost every country which could boast an army was involved in the catastrophic and all-encompassing conflict. Tens, then hundreds-of-thousands, then millions of young men died on the far-flung battlefields and it was an unusual neighborhood, community, or church which did not mourn the loss of one, or many, of their sons. It was during those dark and discouraging days that someone came up with an idea – an idea to have a morale-building contest. The contest called for the creation of a song… a song which could share some hope; a song of optimism, a song which promised a bright and better future to a dark and dying world.
It so happened that two brothers, George and Felix Powell had such a song. They had written it and shelved it years before. Even so, to them it seemed as if their ditty had been composed for just such a morale building contest. The brothers entered their song and crossed their fingers. They needn’t have bothered. Their song easily won the first prize. Not only was it considered to be best for boosting morale, it was soon adopted by the troops for marching. The tune was easy, the words were catchy, and the people loved the idea of being able to ‘pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.’ That jingle, which has been dubbed the most optimistic song ever written, soon made it to America. In the colonies it became the song of choice for the doughboys who were headed “over there”; who were eager to get involved in the battle which had been billed as the “war-to-end-all-wars.”
Eventually, the-war-to-end-all-wars did end. Peace treaties were signed, soldiers returned home, and countries began the lengthy process of rebuilding. As for Felix Powell, his song was not forgotten. It was sung on Broadway and during the Great Depression its optimistic message showed up in more than 30 Hollywood and British movies. I suppose that’s understandable. In a world where dark nights seemed to be followed by equally dark dawns, people longed, they needed to hear someone, anyone say their doubts would be defeated and their troubles were only temporary.
To find encouragement is why people sang Felix Powell’s song. They packed up their troubles in their old kit bags when they waited in the soup lines; they sang about the futility of worrying as they lost their farms; as they saw their savings evaporate, and they watched as the community bank was closed down. They even sang it when Fascism and National Socialism and militarism plunged the nations into a new war, a world war which promised to be worse, far worse than anything which had gone before. And Felix Powell, what about Felix? In his sixties, the songwriter was too old to go off to war. The best Felix could do was join the home guard in Peacehaven, a coastal town of England. In his capacity as a home militiaman, Felix kept watch: he watched for the Nazi invasion everyone was sure was coming and he watched as another generation went off to war singing his song.
Sometime during those depressing days, Felix found it had become increasingly difficult to pack up his worries and almost impossible to smile, smile, smile. On February 10, 1942, the man who had composed the most optimistic song ever written, put on his uniform, and using his own rifle, shot himself in the heart.
What’s the use of worrying? I suppose worry doesn’t have many beneficial purposes, but that doesn’t mean we stop worrying, does it? Look at Scripture; go right to the beginning chapters of Genesis. After Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, after they sinned, they hid themselves. Why? Because they were ashamed of their nakedness… but also because they were worried about how God was going to react. From that day until this Lord’s Day, humanity has been worrying. Those who don’t have, they worry about how they’re going to get; those who got, they worry about how they’re going to keep what they’ve got. Humankind worries about what has happened, what might happen, what will happen, and what can’t possibly happen. We have worried about contingencies, potentialities, eventualities, and impossibilities. Within the human experience, there is nothing too insignificant or too monumental, too inconsequential or too momentous to escape good old fashioned, mind-numbing, blood pressure lifting worry.
Worry was hardly in short supply during the days Jesus and His disciples attended a wedding being held in the small, Galilean town of Cana. You already know that in every culture and in every age, weddings are important social, legal, and religious functions. That certainly was the case among the Jews of Scripture. After all, had not God always referred to His relationship with His people as if it were a marriage? When the Children of Israel had remained committed to the Divinity’s covenant, God had praised and blessed them for their faithfulness; and when they had wandered after, wooed, and worshipped other gods, they had been condemned for their faithless adulteries. With all this spiritual symbolism surrounding a wedding, it is quite understandable that everyone involved in a nuptial’s planning and performance wanted everything to go right, to be pulled off without a botch, a bungle, a blunder, or a hitch.
