Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
For some of us, these are very familiar stories.
For others, maybe they're new to us, Father.
But for each of us, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would come deep within us
and write these stories in the command center of our lives
so that they affect our memories, our imagination, our will, and how we live our lives.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
Don't you think that if people had to follow what the Bible says about same-sex attraction,
that you're condemning same-sex attracted people to a life of loneliness?
The reason I say this is, well, first of all, believe it or not,
the scripture text that we have here today actually speaks very powerfully into this.
Some friends of mine and some friends of yours,
the church that they attended for many years,
is just beginning to go through potential denominational battles
over whether the church should provide marriage ceremonies for those who are same-sex attracted
so that a man can marry a man or a woman could marry a woman.
And one of the very moving arguments that was made as they're starting to look at this
is don't you think it's the case?
That why is it, you know, heterosexual people, they can potentially marry another person,
but for those who are same-sex attracted and if God doesn't heal them or change that in them after prayer,
aren't you condemning them to a life of loneliness?
Like, isn't it a matter of, I mean, how can you do that?
And if we're honest, this is a very powerful thing
because who amongst us wants to condemn anybody to loneliness?
And in fact, if our heart breaks even maybe at hearing something like this,
that this might be the case or the possibility.
So believe it or not, the text that we looked at, that I read just a few moments ago,
actually has something very powerful and formative to say about this.
So it'd be a great help to me.
You can see it's going to be the story of Jesus turning water into wine.
One of the things that we might be doing most Sundays when we preach on John
is if there's a good piece of artwork to go along with the story,
I'm going to put some of the artwork up on the screen
so that our eyes can also sort of enter in.
It helps us just enter in.
And so, by the way, if you folks, if you read ahead and see where I'm going,
I'd love it if you send me suggestions for the artwork, by the way.
That would be a great help.
Can't promise I'll always use it, but I'd love the suggestions.
So if you turn in your Bibles to John 2, verses 1 to 11,
John 2, 1 to 11, let's look at this first story,
the story of Jesus turning water into wine.
And here's how it goes.
On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
Just sort of pause here for a second before we go any further.
On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
You might remember that...
So John wrote a book, right?
So books have structures.
You know, they have ways that the author decided to write the book.
And the way that John is written, there's the first 18 verses
are sort of this big philosophical, almost mystical, theological,
cosmos view of Jesus and the gospel and what's going on.
And those are like the first 18 verses.
And it's all written in very simple English and simple Greek.
And then in verse 19, all of a sudden, it plunges into the world of history,
the world of time and space, the world that we're in right now ourselves.
And when this begins here on the third day,
John is going to keep reminding us as the gospel goes on
that he's now talking about something that happened to real people in a real time,
in a real culture, in a real place.
And it's just one of those...
We're going to see more aspects of it where John keeps saying,
this is something that happened.
You might think it's incredible.
You might not believe it.
But I'm bearing witness that this is what happened.
This is what took place.
So verse 1 again of chapter 2.
On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
And the mother of Jesus was there.
And just sort of pause.
This is another very significant thing.
In the other three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
they all have...
Well, actually, Mark doesn't.
But Matthew and Luke, of course, have the story of the birth of Jesus.
And it's very interesting how John chooses to write, right?
So he has this...
You know, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
You know, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
All these big, big, big ideas.
And then he comes into history with John the Baptist.
And now, like, how can you...
Is Jesus human?
I mean, that's a good question to ask.
And yet, you know, human beings have moms.
We have dads.
That's human beings, right?
Joseph's not mentioned.
It's believed by most people that Joseph must have died.
Quite a few years before this.
But it's just one of these...
You're going to see many other things here in the story
that just emphasize the fact that Jesus is human,
that it's in real time and a real place,
talking about things that really happen.
So, verse 2 again.
Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
When the wine ran out,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
they have no wine.
It probably means that Jesus' mom was related to the people
whose wedding it was.
In other words, Jesus had cousins.
And he had aunts and uncles,
because he's human.
Verse 4.
And Jesus said to her,
Woman,
what does this have to do with me?
My hour has not yet come.
And the language is,
it's not a put-down of his mom,
but it's a distancing language.
