"Making Something out of Nothing" - John 2:1-11 - January 14, 2001

Italy is a country that is very mountainous and has many villages scattered throughout the hillsides. Their primary source of agriculture is the growing of grapes. Many of these small communities have made their livelihoods growing grapes and making wine. Some of it is the finest in the world.

What makes each wine unique is the fact that each village has its own recipe. The people grow their own grapes, make their own wine then pour their wine into one giant keg in the center of town. As a result, they have a mixture of many recipes but the wine is excellent.

One year a particular village had a hard year. One of the wine makers decided that things were tight and he didn't want to share his wine with the rest of the village. He wanted to sell his own instead. When he went to the center of town to put his share of wine in the keg, he substituted water, figuring that one barrel of water in the gigantic keg would not make a big difference and therefore go unnoticed.

The wine, as was their custom aged in the huge keg for seven years. At the end of the seven years the villagers all gathered with merchants from around the world to open the keg and sell their precious wine. This was a significant event since the village depended on the selling of their wine for a main source of their income.

The big keg was tapped and out came nothing but water. It seemed that everyone in the village that year had the same idea and everyone put water into the keg instead of wine. All they had was one gigantic keg of nothing but well aged water.

When you put nothing into life you get nothing back. It is only when every individual gives of themselves for the good of community that life has quality and meaning. It was true for the little village in Italy that year and it can be true for us today.

If your life feels like one big keg of aged water, chances are you are not putting anything into it. There are also those who expect everyone else to carry the load. "So what if I happen to hold back, no one will notice the difference." That may be true unless everyone else decides to do the same thing.

When Jesus turned the water into wine that day at the wedding at Cana he was putting himself into the life of the community. The reason they now had wine instead of plain ordinary water is that Jesus added his love and life as part of the recipe. But, Jesus did not come to the wedding to change water into wine. He came to give his love and forgiveness as a recipe for changing lives from despair to wholeness. Jesus brought a fresh, new taste to their lives. "The power at the wedding at Cana was the power of love in action. The abundance of the flowing, fine wine is the fullness of wisdom and grace which Christ offers his followers in the beloved community." (Patricia E. de Jong, First Congregational Church, Berkley, California)

Jesus, however did not make the change alone. He had help. He asked the servants to fill the jars and they distributed it. If you want to see this story as a miracle then see the miracle of cooperation. It was people in the community working together which made wine from water. It was teamwork that saved the wedding. This was also true with the feeding of the 5,000 which required the assistance of the disciples and the paralytic who was healed because of his four friends.

If in fact our economy lapses into a recession it will not be because of a change in leadership in Washington D. C. It will be happen because people cease working together and everyone looks out for themselves just like the wine making villagers in Italy.

We can experience the joy of transformation when we are willing to open ourselves to the power of God’s love. When we are willing to give our best, our all, for the good of the community, rather than keep it for ourselves. A selfish life is a tasteless one, like a big barrel of water that yields nothing. A giving life, on the other hand is one that gives a sweetness to life.

There is another character in this story at the wedding in Cana who is often overlooked. It is that of the chief steward. Imagine the look on his face when this new wine appeared. He had no idea where it came from. His only concern was to maintain the status quo. He pointed his finger at the bridegroom for breaking the tradition. "What, you saved the good wine until last?" he said. He was more concerned with the fact that a tradition had been broken than the fact that they now had a bountiful supply of wine.

On the other hand the servants behind the scenes were the ones who did the simple task of filling the water jars. They did as Jesus asked. And ironically, these water jars would have been used for "footwashing" of the guests, not for the storage of wine. Unlike the chief steward, the servants understood that transformation occurs when people unselfishly give of themselves, expecting nothing in return.

All of us would like to taste new wine. Unfortunately, we are mostly like the chief steward not having the foggiest idea of where it comes from. It is the giving of ourselves and our love behind the scenes that brings newness to life. We can’t always see the connection of what we do to the outcome, but unless we do our part the center of our lives, just like the village wine keg may be tasteless too.

It is God who saves the party. It is God who turns our water-like life into a life that is like sweet tasting wine. Good things happen when we cooperate together, each of us doing our part for the greater community. Good things happen when Jesus is in our midst, giving his love.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio