The Beginning of Signs

I don't have a catchy beginning to my sermon today. I apologize.

You know, in sermon prep, I'm supposed to tell you some story or some joke at the beginning,

and I couldn't think of one.

And so I apologize for that, that I haven't been able to grab your attention right off,

excuse me, with some telling story, but I can't.

So turn in your Bibles instead to John 2, verse 1, on page 919.

John 2:1

And I want to show you a little simple clue as to how to become a better reader of the Bible.

So if you're using your pew Bibles, it's page 919, and it's John 2, and it's in verse 11.

Verse 11 is sort of a...

I mean, I'm not saying this because I believe the Bible is God's word written.

I really do.

I believe that every word is ultimately there because that's the word that God wanted to be there.

And I think God can do that type of thing, and he did do that thing,

and we hold the result of his work in our hands.

But at the same time, the way that God chose to have his words written,

in this case, is he chose to have a book written, like it's a book.

And so those of us who are used to reading books and are good at reading books,

we have the potential to be good at reading the Bible as well.

We have the potential to be good at reading some of the books in the Bible.

And John has obviously given lots and lots of thought to how he wanted to write his gospel.

Tradition, early church tradition, is that John's was the last of the gospels which was written.

And, you know, so it's as if John spent years and years and years, you know,

making notes and thinking about it, and he thought, you know,

how can I write a book that will really try to communicate what I want to say about Jesus?

And so, well, here, let's just read verse 11 of chapter 2.

This is the verse after he's told the story of the water being turned into wine,

and he says this,

The beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee,

and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Now, I'm going to explain in a moment,

but notice, after he's told this very, very first significant miracle,

this is what he says,

This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee,

and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Now, turn to the back of John,

not the back of your Bibles, but the back of John,

and that's on page, if you're using the Pew Bibles,

it's page 941.

941.

And John chapter 20 is the story of the three significant,

John 20 · chapter mention

several significant resurrection appearances,

where Jesus, to prove to his disciples that he really had conquered death

and had been resurrected, he appears to them in significant ways.

And after this summary of them,

and chapter 21 is sort of going to finish up some final bits of the story

to launch us into ministry,

this is what John says in verse 30 and 31.

And truly,

and listen how similar it is to verse 11 of chapter 2.

So John 2, 11 is like right at the beginning of the book,

and this is almost at the end of the book,

and the same type of idea is communicated by John,

sort of like an editorial aside.

And truly, Jesus did many other signs

in the presence of his disciples,

which are not written in this book.

But these are written,

that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and that believing,

you may have life in his name.

And so what we see is this,

that what John decided to do was,

and if you actually go and read the very last few verses of John,

you'll see that John says,

you know what,

my three years with Jesus,

Jesus performed so many miracles,

and did so many unbelievable things,

that it would just take book after book after book after book to try to record it.

So what, in a sense, he's saying is,

you know, so I spent years thinking,

how can I tell people about Jesus?

And what he decided to do is,

he decided that he would spend the first half of his book,

picking,

he picked a series of significant miracles,

that all told something very important about who Jesus is,

what he's doing,

and what it means for us as human beings.

And so he decided that he'd organize his book

by telling these series of significant signs.

And then at the very end of the gospel,

he would tell of the most significant sign of all,

which was the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And the purpose of all of these is,

he says,

I'm going to tell of a series of signs or miracles,

and every one of them is a matter of,

it shows forth how Jesus reveals his glory.

And the ultimate revealing of his glory

is when he hangs upon the cross and dies,

and when he rises triumphant from death and sin and hell

and the evil one on the third day.

That is the most significant of the signs.

I'm going to leave that at the end,

but I'm going to lead up to it

by a series of significant miracles.

And these things reveal the glory of who Jesus is.

Who is he?

He is the Messiah,

and he is God's son.

And the purpose of all of these things

is so that we might believe in him

and have faith in him.

And that's how he wrote his gospel.

And so turn back then to chapter 2, verse 11,

and listen again.

So this in a sense,

John isn't going to repeat this,

but on the coming weeks,

you're going to see a series of significant miracles.

And every time you see one of these significant miracles,

keep in mind chapter 2, verse 11.

This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee

and manifested his glory,

and his disciples believed in him.

Now, note the first part of this sentence,

this beginning of signs that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee.

You know, it's funny that even as he records this,

he specifically tells us where the story happened.

See, one of the things about John's gospel

is he wants to communicate to us

that these miracles are real,

that they're true,

that they actually happened.