It's a polite way of speaking,
but it sort of is a bit of a shocking thing,
because usually a son would refer to his mother,
and there'd be some adjectives added to the word woman
to show closeness.
So it's a bit of a distancing language from his mom.
And in verse 5,
his mother said to the servants,
Do whatever he tells you.
Now, verse 6.
Now, there were six stone water jars there
for the Jewish rites of purification,
each holding 20 or 30 gallons.
And as I said,
that probably averages out to about 200 bottles of wine.
In fact,
I actually went looking for an image of a human being
standing with 200 bottles of wine,
but I couldn't find one.
And I don't have 200 bottles of wine,
so I couldn't take a picture of me standing with them.
And if I did have 200 bottles of wine,
you'd probably wonder about me.
But that's another.
I don't.
So I guess it'd be worse if I had 200 empties.
But anyway, verse 6.
Now, there were six stone water jars there
for the Jewish rites of purification,
each holding 20 or 30 gallons,
200 bottles of wine.
Jesus said to the servants,
Fill the jars with water.
And the servants filled them up to the brim.
And Jesus said to them,
Now, draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.
So they took it.
When the master of the feast tasted the water,
now become wine,
and did not know where it came from,
though the servants who had drawn the water knew,
the master of the feast called the bridegroom
and said to him,
Everyone serves the good wine first,
but when the people have drunk freely,
then the poor wine.
But you have kept the good wine until now.
Now, there's the first of his signs.
Jesus did it, Cana in Galilee.
Notice, John's making a claim.
This is a sign.
It's not just a miracle.
It's a sign.
Jesus did this.
He did it in a place called Cana,
in a place called Galilee,
and manifested his glory,
and his disciples believed in him.
So here's the first thing about this story
to see what's going on,
because we might not just quite grasp the full,
I mean, we don't grasp the significance.
If you could put up the first point,
that would be great.
Here's the first thing,
and we don't maybe notice it in the flow of the story,
but the fact of the matter is,
is that, I don't know,
probably some of us can give witness to miracles.
I have some things that I think I could say
were probably a miracle,
God acting miraculously to do something
that shouldn't have been able to happen.
But when that happens,
I pray to God
and ask him to work a miracle,
which God might or might not do.
I mean, God hears my prayer.
Sometimes he says yes.
Sometimes he says no.
Sometimes he says not yet.
But I pray to God
and ask God to work a miracle,
which he might or might not do.
But Jesus willed the miracle.
He just willed it.
He doesn't say a prayer.
He doesn't say any words.
He doesn't touch the water.
He doesn't do a religious ceremony.
In fact, if you think about it for a second,
maybe Mary was saying to Jesus,
Jesus, you're very religious.
They've run out of wine.
Do something.
And Jesus would do the typical religious thing.
He'd take up a collection.
Sorry, that joke didn't work as well
as I thought it would.
But anyway, I mean,
that's one of those,
you realize that,
whoa, that's right.
Jesus just willed it.
And then the other thing about it
is that the story
is emphasizing
that it's a real miracle.
Like if some of you are wondering,
well, George,
like, no, but the story emphasizes
it's a real miracle.
Like you look back at it
for a second here.
Jesus is,
if you look back in verse 3,
verse 3,
the wine runs out.
Jesus discovers
that the wines run out
when Mary tells him this.
And then in verse 4,
he says,
well, what am I,
you know,
my time's not come.
And Mary just says
to the servants,
do whatever he tells you.
There's no implication there
that Mary expects Jesus
to do a miracle.
In fact,
at the end of the story,
it basically is saying
that Jesus,
up until this point in time,
has never performed a miracle.
miracle.
And we don't know,
obviously,
what was going through Mary's.
John's just recorded
what Mary's actually told Jesus,
but I don't know,
maybe he just,
maybe she was thinking
he's just really competent.
He's always managed
to work things out
and help people
from embarrassing situations,
and he'll figure something out.
And then you notice here,
verse 6,
there's stone water jars.
It's not like there's clay
or something that,
you know,
is going to be keeping
lots of wine in them.
And they're there
for the rights of purification.
In other words,
there's stone jars
which are there
just to be used for water.
