Encounters with Jesus: Part 5 - Dear Exhausted Heart, I am the Rest You Are Looking For - Jakob Haymond

Hey, this is Andrew Damasio, lead pastor of Rose Church here in Portland, Oregon.

Welcome to our podcast.

Our mission here at Rose is building big people, becoming like Jesus in community while growing in our faith.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, I pray today's message challenges you and encourages you on your walk with Jesus.

Thank you so much for listening.

Enjoy today's podcast.

And if you've been with us over the last few weeks, we've been in a series called Encounters with Jesus, where we've been walking through the book of John and we've been looking at some individual experiences that people have had with Jesus, some miracles, some signs, and some encounters that people have had with Jesus.

And the difference between John and Matthew, Mark, and Luke is Matthew, Mark, and Luke is really focused on the grandeur of God.

They're focused on the public ministry of God, the biographical almost like ministry of God.

Like they want to tell you, like, this is what Jesus did, this is how he did it.

But John, he's kind of like the creative in the group.

He has an abstract way of thinking of things.

He wants you to look deeper into the stories.

And so he actually doesn't even call a lot of these miracles miracles.

He calls them signs.

And if you know, maybe you don't, you should know.

A sign isn't the destination.

A sign points us to the destination.

And so you need to really grasp John's perspective of how he's writing this book and how he's laying everything out because oftentimes when he's telling a story, it's not what's actually there.

He's he's pointing to something deeper, and he's looking at something deeper.

And one thing that I want to remind some of you in the room today, maybe you're again you're newer to church, is that God is not just a corporate God, he's an individual God.

And I hope you've been able to grasp that through this series that we've been in, the stories that we've looked at, Pastor Holcomb sharing and Pastor Andrew sharing and Robbie.

Like I hope you've been able to see these stories that God isn't just this grandeur God.

Yes, he is, and yes, he meets us in on a Sunday and at a pursuit and at the Forest Frank concert and wherever else, but he also wants to meet us individually.

He wants to meet you on your way to work, he wants to meet you when you're at home, he wants to meet you individually.

And so I hope that you've seen through these stories, even the perspective that we're we're we're sharing this through, like as we're writing a letter to somebody, I hope that you see that God is not just a corporate God, he's an individual God.

And I feel this for somebody in the room today that you need to be reminded that meeting with Jesus isn't just for the spiritually elite.

Meeting with Jesus isn't just for somebody who's on a stage or leads worship or leads a connect group or has a title behind their no.

Jesus came to meet with you regardless.

And we're gonna see a bit of picture of this as we go through the story today, but I don't know who that's for today.

But I think you just need to be reminded that man, God wants to encounter you, he wants to reveal himself to you, and that's really the heart of John in the book of John, is that he just wants to reveal Jesus' character.

He's sharing all these things so that it points to Jesus, so that you would know him and that you would understand him and that you would see what he actually gives.

So we're gonna jump into one of the most popular, um, well-known miracles, I think that Jesus does in a second.

But before we do that, I want to give you a couple things.

If you're taking notes, my title today is called Dear Exhausted Heart.

We've been sharing the first part of this title, and then we'll fill in the blank later.

So just leave a blank there and we'll fill that in later.

But my title is Dear Exhausted Heart.

And I and before we read the scripture, I want to ask you a question that I've been wrestling with this week.

What is the thing that you're chasing right now that you're convinced will finally make you feel full?

Something that, again, I've I've been wrestling with is because let's be honest, we're all tired.

We we can all be exhausted.

And I'm not just talking about like tired, tired.

Like I have a two-year-old and and I'm tired, like you know, and I work from home, so like working from home with a two-year-old is it's it's it's exhausting.

But today, I'm not talking about an exhaustion that we kind of feel of just being tired.

I'm talking about a deeper exhaustion.

That for some of you it's a weight that you've been carrying because we're all striving and we're all trying to chase things down that we think are going to fill us.

For some of you, it might be a job.

For some of you, it might be a position, for some of you, it might be a relationship, for some of you, it even might be a season, like when the kids are grown up, then I get to, you know, when I when I get through school, then I get to when I get this age.

I don't know what that is for you today, but we can all get exhausted chasing after the things that we think are going to give us fulfillment.

And today in this story, I think that John is trying to reveal something much deeper than the miracle that we're gonna look at.

And the one thing I want you to note is that some of the things that we chase aren't bad.