In fact, if we don't understand that,

we won't really understand the significance of the,

you know, the whole significance.

If John wants to communicate to us

that these miracles are real

and that they are signs that point to something,

that they are, in a sense, a clue about something,

two Saturdays ago in the Ask the Religion experts,

the question was about miracles.

And I read the four Christian,

or people who are part of Christian churches,

their response to this.

And two of the responders,

the Anglican and the Orthodox responder,

got the matter completely and utterly wrong.

The Catholic guy got it pretty good.

You have to give him like an A.

And the United Church guy sort of said

some really good things

and some really odd, you know,

some things that sort of undermined it.

And so I don't know what mark I'd give him

because I wouldn't know which side of it

to sort of take.

But interestingly enough,

it's almost as if the Anglican and the Orthodox guy

got together

because between the two of them,

they gave the two common misunderstandings

of what miracles are,

the two most common understandings.

And in a sense today,

this is really the heart of my sermon,

is for us to understand something around this.

Because you see,

both the Anglican and the Orthodox guy,

without acknowledging it,

they've basically accepted

what the modern and the postmodern world

tells us about reality,

and they've tried to reinterpret

the Christian faith appropriately or accordingly.

And you see,

at the very, very heart of the modern project

and even the postmodern project,

this is like a little bit philosophical,

but it's not that complicated, really.

It's as if we are to live as if there is no God.

Whether or not God exists,

if he does exist,

he's completely and utterly shut out

of the created order,

and the created order sort of runs itself,

has its own integrity,

runs according to its own laws,

and none of these things need God.

God doesn't have to come into any of the explanations,

and in fact,

God is completely and utterly irrelevant to it.

If you want to have some religious beliefs,

well, good on you, mate.

But those religious beliefs

are something that just affects your perception

or your emotions.

It's something private and internal to you.

And by the way,

your religion should be private and internal as well,

and shouldn't have any type of an impact

on other people or on the public square.

Your religion should be private,

your spirituality should be private,

and ultimately,

the heart of your private religion

should be about things that affect your emotions

or things that just affect

how you sort of view things,

your internal perceptions of your own brain.

And that has to be the case.

Why?

Because we know that dead people don't rise.

We know that water doesn't get turned into wine.

And we know that people don't walk on water.

We know that all these things don't happen,

can't possibly happen,

because nature has its laws,

its systems,

its own integrity,

and it runs on its own.

And that's just the world we live in, folks.

So if you want to have sort of,

you know,

some people collect stamps,

you know,

and some people collect plates,

and some people like going to church,

and some people like to meditate,

and listen,

it's all cool,

just, you know,

leave it to yourself,

and it's just something private and internal.

And this understanding of reality

then leads,

the Anglican guy said that a miracle

is really,

well,

it's just like being able to see beauty.

That's all it is.

Like some people can see beauty,

and, you know,

they just look at things,

and they just have that ability within themselves

to see beauty,

where they see things.

And it's the same type of thing with miracles.

It's just that some people have this ability

just to see,

you know,

the miracle of a sunset,

or the miracle of an old person's smile,

or the miracle of the gurgling of a baby.

And the Anglican guy,

by saying that,

is falling right into one of the fundamental traps

of the modern world and postmodern world.

And the Orthodox guy takes the other sense side.

He said it's like the experience of wonder.

Some people are freed up,

and they can experience wonder.

And if you can experience wonder,

if you can allow yourself to experience wonder,

then you'll start to experience the miraculous

all around you,

and you'll just have like this type of experience

that can carry you through life.

And to the Orthodox guy,

and to the Anglican guy,

John would say,

you are seriously wrong.

The guy who wrote John would say,

you are seriously wrong.

I disagree with you to the utmost.

You and I aren't talking about the same thing at all.

John would say,

your account for how the world is,

is not what the Bible teaches.

The Bible teaches

that God creates all things,

that he sustains all things,

and that the reason that all things

have their integrity,

and have their purpose,

and have their order,

is because it was created by a purposeful,

mindful, powerful God,

who really does exist.

And God has created things,

he sustains things,

and this shouldn't terrify us,

because, you know,

if there were many gods,

and many gods created many different things,

you might never know what,

like reality would be unbelievably chaotic,

but there is only one God

who's made all things,

and he sustains all things,

and he invites us to,

in Genesis chapter,

you know,

chapter one and two,

to examine the world,

and understand the world,

and think about the world,

and he has placed

a beautiful,

and a wonderful,

and a marvelous order

in this world.