That's why they're there.
They're not used
for 53 different things.
They're just used for water.
And there's lots of it.
200 bottles of wine.
There's lots and lots of it.
And then Jesus just says
in verse 7,
fill the jars with water.
And then Jesus
doesn't touch the jars.
He doesn't bring the water.
He doesn't do any type of trick.
And then they even mentioned
that they filled them
to the brim.
In other words,
it isn't as if they said,
well,
they filled it
and they left like six inches
and then maybe
while everybody was
looking away,
Jesus had a couple
of really good bottles of wine,
like fortified wine,
and he poured it in
and it was able to blend up
so that it sort of
looked like weak wine.
No,
they emphasized
that it was filled
right up to the brim.
And then he says,
now draw some out
and take it to the master
of the feast.
And the implication is
is that when the servant
does this,
once again,
Jesus hasn't touched it,
that the servant
would have just looked
and it would have just
looked like water to him.
And in fact,
then it goes,
so they took it,
verse nine,
and when the master
of the feast
tasted the water
now become wine
and did not know
where it came from,
the master of the feast,
just skipping down,
called the bridegroom
and said to him,
verse 10,
everyone serves
the good wine first
and when people
have drunk freely
then the poor wine,
but you have kept
the good wine until now.
So the implication is
is that somewhere between
the person taking the ladle,
leaving the stone jars
and coming to the master
of the feast
that both the wine
and the water
and the jars
and the water
and the ladle
both had become wine
and because it's good wine
it means it really
tastes like good wine.
A lot of wine
in those days
was greatly watered down.
So whether it was
both cheap wine,
highly watered down,
which is what the master
of the feast
was expecting,
they said it tastes
like really good wine
so it couldn't have
been watered down.
Like the text emphasizes
that it's a miracle
and Jesus just wills it.
Jesus just wills it.
So some of you
might say
how is this possible?
I don't know if you're here
as a visitor
or maybe you've just
come out of curiosity
or you're maybe on a bit
of a religious quest
or a spiritual quest
and one of the things
that you might not know
is that there's whole legions
of Christian churches
in the first world
that don't believe
that miracles happened.
That they would just
interpret this as
I don't know what
they would interpret it as
as a sign of
the incoming of the kingdom
or just how
I mean they'd have
different ways of trying
but they don't actually
believe it's a miracle
but John has clearly
organized the story
to say this is a miracle
and it actually happened.
And so some of you
might say very reasonably
how on earth
could something like
that happen?
And how's it possible?
So here just before
I'm going to give you
three little things
about this
and here's the first thing.
One of the things
in some ways
I could validly say
that I don't
in Canada
I don't believe in God.
Some of you
who maybe came here
visiting from a
Pentecostal church
said I knew I shouldn't
come to an Anglican service
the minister doesn't
believe in God.
What I mean is
that probably
if I was to ask
the majority of Canadians
what they mean by God
I don't believe that
God exists
the way they describe God.
And I'm starting
it's starting to
dawn on me
that maybe what I have
to do when I talk
to Canadians
is saying
you know I don't believe
in the Canadian God
I only believe
in the God
that Jesus reveals.
I only believe
in the God
that Jesus reveals.
And in fact
if you go back
that's what John
says in his prologue.
In fact
in John
in those
you go back
and you look
in those verses
what John says
is that Jesus
is the exegesis
of God.
He's the one
who makes God
clear
and understandable
to people
the real God
not the
not the idols
not the abstract gods
not the gods
of the philosophers
but the real God
who actually does exist
that Jesus
is going to make
this God known.
He's introducing God.
And so
I think increasingly
that what I have to say
to people
is that I don't believe
in God
as Canadians understand
but I believe
in the God
who's revealed
in Jesus.
And what
the God
who's revealed
in Jesus
what he's revealing
about God
is remember
how the
John's gospel
begins very famously
in the beginning
was the word
and the word
was with God
and the word
was God
he was in the beginning
with God
all things were made
through him
and without him
nothing was made
that was made
in him was life
and the life
was the light of men
that's how
it's introduced.
