Churched
West Franklin Family,
I was reminded this week that Jesus is fun. He’s a blast to hang out with. He’s someone you actually desire and look forward to being with.
Consider. . .
“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” (John 2:1-3)
In New Testament times, a wedding celebration lasted for several days. You got off work for a week to party with friends. Jesus and his disciples were invited. Someone wanted Him there. When you invite someone (especially non-family) to a week long party, you really enjoy their company. You don’t invite someone to a party like this if they are a drag to hang around. You invite someone to this kind of shin-dig because of the fun they bring. And, where did Mary go when the “party refreshment” needed replenishing? Yep. Not only was this a party where wine was enjoyed in abundance (why else would they have run out?) . . . this was a celebration that was going to be a bust unless more wine appeared. Jesus’ mom went to her son to do something about it.
If you are keeping score: (1) Week long wedding celebration; (2) Jesus was invited; (3) Jesus’ mom went to Jesus when the wine was running low.
I don’t want to read too much into this, but it does reveal a remarkable reality about our Savior: Jesus was fun to be around. He was company you wanted to keep. He would make you smile when you saw his name on the guest list.
Think about it: children LOVED to be around Him;Â and strangers, after a couple of hours with Him, begged Him not to go away. You don’t do that to a stiff. You don’t do that to a stick in the mud. You don’t do that to a cheese ball. You don’t do that to a know-it-all. You don’t do that to a stuffy religious punk.
I imagine Jesus laughing a lot. I imagine Him looking you in the eye when you talked. I imagine Him taking a genuine interest in what you had to say. I imagine Him asking lots of questions about you, rather than making a bunch of a wrongly assumed declarations.
I imagine the wedding party getting excited about inviting Jesus, not arguing over why He was on the list.
In short, I cannot help but believe Jesus was a joy to be around. When you walk away from being with Jesus, you felt heard, loved, tended to, empathized with, and maybe – just maybe – your cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. Maybe, just maybe, a couple of hilarious jokes were shared. Maybe, just maybe, you went home thinking, “I really would like to spend more time with that guy.”
Jesus was invited to a week-long party.
I love that.
Obviously, this is important for a lot of reasons. Let me give you two.
First, I hope you actually enjoy spending time with Jesus.
I hope you look forward to it. I hope you are eager for it. I hope you see Him as One who is for you, loves you, and enjoys a good laugh. This isn’t all He is. But it is who He is.
Second, enjoying being with Jesus might just be the key to evangelism we’re missing.
A chapter before the wedding at Cana, Andrew eagerly talked about Jesus to his brother after spending the day with Him. When you spend time with the real Jesus, you will talk about Him. We automatically talk about great experiences.
We do it all the time.
- A new restaurant.
- Grandchildren.
- College football.
- A diet.
- A new hobby.
- A new app.
- A good follow on Instagram or YouTube.
When we have experiences that affect us, we automatically talk about it.
Could it be that we aren’t sharing Jesus because we aren’t really enjoying being with Him? And, could it be we aren’t enjoying being with Him because we don’t see Him as a joy to be around?
Jesus was invited to a week long party.
I love that.
We have a Savior who is actually dying to be with . . . wait a second . . . He already has.
Don’t forget to enjoy the Jesus who is actually fun to be around.
Because He Lives,
Pastor Matt
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