And the same God

who creates all things,

and sustains all things,

when he feels like doing a new thing,

in his creation,

he can do it,

and that's a miracle.

I'll give you an example.

To a Christian,

it would be like this.

Some of you folks

are young student types.

Imagine that you have

the most remarkable granny,

like,

just the most remarkable grandmother

in the world.

And this grandmother

comes up to you

and puts her arm around you

one time and says,

you know, dear,

I know how hard it is

getting started,

and I've decided

that at the last day

of the month,

I'm going to put $500

in your bank account.

And I'm going to do that

every month,

and I'll take into account

inflation,

and every month,

I'm going to put $500

in just to sort of round off

some of the edges

of your life.

And I'm going to not only

do that while you're in school,

but, you know,

I know how hard it is.

I remember how hard it is

to get started in a career,

and it's even harder nowadays,

and I'm going to keep on doing that

until you've sort of

got well established.

Don't worry about it.

There's always going to be

that $500

at the end of the month.

And it's always going to,

and you know,

so year,

month and month,

and year and year goes by,

and it's always there.

You know,

in a sense,

we Christians would say,

that's exactly what

the created order is like.

Just as that grandmother

is unbelievably dependable,

and that $500

shows up

every month

without fail,

and that person can do,

the young person

can do with it

whatever they want.

In a sense,

that's just what, like,

nature is like.

The sun always rises,

things that you drop

always fall,

and it's rock solid.

It is completely

and utterly dependable.

But here's the difference.

You see,

we Christians know

that ultimately

it's because the grandmother

is putting that $500

in the bank.

It doesn't sort of

come out of nowhere.

And so one day,

the young person,

you know,

they've,

their dad

and mom

have given them

this car,

and they've really

come to depend upon it.

They've got a part-time job.

They really need

that car to drive there.

And one day,

the transmission goes,

the rad goes,

like,

just about everything

on that car

that could possibly

go wrong

all goes.

And the young person

is just,

you're completely

and utterly,

you don't know

what to do.

You need the job

because it's,

you know,

it's opening up doors

for your future.

You can't possibly

pay to fix this.

You're at your wit's end.

And so,

so you finally

screw up the courage

after worrying about this

for three or four days

and you get on the phone

and you call up your granny

and you say,

granny,

I am completely

and utterly,

I am,

I've just had

the worst thing happen.

My car's broken down,

the transmission's gone,

the rad's gone,

who knows what else

is gone.

I either need a new car

or I need a lot of repairs.

Could you give me

$5,000?

This young person

has the most

remarkable granny.

In the world.

And so,

the granny says,

I'll see what I can do.

And three days later,

you go to your bank machine

and lo and behold,

there's five grand

in the bank.

You see,

we Christians believe

that's what prayer is like

and that's what miracles

are like.

You see,

the grandmother

is the one

who sustains

the $500

every month.

God is the one

who sustains

this entire created order.

And just,

and the money,

just as in the story,

the money didn't just

sort of pop out of the air

instantly or

it wasn't just

somehow existing

by itself.

It was sustained

by the goodness

of the grandmother

and the young person

was able to depend

upon it

and plan upon it

and study how

they were going

to use that money,

whether they were

going to invest it

or whether they were

going to blow it

on a new pair

of sunglasses

and all of that

type of stuff.

And one day

they get into trouble

and they call up

their grandmother

and they say,

Granny,

I am in trouble,

could you please

intervene?

And the grandmother

is able to intervene.

And in the same way,

God can act

in the order

which he creates

and in which he sustains.

And so John

wants to communicate

to us that a miracle

is not just

a matter of perception,

a miracle is not

just a matter

of experience,

that it's not

something subjective

to us.

what happened

in Cana of Galilee

was true.

It's real.

John would go

to his grave

maintaining

that it really

happened.

And by saying

that it really

happened,

he said,

not only did it

happen,

but it's a sign.

It's a pointer.

It's not just

a display of power.

It's not God

showing off.

This is,

in a sense,

an answer

to the longing

and the yearning

of the human race.

And in the face

of a longing

and a yearning

of the human race,

because we human beings,

on one hand,

we long for something more

and we fear

that something more

and we are complicated

and cannot help ourselves,

God intervenes

in a powerful way

in a series of events

through the person

of Jesus Christ

and every single one

of these are signs

that if we watch

the sign

and look at the sign,

it's like a clue

and follow

where they point,

it will lead us

to see the glory

of the Son of God

who is the Messiah

for the human race

whom we can believe in

and have life.

