Praise
the Lord for this new day. We will gather for mid-week fellowship and Bible
Study this evening at 6 PM. We will be looking at John 15 and 1 Corinthians 15.
We have been studying the Book of John. We have discovered the amazing truth
that whenever Jesus shows up in the story nothing is ever quite as it seems. He
turns the world upside down and right side up. In John 2 we read about a wedding
gone wild -- very wild. Our Lord was present there.
In our
confused culture there is so much confusion about marriage. The Bible declares
that marriage is between man and woman. The Lord blessed the marriage that was
held in Cana of Galilee by His own presence. Jesus never blesses
sin though He dearly loves the sinner like me. The state might make sinful
lifestyles legal under intense pressure from a small minority but these sinful
life styles are never moral before the Lord.
While
Jesus was present in a wedding reception they ran out of wine at the
celebration. The need was brought before Jesus. I believe the Lord knew about
the concern and the need before they informed Him about it. Our Lord said, “The
time is not yet right." John’s Gospel is constructed on two layers of time which
are perceived as occurring at the same time. There is ordinary time, the time on
your watch, and there is God’s time, eternal time, heavenly kingdom time. It is
as if you need two watches to understand John’s message, God’s word.
We perceive the same thing throughout the Bible. We have earthly ordinary time, the way things are right now, while we also have God’s time, the way things will be someday. The Bible says, "You are hungry now" (earthly ordinary time). But the Bible also says, "You shall enjoy a great banquet someday” (eternal time). The Bible says, "You are sad and sorrowing now" (ordinary time). But the Bible also says, "You shall have every tear wiped away someday" (eternal time). The Bible says, "You suffer the ravages of warfare now" (clock time). But the Bible also says, "Swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks someday" (eternal time).
John is going even deeper here, saying something different, indicating that if you look really carefully ... and if you pay very close attention to things you will see places where God’s time (eternal time) breaks into ordinary time (clock time). This means that the implied question threading its way throughout John’s Gospel is: "What time is it really?" Can you see God’s time peeking through our ordinary earthly time?
The wedding took place on "the third day." On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. The wedding day was in earthly, ordinary time… the third day, the resurrection day, took place in godly eternal time. Or consider this strange little reference to six stone water jars. The six jars held 180 gallons. Why 180 gallons? There was a consistent Old Testament prophecy (Amos 9:13, Hosea 14:7, Jeremiah 31:12) suggesting that when the final days come, there will be great joy and an abundance of wine. Wine becomes a symbol of the new kingdom of God’s eternal kingdom. Furthermore, in a non-biblical Jewish story (written at the same time as the Gospel of John), we read, "In the final days, each vine shall have 1000 branches ... each branch, 1000 clusters ... each cluster, 1000 grapes ... and each grape shall yield 120 gallons of wine."
On the one hand, Jesus was saying, "Woman, don't bother me. My time is not yet. My time is in the future. My time is still hidden ... not yet revealed." But Mary could see that this moment was fraught with possibilities, so she said to the servants, "Listen to him. (It is time to) Do whatever he tells you." Six jars were filled with water. One hundred eighty gallons of water were turned into wine, which is the symbol of the kingdom of God. God’s eternal heavenly time is breaking through earthly ordinary time. There is a new way of looking at things…a new way of experiencing things…a new way of telling time…the future Kingdom of God is not “out there” The kingdom of God is “right here, right now.” It has already come in the person of Jesus Christ, yet has not come fully yet. It will fully ushered in when Jesus comes again in glory. WOW!
This all raises some questions. What if we really could see two kinds of reality at the same time? What if we could learn to tell time with two watches one for earthly ordinary time and for the eternal heavenly time of God? What if we began to see time as the beginning of God’s time instead of seeing thing the way they have always been? What if we began to see that it was time for all us to be on God’s eternal heavenly Kingdom time on earth? What if we began to see our time as God’s time? Would we respond to Mary’s words, Listen to him. (IT is time to) do whatever he tells you.” I believe it would change the world, change our community, change our church and change our homes. I believe we would no longer define our lives by the clock or by our circumstances but by the eternal values of God.
Tom Long, who was my classmate during my days in Princeton, who is a professor of Homiletics at Candler School of Theology, tells the story of striking up a conversation with a man on a plane. He said they shared the normal kind of nice chit chat, sharing what they each did for a living and sharing pictures of their families. The man then began to share with him this story: He and his wife were parents of a 30 year old son who, when he was a teenager had been in an auto accident and who for 30 years has lived in a nursing home in a vegetative state. And to tell you the truth, he said, my wife and I had stopped loving him, it is hard thing to say, I know, but love is a responsive thing and he no longer respond to us. We still visited him, we still cared for him but we no longer loved him.
The day that changed it all, he said, was the day we went to visit him, an ordinary day, a nothing special kind of day, when we opened the door to his room to visit him we found a stranger sitting beside his bed. This stranger was wearing a clerical collar. We knew he must be some kind of minister or priest. As it turns out he was the pastor of a the little Lutheran church from down the street who simply made rounds everyday in the nursing facility. When we went into the room he said this man was reading to our son a Psalm and I thought you fool he can't hear you. Then he took my son’s hand and he had a prayer with my son and I thought you idiot he can't feel that touch, he can't hear that prayer don't you know he’s just a vegetable and then I realized of course he knows but he is viewing my son already in the glory of God, viewing my son as already healed, viewing my son as worth the love of Christ. He was seeing my son through eternal heavenly lens of faith. And it was then he said that we began to able to love our son again….
