Isaiah 62: 1- 5; John 2: 1 - 11

Back when I was in High School I played the saxophone in a number of bands. That was the heyday of groups like “Chicago”, “Blood, Sweat, & Tears”, “Earth, Wind, and Fire” – i.e., the great horn bands. And we tried to be like them. But we soon discovered the economic reality that the people who wanted to hear that kind of music didn’t have any money, so in my junior year we switched from a nine piece band to a smaller five piece combo, and started playing songs like “Strangers in the Night”, and “The Look of Love”. 

We didn’t have nearly as much fun, but we started making a little money.  [A life lesson!]  Well, that little group had a gig – a wedding reception - one Saturday night in a far away place called ‘Mount Holly’.  Seriously, we were from Deptford, and had no clue where ‘Mount Holly’ was;  I figured it was somewhere in north Jersey. The only South Jersey mountain that we ‘Deptfordites’ knew of was the Kinsley Landfill!  (Sad, but true!) 

Anyway, getting to ‘the mountain’ required us to convince someone to drive us, because none of us had a drivers license at the time, only being 16 years old. But our guitar player said don’t worry, he would find rides for us. Now, we assumed that this meant that his mom in her big old Chevy Impala and someone else, would drive us.  So, I was a bit surprised (and a little concerned) when I walked over to his house and discovered that our drivers were this guitar player’s two older brothers. “The Jackson brothers.”  Both in their early 20’s. 

And, as it turned out, my concern was justified. The ride to Mount Holly that night was something like the now extinct “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disney, except that the danger was real.  We were doing over 90 at some points, weaving through traffic; once for a short but harrowing moment they went against traffic on a divided highway… it was crazy.  But somehow we got there.

My concern level rose even higher when I realized that the Jackson brothers were not only our means of transportation, but they were also invited guests at the reception. And in this case the wine did not run out! And as I didn’t see them at all that night without a drink in hand, I knew I had to find another way home. 

So, during a break I located a payphone (remember those things?) and a quarter, and I called home.  My father answered.  I said, “I’m at a VFW hall in Mount Holly.  I don’t know the address, and I can’t give you any directions.  But I know that I don’t want to drive home with the guys I came with.” 

He said, “OK, I’ll be there.”

You know, when you’re 16, sometimes you don’t think about things in complex ways. Life is generally very simple – and that’s OK, that’s one reason why life can be so much fun at that age. Ignorance is bliss, right?  So I know that I never even thought about the possibility that my father might not know where Mt. Holly was, or the possibility that there would be more than one VFW in the Mt. Holly area, or that the address might actually have been Hainsport, or Lumberton, and the place was just called the ‘Mt. Holly’ VFW.  Never thought about it. I just played my music, and at 11:55 when I saw the door open, and my father walk in, I didn’t even feel relieved, because deep inside I knew he would find a way to get there. I just knew it. 

And he did. So, we were packing up, and the other horn player, a trumpet player, comes over to me and says, “Uh… do you think your dad could give me a ride, too?”  “Sure, man, no problem.”  

That night came back to my mind this week as I thought about these two lectionary readings – from Isaiah 62 and John 2 – and the teaching that I wanted to lift from them today. Did you happen to notice the title of this sermon?  Your God is Happy With You!  Now, you don’t have to fess up here, I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, but I’d bet you that a significant percentage of you read that and thought, “Well, not necessarily.”  Or, “That depends!”  Or, “I seriously doubt it… because I know _______ and ______ about myself, and I know that God does too. I mean, I’m not happy with me, how could God be?” 

So, why would I have chosen such a statement as a sermon title?  Why would I give false hope to people, or, mislead people with whom, maybe, God isn’t happy? 

Well, let me say this: if you have a problem with that sentence, your problem isn’t with me, it is with the prophet Isaiah!  Because, actually these are his words, from Isaiah 62:5.  Listen to the word of the Lord: 

^1-5 Regarding Zion, I can’t keep my mouth shut, regarding Jerusalem, I can’t hold my tongue, until her righteousness blazes down like the sun and her salvation flames up like a torch. Foreign countries will see your righteousness, and world leaders your glory. You’ll get a brand-new name straight from the mouth of God. You’ll be a stunning crown in the palm of God’s hand, a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God. No more will anyone call you Rejected, and your country will no more be called Ruined. You’ll be called Hephzibah (My Delight), and your land Beulah (Married), because God delights in you and your land will be like a wedding celebration. For as a young man marries his virgin bride, so your builder marries you, and as a bridegroom is happy in his bride, so your God is happy with you.  [The Message] 

I just want to remind you here that these words were spoken to a group of people – an entire nation – who had done nothing (from a human perspective) to merit them, to earn them.  There hadn’t been any big national revival, there hadn’t been a great movement of repentance – followed up by a noticeable change in behavior. In fact, quite the opposite.  As those words were spoken, the armies of the terrifying nation of Babylon were at the very gates of the city of Jerusalem, having overrun the entire country.  And Isaiah had been very clear in delivering the message from God that all of this was happening because of the rebellion and the sin of the people of Israel.  This was a consequence of their sin. 

So, these words weren’t based on the performance of the people (not that that wasn’t a concern to God, of course, it was) but – hear me, friends – God’s delight in his people was based on the character of God himself, and not what his people did. God could be angry with his people, just as parents can become angry at the continued disobedience of our children, but that didn’t change his love for them. God delighted in them simply because of who they were and because of who God is.  And that has not changed to this day. 

