Title Later than First (January 15)
Content span id="writeContents">◆ Text: John 2:1-11
26 years ago, when I came up from Jeju Island on the 3rd Sunday in January 1980 and gave my first sermon at the 17-pyeong tent church, I preached with the words in today's text. "There are no church members, but in the future this church will be better than the first," he said. If I think about it now, I confess that the true church has been revived and has become a rich church according to the preaching.
As you are well aware of today's text, Jesus, his disciples, and people living in that area are invited to the Galilee Canaan wedding banquet. There are three things to be called a banquet house. First of all, there must be a lot of people in the banquet hall. There is nothing as embarrassing as having a feast and not having anyone. There must be a lot of people Second, the food should be plentiful. Food should be abundant so that anyone can come and eat and have leftovers. Third, there should be joy in the banquet house. There must be many people, there must be a lot of food, and there must be an abundance of joy. These are the three necessary elements of a banquet house.
character! Jesus and his disciples went after being invited to the Galilean Canaan wedding feast, but the wine ran out no matter how many people had visited during that time. We Koreans say that we go to a wedding to eat noodles in a story from the old days, but Israelis always have wine at their wedding banquets. But the most important wine ran out. People are gathering, but the owner is starting to panic. But today, when I look here, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is asking Jesus a favor. “Jesus, this house has run out of wine.” What are you going to do when you see Jesus now? Did Jesus have a lot of money? How many people know Jesus? Mary said that she believed that Jesus was the problem solver because He was the Son of God.
Today, Mary, the mother of Jesus, said to Jesus, "The wine has run out." Then, when you ask what the content is, it is a confession that says, "But only you can solve this problem." Ladies and gentlemen, this is how we should live this year. We do not believe in people, we do not believe in material things, we do not believe in the power of power, but the object of our faith is only Jesus. The confession “Only Jesus, you can solve this problem” should be our confession this year. Then, not only confessing, but also saying to the servants, "Do whatever Jesus said to you." If you believe the Word, your actions must follow. Words are not meant to be understood, but words need action. What is living faith? I have to squirm Not just understanding with your head and with your heart...
At the training center meeting, I saw that you were the first person to come to the training center. Later, I was able to hear his story, and he said that the man who could not use his body properly was also curious about him. Because you use your body, you keep moving your body. Get up, stretch out your hands, bend your legs... Faith is not only understood in our head, but we are expressed through experience. Many of my sermons say, "If you believe with your heart, let's confess with your mouth. It will be so." Let's follow along. "If you believe in your heart, let's confess with your mouth. It is so." Amen!
When Jesus heard Mary's request, he said, "Dump the water and fill the jar up to the mouth." character! Floating water and filling it up to the mouth. Then take the water again and bring it to the banquet hall. This is really funny. I don't understand why they ask you to pour water, put it in a jar, and then bring the water from the jar back to the banquet hall. Everyone, the problem arises because you are trying to understand the life of faith. With my narrow head, it hurts our heads to explode because I try to understand God's great world with some of the limitations of humans. If you believe in Him, you can accept everything from Him. Faith is faith. Do this, and then you do it.
What did the banquet hall say when they brought you water? "Maybe the first one is better for all the reasons of the world, but how is this house better the last?" The first thing I like is that it's the world's principle. So, first love is good for love, and the emotion we had when we met for the first time. Our hearts that we had for the first time are all good. If we say that this is the principle of living in the world, faith is different. Getting better is a blessing. It gets better as time goes on... A good person is a really good person when you break up with someone who is better than a good relationship when you first meet. When we parted... I also went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but even now, if I go on a pilgrimage to Canaan in Galilee, they give me this wine at the wedding feast. I can't take it, but I can eat it as much as I want. The best wine ever produced in the world is Canaan in Galilee.
Where does this blessing come from? If we say that we came out of the Galilean Canaan wedding banquet, our church today must be the same church as the Galilean Canaanian wedding banquet. Everyone, come out with what you lack. And leave it to the Lord. If you pray, the Lord will solve it and take responsibility for all fundamental problems. "Jesus, only you can do it." Like Mary's confession, let's attend worship with this kind of heart every time we attend worship on this Sunday and this year. With this belief, "Only you can do it. I believe that everything will be resolved if you entrust it to you." I sincerely pray that you will become people of blessings who will be better than the first, like this blessing that happened at the Canaan wedding in Galilee this year.
“Thank you and thank God the Father. Like a Galilean wedding feast, I want this church to be a church that overflows with people, spiritual food, and joy. Above all, help us to become an altar where the Lord is with us, and we are like Mary. I entrust everything in front of you, so that I can always come out with the belief that “I believe that you will solve it.” Let one blessing become a blessing for a lifetime, and not only the blessings received on this earth, but also the blessings of the land beyond. Please make this connection. In the name of Jesus I pray earnestly. Amen."