In the course of my ministry I have only conducted a few hundred weddings. I can say, with confidence and without fear of contradiction, that every wedding I have conducted has had something go wrong. I’ve never had a bride catch fire like they show in those funniest home video programs. On the other hand, I have had a hung-over groom faint – three times during the course of what should have been a half-hour service. Probably two-thirds of my ring-bearers and flower girls thought everybody had shown up at church that day to admire them and how loud they could be, or to see how fast they could run. I dropped the ring at my niece’s wedding, and repeated my clumsiness at my own daughter’s nuptials. I’ve had couples forget to pick up their wedding license and I’ve tried to be patient for a wedding which started three hours late because the bride was still sewing the dresses of her attendants. I’ve had photographers forget to load their cameras and ask if we could do the whole service again; I’ve had a best man try to kidnap the groom whom he thought had made a bad choice in brides. In retrospect, I probably should have let him succeed.
But I’m wandering. The point being made is this: things go wrong at weddings, including the wedding in Cana. Oh, things had started off right enough. The processionals, the formalities, the covenants and exchanges had all gone off without a hitch and the guests were finally able to dedicate themselves to some serious eating, and drinking, and socializing, and general merriment. In an age when life expectancy was short and days could be uncommonly bitter, those weddings stood out as a celebration of life, of hope, of future, of God’s ongoing presence. No expense would have been spared, no gesture of hospitality left unmade to assure guests would think upon this marriage day as being both memorable and successful.
But things go wrong at weddings, and this wedding at Cana in Galilee was no exception to the rule. Sometime during the festivities a serious, an embarrassing, a party-stopping breach of etiquette occurred: the party ran out of wine. Maybe it was poor planning on the part of the families; maybe the servants were hitting the jug every time they came into the wine cellar to refill their pitchers; maybe Jesus’ disciples had been taking advantage of the open bar. Nobody knows how it happened; we just have the words of Scripture which say: “the wine ran out.” It doesn’t say the wine ran low; It doesn’t say the hosts started rationing the guests or diluting the bottles to make them stretch. The wine was gone. Period. End of reading. The glasses which were empty were going to stay empty and the goodwill which had been engendered would now forever be overshadowed by the dark, embarrassing cloud of drained decanters. Somehow Mary, Now, if you don’t mind, let’s stop the narrative for a second. I need to point something out to you. As I read through Scripture, I find more than a few times when the Lord helped His needy people with gifts of food or drink. When the Children of Israel were starving in the wilderness, God gave them a daily supply of manna and quail; when they were thirsty, He provided springs of water to revive them. 1 Kings (17) tells how the Lord sent ravens, and bread, and meat to feed Elijah and it shares how the Triune God kept the widow of Zarephath from starving by constantly replenishing her supply of flour and oil. In Daniel 1, Scripture speaks of how God allowed His prophet, and his friends, to flourish on a diet which was hardly well-balanced. In spite of knowing these stories of God’s providence, my spiritual searchings have not revealed a single Old Testament instance when the Lord provided wine to keep a party going.
Having said that, let’s continue with the story. If you remember, Mary had told Jesus, ‘They have no wine.’ And although there is no precedent in the rest of Scripture, Jesus did something quite unexpected and, quite frankly, pretty impressive. He ordered the servants to fill up the great 20 and 30-gallon household jugs with water. When that was done, Jesus took the water and transformed it into wine. That’s right, Jesus made somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of first-quality Chateau de Cana in Galilee wine. And although many scholars dismiss Jesus’ first miracle as being of little consequence, I’m amazed. I mean, think about it. Jesus actually suspended the laws of nature. It takes any vintner time to turn his grape juice into wine, but Jesus turned water into wine and He did it instantaneously.
