Wedding Sermon / Anneliese & Justin Rodko / John 2:1–11 - Pastor Ted Giese / Mount Olive Lutheran Church - June 26th 2021

Wedding Sermon / Anneliese & Justin Rodko / Mount Olive Lutheran Church / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Saturday June 26th 2021: Season of Pentecost / John 2:1–11 "The Best is Yet to Come."

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends. Sleepless nights, attention to detail, favours from friends and family, budgets, careful planning, preparations both expected and unexpected, everything needs to be perfect … and then … you run out of wine! How terrible. This is what we heard just now in our Gospel reading for today. While running out of wine, or beer, would be embarrassing at a wedding the thing to think about here is that even the best laid plans can go sideways. And for the wedding at Cana in Galilee that day it was good that they had invited Jesus and His disciples to be their guests. A Christian wedding, a Christian marriage is one in which the couple, even today, invites Jesus to be their guest. The twist in the account of this wedding that we just heard about from the Gospel of Saint John is that who Jesus truly was, and what He could truly do, was still under wraps. His mother knew but it wasn’t completely public yet and weddings are a matter of public record. So any miracles done at a wedding would be equally public.

Now Anna and Justin I can’t promise that Jesus will turn water into wine or beer if you run out later today, but I can tell you that He will keep His promises to you today and all the days of your married life together. He promises His forgiveness when you come with an honest heart that desires to do better. As we have talked about leading up to this day your spouse is the person closest to you: which means they are the one you will have the most opportunity to do good things for and they are the one you have the most opportunity to disappoint and to sin against. For this reason, as your invited guest, Jesus promises to be with you in the heart of your joy, celebrating with you, and in the heart of your trouble, providing the miracle of forgiveness and peace.   

Jesus’ mother the day of the wedding said to Jesus, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother the Virgin Mary said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” This is good advice for those servants that day and it is good advice for us all this day, and in His Holy Word we heard this inspired advice from Jesus’ apostle Saint Paul in his letter to the Colossian, advice not just for Anna and Justin but for all of us, especially those of us who are married: “Put on … compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”[1] Hold these words close to your heart and follow them.

Now you have been blessed to have no major upsets as you prepared for this day, no troubles that you were unable to overcome. Your sleepless nights, attention to detail, favours from friends and family, careful budgeting and planning, your preparations both expected and unexpected, have turned out well and I pray that the rest of the day is equally blessed. Even still there is one last encouragement that can be gained from Jesus’ attendance at the Wedding at Canna in Galilee that day: When the master of the feast called the bridegroom over to him upon discovering the unexpected wine after Jesus’ miracle the master of the feast said to the groom, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Justin, Anneliese no matter how well things have gone, and with everything else forgiven along the way in Christ Jesus, I can say to you today that the door to your future is opening wide for you, you stand on the threshold together and the best is yet to come, it has been saved for now. Jesus turns the water into wine; Jesus takes the two of you and makes you husband and wife. We all here, your friends and family are the ones who fill the jars with water; He is the one who turns it into wine. God bless you today and always. Amen.    

Let us pray:

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

[1] Colossians 3:12–13

Photo Credits: Photo from Wedding by Pr. Ted Giese; Wedding at Cana painting Photo by A.Davey published on fliker (cropped to remove frame); Wine Glasses by Valeria Boltneva from pexels.