Extravagant Generosity

John 2:1-12

January 8, 2012, David M. Griebner, Riverside UMC

Today we are beginning a new series. This series is loosely based on a new book about Jesus by John Eldredge titled Beautiful Outlaw. In essence this book is an invitation to think about the personality of Jesus in fresh ways. Almost everyone I have ever met or known has left me with an impression, some way I might describe them to someone else. How would you describe the personality of Jesus? Or His character? This is what John invites us to explore with him. Here are some of the chapter titles/topics. Fierce Intention (next week for us). Disruptive honesty. Scandalous freedom. Humility. And the one that I think is my favorite, Cunning. Each chapter focuses on several stories from the Gospels, which reveal these personality traits, so you are not only discovering new insights into the personality of Jesus, but you are also reading much of the New Testament.

I invite you to read the book and I hope you will choose to do so in some kind of small group, perhaps one you are already in or with a few friends who might come together just for this book. The books are $12. We have 25 copies available today. If we run out any books ordered today will be here by mid-week.

The chapter we are starting today with is titled Extravagant Generosity. It is actually the sixth chapter in the book, but I thought it was a good one to get us started. Do you know anyone whom you would describe as “truly generous” or even “extravagantly generous?” Have you ever thought of Jesus as extravagantly generous? How is He generous? Why is He generous? This chapter is almost entirely based on John chapter 2, the wedding at Cana. For me this story breaks down into two major sections. Let’s take a look.

In what I am calling the first section of the story we discover that Jesus, His mother Mary, and His disciples have been invited to a wedding. Weddings at this time were wonderful, multi-day celebrations. You didn’t need a rabbi to perform any kind of ceremony, but the presence of a rabbi was often sought. Many of the stories about rabbis show them to be the life of the party at a wedding. At this particular wedding the wine ran out. Opinions differ on how serious this situation was. Some say it would have been a major source of shame or at least embarrassment to the family, others not so much.

At any rate Jesus’ mother thinks it is the kind of thing He might be able to do something about. This is a key point to remember. Jesus’ mother thinks this is something He can fix and she feels entitled to tell Him so. Does this fit with what you know about mothers? Have you ever heard of a mother making a suggestion to her son or daughter about what they need to do? Don’t you think you ought to write a thank you note to your grandmother for the nice socks she knitted for you for Christmas? Look, there’s ___________’s son/daughter. I think he/she is pretty/handsome. Don’t you? I bet you two would make cute couple. School starts tomorrow; don’t you have a book report due? Excuse me, son, they are out of wine. Be a good boy and take care of it for your mother. Don’t think I’m just picking on mothers. Fathers do the same thing in their own way.

What does Jesus say in response? “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4 ESV) Jesus’ response sounds a little testy or dismissive to us. I’m told that in the original language and customs of the day it isn’t, but it sounds that way to us. The first part of this phrase is actually a Jewish idiom, or way of speaking, that can be translated several different ways. One other way this could be rendered is, “You must not tell me what to do.” Remember this. This concludes the first section of the story.

Following this response Mary simply says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby, we are told, there were six stone water jars each big enough to hold from twenty to thirty gallons. These jars were used to hold the water for the ritual washing of hands that the Jews practiced before a meal. The presence of six jars may suggest that this was a fairly large wedding. Jesus says, “Fill them up with water.” John notes that the servants filled them up to the brim. When all the jars have been filled up to the brim Jesus says, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” The master of the feast tastes the water that has become wine and his eyes get big! Wait a minute. This isn’t the cheap stuff. This is the time in the party when people have had enough they don’t care what they are drinking and you can get by with some Two Buck Chuck or Boone’s Farm. But you have waited until now to serve the Chateau Lafite Rothschild! Here today I have six five gallon buckets. That’s thirty gallons. Or roughly just enough to fill up one of the six stone jars that Jesus was looking at. That’s a lot of wine.

In conclusion John says, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

Now let me add a touch of Beautiful Outlaw to the conversation. In the book John Eldredge makes this story the centerpiece of a chapter titled Extravagant Generosity. He argues that Jesus is precisely the kind of person you would want to have at your wedding, or for that matter, at any other moment in your life. He is the kind of person who brings joy, wonder, insight and hope, to every situation or condition. He didn’t need to make 120 to 180 gallons of the best wine, but He did! And He longs to shower our lives with precisely this kind of outrageous generosity. In fact, He already does. If we truly had eyes to see we would see every breath is a gift. Every day is a reason to rejoice. Every meal shared with loved ones or friends is something to be treasured. Every night’s rest a blessing. Every new day is an opportunity. Jesus longs to open our eyes to the absolutely incredible blessings poured out on us lavishly every day.

And yet, we don’t always feel this way, do we. Years ago a spiritual teacher I respected made an observation that I think may be helpful here. He said that God offers us a waterfall of love and grace and joy and blessing, but we all too often go to it with a teacup. Jesus offers us extravagant generosity. What can we do to better welcome what He has to offer? To answer this question I want to go back to the first part of the story, the exchange between Mary and Jesus. All too often as we read this story our eyes go immediately to the water turned to wine, but I think the real key to the story for us is in this conversation.

I’ll get right to the point. For thirty years she has been His mother. If she told Him it was time for bed, He went. If she asked Him to take out the garbage, He did it. If she told Him to wash His hands before a meal, He obeyed. But now all this is changing. He is beginning His ministry. And it can’t be that way anymore. In this simple exchange, Jesus is adjusting their relationship. He is pointing it in a new direction. And I would describe it like this. In order to become our Savior, He can no longer be her son the way He has been.

This exchange between mother and son holds a powerful lesson for us. Here it is. Jesus longs to bless us. He wants to give us what we need. But it is hard for Him to truly bless us or to truly give us what we need as long as we are trying to tell Him who He is and what He needs to do. Jesus is asking Mary to let Him be what God has appointed Him to be. Jesus asks us to do the same.

All too often we try to tell Jesus who He needs to be with us. “Could you be a little more human?” some seem to say. “I just can’t deal with that walking on water stuff or feeding 5000 people with just a few loaves and fishes. It just doesn’t make sense to me.” Someone else will say, “I don’t like it when you say You are the only way to the Father. That bothers me. I need You to be more inclusive. A little more sensitive to the way the world is today.”

Excuse me Son they are out of wine. Be a good boy and take care of that for your mother. Jesus longs to bless us. He wants to give us what we need. But it is hard for Him to truly bless us or to truly give us what we need as long as we are trying to tell Him who He is and what hoops He need to jump through for us.

If we will accept this reality, we can move on to the real blessing. What if Jesus had responded differently to Mary? What if, instead of moving her toward this new relationship with Him, He had said, “All right mother, what do you want me to do?” Do you think in her wildest imagination she would ever have said, “Why don’t you fill up those six stone jars with water and turn it into wine?” Not in a million years. In another place in Beautiful Outlaw John puts it this way. “Love Jesus. Let Him be Himself with you. Allow His life to permeate yours. The fruit of this will be…breathtaking.” (p. 140)

I saw a picture in the Dispatch this week that evoked something in me. It was half-page photo of the Stanford University placekicker. Apparently he missed a field goal that cost them the game. Now it was just a football game. No lives were lost. He’s probably already over it. And yet, when I looked at that picture I thought about the things in my life that I hang my head over. Opportunities missed. Times when I know I could have done better. What would happen if we let Jesus be Jesus in all the ‘shoulda coulda woulda’ situations and memories in our lives? What if He could show us a different way of carrying all those regrets? What if He could give us a new way to imagine the future?

This is precisely what Jesus longs to do. He longs to bless us. He longs to give us what we need. In fact He longs to give us what we cannot currently even begin to imagine. But He cannot do this as long as we insist on telling Him who He is and what kind of hoops He needs to jump through to meet our expectations.

What will it be? Where will you put your heart? Excuse me Son they are out of wine. Be a good boy and take care of that for your mother. Or, “Love Jesus. Let Him be Himself with you. The fruit of this will be…breathtaking.”

Think about your life as it is right now. Where is Jesus asking you to let Him be Himself with you? Where is He possibly asking you to stop trying to tell Him what to do so He can get on with doing what He knows needs to be done, what you cannot even imagine? What kind of water is just waiting to turn into wine?

As we close I invite you to choose something in your life and give Jesus the freedom to do whatever He wants with it. Or, better yet, let Him choose. Ask Him what part of your life He is just waiting for you to give to Him so He can something amazing with it. Let’s pray…