12-29-02 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

John 2:1~11

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do [it]. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare [it]. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: [but] thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

According to John, this is the beginning of the miracles of Jesus, but when Mary tells her son "They have no wine," it can be presumed that she was aware of His capabilities, and she knew from experience that He could save the day by performing a miracle here. His response to Mom was "mine hour is not yet come." Jesus knew what she was asking Him to do, to make more wine. It's easy to see Mary's position. Thirty years of a fond mother's pride swelling within her, wanting so badly for the whole world to know her Son is the Messiah, and here, on the third day of a weeklong marriage feast, here's the opportunity she's long hoped for. Who could blame her? The more I learn about Him, the more I want others to see what He can do, and the more my heart aches for those who are lost without Him. And keep in mind; she had been separated from Him for a while. He'd been in the wilderness fasting forty days and forty nights, and then He endured the threefold temptation of Satan. When He returned to her, He must have looked frightfully thin, and men calling him "Master" were following him. Certainly she had heard of what had happened at His baptism before he was led into the wilderness, and now at this feast it was becoming humanly impossible for her to contain the joy and pride she felt in Him. When He honors His mother by agreeing to her, and then she says to the servants "do whatever He tells you," it's not hard to imagine the excitement and anticipation she was feeling.

We always feel excitement and anticipation at the beginning of something wonderful. This week a New Year is beginning, and for many folks, it's the beginning of their New Year's resolutions. Everybody's New Year's resolution begins with excitement, anticipation, dedication, and a resolve to carry it out. The resolution is made partly because it's a New Year, a marker of time, but then time becomes an enemy of the resolution. As time goes by, the memory of our resolution fades, and so does our resolve to carry it out. Then the memories of failed resolutions from years past give us a new resolve; resolve to never make another New Year's resolution.

As we near the changing of the calendar, and as thoughts of New Year's resolutions enter our minds, it seems fit to remember Jesus in the context of beginnings, of firsts. This was the beginning of the miracles and wonders Jesus performed publicly, at least this was the first recorded. This may very well have been the first Christian wedding. The guests at that wedding tasted of His wine, and surely thereafter nothing satisfied them as well. From Psalm 34:8, and from the sign out front, "O taste and see that the LORD [is] good: blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him." I propose a New Year's resolution: As the inevitable distractions of time and fading memory try to erode the excitement and anticipation of our Lord's return, I pray that our resolve will not fail to continually ask Him to fill our cup, that we be not satisfied with (from verse 10) "that which is worse," that we will taste only of the Lord's fruit, and see that it is good, that we put all our trust in Him, that we resolve ourselves to witness for Him, to share His goodness, and always keeping Him first in our thoughts, at the beginning of each day, at the beginning of each sentence we utter, at the beginning of each decision we make, and at the beginning of every action we take, let us place Him where belongs; at the beginning.

I pray that He is first and foremost in our hearts as we praise Him by singing our communion hymn.