I just read

the most remarkable quote

from Simone de Beauvoir,

an atheist,

and she said,

I wish I'd written it down,

you know,

she said,

by my writings

and other things

I can abolish,

it's as if,

okay,

I'm going to get this,

she's speaking about God,

okay,

and she said,

you know what,

my writings have abolished God,

but I can't abolish

the thirst for God.

It's as if

you could go

to a particular area

and you could take away

all the water,

but you can't get rid

of thirst.

And so that even

in the midst

of our naturalistic age

where we've tried

to abolish God,

the fact of the matter

is that we human beings

still have a thirst

for God

and if that thirst

for the living God

isn't satisfied

by God,

we will take pale

substitutes

and illusions

which ultimately

do not satisfy.

And John is saying,

God has come

and there are signs.

Listen to the second part

of verse 11.

The first part said,

this beginning of signs

Jesus did in Cana of Galilee

and manifested his glory.

In other words,

John is saying

that there is truth here,

that the truth

is in a sense

that there is an image

that we can keep

before our mind.

It means that we can

fill our imagination,

that we can heal our minds,

that we can meditate

upon this image.

Like I was thinking

about this all this week.

You know,

the characteristic,

if you want to have

an image,

if you want to have

an image of an

Eastern religion,

it's something

like the Buddha

sitting there large

and overweight

with inward-looking eyes

where it is the image

of the individual person

in a room

with their legs crossed

in a way that would

break my legs

with their hands like this,

their eyes closed,

looking inward.

And that, in a sense,

is a sign or an image

of all that those

Eastern faiths pursue.

We Christians,

the preeminent sign

for us as Christians

is Jesus upon the cross.

And what John is saying here,

to lead us to the cross,

the first thing we have to think

is have another image

in our head.

What is that image?

Jesus having wine

with his friends

at a wedding banquet

and then making

70 to 100 bottles of wine.

And that's the image

which is to be in our head.

I'm thinking about that.

Like, what does this show us

about God?

Just very briefly.

In a sense,

it's a picture

of the glory

of a generous giver.

It is the picture

of the glory

of a generous giver.

Jesus sitting there

with his friends

having wine

and the wine

is running out

and they just maybe

need a little bit more wine

to get through

for the, you know,

maybe there's 30 or 40 people there.

Who knows?

It's a small number of people

and Jesus goes

and makes the best wine

and he makes somewhere

between 70 to 100 bottles of wine.

Just picture it in your room.

All these bottles of wine.

It is the picture

of the glory

of one

who is a generous giver.

It is a revelation

in this miracle.

It is an image

of the glorious future.

In the Old Testament,

one of the signs

that the Messiah

had come

and the Messianic age

had begun

was that there would be

lots and lots of wine.

This image

that somehow or another

that the future

when the Messiah

would come

would be characterized

as if we are having

the greatest time

with our friends.

We are completely

and utterly at peace.

We have no longer

any fears.

We don't have any worries.

We don't have any anxieties.

And we can just,

and we are completely

and utterly

finally surrounded

with abundance

and joy.

And that is one

of the constant pictures

in the Old Testament

of when the Messiah comes.

And the first sign

that Jesus gives

is that he makes

lots of wine

at a wedding

when he's sitting around

with his friends.

And people have just

become his friends.

What is revealed

is the glory

of the generous giver.

The glory

of the future.

What is revealed

is in a sense

the glorious

of the creator.

Actually,

sorry,

it is the glory

of the creator

creating

even in the midst

of the disciples.

You know,

it's,

you think about it

for a second,

folks.

Some of us

on Thursday night,

I thought that

the leadership video

that we watched

on Thursday night

was really,

really remarkable.

And this,

by this guy,

Aaron McManus,

I think his name is.

And he talked about

the importance

of gratitude.

And ever since that

on Thursday night,

like I've just been thinking,

you know,

the trees,

there's just so many leaves

and they just look

so fantastic

and the grass

is looking so green

and the sky

looks so blue.

When you can see the sky,

I haven't done that

in a few days.

You know,

but everything

just looks so lush

and so plentiful

and so plenteous.

And the creator

is just so generous

and he's so great.

And it's really appropriate

that I try to learn

what it means

to live a life

of gratitude.

And this creation

is just so plentiful

and ongoing.

And that is,

in a sense,

what is exactly revealed,

what this sign is

that Jesus

just,

with the merest

of his power,

is unbelievably generous,

far more wine

than they need,

that he's,

that he's,

he's in a sense,

pointing to what

the future is like

and he's just pointing

to the wonderful

fact of creation

by the fact

that he can create wine.

