Six stone Jars 3 "Filling the Jars"

Fill the Jars

THIS PART IS NOT COMPLETE, LEFT OUT IS THE EXPLANATION OF THE SIX JARS, PERSONAL, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIPS, CHURCH, COMMUNITY, AND THE WORLD.

 

Jesus’ mother has left and Jesus has chosen the stone jars now he orders that the jars be filled with water. This is no small task that Jesus is asking, the jars are not movable, and they are most likely empty since the water they hold has been used by all the wedding guest to wash with. If the servants knew what Jesus was going to do they may have suggested that Jesus only use one or two jars. Even with the Jars half-filled they are still going to go get 60 gallons of water to fill the jars.

Filling our jars is not easy, it’s going to take some work. We often run for the newest spiritual book or video study and expect it to work some magic on us and transform our life. But this is just not going to happen. We will have to work if Jesus is going to transform us. Before Jesus can turn our water into wine we have to fill the Jars.

Often we think, “Jesus I only need a little water into wine, not all six.” Our temptation is to hold back and not fill our whole life but just part of it. It’s sad to say but if we are honest we want just enough water into wine to get by, to fix whatever we think is broken, or heal whatever disease we think we have. Jesus asked for all six jars to be filled before He did anything and Jesus expects no less from us.

In Matthew 22:34-40 the Pharisees and the Sadducees ask Jesus what is the greatest commandment. Jesus’ reply is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind.” Jesus has left nothing out, we must love God with everything. In Mark 8:34-36 Jesus tells the disciples whoever wants to save his life, (in this world) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Jesus and the gospel will save it.” The disciples were told they would have to take up a cross and follow Him. Jesus will not settle for two or three water jars filled, He wants all six.

How do we fill the jars? We fill the jars of our life in the ways they have always been filled. Like I said earlier we all want some book, preferably a short one, or some video, or a sermon or two that would fill the jars of life with water. Jesus promised the woman at the well that if she asked He would give her living water that would spring up within her. So the first thing we have to do is ask, ask God for water. In asking Jesus for the water we acknowledge that we have none and need some. Professing our need and not our self-sufficiency is the first step in being filled. “Gods strength is shown in our weakness.”

Prayer must not stop with our telling God how needy we are and giving Him a list of what He can do for us. To be filled by God’s spirit we need to listen, really listen. The other day I was on the phone with a friend and I had said something and was waiting for him to answer. The longer this person did not talk the more uncomfortable I felt, finally they answered my question. God wants us to listen, be quite and listen. We have a whole list of things that come to mind when someone suggest this. What if someone sees me, they will think I am a nut. What if I really hear something, then I’ll think I am a nut. What does Gods voice sound like anyway?

The truth is you will know Gods’ voice when you hear it. You will need to listen until you hear it. A man was asked “why do you climb a mountain?” and he replied, “If you have to ask, you would never understand the answer.” When you listen long enough, you will hear God speak and there will be no doubt about who is speaking.

We also need to be filled with Gods’ word, not just a verse or two that we memorized or keep on a card in our wallet. We need to be filled with it. “This book of the law shall not depart from my lips but I will meditate on it day and night.” “Your word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.”

To be filled with Gods’ word we need to not only study and memorize it, but also read it. When is the last time for no reason you picked up your Bible and read something? We can often read a 300 page novel and yet reading 4 pages of our Bible seems like work. We need to just read it and let the words wash over our mind and heart, filling us.

Ultimately we must let Jesus fill our lives. We allow Jesus to be in our work life, our family life, our social life as well as our church life. That does not mean that we only do “Christian” things, it means that in whatever we do and wherever we are, Jesus is there too.

 

Drawing out the Wine Sept 1st

We found that Mary knew that Jesus could and would do something. That Mary dared to get Jesus involved. We saw that work is needed to fill the Jars with living water. Now the wine must be drawn out and taken to the table.