Sadly, when most people think of this miracle, they’re not impressed. They’re bowled over when Jesus gives sight to the blind, and they applaud when He restores some lepers. They rejoice when He helps a cripple walk, and they are overawed when He stills a storm with a shout. I don’t know anybody who is not moved to tears when Jesus raised the young man from Nain, or reunited the Synagogue ruler with his dead daughter, or called Lazarus out of his grave. Those miracles impress us. But turning water into wine … Why? What’s the point? If Jesus had the power to work miracles (and He did), why did He seemingly squander that power turning water into wine? Why didn’t Jesus do some real razzle-dazzle miracle and make the deserts of the world bloom, or stop the damage caused by earthquakes and floods and volcanoes. Turning water Into wine? He might as well have used His power to make Brussels sprouts taste like ice cream.
Why did Jesus do this rather strange, one-of-a-kind miracle? He did it, in part, because He had been asked to. He did it because He wanted to share the Father’s love. He did it because there was a need. Now there is no doubt that Jesus came into this world to do great things, wondrous things, humanly Impossible things. So we might be rescued, restored, and redeemed, the perfect Son of God offered Himself as our Substitute. So the lost, the lonely, and lowly might be saved Jesus presented His life as the perfect Sacrifice. Now because of the incredible grace and love which summarizes the Savior, all who believe on Him are rescued. Do you understand? Jesus has made it so every sin can be forgiven and every sinner redeemed. Yes, the job of saving us, the work given to Jesus was big; the biggest.
But Jesus also came into this world to do the small things, the little things, the seemingly inconsequential. He came to pick up the little children in His arms and bless them. He came to teach an Elder of Israel what it means to be born again. He came to set an example of humility and service by washing the feet of His disciples. He came to set right the life of a morally lax woman by conversing with her in the heat of the noonday sun at a well. Yes, Jesus came to take care of the little things: including your little things, your little worries.
70 years ago Felix Powell found out that our worries don’t stay packed up in our kit bags; and our worries don’t allow us to smile, smile, smile. Our worries gnaw at us, chew away at us; they grind us down. Today I want you to know that Jesus, who has redeemed the world, also cares about your worries. That’s what Peter wrote (1 Peter 5:7) “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” “AII your anxiety.” That means you shouldn’t postpone visiting with Jesus until you have some colossal concerns and massive mountains of worry. No, Jesus wants all your anxiety, all your worry, all your fear. He wants you to come to Him with problems big and small. He wants you to come to Him so
He can help you.
Let me finish with a story, an explanation of what I’m trying to say. It was in the last century that the great educator, Booker T. Washington, fought wind and rain as he lugged his heavy suitcases toward a train station. Every once in a while he stopped to rest and catch his breath before he pushed on. Finally, his strength exhausted, he knew he could go no further. That’s when a man came up to Dr. Washington, took his cases, and said in a fairly familiar voice, “We’re going the same way. You look as if you could use some help” When they got to the terminal, Dr. Washington asked, “Please, sir, what is your name?” The man replied, ‘The name, my friend, is Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt.” Now Dr. Washington could have asked Roosevelt to financially support his educational projects. He could have asked for permission to use the Roosevelt name to promote his colleges. He could have, well, he could have asked 100 big things of Roosevelt, but the truth is Roosevelt helped Booker T. Washington carry his suitcases. Why? Because help with those suitcases is what Booker T. Washington needed.
Dear friends, it’s no different for you. The Savior has already done great things for you by living, suffering, dying, and rising for your salvation. But don’t think, not for a moment, that His rising from the dead Is the end of His caring. He wants you to come to Him with little worries and big worries. He wants you to come to Him because it’s what you need. And, if we can help you see your Savior’s concern, please, won’t you call us at The Lutheran Hour? Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers)
January 17, 2010
Topic: Beer and BibleAnnouncer: And now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.
Klaus: Hi, Mark.
Announcer: You know you must get a lot of really interesting mail.