So if you could put up
the next point
here's what I would say
the second thing
is that
what Bible teaches
what Jesus
is introducing
us to God
is he's introducing
us to the fact
that God
created matter
out of nothing.
So how can miracles
happen?
Well because if you
have a God
who does exist
who created matter
out of nothing
he can change
one kind of matter
into another.
That's not a hard
thing for him.
If you can make
matter out of nothing
it's nothing
for him
I almost put that up
it's nothing
for him
to take
some matter
which he was
the inventor
of it
and turn that
matter into
a different
type of matter
turn water
into wine.
You see
and
so some of you
might say
okay George
are you saying
then that this
whole miracle
story depends
upon the God
that Jesus
is introducing
actually being
the God
who exists
and I would
say yes
in fact
I'm going to
double down
on it.
I'm going to
make it so
that the
choice is
actually seen
far more starkly.
If you could
put up the next
point that would
be great.
Oh sorry
there's a new
piece.
Go back there
a second there.
We're having
two pieces of
artwork.
The other one
I mean it sort
of looked like
it wasn't a
party did it?
I mean just
you know that
earlier piece
of artwork
it was as if
I don't know
it was as if
it was a wedding
and the bride
and groom
didn't like
each other
and they didn't
like their
family
and the two
families didn't
like each other
this is probably
more what it
looked like.
I mean maybe
it was.
I mean we've
all maybe we've
been to weddings
like that where
nobody likes
each other
and it's just
like really
interminable.
But you know
most of us hope
that if we had
a wedding I
mean I would
hope with my
kids that if
there's a wedding
that it looks
maybe a bit
more like that.
Anyway next
point Andrew
sorry only God
created all
things and
only the same
God who's
created all
things can
sustain his
creation
keep it in
existence
and only the
same God
who's created
all things
and sustains
all things
can reveal
himself.
If such a
God exists
who can create
all things
and sustain
all things
then I can't
reveal him
only he can
reveal himself
and only the
same God
can act
to redeem
his fallen
human creatures.
So what do we
see in this
story?
It's actually
quite an amazing
story.
what is being
seen in this
story is
that Jesus
wills
the changing
of one type
of matter
into another
type of
matter.
He's revealing
that he's
God.
Come to
reveal
God
himself
and reveal
the way the
world really
does work.
How
things really
exist.
Just,
you know,
just this
whole thing
about God
being the
creator of
all things,
just,
it's a whole
other sermon
but just very
briefly,
the choice
is never
between having
faith and
believing in
science.
faith.
That's
never the
choice.
People might
say that's
the choice
but it's
not the
choice.
The choice
is never
between science
and faith.
The choice
is between
two different
philosophies
to understand
the science.
And in
one type
of philosophy
to understand
the science,
what ultimately
exists is a
what?
Just matter,
just energy,
just time,
just chance.
Just how
matter and
energy works
because of
the way
matter and
energy is.
And the
other philosophy,
the only rival
in all the
world is the
Christian story,
is in the
beginning was
the word,
and the word
was with
God,
and the word
was God,
he was in
the beginning
with God,
all things
were made
through him,
and without
him nothing
was made
that was
made.
That's the
only option
to the
philosophy,
that there's
only time
and chance.
And in
that understanding,
it's a
who that is
created and
designed all
things.
Now,
just,
we're going
to move
on with
this.
Just,
here's the
thing,
this is,
you know,
one of the
things I pray
every week as
I'm working on
my sermon,
I pray that God
will speak to my
heart.
Like,
this isn't just
something where I
could come up
with some really
cool ideas and
share it with
you.
And the way
that God really
spoke to my
heart,
this has been a
constant,
this has been a
big issue in
my life,
especially,
I've become more
conscious of it as a
big issue in my
life over the last
few years.
But,
you know what,
if this story is
true,
then the world is
different than most
people understand and
believe.
If this is true,
if there really is a
God who does exist,
who created all things
and sustained all
things and contained
water into wine,
then the fact of the
matter is,
is that one of the
besetting problems I
have is it's easy for
me to slip into
living my life as if,
as if God is small
and everything else
is big.
But if this story is
true,
then I need to call
out to God and ask
him to work in my
life so that I start
to understand that God
is big and everything
I face is small.