Chasing after the next thing, chasing after becoming a better husband or you know, a promotion at your job or being able to provide more, like these are bad things.

But sometimes what happens is that we can lose our focus and we can get caught up in chasing the things that we think are gonna fulfill us instead of looking towards the thing that is going to fulfill us.

And so this is if that's you today, this is who I want to talk to.

This is who I feel like the Lord is speaking to today, the exhausted heart, the one who's weary of chasing after the things that they think are gonna fill you that never fill you.

I was doing a little bit of research and preparation for this, and and I got this stat that Gen Z is the most, and millennials are the most unsatisfied generations to ever have lived.

And you know, it was funny because I was like, that's so ironic because I also feel like we're the wealthiest generations that have ever lived.

I also feel like we have access to the most, right?

We have phones and internet, and we have access to the most knowledge, and we, you know, you can sing a jingle on TikTok and get a two million dollar contract the next day.

Like, you can build a brand from your phone, from your bed.

You don't even have to leave.

You can you you have access to the most things, and yet we're also the most unsatisfied, unhappy generation.

And this is nothing new, friends.

We actually see this all the way back in Ecclesiastes.

Solomon, anybody remember Solomon, the wealthiest man to have ever lived?

He had everything, and yet he says this in Ecclesiastes 1 Everything is wearisome beyond description.

No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied.

No matter how much we hear, we're not content.

What I've found in my own life and watching friends and other people, and I'm sure you've experienced too, is that we chase these things, and when we get them, what happens?

Maybe temporarily satisfies us, satisfies us for a moment, and then what?

There's a next, there's a more, and we we get stuck on this treadmill of chasing after things that we think are going to give us the fulfillment that we're looking for, and what always starting back at empty.

It's always something bigger.

And if if we're not careful, some of us will spend our entire life chasing after something that will never fulfill us.

So I want to look at this sign, I want to look at this miracle, and just go verse by verse and pull out a few thoughts that I feel like God has dropped into my heart and that was kind of revealed to me this year.

And I hope again that it falls on good soil and that it speaks to you.

Believe that God has something incredible that He wants to do.

But let's read this together.

We're gonna go to John chapter 2, verse 1.

John 2:1

If you don't have a Bible, there's one right in front of you.

It's also gonna be up on the screen.

This is a very popular miracle.

I think we all are familiar with Jesus turning water into wine.

It's also commonly known as the wedding in Cana.

And so let's read this together.

I'm reading out of the NLT.

It says the next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee.

Jesus' mother was there.

And Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.

In another translation, the next day, it says on the third day.

Okay, need you to hold that for later.

On the third day, there was a wedding celebration, and the wine supply ran out during the festivities.

So Jesus' mother told him, they have no more wine.

Really quick before we keep reading, like wine, when we're talking about wine in this in this context, wine is not the wine that we have today.

It's a cultural thing, it was significant of joy and abundance.

So every time we're talking about wine, every time you hear wine, yes, it is a drink and they drank it.

But more than that, in their culture, it symbolized abundance, it symbolized joy.

When we had a celebration, like we're looking at, it was connected with the wine.

It was connected with the joy.

It was just part of their culture.

And when the wine runs out, the joy runs out.

You can't have a party without wine in those times.

So keep that in mind as we keep going.

It says, They have no more wine.

Dear woman, that's not our problem, Jesus replied.

My time has not yet come.

But his mother told the servants, do whatever he tells you.

Standing nearby were six stone water jars used for Jewish ceremonial wash.

Each could hold 20 to 30 gallons.

Jesus told the servants, Fill the jars with water.

When the jars had been filled, he said, Now dip some out and take it to the Master of Ceremonies.

So the servants followed his instructions.

When the Master of Ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from, though, of course the servants knew.

A host always serves the best wine first, he said.

Then when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine.

But you have kept the best wine for last.

This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time that Jesus revealed his glory, and the disciples believed in him.

Well, let's pray.

Jesus, God, we thank you that you are not just a corporate God, but you are an individual God and that you want to meet with every single person in this room today.

God, I pray today that the words that come out of my mouth, God, the word that you've implanted in my heart would land on good soil.

God, that you for some of us would begin a good work in our hearts, God, and for others of us, God, you would complete a good work in our hearts.

Would you come and fill this place and do what only you can do in Jesus' name?

Come on.

