The Preacher’s Corner: The Best Is Yet to Come…? by Tupper Garden

The wine steward said, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.  – John 2:1-11

A wedding is a time of joy, of family celebration, of hope. Wine is symbolic of the family’s desire that all present should share in the mood – that their hearts might be gladdened, that they might lose some of their inhibitions and let the music of this wonderful life-event set the guests’ feet to dancing, their tongues to laughter, their voices to song. The wine is a vital vehicle of hospitality, a pivotal element in the celebration.

But the wine has run out. The family is embarrassed. The guests are disappointed. The party and the celebration they had been imagining for years is in danger of fizzling out.

Let me ask you: Has the wine run out for you? Has the wine run out in your marriage? Has the wine run out in your  work? Has the wine run out in our church? Has the wine run out in your walk with God?  I’m not asking if you are in crisis. I’m not asking you if your circumstances are good or bad. I am asking you if the joy has dried up. I’m asking you if the hope that you once had is gone. I’m asking you if the mood has changed. I’m asking you if the party is over and you are just hanging around looking for your coat so you can go home.

Maybe the grind of life just took your joy. Maybe there were losses and failures and set backs that caused you to lose hope. Maybe the news of these days with all its trouble beat it out of you, or the aches and pains of age robbed you. Maybe a love went wrong. Maybe you missed the promotion or lost the job, or maybe you have all that you ever wanted and now you find that there is nothing left for which you strive. Maybe there is guilt that weighs on you or opportunities that were missed and are gone forever. Maybe you were once filled with hope that Christ’s love would fill you, but somebody in the church let you down. Maybe you prayed and prayed and lost interest when nothing seemed to change for you. Maybe your married life hasn’t turned out the way you had dreamed and you are living in two different worlds, unconnected and you don’t really know how it happened. But whatever happened, life has dried up, the wine has run out and the music has stopped and you have stopped hoping that hope will ever return.

Hope. It tells us that the best is yet to come. Is that a word we can hear today?

You know, I’ve been through some dry days lately with little wine flowing. But I believe it is less a matter of circumstance than a matter of trust for me. Sometimes I have to be brought up short in order to look again to the Source of life. Then, I have to get about doing what he tells me. And so do you.

Pray for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives.  Keep it up. Seek and you will find.

What gives life the wine of hope and joy? Why, the Source of hope and joy, Christ. What gives a marriage life and hope of renewal? Why, the Source of love that turns selfish people toward each other. What gives a walk of faith new pizzazz and spirit? Why the Source, the Giver of faith who walks with you. What gives a church a vision of the life God intends? Why, the Head of the Church, the Source of the Church’s very life.

Seek and you will find, says the Lord of life. Seek him, then. And you will find that the best is yet to come. For every day will be a day closer to him who intends life, and love and joy. The party isn’t over. It has only begun.

Tupper Garden is Senior Pastor for Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church in Roanoke. Visit them on the web at rcpres.org