John 2: Faith in Action Before the Miracle

Introduction

That Sunday, Kerith Community Church broadcast the last Kerith Online service recorded in the studio. The message was given by Rachel, from the Windsor site. Her theme comes down to three words: faith in action.

To illustrate it, she chooses a story everyone knows, Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11). "God is still turning water into wine in our lives," someone once wrote on social media. Rachel picks it up: it's true.

Without dwelling on the symbolism of the purification jars, she takes the story "for what it is" and draws a simple path from it: name the need, do what Jesus says, act with what you have in your hands, and let your story become a testimony for others.

Message outline

1. Go further than where you are

Rachel goes back to 1990. She is about 13 and plays a cassette by the American band Petra on repeat, the album "Beyond Belief".
She reads a few of the lyrics: we are content to pitch our tent where glory is evident, and seldom do we know that glory came and went. You can't stand still; you have to cross the bridge.
The song speaks of a higher place to go, from faith to faith, and of a leap of faith without a net: "waters never part until our feet get wet."
That is the thread of the message: move toward the next step God has for you, beyond where you are now, with a step of faith.

2. The problem is named

The wine runs out. Mary says to Jesus: "They have no wine." She makes the urgent problem clear.
There is no quick fix: you can't pop to the shop and bring back eighty bottles. You would have needed far more. Rachel estimates, without being sure of her calculation, that a single jar held about 240 pints, and Jesus has six of them filled.
She compares this pressure to that of a parent whose child announces at 7:30 on a Monday morning that they need butter, frozen blueberries, icing sugar and black treacle for the 8:45 cooking class, or else it's detention. At a wedding, the cultural pressure was enormous, and Jesus understood that.
She tells of leaving for America: a huge traffic jam on the motorway to Manchester airport, nothing to be done in practical terms, then a dash to the departure gate with a member of staff. They were the last to board before the gate closed behind them.
Some things are out of our control. The question becomes: where do you need a breakthrough? Name it: "Jesus, I need this today." God understands what you are going through.

3. "Whatever he says to you, do it"

Jesus tells the servants to fill the jars with water. It is heavy work: following Jesus at his word was not easy for them.
They fill them to the brim. For Rachel, this is total obedience: "we are going to do everything he says."
It took faith, effort, courage, and a willingness to risk embarrassment. Carrying a sample to the master of the feast might have felt ridiculous: it looked like water. Yet it had become wine.
We must obey the word of Christ, "even if it's a bit strange sometimes, even if it doesn't make sense."
A concrete example from James 5:13-16: is anyone suffering? Let them pray. Rachel asks herself: "Do I pray when I'm struggling, or do I think about how to get myself out of it?" The passage also speaks of singing, of calling the elders for the sick, and of confessing our sins to one another (with wisdom about what we share, and with whom).
The Bible is full of specific instructions, such as loving our enemies and blessing those who persecute us.

4. There is always an action before the breakthrough

Hebrews 11, the gallery of the heroes of faith: by faith Noah built an ark. "He actually built the ark."
Abraham set out without knowing where he was going. Rachel says God used this passage in her life: she didn't fully understand what he was doing, but she kept going along a certain track, and in the end he made things clear and confirmed what she sensed inside.
By faith, the walls of Jericho fell after seven days of marching around the city.
What strikes her: before the breakthrough, there is always an action.

5. Act with what you have in your hands

Around the age of 10 or 11, Rachel didn't have many toys. Her family wasn't poor, but one of her parents is from Malaysia, and the money set aside went on trips to see family there, an experience worth more than money or things.
At a time when she didn't have the toys she wanted, one day she made a conscious decision to be thankful and enjoy what she had, despite her wish list.
About a week later, an aunt gave some money, and Rachel was able to use it to buy herself toys. She could buy the ones she had been waiting for so long. "What I did was make the best of what I had."
You may have desires that aren't bad: to move forward, to see certain things in the future. The question is whether you are making the most of what you have now, with thankfulness, so that God can do the rest.
In the Bible, God always uses what is around us: Moses and the staff he had in his hand. We often wait for a thunderclap out of a blue sky, when God may be saying: act in faith with what you see around you, and watch what I will do.

6. Your trial holds a testimony

What God does in your life is a memory for the future, like the memorial stones mentioned in an earlier service, and a testimony for others.
In verse 11, this first sign at Cana reveals the glory of Jesus, and his disciples believe in him. When people see God step into your situation, who knows what effect it will have: a sign that Jesus is real.
A preacher from the north of England once said: "We are God's crash test dummies." The dummies show, after the impact, which areas were hit and which were not. Sometimes the Lord lets us go through certain things because he knows we can handle them, so that we can help those who come after us to say: "We got through this."
Joyce Meyer, one of her favorite preachers, says: "Sometimes God allows us to go through things because he trusts us with the pressure." It is not for us; it is for others. Rachel plays on the English words: in your test, there is a testimony.

7. Faith, the currency of heaven

What is your hopeless situation? Name it before the Lord. It isn't "we have no wine"; it's something else: what?
What exactly does God's written Word tell you? To pray for your enemies if you struggle with someone, to bless those who curse you, to fast or to pray. On fasting, Rachel advises caution and medical advice: one meal, sometimes two, staying well hydrated, if your health allows.
Is there something you can put into action, however small it may seem, that shows you are putting the Word into practice?
Finally, faith is the currency heaven runs on. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
The Lord has given each of us a measure of faith, and faith as small as a mustard seed is enough. "Sometimes that's all I feel I've got."
For you, it won't be six big jars to fill with water. But there may be something around you that you can begin to put into action in faith, and on which God can breathe supernaturally to create change, right down to the practical level, where you need him to step in.

Key takeaways

Faith begins by honestly naming the need before Jesus, as Mary did: "They have no wine."
Obedience comes before the miracle: the servants filled the jars to the brim before seeing the wine.
In Hebrews 11, there is always an action before the breakthrough: Noah builds, Abraham sets out, Israel marches around Jericho.
God uses what you already have in your hands, and thankfulness for what you have opens the way to what comes next.
What God does in your trial becomes a testimony that makes Jesus known to others.

Personal application

What is your dead-end situation today, your "we have no wine"? Have you already named it before the Lord?
When you are struggling, do you start by praying, or by looking for a way out yourself?
Is there a clear instruction in the Bible that you keep putting off because it seems strange or uncomfortable?
What do you already have in your hands, like Moses' staff, that you could put into action in faith this week?
Which trial you have been through could become a testimony for someone going through the same thing today?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does the wedding at Cana teach us about faith?

For Rachel, the story in John 2 shows a faith that moves into action. Mary names the problem ("They have no wine"), then tells the servants: "Whatever he says to you, do it." The servants fill the jars to the brim before seeing the miracle. Obedience comes before the breakthrough.

Why obey Jesus when what he asks seems strange?

Filling six large jars with water was heavy work, and carrying a sample to the master of the feast could seem ridiculous: it still looked like water. Rachel concludes that we must obey the word of Christ even when it is a bit strange or doesn't make sense to us.

How do you put your faith into action in practical terms?

Rachel suggests three steps: name your hopeless situation before the Lord, look for what the Bible tells you specifically to do (pray, bless those who curse you, fast with caution), then act in faith with what you have around you, like Moses with the staff he had in his hand.