A Low to Medium Catering Catastrophe...

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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_VeGFPY6BM

So there you go, weddings always seem to attract a certain element of drama don’t they!

And let’s face it, weddings are big business nowadays.

On average there just shy of 300,000 weddings in the UK each year, with less than 20% of those taking place in a religious building of some kind.

Perhaps unsurprisingly August is the most popular wedding month, with January proving to be the least popular.

The most popular song for a first Dance is Perfect by Ed Sheeran

The most popular honeymoon destination is the Maldives

And the average cost of a wedding in 2019 - £31,974!

It appears that getting married is a rich person’s game right now! Weddings have become about lavish parties, celebrations long into the night, indulgent food, and endless supplies of wine.

What a shame eh! It wasn’t like that in the olden days now was it?

Or was it?

This week Jesus goes to a wedding! It’s a great story and one which only features in the Gospel of John. It is often known as Jesus’s very first miracle, and yet….John doesn’t call it a miracle at all. John writes:

“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”

As first signs or miracles go, it’s a pretty handy one to have, isn’t it? I bet Jesus was on the guest list for all future parties after this one….”Make sure Jesus is invited, and cancel the catering. Old Mr Magic hands will sort out the drinks…!’ Amazing really!

Perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s go back a bit.

Jesus, his mother Mary and some of Jesus’s followers are invited to a wedding. Your average, run of the mill Galilean wedding. We don’t know who these people were or why they invited Jesus along, but perhaps they were old family friends or neighbours? One thing’s for sure….Jesus wasn’t invited for his miracle working prowess, not yet anyway.

Part way through the wedding the wine runs out. Now this is a pretty big deal at a Galilean wedding. Think ‘forgetting to pay for any food for your guests at a modern day wedding’. It’s awkward, it’s embarrassing and it’s the sort of situation that’s going to leave a black mark against the name of the newly married couple for a long, long time.

So, enter Jesus…..well, actually no. Enter Mary. Mary, being the conscientious person that she is gets wind of this tricky situation and tells Jesus to help.

‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’

Now, it’s important to note that Jesus isn’t being as rude to His Mum as we might hear it now. The word Woman that Jesus uses isn’t meant in the somewhat negative way that it would be if I were to say that to my own Mum. But even so, Jesus rebuffs her request. And here comes my first favourite bit of this passage…..Mary rebuffs Jesus!

‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’

His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’

It’s great isn’t it. You might be the Son of God but you can still learn a thing or two from your Mother. Somehow, Mary knew that Jesus could help. Somehow she was sensitive the deep embarrassment for this young couple and she ropes her son in to help, even if He feels as though ‘His hour has not yet come’.

What is it that William Shakespeare said about greatness….

“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”

This is Mary, thrusting greatness upon Jesus.

And so we know how the story ends. Not only does Jesus solve the problem, but he also provides the best wine anyone has ever tasted. So much so, that the guests start coming over to question the logic of the groom serving the rubbish wine first, when this stuff tastes so much better!

Oh little did they know how it had all come about.

There is one thing though that I think we ought to reflect on before we go. This story could be dismissed as a bit of a light-hearted joke. Whilst no doubt deeply important to the bride and groom, let’s face it, it isn’t one of Jesus’s most life changing miracles, is it? The One who would go on to cast out demons, restore sight to the blind and even raise people from the dead starts off with a low to medium catering catastrophe.

So what does that tell us about Jesus? What does this story, and its inclusion in the Bible, tell us about God’s relationship with humankind?

Well, I think it demonstrates that God cares about the small things in our lives. It’d be very easy, for someone capable of casting out demons and restoring sight to the blind, to refuse to help out with such a minor quibble. But despite His initial hesitance, Jesus caters for the couple in a way that they couldn’t have imagined.

Sometimes when we come before God in prayer we can feel a bit inadequate with some of our requests, can’t we? Our prayers can sometimes go a bit like….

“Oh Lord, I’d really like help with this meeting I have today, but I do recognise you might have your hands full at the moment and in the grand scheme, my small meeting isn’t all that important compared to the suffering and pain of so many people in our world.”

But God doesn’t work like that, does He?

Jesus demonstrates care and concern, and importantly provision to even the smallest of our worries. 1 Peter 5:7 says ‘Cast all your anxiety on Him, because he cares for you!’

The love that God has for us is not just reserved for our darkest times. It is not just there like some kind of emergency supply…..there if we really have to dip into it, but we’d really rather you didn’t call on us. God’s love for us is there every day; abundant, overflowing, full to the brim with love for you is the Lord God, just like an overflowing water jar at a nearly embarrassing wedding.

God’s love and concern for you is always there, no matter the circumstances or scenario. So the next time you find yourself in a spot of bother...bring it to God and know that He cares. Let’s face it, none of us want to face the party of life with empty wine jars, now do we?

Amen.