Filling Ancient Ideas With Radical Vision

In John 2 Jesus performs his first miracle in John’s Gospel by turning water into wine at a wedding.  

I always found this interesting because not only did he turn it into wine, but he turned it into A LOT of really fine wine.  John says that Jesus turned the water that was in six 30-gallon jars into wine that was so fine and perfect that the crowd began to remark at how expensive it must be. 

I always found this interesting because growing up we were obviously told that drinking is bad and sinful and yet here’s Jesus using his divine powers to put something bad and sinful into people’s hands so that they can continue having a good time.

Jesus’ first miracle was one that encouraged people to have fun and perhaps even be a bit un-sober.

Right?

Anyways, an interesting note about the jars - John tells us that the water that was in them was used for ceremonial washing.  In other words, they were used to make people who were declared to be dirty (due to breaking any number of Jewish laws) clean so that they could go before a priest who would declare them to be clean once again.

(An overly simplistic explanation, I know.)

In other words ...

These jars were holy.

These jars were significant to Jewish people.

These jars contained water that would make a select few people clean.

Think of it like the baptismal in front of a church - it’s only used for specific purposes and the purpose that it’s used for (baptizing an infant or a child or an adult) is a holy and much anticipated moment for the person who is being baptized and his/her family that is typically standing by to watch.

And so imagine if a wedding was going on in the church and someone suggested going up to the sanctuary to get the baptismal, bringing it to the wedding reception, and filling it with the most expensive wine in the world so that people could drink from it all night long and get good and loaded?

This is what Jesus does, friends.

He takes what the church considers to be holy containers that are reserved for a select few and fills them with goodness so that everyone can drink up, get drunk on the joy and grace and love that the Divine has for the whole world, and dance into the night.

Holy Containers like ...

Narrow-minded ways of reading the Bible.

Systematic theologies.

Doctrines.

... He takes these things and through you and me and everyone else who is deconstructing and reconstructing and rethinking and evolving, he fills these ancient ideas with radical visions and dreams that aren’t radical so much because they are out of the box and nuts, but because they are bringing us back to the root, to the heart of the Christ we have pledged our allegiance to.  

And so if the gate keepers of the church in your life are upset because of the questions you’re asking and because of the heresies they say you’re spreading, tell them that you’re simply filling jars that are for the ceremonial washing of a few with the finest of wine and you’re giving everyone at the party something to drink.

Much love,