Too Much

Frankly, it was far too much wine, more than anyone could have been expected to drink.

Have you heard of the Portuguese wine flood of 2023? On a hill in a small town south of Porto, two tanks at a distillery burst and sent over half a million gallons of red wine cascading down the street. There’s video; you can see it for yourself. The company responsible for the incident later issued a statement saying it “profoundly lamented” what had happened. No kidding! What a colossal waste, and not in the way you might think.

Why was the wine at a distillery in the first place, and not in bottles, you might ask? As it turns out, this minor disaster resulted in part from overabundance. The large quantity of wine was being stored at the distillery through the Portuguese government’s “crisis distillation” program, which was designed to remove a glut of wine from the market before the following year’s production.[1] The wine, in other words, was going to waste one way or another. It was far too much, more than anyone could have been expected to drink.

Or did you think I was referring to today’s Gospel from John?

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It’s nothing less than a revelation of divine joy. God’s overflowing goodness is made known in the sight of revelers– that’s the significance of the prodigious gift of good wine at the wedding at Cana. And, this memorable sign at the outset of the story, the inaugural event of Jesus’ ministry in John, points to a much more fundamental truth– that, in fact, every delight, every gift of abundance is given according to the good pleasure of God’s will. Reflecting on this story, one of the characters in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov says, “It wasn’t humanity’s grief, but their joy that Christ visited. He added to their joy… He who loves humanity loves their joy….”[2] Or, to borrow the words of another interpreter, Emmanuel, God-with-us, is “a God who loves to hear the laughter of people celebrating people.”[3]

It’s also been observed that the miracle of water to wine is a sign that God intends to meet need where it arises. The wine has run out midway through the party, and the host’s reputation is at stake. What is to be done? Jesus’ mother Mary decides that he can and should help out. And despite his initial resistance, eventually he acquiesces: “Fill the jars with water,” he quietly directs the servers. “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” Problem solved!

But Jesus not only meets the need at hand, he far exceeds it. Six jars at twenty to thirty gallons each? That’s in the ballpark of 150 gallons of wine, and not just any wine, but the best. Frankly, it’s far too much, more than anyone could have been expected to drink.

And maybe that’s the point of the story. Maybe it’s akin to another story in John, the story of Mary, the sister of Martha, who anoints Jesus for burial with a whole pound of costly oil, wasting an incredibly valuable resource on a single act of devotion. Judas complains that the oil should have been sold and the money redistributed. But Jesus is less concerned with practical considerations than he is with relationship.[4] And there might be the connection to the miracle at Cana. So what if the resource is wasted? At least on these two occasions, what matters most is extravagant, even absurd, generosity.

Still, it seems a little frivolous, doesn’t it? So, a few partygoers go wild with a surplus of the good stuff; what about the many others who go hungry? So, a small community gets to toast the finer things in life; what about all the communities that struggle to survive under the weight of poverty and political repression? So, the family and friends of a bride and groom get to revel in joy; what about all their neighbors who are beleaguered by grief?

This time through the story, it occurred to me that the only thing missing from the wedding at Cana is more guests. And I wonder if that might have occurred to Jesus, too. Consider his remarkable teaching in Luke:

When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor…. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.[5]

God is a God of abundance, yes, and evidently that abundance is meant to be shared beyond the limits we normally set for it.

In other words, the wine at the wedding at Cana is far too much, unless the guest list is dramatically expanded. Maybe therein lies the deepest significance of this beloved story. The superabundance of good wine is a miracle of extravagance, suggesting the unlimited gifts– material, relational, and spiritual– that God makes available.[6] And if God fills my cup to overflowing,[7] then where shall it flow? If I have more than I need, then to whom shall I turn?

Occasionally, our elected representatives tap into the deepest truths of our shared life. President Biden accomplished just that in his address at President Carter’s state funeral last week when he described Carter’s orientation toward the world. “Character and faith start with ourselves,” Biden said, “and then flow to others…. At our best, we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment. Not for reward, but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted.”[8]

Come to the celebration again today, friends. Come and meet the God who delights in you and all of God’s beloved, all of God’s guests. Come and see that there are more than enough good things to go around.

[1] www.npr.org/2023/09/12/1198913626/red-wine-flood-city-portugal.

[2] Street Psalms Lectionary Insights: Second Sunday after the Epiphany (2025).

[3] Robert M. Brearley, in Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 1, 262.

[4] John 12:1-8.

[5] Luke 14:12-14.

[6] Gail R. O’Day, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IX, 540.

[7] Psalm 23:5.

[8] Cited by Heather Cox Richardson, Facebook, January 9^th, 2025.