The Reading
John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and
the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the
wedding.
When the wine gave
out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
And Jesus said to
her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to
the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
Now standing there
were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding
twenty or thirty gallons.
Jesus said to them,
"Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
Jesus said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to
the chief steward."
So they took it.
When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and
did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water
knew), the steward called the bridegroom
and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first,
and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until
now."
Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee,
and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
The message
When I
started here at our church a little more than 8 years ago, one thing (amongst
many) that I was completely unprepared for were the children’s church services
that we do at our Rainbow Christian Preschool every week. I had worked with teenagers, young adults,
even some years with 4th and 5th graders but never 3 and
4 year olds. I had no idea how it would
go and I was not exactly eager or enthusiastic about finding out. I reached out to the teachers, the staff at
Rainbow and several pastors in the neighborhood that had preschools connected
to their churches to find out what I was supposed to do. A lot of people gave
me great advice, ideas, encouragement and suggestions. I was directed to some great resources, websites
and others to speak with,
The worst
advice, the one thing that I still remember hating and going “uh, I don’t think
so” has to do with today’s gospel reading about the Wedding at Cana. It was the big example that people told me to
do. All you needed to show the children
what happened there in Cana all those centuries ago was a few glass jars and a
packet or two of red Kool aid. You could
tell the story and then when the big moment came, the transition of water into
wine, all you had to do was distract the kids for a second and stir in your
Kool aid powder. If you were quick enough and your distraction was good enough,
you could turn water into wine and they would not even notice your little
helper. It would turn the water a color
close enough to wine and the kids would all ooh and ahh over the miracle they
just saw.
I guess I
just never drank the kool aid on this one. It never felt quite right to
me. Taking this first miracle in John’s
Gospel and making it seem like little more than a magic trick seemed deceitful
and just a bad way to start teaching people about God. I get that it’s a cool
thing to see, I understand that your average or even above average 3 year old
is not well versed in the social and political landscape of the early 1st
century, that kindergarteners do not know the background, structure and context
of John’s Gospel particularly well. At the same time, there is so much more than a
magic trick going on here. John’s entire
Gospel only contains 7 miracles presented to show people the evidence that
Jesus is the messiah, the word of God made Flesh and dwelling amongst us. Each one is very important, revealing
something about God and showing us evidence that Jesus is God with us,
We sang the
first noel for our opening hymn. I made
that choice because today’s reading is basically an Epiphany moment in John’s
Gospel. There are several epiphanies in
Johm, times when the world starts to figure out who exactly it was born on
Christmas. In many ways, it’s the focus of the book. In Matthew, this happens when the kings,
astronomers or magi follow the star and bring the new born Christ gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh (symbolizing that Christ is king, to be worshipped and
will suffer). In John’s Gospel, an
epiphany happens here at this wedding in Cana, Jesus first followers and family
realize that Christ is King, to be worshipped and will suffer (a lot of people
note that turning water into wine happens on the third day, the same amount of
time that it will take Jesus to turn death into life).
This wedding celebration is held a few quick
days after Jesus promised his new followers that they would see great things.
They are the ones who would open their eyes to come and see and then open their
mouths to witness, testify and convert others. In this miracle, Jesus revealed
his glory; and his disciples believed in him. This is the first of those great
things they would see.
This first
miracle certainly mattered a lot to the wedding hosts. In this time, throwing a
wedding feast was caring for a community and your guests. Wine was central to this, It wasn’t just
social lubricant or a party enhancer. Wine was a sign of blessing, abundance
and harvest. To run out of wine was a
very big deal. Do God’s blessings run out, no, well neither does the wine.
Jesus bails out the hosts of this wedding.
To be honest it wasn’t exactly global news. This is a very local story, one that would be
covered by the ancient equilivant of a local paper or regional tv station, not
the NY Times, wall street journal or CNN.
Even the
actual work is not that great. I mean,
in the events leading up to the exodus, the freedom from slavery for the people
of Israel, Moses and Aaron turn all the water in Egypt to blood. I could come close to replicating this with
kool aid and im sure most magicians could easily do this as a trick with a few
specially prepared props. All Jesus does
here is changes a few pails of water into wine, The greatness in this story is
the result, this local act of sympathy and kindness reveals that Christ our
savior was born on Christmas.
I have been
thinking a lot about small things and how they can add up to something much
greater. Throughout the week, I have been preparing a speech or message for the
Habitat for Humanity Restore as part of their Martin Luther King day of
service. I plan to talk about a series
of small things. At the store, there is
a diverse and dedicated group of voluneteers who each do a small thing or two.
Some make those shelves of glasses and cups and vases look good ( a skill I
never got), others spot antiques, help customers, nudge an interested but hesitant
buyer, offer great layout ideas or bring in new customers. After lifting up the work of the volunteers,
I plan to talk about one item I purchased
It’s a beautiful dining room table and chairs, Canadian maple I think
(assuming the stamp on the bottom is real). I saw it, took my wife in to look
at it and we both loved it, so we donated /dropped off our old table and chairs
and bought it. The first few weeks we
had the table, we were afraid of using for much, we didn’t want to damage the
wood, stain or scratch it. We didn’t
want it to be a computer desk, paper and key storage, a coat rack or anything
like that (the fate of the old table). There were lots of rules, use a coaster, do
not lean back on the chairs, wipe up any spills or dropped food right away.
After a while, we started to eat small meals at the table, very carefully. Slowly, I started to keep papers on it, just
stuff I needed right away, only for a few minutes, then the keys and wallet,
then bags, then coats, gloves, hats, and backpacks started to appear on the
chairs
We are still
careful but now it feels natural to toss my coat on the table or pick up my
books and papers for the day. The table
went from a thanksgiving dinner only to being used whenever we have too many
people to fit on the kitchen table, a reserved for special occasions object is
now for everyday use. That is at the
heart of Martin Luther King Jr’s faith and work, It starts with small, simple things: actions
like marching or walking together, not buying a particular product or using a
particular service, ideas like everyone is a child of God and deserves a seat
on the bus, a place at the food counter, the right to cast a vote, a seat in a
college classroom, a seat at the table where decisions are made. Here a series of small things changes
America. Things are now part of daily
life for many of us. This came from
working together, being together, seeing one another as children of God and in
this together. We are daily changing
hate and mistrust into love. Changing separation
into unity.
Next week,
we (well you, I won’t be here) see what happens next, now that the good news is
out, Jesus jumps head first into confrontation with the religious authorities,
chasing the money lenders out of the temple (a group of approved vendors
ripping off worshippers). Zeal, passion,
once Jesus gets that glimpse of how things should be vs how the are, he must
act. Just like Jesus turns water into wine, the
temple back into a temple and death into life, we must remember change starts
here (where it goes is up to God)
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