Everything I face is
small because the God
who does exist creates
planets, changes human
history and changes
human lives.
Now, some of you
might say,
okay, George,
that's all very,
very, very, very
interesting.
But you hooked us at
the beginning by
talking about people
who are same-sex
attracted and whether
the Bible, if the
Bible is to believe
God is condemning
those who are same-sex
attracted to a life of
loneliness because
they're not allowed to
marry.
And George, did you
just sort of do that
like a bit of a cheesy
type of thing to get
our attention and now
you're going to just
ignore it and hope we
forgot how you began?
Not at all.
Not that I'm opposed to
being cheesy sometimes.
But, well, let's think
about this story for a
second because it
actually has something
which does directly
connect to this and
about the issues of
holiness.
One of the things that
this story shows is
that religion is
usually wrong.
Why is religion
usually wrong?
Okay, if you could put
up the next point,
Andrew, think about it
for a second.
If it was up to
religion, Jesus would
have turned the wine
into water.
Now, why are you
saying, some of you
might say, no, no.
Actually, I mean, the
story could have gone
very differently.
Couldn't you just think
about it?
If there's a whole pile
of really holy people,
whether they were, you
know, think about it
for a second.
Sean Turner did a
great sermon a couple
of weeks ago talking
about how the normal
way that we think
about things in the
world and religion is
that, you know, first
you have a time of
purification, then you
have a time of
illumination, then you
finally have union with
God, and the Bible
completely rejects that.
And you think about it
for a second.
In fact, when I was
looking for some of the
artwork, I was trying to
look for the source from
it.
It was a Christian
source about holiness,
and every picture of the
people who were
pursuing holiness looked
as if they had almost
looked as if they'd been
starving themselves for the
last 15 years of their
lives.
I mean, they made skinny
people look fat.
They looked completely and
utterly emaciated, and
they looked as if they had
diarrhea and were eating
prunes.
They looked really
ascetic.
But if you think about it
for a second, that's not
just how many Christians
portray holy people.
That's how Muslims
portray holy people.
That's how Buddhists
portray holy people.
That's how Hindus portray
holy people.
And that's how most of our
friends who hate religion
portray holy people, because
they think, do I really want
to look like I'm living on a
diet of prunes, and I've just
smelled a bad smell?
No.
What we want to do is watch
football and call up, could you
bring down more chips and more
beer?
Like, compared to looking like
that and watching a football
game with some chips and beer, a lot
of people in our culture say, I'm
choosing the chips and beer.
And then, of course, they do the
yoga and the Pilates and diet and
all that stuff to try to keep
their slim physique.
But that's a separate matter.
So you could easily see that if
religious people were giving
Jesus advice about how to work
this, it would go like this.
Mary comes to Jesus and says,
Jesus, there's a problem.
They've run out of wine.
And Jesus says, I know.
I turned all the wine into water.
And the religious people would be
very satisfied.
Yes, because, of course, real
holiness means to be very
ascetic, is to deny yourself.
That's what real holiness is.
But Jesus, could you put up the
picture?
Jesus, I mean, that's not a really
great picture.
One of you folks, maybe later on,
will want to draw a better picture
or paint a better picture, and we
can use it next time we preach on
this.
It's a party.
Jesus turned the water into wine.
And Jesus is introducing God.
And he's introducing God as the
source of pleasure and joy.
If you could put up the next point,
it's all I've done is just quoted
Psalm 16, verse 11.
You make known to me the path of
life.
In your presence there is fullness
of joy.
At your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.
You, the psalmist, is speaking to God.
And in fact, if you go back and see
Psalm 16, it's the culmination, it's
the end of the psalm.
It's the high point of the psalm.
It's the whole psalm is moving to this
declaration by the person who comes to
realize who is God.
God makes known to me the path of life.
God, in your presence, there is fullness
joy.
God, in your presence, are pleasures
forevermore.
This is the true God.
This is the real God.
This is the God that Jesus reveals.
And it's really interesting, as we'll see
in a moment, this is the first sign.
This is the foundation sign.
This is the ABC sign.
This is the beginning grammar sign.
