Karen, my sister, had been living her own life from the age of 16.  Desperate to get away from school and follow her heart’s desire to work with horses it was a natural step for her to leave home and family behind in Huntly and move back to Aberdeen where she could pursue her ambitions.

Keith had been a part Karen’s life from before the time we had moved to Huntly so it came as no great surprise to learn that they had decided to marry.  Karen was still just 19; young for entering into marriage my parents thought but they knew that Karen and Keith would be okay together.

The wedding was set to take place in Huntly and even though that meant a lot of family looking for overnight accommodation we were lucky enough to have a large house with 6 bedrooms.  Some family could stay with us, which would help ease the expense.  More over, mum was accustomed to running Bed and Breakfast from the house so getting all the rooms ready and preparing breakfast for 20 people was an activity she was well accustomed too.

Glad to say everything went well at Karen’s wedding.  Everyone had a great time just as its meant to be at any celebration.  The day after the wedding I had mum’s homemade trifle for breakfast– that’s when I learned that I was happy eating trifle at any time of the day or night – and I still am!

But all of a sudden, or so it seemed, less than 24 hours after all the events had begun – it was over.  People went home.  They went back to their daily lives and daily routines.  And we cleared up the debris!

I’m sure you will have had similar celebrations within your family, whether or not it was the celebration of a marriage.  No matter how good and joyful the celebration we are always left with that sense of anti-climax when it’s all done and dusted.  It was good while it lasted.

John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was just getting established in his ministry when he was invited to a wedding celebration.  John moves his story along very rapidly with big bold statements about Jesus.  John doesn’t record Jesus Baptism as such but includes a bold testimony from John the Baptist that Jesus is the Son of God.  The next day Jesus calls his first disciples and the day after that he calls two more.  Two days later Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding.  John gives us these sweeping assumptions that Jesus is special, different, significant but at this stage Jesus has not really done anything to show just who or what he is.

We are not told how long Jesus, his mother and disciples had been at the wedding but it was getting to that point where things were winding down.  The supplies of wine were finished, that sense of anti-climax was setting in, it wouldn’t be too long before friends and family would be heading back home to their daily lives and daily routines.  It would only remain for the debris to be cleared away.

And that’s when Mary comes to her son, with a less that subtle hint.  “They’ve no wine left” Of course it carries the implication that Mary believes her son can do something about that, which in a way is curious because we are never told that Jesus has any special powers.  Or could it be that before that day Jesus had already displayed miraculous powers but it was all kept hush hush within the privacy of family life.  Absolute conjecture I know but at the same time Mary seems convinced the Jesus is able to keep the celebrations going and he doesn’t indicate that he can’t.  Jesus only says that he’s not ready yet – his time has not come yet.  Which begs the question “His time for what?”

At the turn of the year I recall I was talking about defining moments in life.  I wonder if this was one of the defining moments in Jesus life.  I wonder if Mary really understood the magnitude of the situation?  I suspect that most of us will have faced that kind of moment where you know that the next thing you do will change the course of your life.  Sometimes those moments occur on wedding days!  Even if you know it’s the right thing to do you might still pause for a second just a little apprehensive of where it might take you – and then you take the plunge.

After a moment’s hesitation Jesus takes the plunge and turns the water into wine fully aware that it wouldn’t take long until everyone knew he had performed something miraculous.  His secret would be out and that meant there would be no turning back.  How long would it take until people were wondering what other miracles he could perform or what other special powers he might have?  The wedding in Cana became something of a “now or never moment” for Jesus.

There’s a great sense of calm confidence as Jesus sets about telling the servants to fetch the water jars and fill them to the brim.  They followed his instructions to the letter.  And before you know it the Groom is being complimented on the quality of the wine! We are not told how long the party went on for after Jesus turned the water into wine but I can’t imagine that folk were in a rush to leave.  That pending sense of anti-climax had been swept away.  The quality of the wine suggesting that the party was just beginning!  The best was yet to come!

The wedding in Cana is the only occasion recorded in the Gospels of Jesus attending a wedding but there are other occasions where Jesus spoke about weddings.  When he did he was using the wedding celebration as an illustration of what it was like to be part of the Kingdom of God.  There are often elements of judgement in those wedding parables but also the feeling that being one of the invited guests was an opportunity to be part of a great celebration.

If we believe that we belong to Christ, if we believe we are living as part of the Kingdom now, if we believe that we are amongst the invited guests, then why do we so often live in a sense of anti-climax like the party is almost over?  As if the wine has run out? Like we are clearing up the debris?

We live in a generation where few find any value in the Christian faith and it looks like the church is on its knees – the party is almost over; except for the fact that where Christ reveals his true nature we find that the best is yet to come, the celebrations are just beginning!