Kreglinger - The soul of wine: savoring the goodness of God

InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
ivpress.com

2019 by Gisela H. Kreglinger

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written
permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges, and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, visit intervarsity.org.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

While any stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information may have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Cover design and image composite: David Fassett
Interior design: Daniel van Loon
Images: bunch of grapes: Creativ Studio Heinemann / Getty Images
red wine stain: winvic / iStock / Getty Images Plus
single red wine splash: Oleksii Pollishchuk / iStock / Getty Images Plus
cardboard texture background: Katsumi Murouchi / Moment Collection / Getty Images

ISBN 978-0-8308-4383-1 (digital)

ISBN 978-0-8308-4584-2 (print)

This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.

In memory of

JAN

and

EUGENE PETERSON

For you have given me wings to fly

May God give you of the dew of heaven,

and of the fatness of the earth,

and plenty of grain and wine.

I have always loved the world of wine as we experienced it on a small family-run winery. My childhood growing up on a winery did not make me into a vintner though. Two of my sisters embraced that blessed vocation. I chose a vocation with a similar feel to it. I wanted to be a theologian, working in Gods vineyard, and it still surprises me to see how profoundly the world of faith and the world of wine are interwoven.

Wine is an astonishing gift to humanity, and I firmly believe that wine can help uncork a more full-bodied Christian spirituality in our midst and enrich our lives around the Table. At their best, choice wines can evoke a great sense of awe and wonder within us. They hint at a Presence among us that is so full of splendor, magnificence, and beauty that we creatures of dust and breath would be utterly overwhelmed if we encountered this Presence face to face. We earthlings only seem to get glimpses of it here and there.

I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up.

Since ancient times people have believed that wine is imbued with spiritual meaning and can become a mediator between heaven and earth, evoking divine presence. The Greeks believed in the wine god Dionysus, the Romans in Bacchus, and the Etruscans in Fufluns. The Jews believe God gave them wine to make glad their hearts, and Christians celebrate the Lords Supper with bread and wine. Once upon a time all of these different faith traditions believed that a mysterious presence hovered over the powerful process of fermentation, urging it on with divine purpose.

One of the great gifts of my childhood is that I grew up with a family and culture that celebrated wine as a gift from God and allowed this divine beverage to transform our mundane moments into beautiful encounters, sometimes imbued with heavenly bliss.

First things and last things are important in a persons life and ministry. They announce and mark and signal to us what a person values and wants us to remember and be grounded in. Writers give witness to what they have heard and seen about people who changed the course of history, and we need to pay careful attention to their words, especially as they tell us about those first and last things these people have done. This is no less true for the Gospels, which give witness to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

In the Gospel of John we learn that Jesus first miracle was turning water into wine at a Jewish peasant wedding where the host had run out of wine. His last miracle was supernaturally providing an abundance of fish for his ragamuffin fishermen followers, including Peter, who had betrayed him three times.

Fruit of the earth and fruit of the sea become places where God reveals his glorious and loving presence among us, feeding and nurturing us in body, soul, and spirit. Jesus even cooks some fish by the beach before his disciples are able to haul that great catch onto the shore.