Water....to wine!

In John 2 - the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana, when he turns water into wine…really good wine. I read it the other day in my Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible, and the footnote really opened things up. Jesus took a rote Jewish purification rite and transformed it into “Communion wine.” He confiscated rigid, perfectionist legalism and replaced it with free, gracious relationship.

The disciplines of the Christian life are not ends in themselves – to be completed just-so and measured by the standard of others’ experience. There is an element of objectivity that is necessary and helpful, but the disciplines are a means to an end – the way we travel in learning the Jesus Way, stepping into a fuller, brighter, more colorful life with God. Subjective relationship…the wine of spontaneous interaction between lovers is what should infuse every aspect of our participation in life – even (especially?) in “religious” activities, where life giving ritual can easily become dead and legalistic attempts at manipulation.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)… “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and learn to live freely and lightly.”
Rigid structure and standards replaced with Communion wine.
This is the same sort of thing Phoebe Palmer discovered in her journey. She struggled so much with comparing her walk with others’ experiences…she hadn’t lived it the same way others talked about it and she felt she was falling short. Freedom came when she left “religion” and entered “relationship":
"Palmer had constantly gotten in her own way by gauging her progress against an imagined standard of what she was supposed to feel. If religion is experience, she had reasoned, then the test must be the subjective content of that experience. And the standard she employed was based upon the testimonies of others and not upon her own experiences. Finally she learned to trust to faith, which she defined in terms of her understanding of biblical promises. Once she stopped cross-examining her feelings and accepted the possibility that Holiness would come as the Lord dictated and not as she hypothesized, the dam burst." (More about Phoebe Palmer)

“The Christ-in-me identity is not bound to a generic one-size-fits-all program for union with God. The Holy Spirit knows the spiritual practices, relationships, and experiences that best suit our unique communion with God” (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook 19).