Turn water into beer?

We had an article in the local paper last week, and the phone’s been ringing hot. The article was in the 'around the lakes' section, just below the Macleay Valley Lesbian Women's Social Group ad for their annual dance at Dondingalong.

Here's what our article said:

New church soaks up beer in local pubs.
“If Jesus was an Aussie, he’d turn water into beer,” pastor of Coast Evangelical Church, Forster, Chris Ekins said. Twenty thousand beer coasters from a new church in Forster are hitting local pubs.
“Jesus turned water into wine, and he also had a reputation for being a drunkard and a ‘friend of sinners’. He seemed to be just as comfortable at the pub as he was at the temple. So we thought we would distribute the coasters to pubs to invite people to investigate Jesus for themselves.” To find out more go to www.coastec.net.au or call Pastor Chris Ekins on 6555 4093. (Great Lakes Advocate – April 15, 2009, p24)

Here's a picture of the beer coasters that have gone out to four pubs in the area.

I got a couple of phone calls on Thursday from 2 angry men.

The first one said: "You're a mongrel. You call yourself an evangelical. But you’re a mongrel. I saw your ad in the paper. And a mongrel’s what you are! Where in the bible does it say that Jesus had a reputation for being a drunkard?

I turned up Matt 11:18-19 and read it to him. It's quoting Jesus Himself: "18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."

I explained that Jesus was saying that some other people thought he was drunkard because he came ‘eating and drinking’ and hanging out with sinners. He said: but Jesus wasn't a drunkard! I agreed. He WASN’T a drunkard, he wasn't personally into getting drunk, but that’s the reputation he had amongst the religious establishment of his day. He said he thought that was pretty shallow. And that I was still a mongrel.

A few hours later, I got another call from another angry man. “I hope you get a refund from the paper for misquoting you – because Jesus wasn’t a drunkard’. I asked him if he ever read the bible, to which he said 'No'. I explained Matthew 11 to him too. Quoting Jesus’ own words to him. And his reply was: "“Well, if you’re from God, great. But it seems to me like you’re preaching Satan instead”.

Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:1-11). It was his first miraculous sign and a revelation of his glory.
He loved everyday people and wasn't ashamed to spend time with them - even when they got a bit raucous.
And if he was an Aussie, I still reckon he'd have turned water into beer and hung out with people who drank. And I'm sure that would still offend religious people today.