John 2:9-11
When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
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Sex and alcohol. Two of our favorite things in life. Two things we might be ashamed to admit are on our minds pretty much all the time. And they were God's idea.
Sex. In this case marriage, but we all know what happens on the wedding night. And here's Jesus having a good time at a wedding party. John records it in such a casual way, as if no one should have thought otherwise. Why not be at wedding? He invented it!
Alcohol. Yeah, he made that too. When the grapes grow plump and crisp on the vine. When they are crushed into tart flowing juice. When they are left to ferment and age into the finest of flavors. Or when he just says the word, and creates it from water. Again, recorded very casually by John, but it is meant to reveal his glory.
So, what does this tell us about Jesus? He's got joy in bucketfuls! There is no pagan god or myth who could compare to this real life Bacchus. He was no stranger to a social occasion, or to the cup of good fellowship. His mirth overflowed and was contagious. He blesses the bliss of a young couple's love.
And he crafts a microbrew of the finest order to sustain the party a little longer. He is God, the maker of all things, including sex and alcohol.
And he crafts a microbrew of the finest order to sustain the party a little longer. He is God, the maker of all things, including sex and alcohol.
What does this passage say about us? Their response to his glory was to believe. They saw this first sign, this miracle, and the only logical response was to acknowledge this man is God, the Creator in the flesh.
How will I respond? The irony is that we often take the good gifts of sex and alcohol and make them our gods, rather than letting those things inspire faith and gratitude to the One who made them. Romans 1 spells out the tragedy of this in stark contrast to John 2:
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:24-25)
When the created thing tempts us, we must see our Creator behind it and worship Him as the source and director of those good things. I say director because he has not given us sex and alcohol to use in whatever way we wish, but he has left us directions on how to use these gifts to maximize our enjoyment of them and maximize his recognition as the Giver. As Lewis so wonderfully expressed via the devil Screwtape:
"I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His [God's] invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden" (44)
So, the application here is for us to enjoy sex and alcohol. Seriously. Just enjoy it in a way that is most redulant of its designer. Drink responsibly! Marry your lover and enjoy! The joy you share can put a smile on God's face when you choose to enjoy them rightly.
