Extravagance

John 2:1-11

Recently discovered letter from the general superintendant of AOG to a man called Jesus of Nazareth

Dear Jesus

As you will be aware, we in the Pentecostal Church take very seriously the supervision of our newly qualified ministers and we are especially keen to offer help and advice during the first year of ministry

As we have communicated before we are a little concerned that you began itinerant ministry so soon after your baptism. We would have preferred you to have spent a few years in youth ministry first so that we could check you out and test your calling, and it would appear that our unease was justified.

We are always pleased to hear that our ministers are operating in miraculous signs as it is one of our Pentecostal distinctives, however we do feel it necessary to draw your attention to the constitution:

Section 21, other constitutional matters:

21.4 The Fellowship strongly disapproves of the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

It has come to our attention that you have recently been involved in the creation of something in the region of 120 to 180 gallons of wine!

Surely you will understand that such a miracle is entirely inappropriate for a man of God and it likely to bring the name of the church into disrepute

Were you not aware that many guests at that wedding would have already had plenty to drink?

Do you not think that the creation of such a quantity of wine at that stage in proceeding was totally irresponsible?

In the light of the above events we suggest that you take a break from ministry and continue to work as a carpenter, while undergoing further ministry training.

Yours sincerely…

(The constitution no longer has that clause)

You cannot put Jesus Christ in a box!

You cannot fit him into your safe, predictable shape!

When you look at the ministry of Jesus you will see that he was full of surprises

He was continually different from people’s expectations of him

Here we have his first miracle – not a healing or deliverance or a storm calmed – the creation of a large quantity of wine

Nobody’s life was saved, no body transformed, nobody turned from sinful ways – the only thing saved was the success of a party and a host’s reputation

If you had been advising Jesus would you have suggested this one for a first miracle?

As we look at this miracle what stands out as a theme?

Extravagance!

Look at the details…

V10 The wine was very good – better than expectations!

V6 Six big jars – a lot of wine – more than enough!

V4 Not his time – but he did it anyway!

This event in the life of Jesus does not fit into the typical needs based mentality that church tends to live in

We can handle Jesus healing a man with leprosy – he had a big need

We can handle Jesus healing a man born blind – clear need

We can handle Jesus raising a dead girl – again a real need

We can handle Jesus calming the storm and preventing the disciples being drowned – they really needed a miracle

We can handle Jesus feeding 5000 hungry people with bread and fish – he met their need

But here he did an amazing extravagant miracle that didn’t really need to be done and he didn’t just give them enough cheap wine to survive the event; he created gallons of top quality wine!

Often we are looking to Jesus to help us survive life – to meet our needs and get us through

I see here that Jesus lived bigger than this – he lived an extravagant life – he did more!

What does the word extravagant trigger in you?

Does an alarm bell go off?

It might well as we all know that responsible living is a good thing and extravagance is the route to poverty and disaster

Dickens – David Copperfield – Micawber gave a piece of advice to David in which he proceeded on the following lines: "Income, twenty shillings a week, expenditure, twenty shillings and sixpence; result, misery. Income, twenty shillings a week, expenditure, nineteen shillings and sixpence; result, happiness."

This is sound teaching that many would do well to listen to and by doing so avoid debt

What are the dictionary definitions of extravagant?

Using, spending or costing too much; passing bounds of reason; unreasonably or unbelievably great

The last few words hint that extravagance can be good – unbelievably great!

But the first bit – spending too much does not sound at all good!

This miracle of Jesus was unreasonably great – it was also not done for himself

Right through his three years of ministry Jesus did amazing things for others, not for himself

For someone else’s wedding he created a huge quantity of very good wine

About himself he said: Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Luke 9:58)

Here we have the key to godly extravagance – it is directed towards others!

What do we have in Jesus’ first miracle?

We have a man hosting a wedding feast who has given away a lot of wine and has none left

Jesus then came in and gave him more wine – wine that was better than the wine he had given away!

Jesus’ first miracle was a miracle of provision for a man who had overspent in his giving

Need to understand the difference between godly and ungodly extravagance

Ungodly extravagance is simply living beyond your means – living so that there is always too much month left at the end of the money

This is impulse buying, recreational shopping, buying it now rather than waiting until you have the money – the extravagance your parents warned you about – the extravagance that has got you into debt – the extravagance that brings misery

Godly extravagance still involves overspending but it is not spending on yourself:

Luke 21:1-4 All she had to live on

This is good extravagance – she overspent but she gave to God and was commended for it

As we face ever increasing economic difficulties we need to make sure we understand God’s economy

At the moment we are being given very mixed messages:

We are told that the current economic problems are due to banks lending too much money

We are also told that we need to spend lots of money, which we don’t have, to get the economy working again

God’s economy is built upon giving – extravagant giving

2 Cor. 9:6-11

Remember the quote here is from Psalm 112

Psalm 112:5-9

Have spoken on this before but it is vitally important that we get this right – things are not going to get better for a good while yet

Remember Joseph helping Pharaoh prepare for the seven years of famine – he made preparation

It is late but now is the time to sow seed – now is the time to be extravagant

Gen. 26:12 Isaac reaped a hundredfold

What were the conditions in which he did this?

Gen. 26:1 There was famine in the land!

Now is the time to sow, and sow as much as you can

Remember the promises of 2 Corinthians

2 Cor. 9:6And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

9:11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Need to break out of ungodly cautiousness – need to be free – need to be extravagant

Remember we have a God who delights to meet the needs of those who are extravagant for his purposes

1 kings 17:10-16 She could not afford to feed Elijah but she did so anyway and God provided for her in an amazing way

You may or may not be feeling the pinch as the credit crunch/recession/depression starts to bite

Those being hit hardest right now are charities and people living in poorer countries

Missionaries are also being hit by unfavourable exchange rates

Now is the time for the people of God to up their game – to become extravagant!

Remember Jesus did more than meet needs – the water to wine miracle was one of abundance

Go the extra mile – err on the side of giving too much – do more than your fair share – seek to bless others with abundance rather than just meeting needs

Remember the life Jesus lived was not quiet or predictable or safe

Need to break out of the old thinking today

Need to break out of fear

Need to break out into extravagance