This is the way that God, that himself, in
the person of his son, wants to introduce
himself to human beings by his first
miracle.
That, folks, you got it all wrong.
The devil did not create joy.
The devil did not create pleasure.
You know, in fact, what this text is
telling us is that, amongst other things,
is that God created a world where wine
could be invented and enjoyed.
Sin created drunkenness and alcoholism.
God didn't create drunkenness and alcoholism.
Sin created that.
But he made a world where there's pleasure
and where there's joy.
So how does this affect this whole issue
of the same-sex marriage?
You see, the fact of the matter is,
is that in our hearts of hearts,
we expect that to be really religious,
we expect, you see, there's a big part of us
that expects that God is the one who takes
away joy, that God is the one who takes
away pleasure, that really, really, God
would love me far more if I was about 50 pounds
lighter and I looked really emaciated
and I fasted four times a week and I hardly
got any sleep because I was up praying all the
time and I was wearing rags because I gave
all of my money away and if I was doing that,
then God would really love me a lot more
and in my heart of hearts, that's what I believe.
And so in my heart of hearts, when it comes
to issues of holiness, we think, yes,
that person's worries about somebody is
completely and utterly correct.
God takes pleasure away.
He takes joy away.
And this God who takes pleasure away and he
takes joy away, yes, he allows some people
to get married and now God's not allowing that
person to get married and all they're going
to be stuck with is a life of loneliness and
water, a life of no pleasure whatsoever.
Because that's what God is like.
And that's why it's so important for all of us.
It's what why might God suggest that we have
to tithe?
Well, at the end of the day, God doesn't like
you enjoying your money.
He doesn't want you to ever have pleasure.
You know, why is it that God wants you to
go to church?
Well, because he wants to ruin your Sundays.
He wants to ruin your weekends.
He takes your pleasures away from you.
Why do you want to read God's word?
Well, because it's boring and God wants to
bore you and he wants to tell you irrelevant
things and impossible things to accomplish.
Why?
Because in our heart of hearts, we worry that
God is like that.
We worry that he is not the one whose path
will lead us to life.
And that in his presence, there is the
fullness of joy and in his right hand, there
are pleasures forevermore.
And we don't believe in our heart of hearts
that the same God who created all things and
understands why things are created and
understands where our pleasure buttons and our
joy buttons are, that the same God who created
all things is also the one who has now come to
redeem us, to bring us back to the God in whose
presence there is a fullness of joy and at
right whose right hand is pleasures forevermore.
That in fact, in the new heaven and the new earth,
when Jesus comes a second time and there's the
judgment of the living and the dead and there's
the new heaven and the new earth, that the rumor
of a sniff of a distant smell of the pleasures of the
new heaven and the new earth would so overwhelm us, it
would destroy our minds and our bodies and our wills.
Because in the new heaven and the new earth, there will be joy and
pleasures that this fallen mortal body right now cannot
possibly enjoy without being unmade.
And when Jesus comes a second time and there is the, there is the
judging of the living and the dead and God says, come into my
kingdom, my well-beloved son, George, you are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ.
The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world has taken away
your sin.
The time has come.
The shadow lands are far gone.
You now will have your resurrection body come into this new heaven and
this new earth.
You will be like my son, Jesus, in terms of his resurrected body.
And I will enter into an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
And so my brothers and sisters, my friends, my seekers, so will you.
So will you.
Now some of you might say, George, um, well, but just, just one other thing.
I was, yeah, I have a few minutes.
Just one more thing before going.
See, the way to understand this story amongst other things is this.
So the, the guy who's organizing the wine, uh, the master of the ceremony, he
knows how life works.
He knows you blow your wad on a couple of good bottles of wine you have right at
first, and then you just keep getting cheaper and cheaper, and then you add
water, and it gets more and more watered down as, as the celebration goes on for
two or three days.
So you can well imagine that the guy who's organizing the wedding, he doesn't
know what's going on.
He doesn't know that the wine's run out.
He sees the servant coming with some wine to taste, and you can just picture him
going, oh, gosh, I have to taste this?
It's probably going to be really bad.
Like, this isn't a very rich couple?
