“Water into Wine” seems like a very strange thing to think about this week. As we see images of Haiti and all the devastation, death, lack of resources, we realize that is it water, not wine, that is needed, desperately needed to sustain life, to offer healing and hope.
Let’s take a moment and think of the people of Haiti, especially those in Port au Prince and those here closer to home who are dealing with the loss of loved ones or still waiting with dread in their heart…
But even in the midst of tragedy the Good News has a way of breaking in. So let’s look a little more closely at Jesus first miracle and what it might be saying to us.
Here Jesus is at a wedding; and there is lots of water… a substance that offers refreshment, nourishment, and even life… but there is no wine. This might not be such a big deal, but let’s think of it another way, there is not much celebration left… they have what they need, but nothing more.
I remember hearing of a man who had a heart attack in the middle of the night and was rushed to the hospital. His heart and breathing stopped on the way but he was revived in the ambulance. After this near death experience he found that life appeared quite differently. He was actually excited by awakening to each new day. Sunrises and sunsets were more wondrous. The colours of nature appeared brighter. People who he thought were dull suddenly became interesting and joy to be with. Life itself was a gift. Each moment was to be enjoyed and lived to the fullest. In describing this experience he said that it was like a rebirth with everything fresh and new. He said that his life could never be the same. It was completely transformed – it was something to be celebrated!
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There is always a deeper meaning to the stories of the Gospels. We are meant to see deeper into the events and ask what is really going on. This first miracle is a miracle of renewal and transformation.
This is not just a story of providing more wine at a wedding when the supply provided by the host had run out. This act is saying something about the meaning of Jesus' life to all of humanity. He came to bring new life to people. His life was like new wine. The kind of life that a lot of people were living and are living today is like water kept in huge jugs allowed to go stale. To taste the new life of Jesus is to be transformed.
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There is something about coming to experience Jesus that leads to transformation. A lot of people call it “grace” and others, “love” but it is not just the message Jesus preached, it is the reality of God’s presence as shown to us by Jesus that has the power to transform us. If we can allow ourselves to feel it and experience it, God’s love brings new life.
There is a book by H.A. Williams, former Dean of Trinity College, Cambridge entitled True Resurrection (Holt, Rinehart & Winston). When you read it you see examples of renewal and transformation in the lives of a variety of people… Williams calls these “instances of resurrection.”
He tells of an artist, at first only painfully aware of an utter emptiness and impotence. He finds his imagination gradually stirred into life, and discovers a vision which takes control of him and which he feels not only able but compelled to express. That is the taste of new wine. His life has changed from water into wine.
He mentions a scientist with a favorite theory breaking up in his hands as he pursues his research. He is left with no home in which to house the quantities of evidence he has collected. His life has become dull and lifeless. Then a new, more adequate theory gradually takes shape in his mind which makes him even more at home with his material than he was before. It is transformation from water into wine
His next example is of a married couple finding their old relationship, once rich and fulfilling, slowly drying up into no more than an external observance to the point where it seemed impossible that these dry bones should ever live again. Then a new relationship emerges, one that is deeper, more stable, more satisfying than the old one, with a new quality of life which is inexhaustible because it does not depend on the constant recharging of emotional batteries. Their marriage has turned from water into wine.
Williams goes on to speak of an individual who finds life less and less rewarding. He seems to be in this state because he is compelled by an attitude to always play it safe, even though playing it safe takes away from his life of any real content or fulfillment. In the midst of his despair, however, he finds the ability to take risks and in spite of threatening danger builds into his life a broader base of experience. In dealing with this experience his real person is brought into being. He discovers a richer, more satisfying life. He finds the taste of new wine.
Finally, Williams comments about people who are never the same again after a severe illness or the premature death of someone they deeply loved. While it is true that sometimes they shrivel up. Their ordeal often allows people to be in touch with a deeper dimension of life, and be more aware of everything in the process.
I'm sure you have seen these kinds of things in the lives of people…. Perhaps you have experienced them yourself.
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I’ve certainly experienced this sort of thing in my life. I have had those times when I thought that a door has been closed only to realize that another door has been opened, or at least a window has been opened which has allowed me to see a new opportunity.
I have had jobs seem to disappear, relationships end, I have even had times when life seemed to be nothing but an empty grind with little substance to it.
The thing is, when those doors closed, and everything seemed lost, it was often then that I heard God urging me on to something else, I can look back on almost every instance and honestly say that God was with me and perhaps even leading me to where I was supposed to be.
Don’t you think this is what the parable is all about? After all, Jesus himself said that he had come to bring us life, abundant life!
What about you? When you think back on your life where have you had that experience of transformation or that taste of new wine?
When life has lost its meaning and obstacles have conspired to drain life from us we need to listen for the source of spiritual strength and inspiration that is available to us. There is always an answer to our situation. It may not come as we expect or when or where we expect but that is the exciting part of it. We can be certain that it will come.
That is the transformation that God has promised. That is the miracle Jesus was trying to show us. Look deep into yourself! Where is your new zest for life to be found?
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