How Full Is Your Jug?

Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11

Several days ago I was at home watching television when a program came on wherein the subject of discussion was suicides among otherwise apparently successful men, some of them well respected in business. And one of the factors which seemed to be common in most of these suicides is that each of the men seemed to be depressed for a period of time before they died. In their depression they viewed themselves as having lost everything, even their own self worth. So, they saw no other way out than to die.

Indeed, depression is a serious problem which faces many people across the nation and around the world. And, for the most part, it is due to the large amount of stress that we process every day. Psychological stress is putting up with such things as paying bills, taking care of daily problems, keeping track of things, dealing with relationships, being faced with guilt, success or failure, misbehavior on the part of children or employees, taxes, financial problems, in-laws, you name it. That's stress.

And stress is becoming an ever greater problem than it used to be, because our lives are less physically active than they used to be. Rather than digging ditches with shovels and getting sore muscles, we dig them with a machine and get emotionally weary. Rather than using a handsaw and wearing out our arm muscles, we saw our boards with a power tool and wear out our mind worrying about other things. What used to take its toll on our bodies is now taking its toll on our minds. Indeed, it has been pointed out that those who get a good physical workout several times a week can take almost twice the psychological stress of those who don't. Our brains function with the aid of naturally produced chemicals called "neuro-transmitters." While stress can produce other chemicals that can wipe these neuro-transmitters out, vigorous exercise can keep these other chemicals from being produced.

So, because more persons than ever before live a fairly sedentary life, a higher percentage of persons than ever before are now running close to empty. Stress is taking its toll. So, it is the wise person who knows when and how to take a vacation, or just a day off, to avoid letting that jug of neuro-transmitters go dry.

Our gospel lesson for today talks about a wedding feast. While the wedding feast was going on, those who were serving the wine suddenly realized that they were running out. In their despair they turned to Jesus. And by a miracle, Jesus was able to take six stone jugs of water and turn them in the best wine anyone had ever tasted. And the wedding feast continued on into the night.

I think every Christian has run into the problem of running on empty, even when they are in the midst of serving the Lord. It is then that they need to take some time to go to Jesus with the problem. In your prayers you might find yourself saying, "Lord, I've been giving it everything I've got, but now I'm running on empty. I need your help. I need your strength. I need to be filled, myself, once again."

And it's OK to admit to being empty, once in a while. And it's even better to go to the Lord for a refill. Certainly, we can go to other sources. Some people just take some time off and let the world do the refilling. But, how much better off we are when we let Jesus revitalize us! For his wine is good. But who knows how tainted the wine of the world may be?

Indeed, this is something to think about. What do we do with our recreational time? You know, the very word "recreation" implies the act of being re-created. Certainly, the world can re-create us, if, that is, we want to be made in the image of the world. So, we can find re-creation in all sorts of worldly activities -- in doing everything from going bungy jumping to reading Playboy Magazine. But, how much better off we are when we are re-created in the image of God! And, this happens when we get involved in a Bible study, or a prayer group, or go to church and Sunday School, or go to church camp, or take a spiritual retreat. Our batteries get recharged. We get re-created in the image of God.

One of the wonderful things about getting your jug refilled by Jesus is that when you do, you'll find that you'll go a lot further than on a jug filled by the world. Certainly, the wine of the world may look awfully good, at times. But the wine that Jesus provides is the best wine of all.

We can see this in the story of Jesus' turning water in wine. The people had been drinking the cheaper wine which had been produced by the local vineyards. But, when this wine ran out, and they tasted the wine Jesus had miraculously made from water, they realized that it was expensive wine. They even told the host of the feast: "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the

cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

There are, indeed, many cheap wines out there, my friends. Certainly, some are cheaper than others, while others look pretty good. But, in comparison to that which Christ offers us, none of them come even close.

I continue, for example, to be amazed at all those persons who persist on being filled by the wines which claim to bring about success in life. Go to the libraries or to the book stores and there are dozens of books on the shelves about how you can be a millionaire in a year, or how you can be perpetually happy, or how you can be financially independent with a minimum of effort. And, indeed, these books are making millionaires, alright -- and most of them are the authors of these books! For millions of persons are seeking to fill their jugs on the drivel of self-help books.

There are even persons who have twisted Christianity into a success scheme. As far as I am concerned, these persons, often calling themselves preachers and ministers, make the rest of us look bad. For, as all of Jesus' disciples knew and continue to find out today, being a success in life has nothing whatsoever to do with being a Christian and, vice-versa, being a Christian has little to do with being successful financially or in most other ways. For there continue to be an incredible number of persons out there who are both successful and heathen at the same time. And there are many faithful Christians who have felt the power of Christ in their lives in ways that make success in life irrelevant.

Success in life is a cheap wine that runs out. And there's only one wine that can fill our jugs and satisfy us completely: and this, of course, is the Spiritual wine of our Lord.

Or, as our final hymn proclaims in the last verse:

This is all my hope and peace:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my righteousness:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

O precious is the flow

That makes me bright as snow;

No other fount I know:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Amen.