Solutions To The Soap Opera of Emptiness
John 2: 1-3
Series Introduction:
Over the next two months we will be looking at the seven signs or miracles that are found in the gospel according to John the beloved. Pregnant within the womb of each of these signs is a message about our master. Each of the signs is a portrait of the personhood of Jesus and reveal a sneak preview of his divinity. These signs not only reveal for us that Jesus is God incarnate but they also demonstrate His wiliness to meet the needs of our ever changing lives. Life for many of us is like a television soap opera series; it is one calamity after another. Just like the television soaps, our lives are filled with constant chaos, flooded with frustrations and irritations. We live on the edge of night, and we are searching for our tomorrows, hoping that our world will continue to turn.
Sermon Introduction:
I submit to you that life has its empty spots, in spite of all the glitter and glamour; deep beneath the surface lays an empty reservoir of lost dreams and hopes. Void and lack, plague our lives and prohibit our pursuits of fulfillment and satisfaction. All of us, in spite of our ages, wages, races and ethic identities, have to wrestle with the issue of emptiness. Empty marriages, ministries and even empty careers sadly are the norms of our times. Life with all of its commotions and promotions still leave us empty. Nike says “Just Do It” yet we are empty. Burger King says “Have It Your Way” yet we are empty. We pep and step, bling and ching, style and profile yet we are empty. The butler, the baker, and even the candlestick maker, lottie and Dottie and everybody are wrestling with this thing call emptiness! All the subjects, servants and those whom are served can’t escape cold harsh winter winds of emptiness.
Transition:
The question that confronts us all today is how do we deal with those empty spots in our lives? How do we deal with failing and faulty finances, bankrupt relationships, broken homes and hopes? That leave us stranded on an island of suffering and sorrow like skipper and giligand. This morning our text is a textbook case of how to deal with emptiness. Let us peruse the perimeters of this passage and see what principles we can draw out to help us solve the soap opera of emptiness.
Body:
This first miracle of our Lord took place in a place called, Cana of Galilee. Let us observe the landscape and backdrop of this wedding. Cana was an inconspicuous and obscure little town that lay outside of Nazareth. Cana had no social significance in its day! Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus and his disciples had all been invited to the wedding. Cultural norms would have us to understand that this was a “peasant” wedding. Otherwise, Mary, of low estate would not have been there. Let us observe that Jesus ministry began in a small, and unimportant town. Let me add God does big things in small places.
Weddings then were a lot like weddings now; they were a big deal in the Jewish culture. The bride from a baby had been prepared all of her life for this moment. Please understand that for girls in Jewish culture from the moment they were born, they were never allowed to be alone with any male other than their father and brothers. The lack of virginity could be a disgrace and financial liability to her family. Protocol and practice required that if the bride were a virgin, the wedding would be held on Wednesday. If the bride were a widow, the wedding would be held on Thursday.
The wedding ceremony would take place late in the evening after a time of feasting. Please note that late in the evening means that the wedding took place at the dawn of the Jewish day. The father of the bride would take his daughter on his arm, and with the wedding party and parade through the streets of town so that everyone could come out and congratulate the bride. Finally the wedding party would arrive at the home of the groom. The wedding actually took place in the front door of the groom’s house.
After the ceremony the bride and groom walked through the streets accompanied by flaming torches. This trip could take hours, many guest would wait along the road and join the wedding party as the procession passed. Attendants would walk with them keeping a canopy over their heads.
Once the couple arrived back at the house of the groom, the groom would carry the bride over the threshold and then stand at the door as the processional party entered the house. All that were to be a part of the festivities had to enter the house before the door was shut. The couple kept open house for a week. They were treated like royalty. They dressed in fancy clothes and many times actually wore crowns on their heads. Whatever they desired was granted.
Our Text picks up with Jesus and his disciples attending the wedding. This brings us to our first Major Observation by way of solutions to the soap opera of emptiness:
Point # 1. Check the Clock vs-1
The text opens with words “and the third day” now the context of this verse is John chapter 1 verse 29 which places Jesus at the Jordan River. John, with a keen since of the progressive movement of the master, catalogs and chronicles for our understanding and insight the movement of Jesus. The phrase the third day is John indicator directly tied to the words of chapter 1 verse 35 and 43. In other words it was three days after leaving the Jordan. Let us probe a little deeper into this phrase. We know that Jews were only allowed to travel 30 miles per day, additionally we know that the distance between the Jordan and Cana was about 70 miles, therefore it would have been a three-day journey to reach Cana. The day begins at sunset so Jesus arrives at the breaking of a new day. I submit that whenever Jesus shows up it is the breaking of a new day. Someone here has been dwelling in the deep dark night of depression, despair, and defeat and you have been waiting on the sun to rise to chase the darkness away. Check the clock and see if it is the right time. The right time is the third day; the third day has its meaning found in the law of first mention. In Genesis we are told that on the third day the earth emerged from a water grave, in Hosea we are told that it would be on the third day that God would restore Israel. The usage of the phrase helps us to see that the third day is symbolic of life coming forth out of death. The third day in scripture is always the day of resurrection. Someone here is in need of a resurrection experience you are empty and yea even dead in key and critical areas of life. Check the clock, the second day is the day of division, and struggle but the third day is the day of victory. Check the clock and make sure that it is the third day. I submit it is the third day for troubled marriages, troubled minds and troubled ministries.
