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What Happens When the Wine Runs Out?[1]

John 2:1-11

January 18, 2003

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it.

When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Perhaps you have heard a bride or a mother of a bride say it. Perhaps you have heard a new father in the maternity ward say it.  Perhaps you have heard a graduating senior say it: This is the happiest day of my life.  Some days are like that; they're special.  There are great days in all of our lives.  I wonder what was your most wondrous moment? For me my wedding day and the two days that my boys were born were clearly such days.

Life involves many happy affairs--the birth of a child, the gatherings of Christmas, a summer vacation.  It is often said that to love and be loved is the greatest happiness in the world.  For most of us, then, the most significant movement of hope and joy is our wedding day. It's the day we celebrate before God and all our friends the love in our life.  Marriage vows are the most profound vows one can make.  No other vows are more tender, none are more sacred.  No other pledge will so radically shape and mold an individual.  Two become one.  A home is born.  A haven for family is founded.  A place to be is created not only for a man and a woman but for those that will be brought into the world to live as their children.  [2]

In the time of Jesus it was really no different.  Weddings were a time of joy shared by the entire community.  The special clothing of the bride included for the bride a fine dress often adorned with jewels and other ornaments.  The groom wore a diadem or crown.  The bride wore a veil which was removed in the bridal chamber, after the wedding.

One of the main features of the wedding ceremony was the procession of the groom and his friends with tambourines and other musical instruments.  In later periods the processions of the bride and grooms parents would leave their homes separately, and meet at an agreed-upon spot, generally returning to the groom’s house for the wedding feast.  The whole community welcomed this festive excuse for rejoicing and indulging in fine food and fun.  The typical wedding feast could last up to seven days. There is at least one story in the ancient Hebrew texts that describe a wedding lasting 14 days! [3]

Weddings are time of Joy.  They can also be can be adventures.  There once took place a wedding that went just beautifully: the bride showed up on time, the groom did not run away, the guests were impressed with all the arrangements.  The day was perfect and beautiful in every way, until the very end of the ceremony. In that tender moment when bride and groom kissed, the bride's five-year-old brother, the ring bearer, let fly with the loudest voice his little body could muster, "YUK!" Soon the congregation was rolling in laughter. As people left that afternoon, the place glowed with everyone's grins. And in years to come, when people think of that wedding or that couple, the one thing they will remember is YUK!

In a way, that is what we are confronted with in our gospel lesson. This one ALMOST became one of those weddings to remember and for a reason which would have mortified the bride and groom. They had almost run out wine.  That festive 7-day party was about to grind to a halt.[4]

  Not only was that a social embarrassment, it was also a symbol. For a wedding to run out of wine was an omen that there was little chance of this particular marriage reaching its full potential, maybe joy was not meant for this couple.

If they had run out of wine and and it had become public, at every rough patch in the life of that couple, folks would remember their wedding day and say, “Well don’t you remember, theirs was the wedding that ran out of wine.  It was doomed from the beginning.”

Mary hears about whats happening and approaches Jesus and asks him to do something about the situation.  His response? Something like, “Maaa, please leave me alone.  Why couldn’t you just have left me out of this.”  It kind of reminds me of a seven year old dragged from table to table, and relative to relative, so they can pinch his cheeks until he finally cries out in disbelief and runs off to play with his cousins.  “Why do you involve me woman?”  These words sound harsh, so unlike Jesus.  They have long puzzled biblical scholars. But this scene must be viewed in its historical context. Jesus, at this moment, had not performed a single miracle.  He was thirty years old and he had just gathered together his disciples. He knows that if he performs this miracle, a clock will start ticking and it will not stop until he gets to Calvary. Crowds will flock; investigators will be dispatched. Is this the appropriate moment? Jesus thus makes his move and gives his first public sign that he is different; he transforms water into wine.  And begins a coutdown that spans three years, lands him on a cross and sends him out the doors of a tomb into history and eternity as the savior of humanity and the Christ.  Until his mother comes to get him, he’s only been a carpenter from Nazareth, spending time with friends and family. 