Everybody say, Amen.

I want to give you a little context behind the story before we jump any further.

And we've already established, okay, this is on the third day the wine ran out.

Another detail I want you to kind of grasp onto is the location of where this happened.

This happened in a town called Cana in the region of Galilee.

Now, Cana was probably, it says, you know, four four hours away from Nazareth.

Sound familiar to anybody where Jesus was born?

So the region that Jesus spent most of his ministry life in is this region that we're talking about.

And it's actually not a very well-known region at all.

In fact, a few chapter, a few verses earlier, um Jesus is talking to the disciples, and they're asking him, Jesus of Nazareth?

You mean Nazareth?

What good could come from there?

So this gives you a little perspective and insight on like the context of the town where they're at.

It's a nowhere town.

Nobody really cares about this town.

Um it's probably also a community where they're, you know, a hardworking community, a fishing community, a farming community, and so they probably don't have a lot to get by.

And in that time, a wedding was a very significant thing.

It wasn't what we do today, where it's like, you know, one day and then everybody's home by midnight and we move on with our life.

No, this is like a seven-day celebration.

It said on the third day that the wine had run out.

So this is something you need to kind of grasp with the fact that, like a groom and a bride, they would prepare for years for this.

You know, think of how expensive this wedding would be to put on.

You're provide, you're inviting everybody around, Jesus and his mother.

So we know there's acquaintances, they're coming and they're attending the wedding, the whole region is invited.

But think about the the just the preparation that needs to happen to have a celebration for seven days.

And this wasn't just like, you know, we're we clock in and we clock out.

This is like 24-7 celebration, and we see that the wine has run out on the third day.

I don't think this is by accident that Jesus shows up in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

You know, I think Andrew mentioned this on a past sermon, but like if I was Jesus' PR team, the first miracle that he did would be something grandeur.

It would be something big, like the king of the world is here today.

Look at me, look at what I can do, look at what I've come to fulfill, right?

Like it would be the feeding of the five thousands, it would be walking on water in front of people, it would be casting out the demons, it would be something that, hey, this is I'm here.

I'm here to come and take over the world.

But we see the complete opposite of Jesus showing up in a town in the middle of nowhere at a wedding of some acquaintances, and if if you're reading through the story, nobody even knew that the miracle happened.

It just said that the wine had run out.

Mary brought that to Jesus, and the master of ceremony tasted the wine and said, Oh, you saved the best for last.

The only people that knew were the servants.

And so for me, I'm just looking at this and I'm like, wow, that is so completely different than what I would have expected Jesus to come, the savior of the world.

But we come to this place where it says that the wine is running out.

And remember, we we talked about the wine was a symbolism of joy, it was a symbolism of abundance.

And so when your wine runs out, your reputation is affected, your social life is affected.

The way that people look at you are affected.

This this wasn't just a small deal for them.

This was actually could have changed the entire trajectory of their life because the wine had run out and they'd been unprepared.

It was the groom's responsibility to prepare enough wine and he ran out.

See, the first thing that I want you to see about the heart of Jesus is that he meets us when we're empty.

Maybe that's you today.

Maybe your wine is running out.

The job that you've poured yourself into, the relationship you were sure you thought was gonna fill you, the life that you've worked so hard to build, the thing that you keep running to is running out.

See, I love that God doesn't wait for us to get full before he shows up.

I love that he doesn't meet you after you have it all together, like he meets us in our emptiness, he meets us when the wine has run out.

Because, friend, what the world gives you will always run out.

But what Jesus gives you, it doesn't.

Look at what Dallas Willard says.

Desire isn't is infinite partly because we were made by God, made for God, made to need God, and made to run on God.

We can be satisfied only by the one who is infinite, eternal, and able to supply all of our needs.

We are only at home in God.

Get this.

But when we fall away from God, the desire for the infinite remains, but it is displaced upon things that will certainly lead to destruction.

You were designed to run on God, and so today, I don't just want to talk to you if if maybe you find yourself as an unbeliever or haven't really experienced Jesus.

I want to talk to the believers in the room too, who have strayed from the things of God and are chasing after things that they think are gonna fulfill them and kind of push you back and remind you, hey, Jesus is our only fulfillment.

So let's dive into this and and and and look at what Jesus and John are trying to portray.

There's something that I've read this story probably a hundred times, I'm sure you have too.