1.       Believe there is wine

a.       Servants put water in

b.      Jesus did not tell them it was wine

c.       The risk of dipping it out and taking it to the table

2.       Believe there is a need

a.       That the guest need the wine

b.      That the guest want the wine

3.       Drawing out the wine

A.      Personally

a.       Drawing out our transformed parts

b.      Paul’s war with flesh and spirit

c.       We choose to bring the transformed part out

d.      In our thinking, in our hearts, attitude, actions

B.      Family

a.       Teaching our children

b.      Sharing faith with each other

c.       Loving our spouse

d.      Loving our children

e.      Family choices

f.        Values we hold and support

C.      Friendships

a.       What we do in our friendships

b.      Love, support, encourage, forgive

c.       Where are our friendships taking us

d.      we draw them toward a transformed direction

D.      Church

a.       working to bring out the wine

b.      working to bring transformation in people’s lives and the church as a whole

c.       sharing the wine Jesus has given us

d.      encouraging those around us in their positive efforts

E.       Community

a.       Believe your community needs Jesus

b.      Be open about our faith

c.       Share your faith with others

d.      Call people to Jesus don’t force them

e.      Make your church known

F.       The World

a.       Support missions

b.      Encourage missionaries

c.       Go on a short term mission trip

 

Do you believe Jesus can help?
Do you believe in the need for transformation?
Will you dare to draw out the wine and bring it to the table?

It is the only way we will experience the miracle of God.

 

jars of stone a heart of love

2

From Jars of Stone to a Heart of Love

The way Jesus chooses to fulfill His mother’s request also tells us many things. Jesus chose six stone jars used for ceremonial washing. Finding wine in these jars would be the last thing anyone would think of. We are told they each hold about twenty to thirty gallons. It is highly doubtful that Jesus thinks they need 120 to 180 gallons of wine, so we know He chose the jars for another reason.

These jars hold water to wash with to make a person ceremonially clean. The cleansing is just a temporary outward removal of the grime of life on the street, but has no real effect on the soul. At the time the wine would have no real meaning, but later in the upper room Jesus would use wine as a symbol of His blood which would cleans the soul.

For the Jewish people cleansing, sacrifice and forgiveness was a temporary thing. Cleansing with water was symbolic and only lasted until you entered the streets of life and your feet became soiled again. The sacrifice of the Lamb would absolve them of their sin at the time but was not a lasting forgiveness that covered the whole of life. There was no movement from the life of sin to the life of the redeemed.

The wine is symbolic of Jesus’ blood which not only cleanses from our current sin but redeems us from all sin. Jesus’ blood breaks the hold that sin has on us and sets us free to pursue God with our whole and undivided heart. In the act of choosing the water jars Jesus announces that He is about to change the whole way people view and relate to God.

Before Jesus dies on the cross, people make sacrifices and go through cleansing to try and become acceptable to God. Once Jesus dies on the cross God has made the sacrifice on behalf of people, because He wants them to be acceptable to Him. God has moved from being the one we must appease, to one who extends grace. Water turned into wine and sin turned into grace.

Gods’ grace is not a temporary fix for the problem of sin in our lives, it is eternal, permanent. This once for all sacrifice does not have to be renewed every now and again to be effective. While the water runs away leaving us to be covered again by sin, the blood is a permanent covering that washes us in an ongoing manner that never ends. We no longer run around trying to make God accept us, we only accept what He has done for us.

The jars are made of stone. They are cold, inanimate and impersonal. The blood that the wine represents is warm and flowing from the very heart of Jesus. The blood is by nature very personal and represents a God who is very much alive. While the stone of the jars cannot have a relationship the heart of Jesus can.

This marks a very real change for the people then and people today. For the Jews of Jesus time God was impersonal, an authority figure that stood watch over your every move keeping a list and checking it twice. Jesus becomes the list breaker. Jesus shows us that God is not so much interested in keeping track of our sin as He is of forgiving them. The heart of God is that none should perish but everyone have eternal life.

Six stone jars

Questions

What does God really want for our life? How does God want to be involved in our lives? What are Holy times when God is there and what kind of things is God interested in.