Through which

his glory is revealed,

he's also,

in a sense,

trying to reveal to us

the glory of a life

that is lived,

reconciled to God.

And one of the wonderful

things about this story

is the water was there.

Why was the water there?

The water was there

for religious purposes.

The water was there

so that religious ceremonies

of purification

could be performed.

And what does Jesus take

to turn into wine?

He could have said,

listen,

there's a well there,

you know,

go get a few bottles,

go get a few pots,

fill it up,

and that'll be it.

But what does Jesus do?

That which is there

merely for religion

and merely for religious rites

and religious ceremonies

and attempts

to symbolize purification,

in place of that,

70 to 100 bottles of wine.

Have a good time, folks.

Have a good time, folks.

Celebrate.

Live.

Muzzle top.

I don't know if that's

what they would have said,

but, you know,

have a few more dances.

Something greater than religion

is revealed.

Verse 11 again.

The beginning of signs

Jesus did in Cana of Galilee

and manifested his glory

and his disciples believed in him.

That's the third thing.

His disciples believed in him.

And in the story,

we see two things.

You see, one of the things,

you know,

you want to learn what it means

about believing in faith,

part of it is,

is just let's start to read

the Bible more and more attentively

because even in this story,

John starts to reveal a truth

about what it means

to be a follower of Jesus

and to have faith in him

and believe in him.

And he does it

through recounting the dialogue

between Mary and Jesus.

You see, Mary comes to Jesus

and in a sense,

at the beginning of this,

I think it's in verse 4,

Mary, in a sense,

represents us human beings

who are prone to presumption,

to thinking in tribal terms

when it comes to God,

to thinking in terms

of some type of false claim

that we have upon God.

And so Mary comes to Jesus

and said,

listen, they have no wine.

And the implication is,

Jesus, you've got to do

something about this.

She's talking to him

as Jesus' mother,

as one who can tell Jesus

what to do,

who can make certain claims

upon him.

And we as human beings,

at the heart of superstition

and at the heart

of all religion,

is our implicit belief

that we are somehow

or another of God's tribe,

where we have some claim

upon God,

that he has some type

of relationship to us

that naturally occurs

upon which we can make

certain demands.

And Jesus speaks

abruptly to her

and says,

woman,

what does that have to do

with me?

It's not rude,

but it's very abrupt

and it creates distance.

Jesus is saying,

you know what,

the way to God

has nothing to do

with tribalism,

with presumption,

with thinking that

somehow or another

naturally because of

who you are

and all of your

wonderfulness

or all of your pain

or all of your

Anglicanism

or all of your

spirituality

or all of your emotions,

that because of these things

you have some

implicit claim

upon God,

some inner track,

some inner course

by which he has to do

something for you.

And in the face

of those natural disasters,

Jesus says,

woman,

what is that to me?

He's very abrupt.

Any of these ways

are not the way to go.

And Mary

is given

the faithful response

in the sense

she takes

the rebuke

of Jesus

and says

in verse 5,

whatever he says

to you,

do it.

And in this

we see two of the

key aspects

of faith.

Whatever he says

to you,

do it.

Doesn't that show

unbelievable trust?

It shows trust.

And it shows

the very,

very heart

of faith

that we should

be willing

to obey.

What Jesus

did here

in Canaan

of Galilee

was the first

of the signs

through which

he revealed

his glory

and his disciples

put their faith

in him.

Let's bow

our heads

in prayer.

Jesus,

we want to

see your glory.

Jesus,

loving Savior,

Holy Messiah,

God's Son,

our Savior,

thank you

for the mighty

acts that you

performed.

Thank you

that you did

not do them

just to show

off,

but you came

and did things

of huge significance.

You did miracles

that can be

clues

that if we

follow them

we will see

you for who

you are

and understand

what you

can do

in our lives

and that you

do these

wonderful things

that we might

know you

and be yours.

Lord Jesus,

you are so

wonderful

and so gentle

and so patient

to woo us

rather than

to overcome us,

to call us

and to beckon us

to yourself,

to invite us

to be yours.

Loving Jesus,

please touch us

even now

at this time

and this place.

Touch us

with your loving

hands,

touch us

upon our

foreheads,

touch us

in the very

center of who

we are.

May your

Holy Spirit

fall upon us

that we might

read your word

and see the signs

and be drawn

ever closer to you

and grow in faith.

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.