And he's sort of bracing himself to, to drink something, and he takes, and he takes a sip,
and there'd probably be the look of shock on his face.
And then he takes a second sip, and it would be, wow, is this ever a good wine?
God, you know, our pleasures and our joys, they're disordered.
They need to be healed by God.
But friends, brothers and sisters, you know, if this afternoon you get a spectacular piece
of firm tofu, and that's what turns your crank, be grateful.
Say, God, thank you so much for making this.
You know, if it's a piece of nice big steak, a mousse steak, and you get to slice into it
with your fork and knife and put it in your mouth, and don't feel guilty.
Say, oh, God, thank you so much.
There is a world where there are pleasures like this.
Now, some of you might push back and say, George, okay, you say that, and that's good,
and I know your time's almost run out, but George, I don't know if that's, if, I don't
know if you've really been fair to the Bible stories there, because, George, the very next
story that takes place is Jesus driving people out of the market.
Now, George, I know maybe you're going to tell me there's something different culturally
about that, but generally, George, I love going to markets.
Like, markets are often fun.
Like, George, have you ever been to some of the markets, like in Halifax, on the waterfront,
and you go in there, and there's all these really great foods, and there's great things
to buy, and people are relaxed, and, you know, the water's there, and, you know, George,
have you been to the market on a really good day here in Ottawa, and, yeah, I know there
can be, you know, it can be a bit crowded and all that, but, you know, there's just a
sense of life and bustle, and Jesus goes and ruins it all.
Like, George, are you being consistent with what you say?
Well, let's look.
Let's look at what goes on here very briefly in closing.
It's a page, it's verse 13.
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and the temple
he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and money changers sitting there,
and making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen,
and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and he told those
who sold the pigeons, take these things away, do not make my father's house a house of trade.
His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me.
So, is Jesus here taking away fun?
No, he's introducing God in another way.
He's introducing God in another way.
That's a pretty amazing picture up there, eh?
There's Jesus over there with his whip.
He's introducing God in a different way.
Andrew, if you could put up the next point.
Remember that in last week, we talked about how the way that God begins to introduce himself
is by having Jesus be described as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And here we see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
He drives out all who keep pagans from coming to him.
See, because that's what's going on here in the story,
is that when Herod made his temple,
one of the things is that after the Babylonian,
after Jerusalem was destroyed in the 500s BCs,
the Jewish people were scattered.
And one of the byproducts of that is that many people who are pagans
started to become enchanted with the idea, with the God of Israel.
And they became God-fearers.
And for many of them, they didn't want to go the full distance of becoming Jews.
Let me just be honest.
If at my age, I want to become Jewish, I had to be circumcised.
I would think really long and hard about that.
Like, beyond long and hard.
In fact, if there was a God-fearer option,
that's what I would choose.
I know I'm not very holy, not very ascetic.
I just said I like beef and all that stuff.
But I would choose the non-circumcised route for me.
And so when Herod rebuilds the temple,
mindful of all of the Jewish scriptures,
the Old Testament scriptures,
that God wants the nations to come and worship them,
that the pagans are to know worship them,
he creates this whole area as part of the temple grounds,
but not the temple itself,
where pagans could come and pray.
They can't enter the actual temple building itself,
but they could come to pray.
And that's what was completely and utterly filled with animals
and money changers.
The pagans couldn't come to pray.
And so what we see here isn't that Jesus is a killjoy,
but we see that the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
drives out all who keep pagans from coming to him.
We see the loving heart of God.
It's why, you know, in a couple of weeks' time,
we're going to say Jeremy and Kendra,
who left our congregation to be missionaries in Zambia,
they're with us today,
but we're going to have early March.
We're going to have more times for us to spend about it.
But why do they leave here to go to Zambia?
Why?
Well, because there's Zambians that God wants to come
into a personal knowledge of himself.
Why is it that maybe in February,
we're going to bring in somebody and their family
who are going to go plant a church in Jerusalem?
Because God has people in Jerusalem
who he wants to have know Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Why is it that we have sent out people to Asia and Central Asia?
Because there are people in those countries
that God wants to have come to a saving knowledge of himself.
Why is it that we have a ministry on campus?
It's because there are university students
that God wants to have know Jesus.