And for me, the version that stuck with me is like the Sunday school version, right?

Like Jesus turns water into wine, it just instantly turns into wine.

Um but there's one thing in the story that like I I didn't really notice until I read it this week.

Everybody in the room knew Jesus.

Like at first, I was just oh, he just shows up somewhere and like turns water into wine.

But like this was a small town community and they were acquaintances.

Mary, again, was the one who brought the issue to to Jesus, and so somehow she was involved in planning with the wedding and she knew, right?

These were people who were familiar with Jesus, but they were familiar with Jesus as a friend, as maybe the carpenter's son or as Mary's son.

But what they didn't know yet was that the savior was in the room.

And a lot of us are there, right?

Like we've known Jesus for years.

Maybe we've come to church for years, maybe we we call him friend, but he isn't your savior yet, right?

This is the first time he's revealing himself to the world.

And I think it's significant that one of his first miracles, the the place where Jesus shows up for the first time, isn't this massive public thing, but it's at a wedding where most of the people don't even know that the miracle happened.

And I and I'm somebody who asks questions and like I like to poke holes into things and so I can figure out like what's going on.

And so one question I've been asking myself is like, man, what if the people had known who Jesus was?

Like, what if this miracle had taken place later?

Why is it so significant that this is the first miracle?

What if they knew that Jesus could walk on water and that he fed the 5,000?

Do you think they would have prepared differently?

I think they would have prepared differently.

I think they would have been over-prepared.

I think they would have been like, oh, you know that guy Jesus?

He's coming to this wedding, and we can't run out of wine.

So I need you to over-prepare.

I need you to add extra wine.

I need you to bring extra wine so that we we don't run out.

But what would have happened?

It would have had a different outcome.

We would have missed the miracle.

And that's what chasing does when we're chasing after the things of this world.

It keeps you so busy reaching for the next thing that you can miss the miracle.

And many of us were doing the same thing.

We're just filling up with cheap wine.

We're chasing after the things of this world.

I don't know about you, I'm good at over-preparing things.

I'm undiagnosed ADHD, undiagnosed OCD.

So there's days that I come to work and I'm so good at preparing a place to work, but not actually getting any work done.

Anybody been there?

So, like I get to work and I'm like, oh, my desk is really messy right now.

I'm gonna just like take some time and clean up my desk, deep clean the desk, you know.

Like, oh, I I really don't like how my office is laid out right now.

Let's just like I need to rearrange this so I can feel comfortable working, right?

I gotta adjust all the files on my computer, get it in nice folders.

I'm gonna create some checklists and check off things I've already done today, right?

Like, and and I get to five o'clock, and I'm like, man, I haven't done any work, but I'm ready to do work now, right?

But how many of us are like that with Jesus?

We overprepare a place for him, but we miss him.

So you can be the hardest working Christian and the emptiest person in the room at the same time.

Because busyness is just another cheap wine.

It's something that it's one more thing that we chase that will never fill us.

And I think that the enemy has tricked us into thinking that busyness and striving is the way to please the heart of God.

Look at what Corey Ten Boom says.

She says, if the devil can make you sin, he'll make you busy.

If the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy.

Have you noticed this?

It says that the wine ran out.

Remember?

This was the biggest deal in these in the in the bride and groom's life.

They ran out of wine on the third day.

But did you notice something?

Like there was nothing that they could have done on their own strength to create more wine.

There's nothing that they could manufacture to make enough wine to fulfill the rest of the time.

When it ran out, there was nothing they could do.

It had to be given.

The fullness that they needed, the fulfillment that they were looking for was something that they could have never brought up on their own.

It had to be given to them.

And it was something that Jesus, as we read, provided to them while they stood there empty-handed.

Sometimes I'm really good at working for Jesus, but so bad at receiving from him.

And if you're sitting here today, maybe that's you.

Exhausted, empty, worn down, running on fumes, have good news today.

Jesus isn't like the things of this world.

You don't need to chase him, you don't need to perform for him, you don't need to strive for him, you don't need to get yourself full first.

You simply have to come and receive.

He meets us at our emptiness.

Here's the difference.

The world makes you work yourself, dry for something that runs out, but Jesus fills you with something that never does.

Don't miss him chasing something bigger.

But if we're honest with ourselves, it's easy to ask God to meet us in our emptiness.

It's easy to preach about God's gonna meet you here.

