Does God Even Care?

John 2:1-11

Does God even care? There’s a couple ways you could think about that question. First of all, that question could be asked in frustration or anger. If you’ve had a number of things that have happened that have been challenging, difficult, maybe you kind of look to the sky and say, “Does God even care?” Or maybe you ask it because you’re thinking about something that’s not all that important, at least to our eyes, like, “I had a banana for breakfast this morning. Does God even care? I chose to wear this greenish sort of tie. Does God even care?” Because those details seem so small, right? Does God even care? The text in front of us helps us to think through this whole question, “Does God even care?” And may I suggest both of the scenarios laid out just a second ago really have the exact same answer. And thank God they have the exact same answer. And the exact same answer is that, yes, God cares and he cares deeply. He cares deeply about the frustrations, the challenges, the big stuff in our lives. And he cares if you had a banana for breakfast or chose the green tie. Because if he didn’t care also about the little stuff, would you ever have any assurance that he cared also about the big stuff? Well, no, you really wouldn’t. And we can see all of that here at the wedding of Cana. There’s this wedding. Who’s it for? Good question. We don’t know. The bridal couple is never married because the bridal couple isn’t the key players in this account. Who is? What are the guests? Who’s there? Was it perhaps a relative of Mary and Joseph’s, some sort of relation to Jesus? Could be. And the reason we think that it could be that or maybe a close friend is because Mary seems to have some degree of involvement with the wedding. She seems to have oversight of some kind for what’s going on there at the wedding. And not only has Mary been invited, but Jesus has been invited too, along with his disciples. Why are his disciples invited? And when exactly did this take place? Good question. That little phrase at the very beginning of the text, on the third day, on the third day in relation to what is the question? What had come in John chapter one was Jesus being down in Judea, just north of the Dead Sea, being baptized by John in the Jordan River and just beginning to call some disciples to himself. Did they travel three days over to Cana in order to attend this wedding? Maybe. But if Jesus has just barely begun to call disciples to him, would that warrant them an invite to the wedding? That kind of doesn’t seem to make much sense, does it? Unless the disciples also were known to the couple, there’s a number of questions. One thing we know for sure, they were there. And they’re running out of wine. Does God care? I mean, is that this big, is this that big a deal? Yeah, the host family might be a little embarrassed. Yeah, maybe the party breaks up a little sooner than it would have, but the couple would have still been married, there would have still been a celebration. Is it really that big a deal? Perhaps to our eyes, it doesn’t look like it would even be that big a deal. And why would Jesus do anything about this? It’s not that big a deal. Or maybe it was a bigger deal than you and I would think. While I was researching for this sermon, came across this very interesting quote. “On the backgrounds of this miracle, a guy named JDM Derritt pointed out, among other things, the strong element of reciprocity about weddings in the ancient Near East. It was possible in certain circumstances to take legal action against the man who failed to provide an appropriate wedding gift.” Talk about an overly litigious society, huh? Maybe this was a bigger deal than we thought. Maybe this family was going to be under some sort of financial obligation or financial burden to the guests if they run out of wine. Maybe. But even so, should God care? I mean, why did they run out of wine? Was it because they’d planned poorly? Or was it because more people than they expected had come? Or had the guests imbibed more than they had expected or overly imbibed? At the end of the day, we don’t know. But Mary does know what to do when she comes to Jesus. “Woman, my time has not yet come.” Jesus says to her. Which brings us to ask that question again. Does God care? Because from Jesus’ answer, it almost sounds as if he doesn’t, right? He’s referring to his mother as “woman.” That seems a little odd. But maybe there’s a hint in there of him saying to her, “I care for you deeply.” But a big change has just happened. I’ve been baptized, and when I was baptized, I officially took up my work as the Savior of the world, including Mary being your Savior. And by calling her “woman,” he wasn’t disrespecting her. Nor was he talking down to her or impersonally to her. Rather, what he was saying to her is, “I am the true God, the God who rules the world.” Which would include a little hint, “I can do something about this, and I’m going to.” In other words, by calling her “woman” instead of “mom,” he’s actually letting her know, “I care about this. And I’m going to do something about this.” Well, Mary picks