randzig

I don’t usually do this but this sermon really spoke to me so I thought I’d post the notes I took for you to go over.  You can get this sermon through Itunes to hear it for yourself.  Just look for “Wine and Heaven”.

Wine is symbolic of Gods blessing or favor of God.  Peace(Shalom) with God and with others. Joel 3:17 – There will be peace.  Mountains will drip new wine. Hills will flow with milk.
Amos 9:11-15 – Restore Davids fallen shelter…repair, restore, rebuild….New wine will drip from the mountains
 
Rob says that often times in scripture a lack of connection with God coincides with a lack of wine.
 
Rob argues that the story of Jesus first miracle was more significant to Jews at the time than it is to us.  To us it is the first miracle Jesus performed in his earthly ministry but to Jews there is deeper meaning.  Jewish culture was honor/shame based.  People would judge you by your family name.  When the wine runs out it is a major problem for a family where there would have been great shame for anyone connected to the family had they run out of wine.  The scripture tells us that this is, the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples put their faith in him(John 2:11).  Wedding feast would last for days.  Everyone would take off work and party like its “29″.   A wedding in Jewish history is a picture of God and people.  Marriage in the Bible is a picture of union between God and people.  The Ten Commandments were seen as a wedding relationship.  People and God make vows to live together in a certain way.  Thats why the first commandment is “You shall worship no other Gods”… or if you will “You shall have no other “lovers”.  Central to Jewish thought was that there was a wedding (Adam, eve and God) but the “vows” had been broken.  But there is a coming day where God and people will be brought back together. So think about this: the first sign Jesus performed was at a wedding and on a third day. Also notice that in John 2:9-10 the master is pleased.  Obviously there is a connection with Jesus pleasing the master at a wedding on a third day.  He is fulfilling the law in how we are to live but also fulfilling his work on earth of connecting us with each other and with him.  (Also notice the wine is often associated with His blood).  We can easily say this is just Jesus performing his first earthly sign but then we loose what John is trying to tell people.  As mentioned above wine is a symbol of everything being in its right place with God and man.  Rob suggest that John is saying that heaven and earth are mingling, embracing, kissing.  There is anticipation for what heaven will be when heaven and earth are the same.  When Jesus turns the water into wine it is not just a sign but also implying there is a relationship between man and God.
 
Note: Jesus never walked over to the water and turned it into wine himself.  Jesus told the servants what to do and when they did what he said the water was wine.  Jesus turned water into wine through servants.  His power, His authority, but the miracle is that people did what Jesus said to do.  Just do what Jesus says.  Rob says, “Maybe this is what it looks like when heaven and earth meet”.
 
Mid east at the time of Jesus had a barter economy – Everyone contributed their portion.  Barter economy is built on trust.  We all need what the other has which gives us reason to have community and maintain it.
Economy in Greek means household – Everyone in the family having what they need.
Business is an ancient profession.  People tend to think business people “don’t get it” because they aren’t in the ministry.  We need business people to generate.  The barter economy only works when people generate.  When we generate we give so that everybody has enough.
 
Look at Isaiah 65:17-25 description of Heaven:
It is described as a physical place where work won’t be meaningless: and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.  Will not labor in vain. Building houses, cultivating the land, “planting vineyards”.  In Isaiah when he is obviously referring to heaven he is equating it to a working economy.  People are living in proper relationship to each other.  For the prophets (Isaiah) Heaven is the restored, reclaimed, rediscovered earth.  We are made to be intimately connected with his creation.  Example:  What do you do when you have vacation time?  Do you plan on staying in a room with tile floors, no windows, fluorescent lighting?   No, we spend time outside in His creation.  We feel whole when our feet are in the sand.
 
Jewish prophets do not locate heaven somewhere else.  God takes up residence in the midst of us.  For the Jewish prophets heaven is here.  Not one verse in all of the Bible that says that when people go to heaven they go somewhere else.(Souls are with God but there will be a reuniting of body and soul).  At some point we will be reunited with our physical body. 
This is in conflict with “evacuation theology”.  “Soon I’ll be gone“. This is lethal because its saying that we are just trying to get out of here.  God desires to take up residence here.  Its not us going up to him.  Rob argues that the example(Matthew 24:40) of two people in the field might be misunderstood.  We have long interpreted that to mean God has taken one to heaven (StarTrek Jesus, as Rob puts it).  Rob says, “I want to stay”.  The one who stays is the one that God is going to reclaim everything he ever said with. 
Evacuation Theology Example:  In massive mission movements years ago western white people took the (evacuation) gospel to central Africa (Rwanda).  By the early 1990s 80% of Rwandans were Christians and expected to go to heaven when they die.  This was considered to be a case study for perfection in missions.  There was a tribe that turned on another. 1,000,000 were slaughtered.  Churches were slaughtered by other churches.  We have to be careful that the gospel we preach is the whole gospel…not just the “evacuation gospel”(Colossians 1:19-20).  If the gospel becomes about another world then this world (including its people) suffer greatly.  If we are just into saving souls we are extracting the soul of the gospel in which God reconciles himself with all of his creation. 
 
Body and Soul are connected.  Gospel is about the whole person entering into the whole Shalom of God.
 
Personal thoughts:  This sermon hit on some reoccuring thoughts I keep having.  You are only given what you have so that others may have some also.  Obviously this is not a system that a government can implement or even a program a church can lead.  It is exactly what it is.  And it has to be…simply put…part of the counter culture of the Christian community.  We need our culture to be a counter culture where things that are not normal in life are normal when your apart of the Family of God.
 
 
 

 

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