When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”  And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

As a result of the fall, all of creation is tainted with sin and bears all of sin’s consequences.  Everything less than perfect in this world--everything that causes us pain and grief and fear and shame--is a consequence of sin.

“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Times certainly have changed.  As we have acquired the capacity to get around more, sitting still just doesn’t seem to have any appeal to us anymore. 

             More than once I have mentioned in conversation and in sermons that it’s a lot more difficult to be Christian in America today than it has been during most of the lifetime of the majority of us.  I wouldn’t be surprised if before our time on earth is ended, we will see a return to real persecution in terms of threats of bodily harm to those who remain faithful to Christ in the midst of a culture that is diametrically opposed to Christian doctrine and values.

 Life has gotten to be a lot more complicated than it used to be--and I’m not talking about adulthood being more difficult than childhood either.  What I mean is that nothing seems to be certain anymore.  Things that we have always known to be wrong are somehow justifiable by today’s standards, while other things that were always acceptable suddenly are not.  It used to be that the cops were the good guys and the robbers were the bad guys and everybody knew the difference, but these days you just can’t be sure. 

Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You!  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth.