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John 2:1-11

Did you ever see the movie Shrek?

In one of the scenes the ogre Shrek is trying to explain to his sidekick Donkey that there’s more to an ogre than meets the eye. The dialogue goes like this:

Shrek: For your information, there’s a lot more to ogres than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example? Okay, er…ogres…are…like onions.
Donkey: [sniffs onion] They stink?
Shrek: Yes…NO!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry.
Shrek: No!
Donkey: Oh, you leave them out in the sun and they turn brown and start sproutin’ little white hairs.
Shrek: NO! LAYERS! Onions have layers. OGRES have layers. Onions have layers…you get it. We both have layers.

The Gospel of John has layers too. When we take a closer look at the events and accounts that John relates in his book, we almost always find a story behind the story. This week’s passage is no different. Chapter 2 contains the narrative of an unnamed couple’s wedding celebration in the village of Cana. During the wedding feast we learn in v.3 that they had run out of wine. So they ran out of wine- big deal. Well, actually it was a big deal. In the traditional 7 day wedding celebration of Jesus’ day, running out of wine in the middle of the feast was a major catastrophe. Believe it or not a guest could by right take the couple to court for throwing a party that didn’t meet expectations. Think about that next time you’re at a wedding. On a side note, conversely, the couple could sue a guest for failing to provide an adequate wedding gift. Well, Jesus steps in to save the day, changes water to wine and the party goes on.

Now there’s much we can learn from this story but let’s look at something going on behind the scenes. In verses 6-7 we read the following:

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

John is careful to tell us that the source of the water for the miracle is six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing. These stone jars each held somewhere between 18 and 27 gallons of water and were essential to the wedding celebration inasmuch as the Judaism of Jesus’ day required the ceremonial washing of the guest’s hands and also of certain utensils. Why would Jesus take these jars and this water that was key to their religious practice and rituals and transform it into wine? What was He trying to say?
The point Jesus was making is that he is taking the old order of Jewish law and custom and replacing it with something new. This theme is repeated throughout the gospel- in nearly every chapter. For example, in John 4 we find Jesus having a conversation with a Samaritan woman. Now Samaritans practiced an “unauthorized” form of Judaism. In chapter four, verse 20 we find this woman arguing with Jesus (a Jew) about the proper venue to worship God.

“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Samaritans believed Mt. Gerazim was the place to worship and Jews believed it was the temple in Jerusalem. What is Jesus’ response?

“Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus is in essence saying that neither venue is correct because He’s introducing a completely new paradigm where worship will no longer be tied to the temple and the priestly system but true worshippers will now be able to approach the Father directly through the Spirit.

Jesus is replacing the stale, meaningless religious formalism of his day with something new and fresh.

What does this mean for us today? Much like the Judaism of Jesus’ day our faith experience, both as individuals and as a group, can often too become old and stale. Has “church” become a routine for you? Is every week a different, new and vibrant encounter with God or just a carbon copy of the previous week? When we look at Good News corporately we must ask the same questions. Several years ago while vacationing in Europe, my family and I visited an 11th century cathedral. It was under renovation and was almost completely surrounded by scaffolding. The ironic part is that while great care was being taken to preserve the structure, people no longer frequent that building. They haven’t for decades. You will find this is the case with nearly all traditional churches in Europe. The same may be true of America soon as we further plummet into a post-Christian era. Many of us have seen once vibrant churches dwindle away to nothing. How does this happen? When we become comfortable in our buildings, with our rituals and “traditions,” and lose sight of the big picture of our true mission and calling to “go out and make disciples” and burn in unswerving devotion and worship to God, we’ve lost our way.

As we study the book of John we’ll see time and time again that being a Jesus follower is a dynamic, exciting, and often dangerous proposition. How can we, both as individuals and as a group, avoid becoming “religious” people and instead become fully engaged co-laborers with Jesus, carrying his precious message of reconciliation.

Text: John 1:34-51

It was all about the invitation: “Come and see.” Once it was Jesus, replying to Andrew and John when they asked where he was staying (see verse 39). And again, when Philip was responding to Nathanial’s question about Jesus (see verse 46).

I like to hear stories of how people meet Jesus. In my case, I’m fortunate to have grown up in a home with a mom and a dad, and both were believers. So my earliest memories are about sitting in church meetings, singing the songs and hymns, listening to the preachers talk about the symbology of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament Tabernacle. And there was Sunday School with small classes taught by sincere and patient teachers.

I remember hearing stories from missionaries to Africa and Alaska. I heard evangelists from Jamaica and England. And Billy Graham at the 1964 crusades in Boston. So I had lots of voices inviting me to Jesus.