Buddy's questions 

The death of Brian

Is God interested in our daughter’s prom, the loss of a friend, our son’s wedding, our retirement plan, the house payment or our 401k?  From times of reflection to times of shock whatever brings them on they are the same basic questions. What does God want? How is God involved? What kinds of things are God things? In a short little passage about a wedding some 2000 years ago we find an answer to some of these questions that we still have today.

John includes this event because it is important to know about to understand Jesus. Without this passage we might miss a part of who Jesus is. In many ways this one event reveals so much of what Jesus is going to do from this point forward. After calling His disciples this is the first thing that Jesus does and if we look closely it reveals Gods’ heart.

 

1

Why Involve Me

Weddings are great fun! The rabbi has given solemn charges to the couple, standing under the canopy. The couple exchange vows, then the wine glass is crushed and the guest all shout mazel tov. The music, food and dancing start amid shouts of joy. But not long into the party Mary comes over to Jesus and leads him out the front door. “This poor couple, the wine has run out.”

Consider the conversation that Jesus has with his mother. Mary points out that this couple has no more wine, Jesus replies “Woman why are you involving me in this”, and then she instructs the servants to do whatever Jesus says and walks off. Some people see Jesus as cold, “woman, why do you involve me?” Yet Mary only talks to the servants fully expecting Jesus to act on her request and He does. It appears to be a casual interaction between a mother and son. So we are going to focus on the second part of the sentence, “Why are you involving me”

What does Mary know? How does she know it? It must come from something other than the angels announcing Jesus’ birth. Mary brings the situation to Jesus because she knows He can do something to take care of it. She may not know how but she knows He can and will. She does not plead or have any other discussion with Jesus, Mary expects Jesus to act.

We do not know how Mary knows she can do this. Has Jesus done a few miracles at home? Healed a sick friend or made bread appear from the air? We only know that Mary believes that bringing the lack of wine to Jesus’ attention will bring a response.

In 2000 packers rookie KGB had come for his first time to Lambeau field. Someone was to show him around and was late so Kabeer just started walking around the place. Eventually he wandered into a very large office looked around and thought this looks nice. Bob Harlan looked up and said “Can I help you” Kabeer explained he was supposed to get a tour of the stadium. Bob Harlan got up and said lets go. KGB is still amazed that a big important man as Bob Harlan would take the time to show a rookie around the stadium.

How often do we think that God is to important to take the time for our little worries, our pleasures, our lives. The loss of a friend, the flowers in our garden, our aging parent or our knee that aces when it rains, are these things to concern Jesus with? Mary seems to think so.

What we see is that Mary has a knowledge of Jesus’ character and abilities, and appeals to them in this situation. She knows she can ask Jesus to get involved. Jesus will extend this same invitation to us, to ask Him for whatever we need.  “Ask and it will given to you; seek and you will find” Matthew 7:7 “If two or more of you agree about anything you ask for, it will be done” Matthew 18:19 “I will do whatever you ask   in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14: 13&14 It is clear then that Jesus ask each of us to come to Him directly.

What we first learn from this is that we can involve Jesus in the events of our lives, because He has promised to act. As we look back at our lives and our interaction with Jesus we will see that we can expect Him to do something when we ask. It may not be what we expect but we can expect something. We can ask in faith that Jesus hears our prayers and acts on them.

 

Jesus ask Mary “why do you involve me in this?” This is a real question for this miracle is not on the Messiah list. This is about a wedding and a poor couple’s ability to provide wine for the guest. We understand Jesus healing a lame man or feeding 5000 hungry people but is wine for a party. When Jesus finishes this miracle He will have made 180 gallons of wine for a party where people have already been drinking. Take away the sandal keys!

The life of Jesus is filled with things that tells us about what is important to Him. A servant that is close to death, a sick daughter, blind beggars, little children, all unimportant to the world but not to Jesus. While the world says don’t bother God with your little life, Jesus orders a halt and looks at you and ask, “What can I do for you?”

Jesus does this miracle because it brings joy to the wedding couple and guest. Jesus does not just want to be included in churchy or religious things, Jesus wants to be a part of our whole life. Jesus wants to be part of the birthday party, the wedding reception, the funeral, and the graduations. Jesus wants to be at our picnics and games around the table.