God's gonna meet you here.

It's easy to sing about like Jesus.

Meeting us in interactings.

We just did.

Did you hear about those lyrics?

Did you read those lyrics?

If the highest place I reach is at your feet, then I've done it all.

If the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I've seen it all.

If one word is the only thing you speak, then I've heard it all.

If I feel your heart and never see your hand, I still have it all.

Right?

It's it's easy to sting and to preach about God meeting us at our emptiness, but it's a whole different story to actually live that out, right?

Especially if the answer you get from God isn't the one that you wanted.

And some of you are like Jesus' mother.

You've brought him a real need.

You've brought him your grief, you've brought him your hurt, you've brought him the diagnosis, you've brought him the divorce, you've brought him the relationship.

Looking for an answer, and Jesus gives you a different one.

Because I think this is funny.

Like we read this together.

Do you see Jesus' response?

Mary gives him a real urgent now need.

They have no more wine.

The joy is running out, it's gone.

Look at Jesus' response.

Dear woman, other translations, it just says, Woman, that's not our problem.

Jesus replied, My time has not yet come.

He doesn't even address the real issue.

He says, It's not my problem, because my time has not yet come.

See, some of you again have brought Jesus your grief, brought Jesus in, he says, Not my problem.

My time has not yet come.

But there's some significance in this that we're going to get into in a moment.

But the reality is that some of you need to be reminded that his not yet is not known.

That sometimes the things of God don't make sense in the moment, but they will one day.

You see, in in the Greek language, this my time has not yet come.

In in another translation it says, My hour has not yet come.

It actually has nothing to do with time.

It actually has nothing to do with the wine.

It has everything to do with the cross.

In fact, the translation, if you read, the only other times it references the same language is when Jesus is talking about the death, the burial, and the resurrection.

And so you see in this moment Jesus wrestling with the fact that his first appearance to people, right?

At the end of the story, we see he's about to reveal his glory for the first time.

This moment.

He has fulfillment in mind.

And so there's so much depth in this, and John is trying to get you to see like Jesus' first miracle wasn't really about the wine, it was about the cross.

And sometimes in our moment, we get so distracted by our circumstance and situation that we we miss that God already has our future in mind.

We're just like, God, why haven't you met me in my need right now?

I gave it to you.

But he already knows that.

He already knew that.

And he already knows what's next.

But sometimes we miss that because we're so focused on our season and our circumstance.

See, the trap for some of you is that you can't stand God's response, so you grab whatever is in reach to fill that empty place right now.

And that's what so much of our chasing actually is.

It's just impatience with God's timing.

You couldn't hold out for the best wine, so you settled for the cheap wine that you could fill yourself.

It's deeper than just the wine.

So some of you might be asking, so what do I actually do when I'm standing in this not yet moment?

What do I do when I've given Jesus my real need?

And his response is, it's not my problem.

My time has not yet come.

Well, we keep reading and we see.

Verse 4.

Verse 5.

But his mother told the servants, do whatever he tells you.

That's what you do in the waiting room.

You keep doing what he says.

And for some of you, for some of us, that might not be the answer that you're looking for.

But if you look closely, Mary's response is actually the beginning of the miracle.

Remember Sunday school version?

It doesn't say that water just turned into wine.

It says Jesus says to the servants, fill the jars with water.

When the jars had been filled, he said, Now dip some out and take it to the Master of Ceremonies.

So the servants followed his instructions, and when the Master of Ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from, though, of course the servants knew.

See, in my head, all of the water just turned into wine.

But it actually says it didn't even turn into wine until the ladle was brought up to the Master of Ceremonies.

Then it turned into wine.

And this is where I want to land for a moment today.

And here's what I want you to see that the miracle didn't happen to them while they were standing around, it happened to them through obedience.

Remember?

There was a step before the miracle.

He made them fill the jars first.

And some of you are so exhausted, you're so weary, you're looking at me today and you're like, well, that just sounds like more work.

That just sounds like another thing that I need to do to get the thing that I'm looking for.

But look at what Jesus asked them to do.

He didn't say, Go make more wine.

He didn't hand them something impossible to do and said, just get it done.

No, he said, what?

Fill the jars with water.

See, he asked them to do one thing, one thing that they could do, and then he did the only thing that he could do.

Like, think about this for a moment.

Put yourself in the servant's shoes.

