SOCIAL NETWORKING: Join the GOOD NEWS

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SOCIAL NETWORKING: Join the GOOD NEWS Conversation January 22: Launch Your Site: John 2:1-11 Intro: John the Beloved alone records this event in the life of Jesus. It was his first miracle, the first mighty sign that he was the Messiah and that the Kingdom of God was breaking into the history of humans in a new way. Today Cana is a fairly large city controlled by the Palestinians. You can go there and see replicas of the large stone pots that John mentions in his account of this wedding. They hold maybe 30 gallons each! I. Get Out of the Nest (risk the social meetings): On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee (v2) A. Jesus and his disciples are very comfortable wandering around the countryside and boating on the lake. These are activities familiar to the male of the species. But weddings are a different story. This group of mostly single guys is bound to have at least some members who feel weird at weddings. The ceremonial social setting is not their favorite venue. B. Jesus is not a wedding crasher. He was invited to the wedding along with his disciples. C. The fact that Jesus attended the wedding celebration as a single man of 30 years is something to be noted. We know that Jesus never married. We have no reliable record of any romantic involvements. The silly speculations about Mary Magdalene are examples of human imagination run amok. D. I do not know how comfortable Jesus was in this social setting, but I know that he attended despite whatever challenges of dress or relationship or conversation or familiarity. E. To reach your world, you have to get out of your nest. If you are going to follow Jesus into your world you will sometimes have to get out of your comfort zone, out of your nest, and into the social settings of your day. 1. People gather in these social settings 2. Important introductions are made and conversations are initiated. 3. The social setting is a growing and learning experience where fishers of men discover things about themselves and also about patterns of human interaction. II. Take a Few Friends (guarantee the security of established relationships amid strangers): Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding (v2) A. The most frightening loneliness humans experience is being alone in a room full of strangers. That social setting can be very intimidating. It makes us self-conscious because we feel the isolation even more intensely. The sense of being observed and identified as a stranger is in itself uncomfortable to us. Sometimes we cannot avoid being alone in a room full of strangers. We can improve our social skills in such a setting by loving people around us even though we do not know them. A genuine interest in new people will break us loose from the self-consciousness that cripples us and will help us form natural connections with people around us. B. Jesus shows up at the wedding in a group, as I envision it. They have the security of good friends in this social setting. C. We do not have to be the Lone Ranger as we do our work in the world. We can be intentional about partnerships with other believers to make our presence in social events emotionally safer and easier and more natural. D. I don’t know that Jesus hung out with his friends while at this wedding. I do know that he was near his mother when the minor crisis occurred. Maybe he was hanging out with her? Maybe his disciples were all working the room like pros, and he was attending to his mother’s need to introduce her son to her friends. III. Listen to Your Mother (she thinks you can do anything): When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine” (v3) A. Your mother often has a heart for you and your best that you cannot imagine. You are hers—her prize and crown—and she would not steer you wrong. Among all your counselors you may count on your mother to be thinking of you first rather than other concerns. So King Lemuel, in the height of his wisdom, recounted the things that his mother taught him (Proverbs 31:1) . B. Mary has an eye for the pending social embarrassment. She has probably hosted such events before, and

she knows that food and beverage are critical for the success of the party. Jesus may not be paying attention to these details. We are all wired differently when it comes to social interaction. C. While this was not a life and death problem, it must have felt that way for the host and the hostess, their friends and maybe family members. What could be more embarrassing than running out of beverage at a feast? Maybe Jesus and his disciples were part of the cause—a group of young men with high capacity for consumption. D. Mary does not suggest a miracle. Maybe she is thinking that Jesus, the silver-tongued son, can explain the problem with grace and dignity. But I suspect that, when she says, “Do whatever he tells you,” she intends for him to get more beverage one way or another. I am confident that Jesus has proven himself resourceful on many occasions. I don’t know why Mary would think her son capable of a miracle unless she has observed one in another setting. In Luke’s account it appears that Jesus may have done some miracles at Capernaum before he called his first disciples. We simply do not know all the background to this exchange between mother and son. E. Mary has confidence in Jesus to handle the problem in this social setting. She thinks of her son in very lofty terms even more so than most mothers! F. God has great confidence in you, my friends. He expects you to handle things even when you say, “It’s not the right time.” G. Mary says, “Whatever he says to you, do it.” Mary always demonstrates an amazing faith. She did so 30 years earlier when she learned from the angel Gabriel that she was going to have a child conceived through the Holy Spirit. Now as a mature woman she continues to believe even when it is hard to see the solution. H. We are really more like these servants to whom Mary gives the instruction, “Whatever he says to you, do it.” Our role is hear the voice of Christ and obey. IV. Get Involved (why do you involve me?): “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come” (v4); “Do whatever he tells you”—his mother to the servants (v5) A. Jesus seems first to rebuke his mother: What have I to do with thee? the old Bible reads. He seems to be drawing the line with her between being her son and being the Son of God, between his obligation to honor his mother and his obligation to honor God. Yet he performs the very miracle she seems to request though it is off timing and out of bounds for her. B. TIMING is vital in life including in social situations. Jesus gives a protest to his mother: “My time has not yet come.” She seems to be rushing him, forcing his hand. C. His mother wants him to get involved though he is reluctant. Yet when he does it, his disciples “put their faith in him” in a new way (v11) . D. You must get involved if you are going to make a difference. It is inconvenient. It is disruptive. It is off timing. It is presumptuous. Yet in the end Jesus does it because it is the right thing to do—for him and for you! V. Trust God to Show Up (and he will): “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet” (v8) A. Jesus goes out on a big limb here. They pour water into the pots and he has them take it to the host. B. You will have to go out on a limb with Jesus in some social settings. He will call you out, ask you to intervene and get involved, and you will be center-stage and on point. C. You must have faith that God will show up. ***We believed God called us to build houses for the working poor in the Upper Ninth. Only God knew that Hurricane Katrina was coming. This was his word to us, and we responded in an area we had never been involved in before. God honored it, and it has resulted in blessing 71 families so far who are now homeowners for the first time in their lives. ***We started Care Effect, feeding 400 hot meals each week, and Fuel the Future which now is feeding 120 hungry kids each weekend. We have been doing this for 30 months now, and we still have some money going forward. God has given us a hundred stories of his grace, and we continue to receive the support that we need to continue the work. D. God will respond when his people get involved. Conclusion: The Holy Spirit may be convicting you, prompting you, this morning. I want you to listen to what the Spirit is saying as you hear this message. Whatever he says to you, do it.