The next key thing the text states is that Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. This leads us to the second of the four points we want to extract from this text this morning. I submit that the second thing the text directs us to do is after we have checked the clock to make sure it is the right time, then we should check our guest list to make sure we have the right people in our lives.
II. Check The Guest List of Our Live vs-2
The text clearly states that Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. This stresses the fact that if things are to start off right or progressively get better Jesus must be invited. In those areas where we find emptiness in our lives we should check the guest list and see if Jesus is there. I submit that it is Jesus that transforms houses into homes, weddings into marriages, males to men, and females to women. Without Jesus our bright day is dark, our happiest moment is shallow, our lives are mere shells of what they could be. We need to check the guest list and see if we have invited Jesus in those empty and lonely areas. Many of you have invited Little Kim, Snoop, Tapauc, Dr. Drey, and Master P. Oh, don’t fool me now, check out whom you have given access to. Some of you whom are little older you also struggle with the principle of accessibility. You have listen for a long time to B.B King, Bobby Blue Bland and the man referred to as soul brother number one James Brown. James told you to say I am black and pound, but we have learned it is not the skin but what is within. He told you that it was a man’s world, but we come to learn that muscles and anatomy don’t make every male a man. We have learned that the ability to reproduce your kind does not make a male a man, or a female a woman; if it did I have a dog name spot that would qualify. Yeah, I submit we need to check the guest list and evaluate who has access in our lives. I submit we need to issue summons of restrictions for some people and things and extend a VIP invitation for JESUS. I submit that he wants to come into your situation, but He will not break in; He stands at the door of our hearts and seeks access. Often we invite everything but the right things into our lives. Today I want to challenge us to check the guest list of our lives and make sure Jesus is there. Quickly, let me add that the text emphasizes that the disciples were the disciples of Jesus. They were there because of their affiliation and occupation with Jesus. Let me add we miss the celebrations of life because of our lack of connectivity to Jesus. There is coming according to the book of Revelation another wedding celebration and only Jesus and his disciples will be there. Are we disciples of Jesus? Have we dedicated ourselves to the rigid discipline of becoming disciples?
As we push toward closure, not only should we check the clock and ensure the time is right. Not only should we check the guest list and ensure we have given access to Jesus, but we must come clean about the situation.
III. COME CLEAN ABOUT THE SITUATION.
Mary, says to Jesus they have no wine, translation, it’s all gone, we are busted, we are all out. I have said it, and you have said it “I am busted, or I am empty”. Please understand that Jews did not get drunk at these celebrations, drunkenness was considered a social disgrace and spiritual defilement (I’m confused if they were allowed to get drunk then the word no should stay in, and the not should be removed). But the host could have actually been sued for a breach of hospitality to his guest. This was no minor issue, and Mary understood the urgency of the moment and so she comes to Jesus and says, “Son, we’ve got a problem here, and we need your help. The groom’s family is running out of wine.” The fact that Mary came to Jesus with such a problem is a portrait of what we need to do when we are running out emotionally, and running out of patience. This helps us to know how to respond to empty situations. Mary goes to Jesus and tells him all about it. She has a little talk with Jesus. Mary says when we are empty we should not perpetrate, hesitate, or cover up. She says come clean about the situation. Don’t hide and try to slide, don’t peep and try to creep. Mary wants us to all know that if we are serious about our search for solutions to the soap opera of emptiness we must come clean about the situation. This is a prerequisite to the manifestation of God’s power; he requires that before He will show up, we must be willing to give it. (Tell Your Neighbor to Give It Up)
V. CONSULT A SPECIALIST
Finally, Mary not only acknowledges the crisis. Yeah, not only did she verbalize the deductive conclusions of her rational comprehension, but she demonstrates to us, it’s not so important that we have problems, but more so, what we do with the problems. Mary recommends to us that when we have problems, we should CONSULT A SPECIALIST. To many turn to sister Cleo, and palm readers, fortunetellers and other forms of spiritual witchcraft. Mary says to us, when we are empty, it’s not Taurus the bull, or pieces the fish or the Gemini twins that will help us, but we need someone who specializes in making a way out of no way. When life is like soap opera and we find ourselves beaten and battered, we need a specialist. I submit that if your car were broken, yeah you would seek a specialist. I submit that if your vision were failing you would consult a specialist. Mary takes her problem to Jesus.
CLOSING:
Whatever the problem, I want to recommend someone that can fix it. If it is emptiness, I want to recommend someone who can fix it. Yes, when we find ourselves void and empty we need to first check the clock and make sure that it is third day, second we must check the guest list and make sure that he is the VIP of our lives. (CIGW) then, we have to tell him all about it, we must clean about our struggles and stresses. The songwriter said, “The problem that I had, I turned it over to Jesus” So, Finally we have to consult someone who specializes. Yeah, finally we have to take our hurts and brokenness to someone that specializes in hearing us when we call and catching us when we fall. Can I ask you a question, “Have you any rivers that you can’t cross or any mountains that you can’t tunnel through?” God, oh God, He specializes in things that seem impossible and he can do what no other power can do….