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” Matthew 11:18 Jesus apparently loved to laugh and be with the loud crowd as well as in the temple.

 

This does not mean that Jesus approved of people being drunks or telling dirty jokes. What this does tell us is that Jesus wants us to experience Joy, laughter and fun. There is no part of our life that Jesus wants to be left out of. We need to get Jesus involved.

 

We need to get Jesus involved in the broken marriages around us. We need to get Jesus involved in the lives of alcoholics and drug users. We need to get Jesus involved in the life of an abused person. Get Jesus involved because we know His character is to care and to take action. We may not know what Jesus will do but we do know He will do something. Whatever it is He can fix this. It does not have to be “religious” for Jesus to care. Mary asked and trusted and so can we.

John 1:43-47 "Someone is Watching"

John 1:43 – 49 “Someone Is Watching”

On the news was another person who was online doing something they should not have. It seems there is a new video, webcam, cell phone picture, or YouTube of someone misbehaving. The truth in our digital age is that someone is always watching. Just as the Bible says “things done in private are shouted from the roof tops.

This passage has to do with a part of God’s nature we like to forget. God is watching, all seeing, all present. When we think of it we mostly think of a judgmental God glaring down on us with disapproval. But there may be another side to this story to think about.

Nathanael is shocked that Jesus knew of his actions. We are left to wonder is Jesus being sarcastic when he calls him a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Was Jesus saying I saw your deceitful action, your lie, your dishonesty? Or is Jesus saying I saw how you were honest, told the truth, in a complimentary way? We do not know because Jesus could be sarcastic at times. But whatever was seen shocked Nathanael to the point of knowing that Jesus was God.

Nathanael is shocked because he is sure that no one has seen what he did under that fig tree. Yet Jesus knows about it even saying He saw what Nathanael was doing. We all have a place an event that we are sure it is private and we would be horrified to know that God saw it. Words spoken between friends that hurt someone, an unkind action, a less than honest deed.

Psalm 139:1-4

The idea of God watching our every move can be terrifying, unless we are foolish enough to believe we never sin. If we truly believe that God is watching it may make a difference in what we choose to do. But all to often it is easier to pretend that God is blind.

Romans 2:16 there is a day when God will reveal and judge.

But as I said there is something else here for us.

I was at a pool and there were parents and kids running around playing in the water. There were a lot of water wings and dog paddles. In one corner of the pool area, as far from the action as you could get a young mom sat under an umbrella. She was not the play in the swim pool type, but she sat watching her kids, laughing when they did something funny, on the lookout for weird dangerous looking people. She pretended to be reading a book but her eyes were always moving, watching.

Here is an aspect of God always watching that we almost never consider. God sees and watches but not just for judgment but to know us, care for us and protect us. God sees our struggles, our hurts and our pain. God sees our success, joy, love and work.

Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:26&27

God is there at the bedside as someone we love dies, God sees our love, hurt and loss. But more than that Jesus intercedes for us, prays for us, and hopes for us. Jesus wants the best for us, to see us laugh and to share our lives. God is watching and God sees us even when we sure He does not.

This is the ultimate question of Job, Job wants to know if God sees Him, and what He is going through.

I once visited a woman in the hospital when they used to give a list to me of everyone from our little town. As I talked to her she shared what was wrong with her. I recognized it as a result of having AIDs. I asked her and she said yes she had AIDs, from her past drug abuse. We talked longer and she wanted to know if God knew, about her being sick, her past mistakes, the changes she made to late in life. She needed to know that God saw, God knew, and more than for judgment, but also in love.

What is going on in your life? Happy, sad, laughter, tears, struggles or blessings? God sees them all. At times just to know that some one sees us is the greatest thing we can have.

Nathanael was shocked that Jesus said He saw him and knew of his actions. If we truly understand what Jesus is all about we should be encouraged knowing that God sees us, knows us. Someone is watching like a parent at a playground or a beach. Loving, caring, praying and interceding. Jesus sees us.