Remember this 20 to 30 gallon jars, probably weighing hundreds of pounds each.

They didn't have hoses back then, they didn't have something that could transport.

It depended on how far away they were from the source of the water.

So when the wine had run out of multiple containers, this wasn't just like, oh, let's door dash some more wine and get this over here.

Like this was like, man, I got maybe a ladle or a bucket, and I have to go to the water source, come back, fill it up.

Go to the water source, come back, fill it up, right?

So I'm standing in the servant's shoes, and I'm like, I don't want to do this.

I just filled this like a three days ago.

And now you're asking me to fill it again, and you're not even filling it with wine, you're filling it with water.

But doesn't that sound like some of our responses to God sometimes?

That we bring our need and our emptiness to Jesus, and he responds, fill it with water.

Here's the difference between the exhaustion of the world and the joy that Jesus invites you into.

That the world hands you an empty jar and says, Go make your own wine.

Go make your own joy.

Go produce your own joy.

If you make this amount, if you do this, you're gonna be filled with joy.

But Jesus.

He gives you the wine freely.

Because you were never designed to be the winemaker.

It was never your job in the first place.

And some of you are exhausted because you're trying to produce your own wine.

You're trying to replace the thing that Jesus had promised you to do.

See, Jesus asked something completely different of us.

He says, just bring me the water.

Bring me what you have.

Bring me your emptiness.

Bring me your unfulfillment.

And not because he asked nothing of you, remember?

He invited the servants into the miracle.

He'll never ask you to do your part.

To do his part.

Our job is to fill the jar.

He brings the wine.

So when you stop trying to be the winemaker, I think you find the rest that you're looking for.

You can't earn what he's giving today.

Look at what he says in Matthew, chapter 11.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Come to me.

All of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and what I will give you rest.

I take my yoke upon you.

Let me teach you because I'm humble and gentle at heart.

And what you will find?

Rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

See, some of you have gotten tired around trip number eight.

Some of you have called it quits on trip number twelve.

Jesus asked you to fill it with water, and you're like, this isn't even why.

Why am I doing this?

Why am I going back to my prayer closet?

Why am I still sick?

Why haven't I seen the things that you promised me to?

Some of you would have gotten frustrated.

Some of you are frustrated and tired.

But can I ask you this?

What is on the other side of your obedience?

Because when we're looking at this story, a miracle was on the other side of the obedience.

Not your striving, hear me.

Not your working, your obedience.

Because the wine was on the fill on the other side of the filling of the water.

The miracle was on the other side of the work and the sweat and the trips back and forth, back and forth.

What if fulfillment is on the other side of your obedience?

Because watch what it does, it leads us to the wine.

See, we think oftentimes, especially if we've been following God for a long time or we have a bad theology of who he is, is that obedience is the price that we have to pay to follow Jesus.

But it's not.

Obedience is actually the door that we get to walk through to enter into his joy.

It's not a striving, right?

It's not a striving to earn something.

It's freely giving.

It's a door that's open to enter into the fullness that God has for us.

There's a purpose in what God is asking you to do.

See, you could put it like this: striving is the effort to earn the fullness.

Earn the fullness.

Obedience is the effort to receive the fullness.

See, their obedience, it actually positioned them to receive the miracle.

If they hadn't filled the jars with water, isn't that significant that he asked them to fill it?

Jesus could have just filled the jars.

He's Jesus.

He could have magically made wine appear in everybody's cups, but no, he chose to invite the servants into this to partake in this miracle.

I think the enemy has lied to a lot of us about this.

And some of you have lost your joy in obedience because we think it's preventing us from experiencing Him more.

But it's actually leading you to encounter Him.

You were never supposed to chase fulfillment.

It's freely given, it's your inheritance.

Remember, in the first miracle where Jesus shows up, He references the cross.

The first time that He reveals His glory, the cross is already on His mind.

See, it was never something for you to strive for in the first place, it was something for you to receive.

But so many of us have tricked ourselves into thinking that it's something that we earn.

It's not just somebody who's new to Jesus.

This is people who have known Jesus that we think we need to continue performing for him to bless us more.

No.

We need to simply just be obedient and walk into the fulfillment that he brings us.

What if the joy that you're looking for today is on the other side of your obedience?

What if it's already poured?

What if the jars are full?

It's already in the cup, and you're just not reaching out to take a hold of it.

Last thing I want you to see.

