Scripture Reading: John 2:1-11
I’ve heard this story many times.
And I’ve always had this image in my head of Jesus and his mother
standing in the kitchen with those jars nearby, talking to the servants, with
the disciples maybe hanging around in the doorway.
I’ve always pictured Jesus standing there watching the servants fill
the jars. But as I heard this story
again and again, I have a slightly different picture.
There’s a wedding feast in Cana.
Jesus’ mother is there. So is
Jesus. And Andrew, Simon Peter, Phillip,
Nathanael, the unnamed/beloved disciple.
It’s a party. They are moving
around, visiting, chatting, enjoying the festivities.
Jesus’ mother overhears two servants talking. One says, “This is the last of the wine. I don’t know what we’ll do.”
She grabs the servant, “Come with me.
I know what to do.”
She finds Jesus, over with a group, telling stories, enjoying the
wedding feast. It’s a party after all.
She tells Jesus the problem.
Jesus hedges a bit, but she’s undeterred. “Do whatever he tells you.”
Jesus tells the servant, “Fill the big stone jars to the brim.”
The servant leaves Jesus and gathers a few other servants to help. The servant knows this is a big job –they just
filled those jars a few days before for the purification rituals to prepare for
the wedding.
Now the jars were empty - or nearly so.
It’s a lot of water – 20 to 30 gallons, six jars. 120-180 gallons of water.
And it’s not like the servants just took a pitcher to the sink. No, they would have to take water jugs to the
town well. There would have been walking
to and from the well. Several trips. Carrying heavy water jugs. Drawing the bucket up and down in the well to
fill each jug. Pouring the water into
the stone jars.
Repeat.
Until all six jars were full
I imagine at least one of the servants grumbled at the task. “What do we need all this water for? The purification was done days ago! I have other things I’m supposed to be
doing. What a crazy guest asking for
this.”
Finally, the jars are filled.
The servant goes back out into the party to find Jesus. “Sir, the jars are full.”
“Well then, take some to the steward.”
Jesus says, and turns back to the group he was talking with.
By the time the chief steward takes that first sip, the water has
become wine.
You know, we don’t know when that happened. Was it when the servants poured the water
into the jars? When the jars were
full? When the servant went back to
Jesus to tell him the jars were ready?
When the steward took that first sip?
We don’t know.
All, the gospel writer tells us is that the steward was amazed at the
quality of the wine. That he questions
the bridegroom about serving such excellent wine so late in the party, never
realizing that the bridegroom has no idea what he’s talking about.
That the disciples know what happened, and they believe.
I’m struck by the process in this miracle – the first of Jesus’
signs.
There’s no one way Jesus does his miracles. Sometimes he just speaks and it’s so:
·
Demon, leave her
·
Rise, take up your mat and walk
·
Lazarus come out
·
Go, your faith has made you well
Sometimes he touches and it’s so:
·
Laying his hand on the sick
·
Taking dirt, spitting on it to make mud, and
placing it on the blind man’s eyes
·
Taking bread and fish and blessing them
·
Or even being touched, like when the women
touched the hem of his robe
Jesus didn’t lay his hands on the stone jars, or say “Water become
wine!” Jesus invited the servants to be part of this sign. And
while they were doing what Jesus told them to do, - simply doing what servants
do - a miracle happened.
In confirmation this week, we talked about this story. One thing about confirmation students – they see
things you and I would never think of.
Jesus turned water to wine?
Hmmm. “If the human body is 60% water, and Jesus
turns water into wine, does that mean that Jesus turns us into wine?”
I’ll admit the question caught me off guard and I had to think for a
minute.
Then I asked, “What would it look like if Jesus did turn us into wine?”
The kids looked puzzled. One of
them said, “That would be disgusting!”
I tried again: “Think about
it. Jesus turned plain ordinary water into
the best wine that chief steward ever tasted.
So how would Jesus turn us plain-ordinary-water-people into wine?”
They answered me: “He’d make us
holy people.”
Holy people.
Water into wine.
How does Jesus turn us into wine?
We could point to our baptism.
That’s certainly where it starts.
Water poured.
Words spoken.
Ordinary water combined with the promise of God that cleanses us, names
us child of God, transforms us.
Ordinary-water-people become holy-wine-people
How does Jesus turn us into wine?
We could point to those moments we share each Sunday
·
In the hearing of the word
·
The confession, prayer, hymns
·
Communion - when the wine of Christ blood become
our water quenching our thirst, and the bread of Christ’s body becomes the food
that nourished our souls.
Those are moments when the living water is poured into our hearts,
filling us to the brim.
But I think a big part of Jesus turning us into wine are those moments
we can’t specifically point to. Those
ordinary moments, where we’re just doing trying to do what Jesus says. When we’re
simply doing those things we do. Even
when we might be grumbling, or thinking, this is crazy.
·
The ordinary moments of living
·
The doing whatever Jesus says
·
Every day
·
Everywhere
You know, I’ve always found something strange about this first
miracle. Water to wine. At a party.
Somehow it always seemed a little frivolous to me.
Healing lepers, making the blind see, calming the storm, feeding 5000,
raising the dead – now THOSE are miracles.
I’ve overlooked the point. The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, blessing the everyday in’s and out’s of
life, making the ordinary holy, blessing our relationship and giving us life
abundant.
A life full of love and grace and joy – just like a cup that overflows
with the best, sweetest wine.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word became flesh and has shown us a God
of abundant love who invites us to dip into jars filled with living water, and tell
us to give this sweet wine of grace to the world.
Jesus, fill our ordinary-water-hearts and make us
holy-wine-people.
This is a wonderful sermon. Thank you.
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