Jesus was there

I want to follow Jesus... I want to know him, understand him, talk like him, act like him... I want to be like him. As a result, I want to go where he went, talk about what he talked about, challenged what he challenged, and support what he supported.

I got off the phone with a friend of mine a little while ago. We small-talked for a few minutes, he asked me a favor, and then we talked about what was going on in our lives. Below is a transcript of the last part of the conversation:

ME: "Yeah, I'm finishing up my message for our "Can We Bring Sexy Back?" series.

HIM: *awkward silence*

HIM: *awkward silence*

HIM: "I'm sorry, "Can We Bring 'what' Back?"

ME: "Sexy"

HIM: *awkward silence*

HIM: "Can We Bring 'Sexy' Back?"

ME: "Yeah"

HIM: *awkward silence*

HIM: *awkward silence*

ME: "We're really having fun with the series."

HIM: "I bet."


The point of the conversation is not that guys don't use a lot of words in phone conversations. The point is that it doesn't seem to matter who a person is, the idea of talking about "sex" on Sunday mornings in a church in a culture like ours is a little bit weird at times.

But, back to my initial statements. I want to be like Jesus. I want to go where he went, talk about what he talked about, challenged what he challenged, and support what he supported.

The Book of John, Chapter 2, opens with this statement: "Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding." The rest of the story focuses on the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine, but I want you to think back to another lesson in the story... Jesus went to weddings. Jesus, a rabbi, went to a wedding that he did not perform and showed his support for the happy couple simply by being there. Jesus thought that this wedding was a good thing, so he went and he celebrated.

Now, during first-century Jewish weddings (which typically lasted a week), the bride and groom would get married in a quick ceremony at the beginning of the festivities. After the ceremony, the bride and groom would go to a specially prepared bedroom and would "consumate" the wedding ("consumate" is a fancy word to politely describe the passionate sex the couple enjoyed since the desires they had for each other were finally able to be fulfilled). Then, after a couple hours or even a few days, the couple would emerge and the party would really kick into overdrive as the family and friends of the couple would celebrate their love for each other.

Not once in the story in John do we ever see Jesus get up and leave the wedding. Not once do we see him blush with embarrasment over what was happening in the next room. Not once do we see him challenge the "focus" of the wedding celebration by saying that the bride and groom should wait until their friends and family had gone back home before they had sex. No... Jesus was there... at the wedding... the entire time. God created sex. He designed it to be incredible. He just wants it to be experienced at his discretion. And, when we do enjoy within his guidelines, he celebrates right along with us.

And that, my friend, is why Church At The Grove planned the "Can We Bring Sexy Back?" series in the first place. We want to be like Jesus... we want to go where he went, talk about what he talked about, challenged what he challenged, and support what he supported. I can't wait for us to talk about Song of Solomon 3&4 this week as we continue the series.