The story we have just heard from John’s Gospel, chapter two, is the text appointed for one of the Sundays of Epiphany. It is a story of how God revealed himself in a situation of life very much like the one in which we find ourselves now — a wedding. I like this story because it tells us many important things. I would like to share three of them with you now.

1. God is present in our celebrations. God wants you to be happy. That’s the first point. It’s a false notion that to be a Christian you can’t have any fun. Those who boil Christianity down to a stiff legalism that allows no celebration have misunderstood our Lord’s intentions.

So often we are like the farm boy whose grandma would not allow him to engage in what she called “worldly amusements” on Sundays — like playing baseball. De…