A Sermon for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany
The Rev. Patricia A. Gillespie
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 96
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11
"You can do it, kid!"
"No, wait! I'm not ready."
"Hey, you over there, just do what the kid here tells you."
"Aw, Maahaam!"
Is this Mary trying to get Jesus to use a hidden talent for wine making? Or is it MotherFlash trying to implement total ministry?
Sometimes when we don't feel ready, it takes the confidence that others have in us, or even a pushy Jewish mama, to shove us into action.
When Jesus finally does agree to use his gifts (even though it really isn't time), a miracle happens – the water turns to wine. Though the bible doesn't say it's a miracle; John calls it " the first of Jesus' signs."
A sign is something that points beyond itself. It seems that in the sign of the exuberant, intoxication of overflowing wine, we're getting a sneak preview of life with God, a glimpse of the coming Kingdom.
Boring, ordinary water becomes the best of wine. This wedding is no Baptist Sunday school picnic. It's a wildly extravagant celebration. There is no resting in peace in this picture of the Kingdom. Jesus, it seems, knows how to party.
"They have no wine," Mary said. That's not just that wedding in Cana; it's the human condition. "They have no wine." It means there's no rejoicing, no celebration, no joy. Those words from Isaiah are often all too familiar to us: our lives can feel "forsaken" and "desolate"; at one time or other most of us have known loneliness and despair; at times we may wonder if even all purifying water in the huge stone jars could ever wash away our sins and our hurts. "We have no wine."
But Jesus does provide wine ... a sign of celebration, a sign of joy. There is more than enough for everyone. Yet most of the people at the wedding are clueless; they don't see the sign. They just enjoy the sudden arrival of the wonderful new wine.
The servants are the ones who knew. And Jesus' followers saw the sign. Those who serve and those who follow Jesus – these are the ones who see the transformation. They see the miracle. They know were the wine comes from.
Mary even saw it coming. She asked something of Jesus. And she assumed that if she asked, she would receive. Then, even though it wasn't time yet, Jesus' response turns everything upside down. What could have been an embarrassing and even shameful conclusion to the week-long wedding party, becomes a wildly extravagant celebration. Jesus has a gift for celebration; even when it may not yet be time to celebrate, he gives us a sneak preview of the heavenly party.
Sometimes, it seems, the church forgets that Jesus says he came so that our joy would be full. He still offers us overflowing cups of wine and invites us to the party. Yet, often enough, we miss the joy.
We may look only at ourselves and take the wine and use it to escape from life and to drown our sorrows. We can abuse the gift Jesus offers just as easily as one can abuse ordinary wine. But the wine Jesus offers is meant to be a celebration of life, not an escape from life. It is a celebration of our wedding with God. The wedding of God and God's people is a miracle that changes everything.
Changing water into wine is simple beside the transformation of our ordinary, messy lives into a holy people ready to be God's bride. Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles: God delights in US !
Oh, we're not ready. We're never really fully prepared to be God's Beloved, not any more than that water in the stone jars was ready to be wine. But, ready or not, when God calls us to ministry, to God's service, into God's love -- or when the church or a Jewish-mama-type priest pushes us into ministry and serving others -- and when we begin to use those gifts for serving that God has given us, then we are transformed. We often discover that what we were not ready to do, God is ready to do through us.
And as we serve God, we, like the servants at the wedding, begin to see the changes happening in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Suddenly we see miracles everywhere.
"You can do it, kid!"
"No, wait! I'm not ready."
But God is ready.
God is already rejoicing over you, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride.
The water has been made wine.
You have been made beloved.
The feast is prepared.
Are you ready to party?