up on it, and she goes to the servants and says, “Do whatever he tells you.” And there were six stone water jars there, each holding 20 to 30 gallons of water. Jesus says to them, “Fill them up.” Now, stop and think how much work that would have been. How heavy would a stone water jar be that stands yea tall? Yeah, I’m guessing that wasn’t the easiest thing to have to round. Do they have to go down to the town well? Do they have to go to a local river? How’d they do this? Don’t know. But I’m guessing this was a lot of work. Regardless, they got it done. Then Jesus says to them, “Takes them out and take it to the master of the banquet.” Apparently, the masters of the banquets would get the first taste of the next kind of wine that was being served. And had to give his approval to it to be served to the rest of the guests. So can you imagine you’re this servant, and you dip out water, and you’re going to the master of the banquet and he’s expecting to taste wine? Think there might have been some nerves going on? Oh, I’m guessing. But when he gets there, the water has been turned into wine. And oh, what kind of wine? The best that they had had. Surpassing everything that had come before. And we would assume that this banquet did it like every banquet did, that they served the best first and then the quality went downhill as things went along. So we’ve got quality going downhill and boom, the best that they’ve had. Does God care? He sure did. Oh, and how much did he make? Six jars, each holding 20 to 30 gallons. I’m not a math major, but even I can do that math. 120 to 180 gallons of wine. Do you think they ran out again? I don’t think so. Does God care? Oh my, does he? What is your God and my God able to do for you and for me? He’s able to care for us deeply in the best possible ways with incredible generosity. This family was in a world of hurt in that culture. Did God care? Yes. And God did for them what they needed. Now, does God promise to always snatch us up out of every disaster that we get ourselves into? No, he doesn’t. God may exactly know that staying in that troublesome place might be the best thing for us. I’m sure there were other weddings that took place where people ran out of wine and Jesus didn’t miraculously step in. But on this one, it was the right thing to do. And he did it because he cared. What comes right after the text has always interested me. What comes after this text isn’t Jesus building on the accomplishment. You’d expect that what Jesus would do would be to kind of build out from the wedding of Cain and say, “Hey, did you guys hear about how I turned water into wine yesterday? I’m going to do some more miracles today and begin bringing more and more people to him.” Wouldn’t that have made some sense? That makes sense to me, to my logical mind. Instead, what Jesus does is he and his disciples withdraw to Capernaum and spend some time with his family. Why so? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I think it’s because he cares. Things have just taken a huge change for Jesus’ family. To this point in his life, he’s just been son Jesus, brother Jesus. Now he’s Jesus, and he always was, but now it’s clear that he is Jesus the God-man and he’s going to be out there doing miracles. And yes, a lot of those miracles are going to be things that people will praise God for and thank God for and be in awe about, but there is also going to be pressure, and there is going to be anger, and there are going to be people who reject Jesus. Even his own hometown, the people are going to try to throw him off a cliff. Do you think that might have been a little tough on marrying the brothers and sisters? Oh, I’m thinking! So what does Jesus do right after miracle number one? He goes and spends some time with his family. And like I said, I think it’s exactly because he wants them to know, “I care for you. I’m willing to step aside from what could have happened next, and I’m willing to just go and spend time with you and just hang out with my family.” Because he cares. And you of course know the rest of Jesus’ story. How much did Jesus care? How much does Jesus care? Enough that he was willing to go to the cross, enough that he was willing to bear our sins and pay for them in full. That’s how much he cares. And if we were to ever have any doubts about it whatsoever, he gives us one other incredible gift, that he gives us his supper, that the true God, yes, the one who could turn water into wine, is going to feed us with bread and wine. But in with and through it, what’s he going to give to you? Himself, his true body and blood. Can you imagine that the God of the universe, the immortal one, is going to join himself to the mortal ones. The sinless one is going to join himself to the sinful ones. The almighty God is going to pour out forgiveness and love and power and peace upon his people by giving you his true body, his true blood. Can there be any question as to whether God cares? If he’s willing to give you himself? No, my dear brothers and sisters, there can be no question whatsoever that your God cares for you and cares for you deeply. Amen? Amen. Amen.