But it was my mom who led me to the Lord one night at bedtime. When I asked her a question about heaven after our nightly bedtime bible story, she told me again about God’s love and my need for a savior and invited me to give my heart to Jesus. I was only five, but God saved me that night, September 10th, 1957 at home in Lincoln, RI.

I’m curious. Who invited you to meet Jesus? Was it friend or family member who told you about Jesus? Was it a Sunday School teacher or a teacher at school or a counselor at camp? Was it in a church or in a coffee shop? Who invited you? tell me your story…

Text: John 1:19-34

It seems strange to us, a couple of thousand years later, that in Jesus’ time there was confusion about who John the Baptist was (I like to call him John the Witness), and who the Messiah was, for that matter.

But I guess the Jewish people had been duped before by people claiming to be “The Christ”. And in fact, at Jesus’ time, the Essenes of the Qumran community (the guys who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls) were looking for two Messiahs: one political and one spiritual. And Orthodox and Conservative Judaism today are still looking for the Messiah.

Prophets are another matter. God laid out clear diagnostics for determining if someone was a prophet of God or not. Check out Deuteronomy 18:21 & 22

You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him (NIV).

Yet we still seem to have a problem with prophets today. I’m thinking of Jim Jones, leading a bunch of people to South American and getting them to drink the Cool-Aid. And David Koresh comes to mind.

But just this past summer (2008) there was a guy, a tattoo covered, multi-pierced, “born again, Spirit-filled Christian,” Todd Bentley, who claimed that God spoke directly to him and that he had met and spoken with Jesus face to face many times. Tens of thousands of people gave up their vacation time to go to Lakeland, Florida to be at his packed ”revival meetings.”

Bentley claimed to heal hundreds of people, sometimes yelling “BAM!” as he struck them on the forehead in his “laying on of hands.” He even claimed to have raised 12 people from the dead!

That was before he resigned his revival in August after admitting an improper relationship with a female co-worker. Bentley and his wife have since filed for divorce. (See the article in Christianity Today magazine)

Someone has said that those who gravitate to the dramatic charismatic outpourings of the Spirit’s power are going to be the first to accept the Anti-Christ. But I don’t think that they’re the only ones.

What do you think? Are we too gullible? Will we too easily fall for anything? The latest Christian fad or phenom? Or, on the other hand, are we so concerned about being duped (or maybe so jaded and skeptical) that we miss–or even deliberately reject–the obvious signs of God’s power and activity in the “circumstances” our lives?

In his contemporary classic, Experiencing God, (a quick must-read), Dr. Henry Blackaby writes that God is at work all around us. But we too often fail to see it, enjoy it, or give him the credit. What do you think?

During this Sunday’s Celebration & Growth (10/4/08) we’ll be focusing on John 1:6-18.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.'”

From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. (New Living Translation)

Some time ago Joan Osborn wrote a song called “What If God Was One Of Us.” The song got a fair amount of airplay in its day and while the lyrics aren’t great the idea of God living among his creation is truly remarkable. Often we have an idealized view of Jesus, a view perhaps perpetuated by pictures and movies where He appears as a “perfect” 6’3″ blond-haired, blue-eyed physical specimen wearing blinding white garments fastened by a powder blue sash. While this plays well in Hollywood it’s probably not very accurate. In fact, Isaiah 53:2 describes Christ with the following language “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.”

Many of us are familiar with the term Incarnation. This is a term theologians use to describe Jesus God becoming a human being. Theologians also use another term to describe Christ willingly putting aside his glory and His divine privileges. The term they use is Humiliation. Imagine… the humiliation of the Creator of the universe. In The Message Eugene Peterson puts it this way:

When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.  (Phil. 2:6-8)

What does mean for us today? It means we have a God that has truly shared in the gamut of human experience.  It means we have a God who has felt joy and pain, laughter and tears, a God who knows your fears and heartaches, your shame and doubt. And whatever your joy today, whatever your struggle, He understands. He’s been there.

I found this great quote by Frederick Buechner:

“We all want to be certain, we all want proof, but the kind of proof that we tend to want–scientifically or philosophically demonstrable proof that would silence all doubts once and for all–would not in the long run, I think, answer the fearful depths of our need at all. For what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists, not just that beyond the steely brightness of the stars there is a cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going, but that there is a God right here in the thick of our day-by-day lives who may not be writing messages about himself in the stars but who in one way or another is trying to get messages through our blindness as we move around down here knee-deep in the fragrant muck and misery and marvel of the world. It is not objective proof of God’s existence that we want but, whether we use religious language for it or not, the experience of God’s presence. That is the miracle that we are really after. And that is also, I think, the miracle that we really get.” 1

What an amazing God!

1. Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat (New York: HarperCollins, 1966), 47.