Klaus: I already know that that has something to do with our Question and Answer segment for today?
Announcer: It does. We never seem to run out of topics and some of them go to places I never thought we’d go.
Klaus: And that certainly applies to our topic for today.
Announcer: It does. A long-time listener in Watertown, Wisconsin sent us a clipping from the local paper. It’s a story about a local church that’s holding church services in a tavern where alcohol was being served. And the article quotes someone as saying, “You know, Jesus met people right where they were.” But still, does it make sense to have church in a bar?
Klaus: I have to admit, it is an interesting article. It talks about a ministry which began in Wisconsin … a ministry where one can literally “hold a Bible in one hand and nurse a beer in the other …. ”
Announcer: And some of our listeners might find that highly offensive. I understand this Beer Church started out with the idea of reaching those turned off by traditional religion.
Klaus: And if being untraditional was their goal, I think having a service where people drink beers, and Bloody Marys and smoke has managed to reach that goal.
Announcer: So all those guys who claimed they could worship God on the golf course can now say they’re worshipping Him in a bar and for once they’d be telling the truth.
Klaus: And from what I’m picking up here, I think you’re pretty much against the idea of tavern worship.
Announcer: Well, are you in favor of it?
Klaus: Well, I don’t think I said that exactly, either.
Klaus: Mark, I remember Matthew 11: 18-19a. Jesus said, “For John (the Baptist) came
neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'”You know, Jesus’ words are applicable today. His church can’t win. If people worship in a stately building on the street corner with great choirs and grand organ music, people say, “Look at how removed and remote the church Is from the average person.” If the church meets in a tavern, the world says, “Look, they have to bribe people with beer and booze and get folks snockered in order to get them to go to worship.”
Announcer: So, the church gets caught either way?
Klaus: The church gets criticized whatever they do. But that’s our problem. You asked what I thought. I think this: Lord Jesus lost points with His critics because He went into places and visited with people who were not socially acceptable. The Savior did that because He was searching for the sick, the lost, the folks In darkness. You know, for almost 80 years this broadcast has been doing the same thing. It has brought the Savior’s story to all kinds of places where the traditional church cannot go. No, I can’t fault this person for trying to reach those who are turned off by traditional worship and worshippers, or who don’t understand a normal worship service.
Announcer: However, nowadays I think you’d have to put those words normal worship service into quotes.
Klaus: Yeah, I would agree with that, too. But, we’d have to go one step further in answering this question. It is true that the Savior went anywhere and everywhere in His search for lost and sinful souls. It’s also true that He would visit with anyone and everyone, no matter that individual’s rank or social standing.
Announcer: Or even their lack of social standing.
Klaus: Right. But it should be noted that Jesus tried not to leave those sinners as He had found them. Jesus went after the sick because He had, He was the medicine which would make them whole; He went searching for the lost so He could bring them back to the family of faith; He went into the darkness so He could rescue and bring redeemed souls into the light. And while that may be the purpose of this ministry, I didn’t see that in this article.
Announcer: And, would that make a difference?
Klaus: If a ministry is trying to call sinners to repentance, forgiveness, and faith, that is a good thing. But if a ministry is going for the sensational alone; if it is centered on the leaders saying, “Look at how cool and unjudgmental we are, then that church has lost its moorings. If it promotes acceptance of sin rather than repentance from sin, it’s not a church, It’s a bad joke.
You know, Mark. It’s not by accident Lutheran Hour Ministries says, “Bringing Christ to the Nations …. And the Nations to the Church.” We want to reach the lost for Jesus, but then we want to move those lost into a family of faith where they can find the support, the fellowship, friendship, the guidance they need.Announcer: Thank you Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selection for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Songs ofThankfulness and Praise” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Herr Christ, der einge Gottes Sohn” by J.S. Bach. From OrgelbOchlein & More Works by
J.S. Bach by Robert Clark & John David Peterson (© 1997 Calcante Recordings, Ltd.)