Why are we thinking of starting another congregation in Kanata
or Sunday evening?
Because God has more people in this city
that he wants to have come to him.
And this is showing the missionary loving heart of God.
So just sort of wrapping this up,
if you could put up the next point, please.
Oh, sorry.
Just while that point stays up there,
listen to what Jesus says after this,
he clears the temple.
Verse 18,
The Jews said to Jesus,
what sign do you show us for doing these things?
And Jesus said,
destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up.
The Jewish leader said then,
basically full of scorn,
listen, Jesus,
46 years this work's been going on,
it's still not built,
you're going to raise it up in three days?
Like baloney.
But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.
And when therefore he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they believed that the scriptures
and the word that Jesus had spoken.
The temple is where in Jesus' day,
I went to meet with God.
Jesus is revealing that he is now where I go
to meet with God.
Next point.
The temple in Jesus' day
is where I needed to go
and offer the necessary sacrifice
so that I could be near to God.
Jesus is the once for all sacrifice
provided by God himself
so that I can live at home
in God's presence into eternity.
See, that's why it's so significant
that he says,
he's first introduced in John 1
as the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
The implication is that God himself
is providing a once for all means
by which we can be made right with him
if we receive it by faith.
And it's not just that Jesus does this
to make us right with God,
but Jesus is also where we go to meet with God.
He is both God's means
to make us right with him
and it's where we go to meet with God.
The final point, please.
And the resurrection of Jesus
is the game changer.
Jesus says it's the final sign.
If you go through and you read John's Gospel,
you're going to see that he keeps emphasizing
different signs that introduce God,
that point to God in very powerful ways.
Jesus reveals that the final sign
is his resurrection from the dead.
It vindicates who he is.
It vindicates the outrageous claim
that he is where human beings
can now go to meet with God,
that he is the one
who introduces God correctly.
It vindicates that he is, in fact,
the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
And it vindicates
that he can still make people
like you and me right with him.
That for people like you and me,
living in Ottawa in 2018,
no matter how it is
that it seems that the culture is going,
that we can meet with Jesus,
we can be reconciled with God,
and as we go through our daily life,
we should not think that God is small
and that Ottawa is big,
Hollywood is big,
Trudeau is big,
Trump is big,
Apple is big,
secularism is big.
No, God is big.
He creates planets,
he holds them in his hands,
he changes human history,
he changes human hearts.
And I'm introduced
to be reconciled to God,
to live at home with God,
and live my day-to-day life
knowing that God is big,
and everything I face is small.
Please stand.
Just before I pray in closing,
just remind you that,
remember this,
one of the things
which is so wonderful
about the story of Jesus
throwing out the money changers
is that it's the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world,
and he's the one
removing the barriers
so that pagans can come to know him.
If you have not given your life to Jesus,
he wants to know you.
He's not waiting for you
to lose weight.
He's not waiting for you
to become more ascetic.
He's not waiting for you
to become more holy.
He's the one
who's dealt with all
that keeps us far from God.
He's dealt with all of that,
and he longs for you
to bend the knee
and to call out to him
and say,
Jesus,
may you be for me
the Lamb of God
who takes away my sin.
May you be for me
the one
who makes me right with God.
May you be the one
by whom I can walk
and follow
and live my days
learning from you.
May you be the one
who is my Savior and my Lord.
There is no time better than today
to make such a call
and cry out to God.
Let's bow our heads in prayer.
Father,
we thank you for Jesus.
Father,
we confess before you
that we should know better,
but we slip into
thinking bad things about you,
wrong things about you,
untruths about you.
Father,
we slip into that so easily.
We project our hard-heartedness
onto you,
our anger-drivenness
onto you,
our lack of love
onto you,
our chaotic desires.
Father,
we put those on you,
but Father,
make us disciples of Jesus
who are gripped by the gospel
and are learning to know
who you are
as you've revealed yourself
through Jesus.
Father,
help us
to know you
through Jesus
and learn to live
knowing that you are
a big God,
bigger than our problems,
and freed up
to live for your glory.
Father,
we ask these things
in the name of Jesus,
your Son
and our Savior.
Amen.