December 18 - Do Whatever

 Read today’s texts first: John 2-4

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The Bible beat Nike by 2,000 years with:
“Whatever He says to you, just do it!” 

After reading through the letters written by James and Peter, we noticed the repeated theme of adding works to our faith, walking the talk, growing in grace. John was another disciple who understood how important it was to obey Jesus. He also brings out stories that illustrate how unusual His commands can sometimes be!

First of all, why would Jesus choose to perform His first miracle at a wedding? Wouldn’t a church service be more appropriate, a tent meeting, somewhere more spiritual? And why on earth would He want to kick off His public ministry with a stunt as controversial as turning water into wine?

When the Canadian Foursquare family first registered our church in Quebec, we had to re-address the question of permitting our pastors to drink alcohol. Drinking wine is customary in Quebec, as it is throughout Europe (and as it was in Bible times). After an unusually heated business meeting, the French Foursquare president, who was not aware of the previous meeting or its agenda, brought greetings in our evening plenary session. Among the gifts he gave to our Canadian president, who opened them in front of the entire convention gathering, was an expensive bottle of French Bordeaux. Some gasped, some laughed out loud, but, needless to say, we were all pushed well out of our comfort zones.

We can speculate why Jesus would do what He did (I did in a sermon called Wine, Women, Weddings, Whatever), but sometimes the “why” is beyond us. In the next few chapters he turns over tables in the Temple, tells a Pharisee he must be born again, and asks a shady Samaritan woman for a drink. Because of our limited human perspective, the “whatever” is more important than the “why.” Mary, His mother, said it best (moms have a way of cutting to the chase): whatever He says to you, do it! (2:5).

“Lord, my adventure in ministry with You began when I first heard You say to me: forget the business program at UBC - enroll in LIFE (LIFE Bible College at the time). That began 50 plus year run of doing the “whatever,” completely outside my comfort zone. It’s been fun, so sign me up for whatever comes next!”