In September of 2006, some sociologists from Baylor University released the results of a study looking into America’s different views – or ‘images’ –  of God. Part of the study was a survey conducted by the Gallup organization, which identified four distinct views of God’s personality and interaction with the world. I.e., there are four basic ways that people ‘see’ God in their minds. Baylor researchers outlined the results like this: 

Those who believe in an “Authoritarian God” who is “angry at humanity’s sins and engaged in every creature’s life and world affairs”: 31.4 percent.

Those who believe in a “Benevolent God” who is forgiving and accepting of anyone who repents: 23 percent.

Those who believe in a “Critical God” who “has his judgmental eye on the world, but he’s not going to intervene, either to punish or comfort”: 16 percent.

Those who believe in a “Distant God” who is more of a “cosmic force that launched the world, then left it spinning on its own”: 24.4 percent.[1]

So, almost three out of four people according to this survey, believe in a God who is either angry, critical, judgmental or distant – as opposed to welcoming and loving.  And I would say to you what is probably obvious – our picture, our ‘view’ of God will determine everything about our relationship (or lack of relationship) with our Creator. It will set our priorities in morality, in worship, in service, in our self esteem; it will have a lot to do with our confidence in the future and our basic outlook on pretty much everything of importance. 

So the question I want to ask you today is … how do you see God? 

Do you have a mental picture of a God who likes to be with you, who is willing to listen to you for hours on end, and not be bored, because this God delights in your presence?  Do you see a God who is ready to hear your requests – in fact, who knows what you need before you even ask? Do you picture a God who is ‘happy with you’ because you are a precious creation that he has formed, and he didn’t make a mistake?  Do you have a picture in your mind of a God who wants you to be happy? 

Now, I want to be honest with you, so I need to say this: I don’t think that our ‘happiness’ is necessarily God’s first priority (I think there are other more urgent priorities in the bigger picture), sometimes we are not going be ‘happy’. Nevertheless, I certainly don’t think that God wills our unhappiness, by any means. 

We see this illustrated in our second passage of Scripture this morning.  You remember the story, right?  John 2. Jesus and five disciples show up at a wedding reception in Cana, a tiny little town in Galilee.  They are there with Jesus’ mother, Mary, who had some sort of connection with the host family, although we don’t know what that was.

This was not a drunken party, drunkenness was severely looked down on in this day, socially. But on the other hand, wine was part of the fabric of that culture, and when the wine ran out (which would have been a major embarrassment to the hosts) Mary wanted to help them save face. So she appealed to Jesus to do something.  And Jesus responds by having the servants fill the water pots that were used for ceremonial washing to the top, and tells them to draw some out and bring it to the headwaiter. He tastes it and in surprise says, “A host always serves the best wine first. Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” 

I read in one commentary that this (which was Jesus’ first public miracle) is the most difficult of all the seven signs in the Gospel of John to preach about.  I thought, “Well that’s interesting, I wonder why someone would say that?”  Reading on, what that writer meant was that in preaching it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Jesus performed this miracle – changing water into wine at a wedding reception – for any reason other than to avoid embarrassment for the host, and this new couple, or to please his mother.   And the thing is, that the writer of this commentary just knew that this couldn’t be right! 

Jesus wouldn’t perform a miracle just to make somebody happy.  And he continued, the problem here is that people might think this is some sort of life’s model for us… and everybody is going to expect to be happy, and we’re all going to go out and start partying, and drinking, and taking drugs… I kid you not! 

Some of us in our Wednesday night Soup and Study group are looking at the signs in John, and it was a total coincidence (or, as we would say a Godincidence) that this passage turned up in the Lectionary for this week. I had chosen this for the S & S topic after the Christmas Eve message, and had no idea what the upcoming Lectionary readings were.  So, last Wednesday we got into this in a little more detail that we can today.  Anyway, I realize that the signs in John are like an onion, they have layers of meaning. 

And this one is no different – it’s telling us about some deep truths regarding Jesus Christ; i.e., transformation, and the quality of God’s grace, and the quantity of God’s grace (more than enough – like this 180 gallons of wine in a small town wedding ceremony!) and more.  And they are worth looking at. But I don’t think we need – or should – avoid the most obvious point of this sign:

i.e., that Jesus’ first miracle was from the perspective of those who were actually there, done simply to make them happy.  And why would he do that? Well, maybe because he just delights in us? 

There is another similar Old Testament passage that is just wonderful.  How many of you just happened to be reading the book of Zephaniah this morning?  Thought so! 

Listen to this from chapter 3:

¹⁴Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel!  Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! ¹⁵For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy.  And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you!  At last your troubles will be over,  and you will never again fear disaster. ¹⁶On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid! ¹⁷For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” 

What is really special about this passage is that it is the only passage in the entire Bible that refers to God ‘singing’.  Can you imagine what the sound of God singing would be like?  I don’t know that we can. I think we’ve all heard God through singing, but this is direct.  God is singing. And what is it that brings a song to God’s heart? 

Friends, it is you. And me.  I can hardly believe it, either.  But there it is: He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. 

Someone by the name of Brennan Manning said: “I believe that the real difference in the American church is not between conservatives and liberals, fundamentalists and charismatics, nor between Republicans and Democrats. The real difference is between the aware and the unaware.

When somebody is aware of that love—the same love that the Father has for Jesus—that person is just spontaneously grateful.[2]

Because we know… that God really does love us. In fact, God delights in us.  What better news is there?

Nancy Spiegelberg: “Lord, I crawled across the bareness to you with my empty cup, uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment. If only I had known you better. I’d have come running with a bucket.[3]