January 14, 2007
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church I visited once the famous Louvres Museum in Paris. A giant assembly of art, ordered in halls for the different styles: the Baroque, the Renaissance, the expressionism, - I don’t know so much about this, but there was an unbelievable amount of nice things to see, and we could have spent days there. Our time was limited, and we followed the arrows to the most famous piece of art in the whole collection: The Mona Lisa. When we finally arrived, and were able to look at the little piece of painting, we were a bit surprised: For security reasons, Leonardo da Vinci’s work of art was placed in a niche behind a glass wall. A fence of chain in a semi-circle around it, made it impossible to get close. In addition, hundreds of tourists were taking photos of each other in front of the woman with the enigmatic smile, so it was not easy to approach. But luckily, in the same room, there was another piece of art to become engrossed in: A painting that depicted The wedding feast in Cana. It filled a whole, wide wall. The artist depicted the incident in a "fertile" way, the details were many, and so were the wedding guests, both well known and unknown. The picture depicted the joy of the wedding. In a way I felt pulled into the picture, as if I were present at the feast. This week I was happy to meet a couple that is going to be married. To have a wedding preparation meeting is one of the nicest things for a pastor. We plan the happy day together, and according to the new order for a wedding in the Church of Norway, the couple has more options than before. So they are able to make the ceremony very personal. Today we read about the wedding feast in Cana in Galilee. We can feel the fresh taste of the feast. At that feast, which in every culture is the biggest and most happy of all the feasts in life, there Jesus is present. Where the love between man and woman is being celebrated, where one rejoices about life, Jesus wants to be present! Imagine that Jesus is smiling, that he laughs and has a good time with friends. Just the opposite of the prejudice many people have about Jesus, that he is subduing people’s celebration and happiness, Jesus here goes providing more wine. Better wine. Abundance of wine. Having said that, something needs to be added. Personally I have chosen to be a bit reserved in the use of alcohol. In solidarity with those who because of misuse of alcohol, - and those are many, both children and adults— I have chosen to be, not totally abstaining, but very careful. We are obliged to consider our "weaker brother". The dealing with alcohol is very dependent on culture. In Norway there is probably a larger percentage of misuse, and a smaller percentage of "moderate" use of alcohol than in many other cultures. So people drink just to get drunk. It has been like that for generations. As a reaction against this, many dedicated Christians in Norway traditionally have chosen the practice of abstinence or at least a distinct moderation. Have you heard about the preacher man from South Western Norway being asked about this miracle where Jesus turns water into wine, and his answer: "We know that it is told so, but we don’t like it!" Because we human beings are born imperfect, all of God’s good gifts are being misused. Because of our greed and egoism, other people suffer. Therefore I want to preach soberly about the miracle of the wine. Personally I don’t want to be fanatic. I can not see that the Bible gives us reason for that. In Scripture there is a lot about wine, in a positive way. Jesus also installed the meal where the wine is included, Holy Communion. Only one place we find a warning: Do not get filled by wine, but get filled by the Spirit, Paul says. That is a good guideline for life. Anyway, either we like it or not, Jesus’ contribution to the feast was not at all to subdue it. Isn’t this a sign that God loves that people rejoice? Jesus increases the happiness! As the Master comes to the arena, the true and real joy increases. This has an important message for us today. The Greek word for Gospel, evangelion, means "good message." The kingdom of God is in the Bible compared to a wedding feast with a set table with an abundance of tasty dishes. The Bible portion for today also can teach us something about prayer. I think about Maria coming to her son, saying: They have no wine. That is a beautiful prayer. Simply and straight on she involves Jesus in the problem. She doesn’t prescribe him anything. She has no proposal for him, what to do. She just mentions what’s up. Isn’t that a good example for us? John, the Gospel writer tells about 7 miracles that Jesus performed. But that is not a complete list. As at the end of the 4th gospel the author adds: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30f). Also the miracle in Cana had that effect, it created faith: He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him (v.11). What we hear here, is according to the Evangelist the very first of the many miracles that Jesus performed. We notice that he starts his ministry at a joyful event! Wedding, that is a life affirming feast. That Jesus lets his first miracle happen in such a framework, means a clear YES to life, to human relationship, to the joy in the rich creation of God. So a Christian congregation is to depict this joy. The church bears a rumor about being good when there are crises and gives support where people are in need. We weep with the weeping. But are we as good at rejoicing with the rejoicing? The church is needed when life is at the evening time, when illness and depression come. And yes, then it should be good to have the church! But Jesus’ first miracle— programmatically— happened in the joy of a feast. As Christians we ought to think about that. "Do not be afraid!" "Rejoice!" That was the main "mood" in Jesus’ preaching. It is not a typical miracle of mercy Jesus performs in Cana, it is not a situation of deep hardship. That motif often was behind his deeds, as he calmed the sea, healed the sick, woke up the dead. But here it is about something else. The first time it rather is about an opulent symbolic act, the omen about a new age. God’s new era. Jesus provides the best wine. Why fast as long as the bridegroom is with us? He came to share life and abundance with us. Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit... |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |