
A local vineyard, not too far from us, hosted their 18th annual NC Grape Festival earlier this month. The Facebook ads featured beach music, craft and food vendors and a grape stomp contest.
We got to the event a little too late to enter the grape stomp contest but we did get to watch some of the competition. Each contestant was positioned in front of a bucket half-full of grapes. The tub had a strainer and a hole in the bottom so that, as the grapes were squished, the juice would run into a container below. The person who produced the most juice in one minute won the prize. “Fast and Furious” hardly begins to describe the stomping that took place. I’m pretty sure the juice from the Grape Stomp did not become wine. At least I hope not!
The event reminded me of an interesting event that happened just as Jesus was launching his public ministry. (John 2:1-10) Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding. In a rather embarrassing social faux pas, the host ran out of wine. Jesus’ mother, who was also at the wedding, recognized the problem and said to Jesus, “They have no more wine.” Jesus’ initial response to Mary sounds like he was not interested in helping the host save face. Then we are told Jesus instructed the servants to fill several empty jars with water. Minutes later, when they drew from the jars, the water had turned to wine. Not only had it turned to wine, but it was far superior to the wine they had been serving.
Jesus took the tasteless water and turned it into something incredible. It was a visual of what Jesus can do when he is invited to share life with us. He can turn a “dial-tone hum” marriage into a daily celebration of love. He can turn a church that “starts at 11:00 sharp and ends at 12:00 dull” into a feast for hungry souls. He can take an empty life and fill it with love and joy to the point that it overflows.
Michael Card wrote a song about this encounter with Jesus.
Lord of light, oh, come to this wedding
Take the doubt and darkness away
Turn the water of lifeless living
To the wine of gladness we pray
Amen to that!
-Dr. Jim Baldwin
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