Wine Into Water?

Chances are more than good that you are familiar with the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  (See John 2:1-11)

You may also have heard the story about a pastor driving to New York to see a Broadway show and he’s stopped in Connecticut for speeding.  The trooper smells alcohol on his breath, and then seeing an empty wine bottle on the floor, says, “Sir, have you been drinking?”  The pastor replied, “Just water.”  The trooper retorts, “Then why do I smell wine?”  The pastor looked down at the bottle and said, “Good Lord, he’s done it again.”

You probably have not heard about a project that turns wine into water (though I have used that expression in sermons to refer to the way the church has often watered down the wine of the Gospel).   The following is from today’s (5-1-09) CNN web site: 

BLOWING ROCK, North Carolina (CNN) -- Behind the bar at a local restaurant, Doc Hendley leans in to hear his customer over the band. "You like the pinot? Cool," he says.

It's a seemingly average interaction, but Hendley is not your average bartender. As he pours wine in the United States, he's also helping to save thousands of lives on the other side of the world -- and he's tapped into his regulars to help.

"[They] sit on the same stool, drink the same drink, pay the same tab every day. I felt like they really did want to be a part of something," Hendley says. "They just were waiting for somebody to bring that something to them."

That something is Water Into Wine, Hendley's organization that provides clean water to people in developing countries through funds raised at wine tasting events.

Since 2004, Hendley has traveled to Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Cambodia, working with local communities to build clean water wells and sanitation systems.

Check out the web site:  winetowater.org.  It’s a most interesting idea, another sign of the creative genius in the human race.  Didn’t Jesus say that we, his followers, would do greater things than he did?  (John 14:12-14)

So there you have it for today.  A story from the Bible that points to the transforming love of Jesus; a joke (we can all stand a good laugh in these troubled times) and a concrete example of a common person – a bartender, yet – making a difference in the life of the world.  It doesn’t get much better than this!