And The Beat Goes On
This week's blog is based on John 2:1-11.
Our God is a God of abundance, celebration, and joy!
We all know how the story goes.
There is a wedding.
There is no more wine.
Mary takes Jesus aside.
Water. Wine. Boom.
And the beat goes on.
If I am being honest, the first thing that comes to mind is what did Jesus look like dancing? Was he a good dancer? Come on, he is the Son of God! He has to be a good dancer, right? Or maybe he was not a good dancer. Either way, that is something we may never know for sure.
But the main thing I want to take away from the story here is that this is not a story of having limited resources and worrying about everything that could go wrong. This is about a generous God who is creating a space for celebration, excitement, and community.
Mary takes Jesus aside: “They have no wine.”
Oh, we have made statements like that before! Maybe not about wine, but we have made those statements.
“We have no money for the light bill!”
“We have no groceries in the refrigerator.”
“We have no gas in the car!”
Even in the church world I live in:
“We have no space in the budget for that.”
“We need to give less money to the synod.”
“How are we going to afford that?”
Oh, those statements cut deep, and they are very real. They can be painful. But we remember that God is a God of celebration, joy, and abundance. God has provided to creation enough for all people to have what they need. Our God is generous.
And the beat goes on.
Now, I'm not saying we should expect to pray to God and assume God will give us whatever we want. God is not a vending machine and all we have to do is put our prayer in the coin slot. But rather, God has given us each other.
I have seen tragedies happen and people rush to help with whatever needs to be done.
I have seen St. Philip in need of support to get kids to camp, and the members respond generously to make it happen.
I have seen people down on their luck and their family members quickly come to help lift them up!
I have seen food pantry workers dedicated to help people get food.
When there is trouble or a need, God’s people of abundance are not worried about scarcity. They are focused on helping people out. God has provided creation with everything to make sure everyone has what they need. A theology of abundance focuses on what could go right, not what could go wrong.
Jesus was not worried about what could go wrong. Because he is about abundance, celebration, and joy!
Let us live in the abundance of God. To quote Christian essayist Debie Thomas: “Because He is good. He is generous. He is Love.
And the beat goes on.