What time is it in your life? In my life?
We perceive the same thing throughout the Bible. We have earthly ordinary time, the way things are right now, while we also have God’s time, the way things will be someday. The Bible says, "You are hungry now" (earthly ordinary time). But the Bible also says, "You shall enjoy a great banquet someday” (eternal time). The Bible says, "You are sad and sorrowing now" (ordinary time). But the Bible also says, "You shall have every tear wiped away someday" (eternal time). The Bible says, "You suffer the ravages of warfare now" (clock time). But the Bible also says, "Swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks someday" (eternal time).
John is going even deeper here, saying something different, indicating that if you look really carefully ... and if you pay very close attention to things you will see places where God’s time (eternal time) breaks into ordinary time (clock time). This means that the implied question threading its way throughout John’s Gospel is: "What time is it really?" Can you see God’s time peeking through our ordinary earthly time?
The wedding took place on "the third day." On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. The wedding day was in earthly, ordinary time… the third day, the resurrection day, took place in godly eternal time. Or consider this strange little reference to six stone water jars. The six jars held 180 gallons. Why 180 gallons? There was a consistent Old Testament prophecy (Amos 9:13, Hosea 14:7, Jeremiah 31:12) suggesting that when the final days come, there will be great joy and an abundance of wine. Wine becomes a symbol of the new kingdom of God’s eternal kingdom. Furthermore, in a non-biblical Jewish story (written at the same time as the Gospel of John), we read, "In the final days, each vine shall have 1000 branches ... each branch, 1000 clusters ... each cluster, 1000 grapes ... and each grape shall yield 120 gallons of wine."
On the one hand, Jesus was saying, "Woman, don't bother me. My time is not yet. My time is in the future. My time is still hidden ... not yet revealed." But Mary could see that this moment was fraught with possibilities, so she said to the servants, "Listen to him. (It is time to) Do whatever he tells you." Six jars were filled with water. One hundred eighty gallons of water were turned into wine, which is the symbol of the kingdom of God. God’s eternal heavenly time is breaking through earthly ordinary time. There is a new way of looking at things…a new way of experiencing things…a new way of telling time…the future Kingdom of God is not “out there” The kingdom of God is “right here, right now.” It has already come in the person of Jesus Christ, yet has not come fully yet. It will fully ushered in when Jesus comes again in glory. WOW!
This all raises some questions. What if we really could see two kinds of reality at the same time? What if we could learn to tell time with two watches one for earthly ordinary time and for the eternal heavenly time of God? What if we began to see time as the beginning of God’s time instead of seeing thing the way they have always been? What if we began to see that it was time for all us to be on God’s eternal heavenly Kingdom time on earth? What if we began to see our time as God’s time? Would we respond to Mary’s words, Listen to him. (IT is time to) do whatever he tells you.” I believe it would change the world, change our community, change our church and change our homes. I believe we would no longer define our lives by the clock or by our circumstances but by the eternal values of God.
Tom Long, who was my classmate during my days in Princeton, who is a professor of Homiletics at Candler School of Theology, tells the story of striking up a conversation with a man on a plane. He said they shared the normal kind of nice chit chat, sharing what they each did for a living and sharing pictures of their families. The man then began to share with him this story: He and his wife were parents of a 30 year old son who, when he was a teenager had been in an auto accident and who for 30 years has lived in a nursing home in a vegetative state. And to tell you the truth, he said, my wife and I had stopped loving him, it is hard thing to say, I know, but love is a responsive thing and he no longer respond to us. We still visited him, we still cared for him but we no longer loved him.
The day that changed it all, he said, was the day we went to visit him, an ordinary day, a nothing special kind of day, when we opened the door to his room to visit him we found a stranger sitting beside his bed. This stranger was wearing a clerical collar. We knew he must be some kind of minister or priest. As it turns out he was the pastor of a the little Lutheran church from down the street who simply made rounds everyday in the nursing facility. When we went into the room he said this man was reading to our son a Psalm and I thought you fool he can't hear you. Then he took my son’s hand and he had a prayer with my son and I thought you idiot he can't feel that touch, he can't hear that prayer don't you know he’s just a vegetable and then I realized of course he knows but he is viewing my son already in the glory of God, viewing my son as already healed, viewing my son as worth the love of Christ. He was seeing my son through eternal heavenly lens of faith. And it was then he said that we began to able to love our son again….
What time is it in your life? In my life?
Jesus is Risen. He is Risen
indeed.
In Him,
Brown
Friday May 11.,
2012
Television
Outreach
Time Warner Cable
Channel 4
Time
7:00 PM
Saturday Evening
Worship Service:
Location: First United Methodist
Church
53 McKinley
Avenue
Endicott,
NY
Sponsored by: Union
Center United Methodist Church
Time: 6:00 PM
gathering for Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship
Service
Date:
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Speaker:
Special Music
:
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