Scroll down to verse 7, I think.

Jesus told the servants, fill the jars with water.

When the jars had been filled, in another translation it says, filled to the brim.

All the way to the top.

This word matters, this language matters.

It's the same language that John uses a few chapters later when he's talking about abiding in Jesus, right?

The vine and the branches, when you abide in me, I'll abide in you.

This is the same language that he's using.

Remember, there's a verse in there.

It says, When you obey my commands, when you're obedient, okay, same language, right?

When I'm obedient to fill the jars, but then you get to experience the miracle.

Look, when when you obey my commands, then what?

Then you get to remain in my love.

Just as I obey my father's commandments and remain in his love.

And look, I have told you these things so that you will be filled with what?

Joy.

So that you'll be filled with the wine.

So you filled with fulfillment.

Yes, your joy will overflow.

See in the Greek, this word, both of these stories, they're a picture of a cup filled all the way to the brim until it can't hold anything else.

It's not just halfway full, it's not three-quarters of the way full, it's not even full.

It says to the brim.

You know, when you fill a glass of water and there's that little bubble right on top of there, like it's full to the brim.

It's not a transfer today, it's an inheritance, and it overflows.

I want to go back to the question that I asked at the very beginning.

For some of you, what are the things that you're chasing for that will never fulfill you?

See, today he's not inviting you to try harder like we talked about, he's not inviting you to strive, he's not inviting you to work harder, he's not handing you one more thing to carry, he's asking you to step in and receive because he traded it all for you.

Isn't it so significant that the first time that Jesus revealed himself was in the middle of nowhere to a crowd of people who didn't even know that he performed a miracle?

But remember the language was never about the wine, it was about the cross.

My hour has not yet come.

Yes, we got the miracle, we got the wine, but it was never about that.

John wants you to see the wine did get filled, but guess what?

Look, did you see at the end of this?

It says, This miraculous sign of Canaan Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory and what the disciples believed in him.

In the garden right before Jesus went to the cross.

Do you remember his prayer?

Father, if it's possible, what?

Take this cup from me.

And the cup wasn't full of wine, he wasn't talking about a cup full of wine, he was talking about a cup full of everything that should have emptied us out forever.

All the things that we spent our entire life chasing, every sin, every failure, every ounce of emptiness that you've been running from your whole life.

He drank that cup that was killing you so that he could hand you a new cup of life.

And just like the bride and the groom that we see today, you don't have anything to bargain with.

It's empty, it's gone.

The joy has run out.

There's nothing that you could possibly do to receive what God gave them.

See, the world says earn it.

Jesus says it's already bought.

Ready to fill in the blank?

Dear exhausted heart, I am the rest that you are looking for.

I am the fulfillment that you are looking for.

Imagine being the bride and the groom that day.

At the end of themselves, their entire trajectory of their life was on pace to being ruined, their reputation, their business, their life.

And they didn't even have to do anything for Jesus to come and step in.

I find it interesting that they don't mention anything about the bride and groom after this story.

Because John's whole goal was for to point to Jesus.

It wasn't ever about the wine, it was about the cross.

And if you go to the very end of the Bible, Revelation, there's another story of a wedding.

And this time Jesus isn't a guest, he's the groom.

And remember, the groom's job was to provide the wine.

And we see in the story a groom who failed to provide the wine.

Failed to provide enough.

But we fast forward to the Mary's supper of the Lamb, and we see Jesus as the groom who's provided what?

More than enough.

He fills every cup that comes to him.

He fulfills everything that you come to him empty.

He fills to the brim.

You see the significance in the story that it was never about the wine.

It was never that they'd run out.

It was that he comes to fulfill you and give you more.

Maybe you're not even exhausted.

It's become a burden that you carry every single day.

It's become a weight that you pick on and you forget that it's even there.

That you're so consumed with chasing after the things of this world that are never going to fulfill you.

That you've just gotten used to it.

But inside, you're empty.

And I've I felt so strongly, I think a few weeks ago, I even shared this prophetically that I just saw like the Costco water bottles.

People are trying to drink from this and never getting fulfilled.

It's like God just works crazy.

Like and Andrew asked me to preach on this message, but like I feel like there's a God, there's some people in this room today whose God's gonna fill you up.

And you're not gonna thirst again.org slash give.

Thank you so much for partnering with us and helping us continue to do what God has put in our hearts here.