| Often at weddings we hear of Christ's
first miracle at the feast at Cana. The wedding has taken place and
the party is in progress, but lo and behold, to the dismay of Mary, the
wine has run out. With faith in her son, she tells the waiter to do
whatever He tells you, and as a result, Jesus turns water into wine. I would like to share with you on this special day an analogy of what takes place in matrimony. We begin with water. Water is natural. It is life- sustaining. It quenches the thirst. It is clear and refreshing. I would like to suggest that up to this time in your relationship, the love you have for each other is a great deal like water, satisfying but not wholly fulfilling. You wanted something more. Secondly, water represents commitment. Your love has proved true for a long time now. Faithfulness and provision has yielded the fruit of matrimony. Your fidelity to each other has given each of you a desire to live together all the days of your life. And thirdly, water represents pleasure. Your desire for each other is singular and graphic. Each of you quenches the thirst of passion in the other. Yet when Christ appears at the wedding and touches the water, it turns into wine. In marriage, the natural gives way to the supernatural. Nature is transfigured. The two of you become one flesh. Each becomes a mirror of the other. The water which hides a multitude of life beneath its surface, in wine, rises to the surface. Marriage transforms water, singularity, into wine, intimacy. You are no longer separate observers of life, but intertwined. The heights and depths that one experiences in nature as solitary, now is joined together… one the lamp; one the light. Each reflected in the other. Secondly, commitment gives way to covenant. Natural love which is exhilarating becomes sacrificial. Where water is light and clear, wine is deep and full-bodied. Where water is free, wine is costly. One dies to self to fulfill the other. Finally, where water represents pleasure, wine represents joy. The mystery of your union brings with it now a history to every passing moment. You experience life as one, no longer as two. Wine has the power to inebriate, water does not. So my prayer for you is that Christ may touch your lives as he touched the water, elevating your relationship from what is known to mystery, lifting the heart to soar to the heavens while your feet remain planted on the earth. Ask and you will receive and so your joy will be complete. (John 16) Water into wine, a rich, full-bodied wine to enjoy for all eternity, ageless and timeless, better with the passing of each day. Amen |