Years ago when Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show he interviewed an eight year old boy. The young man was asked to appear because he had rescued two friends in a coal mine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the audience that the young man was a Christian. So Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did Johnny inquired, "What are you learning in Sunday school?" "Last week," came his reply, "our lesson was about when Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine." The audience roared with laughter but Carson tried to keep a straight face. Then he said, "And what did you learn from that story?" The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn't thought about this. But then he lifted up his face and said, "If you're going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus!" The little boy was on to something.  Invite Jesus to the wedding because inevitably the wine will run out.  And what happens then, if Jesus isn’t there to transform things?

When the Statue of Liberty was remodeled, it was discovered that the entire inside support system had to be replaced. The outside copper skin of the statue was okay; it only had to be cleaned. Rust and corrosion had ruined the inner iron supports. If repairs had not been made, the statue in 20 years would have fallen over. The iron supports were replaced with stainless steel. Now it can withstand 125 mph winds.

A person who has not invited Christ to their wedding is creating a home that will not stand the rot of time.  A person who lives without the love and grace and influence of Christ in their life may also find themselves weakening and falling apart from the deepest places inside.  Because the wine eventually runs out if not at the wedding, then often soon thereafter.  Because life inevitably leads toward death.  Because decay and rot and fatigue and imperfection is a natural and expected part of life on earth.  And then what?  What do we do when that wine runs out?[5]

The Nobel Prize author Earnest Hemmingway, well known for his book "The Old Man and The Sea," was a person who went for it all. A newspaper reporter, ambulance driver during WWII, involved in the Spanish Civil War, friend to bullfighters as well as  authors--he did it all. And, when he did it he did it to the fullest. In a manner of speaking he enjoyed the wine of life. But there came a day when the wine ran out.

Carlos Baker records the very disturbing story of Ernest Hemingway’s demise in his biography of Hemmingway like this:

Sunday morning dawned bright and cloudless. Ernest awoke early as always. He put on the red “Emperor’s robe” and padded softly down the padded stairway. The early sunlight lay in pools on the living room floor. He had noticed that the guns were locked up in the basement, but the keys, as he well knew, were on the window ledge above the kitchen sink. He tiptoed down the basement stairs and unlocked the storage room. It smelled as dank as a grave. He chose a double barreled shotgun with a tight choke. He had used if for years to shoot pigeon’s. He took some shells from one of the boxes in the storage room, closed and locked the door, and climbed the basement stairs. If he saw the bright day outside, it did not deter him. He crossed the living room to the front foyer, a shrine-like entryway five feet by seven feet, with oak-paneled walls and a floor of linoleum tile….and here I must move away from Carlos Baker’s account because there in that foyer, he killed himself.  The account Baker depicts is too disturbing and too graphic.

For Hemingway, an alcoholic, the wine really did run out.  His bottle stopped giving him the momentary gratification that had sustained him his entire life.

What will we do when the wine runs out?[6]

In his second year at college, comedian and actor Martin Short still lived at home, helping to care for his dying father. Listen to what he says about this tragic moment: "When my dad died at the end of my sophomore year, I stopped and took stock of my life. There was this real sense that my childhood was officially over. I decided that I wanted to be an actor. I knew I was loved as a kid. The thing you can always rely on, your core person, comes from your family's attention and love. When my mother got sick, and I'd see her fight to survive, it gave me an early view of bravery and what life was about. I was able to prepare for it. Your mother dies, and you're 18, and you face a choice. Are you going to take drugs? Become a drunk? Or are you going to try to become more spiritual? Why not go with the thing that seems more positive?"[7]

Inviting Jesus to the wedding.  Inviting Jesus to step in and do his thing in the bleakest, darkest, least hopeful moment makes all the difference.  We know Jesus as the bread of life.  We know him as the living water.  We love him as the way, the truth and the life.  We see that through his miracles, when our well runs dry, when our life force is low and our desperation has taken hold, Jesus is the source for continued life.

Let us take hold of the gracious gift of life he offers.  Let us usher in the God of life and love and grace.  In our prayers let us turn to him.  In our lives let us move toward his loving and merciful example.  Let us have confidence that we might never be alone in our desperation.  And ultimately let us give thanks for such gifts that come from God.

Amen.