Grace and peace to each of you!
Please pray with me: Prepare our hearts, O God, to accept your Word. Silence any voice but your own, that, hearing we may also obey your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gospel Reading John 2:1-11 NIV
On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” so they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. “What is the Sign?” John 2:1-11, 01/17-10
I think the most intriguing phrase in this morning’s gospel is “the first of his miraculous signs.” Magicians change liquids from one to another all the time and someone said at Bible study, our response is usually is “How did you do that?” But the biblical witness says the event made the disciples believe in him. Perhaps the sign was not the miracle itself, the physical change of water into wine, perhaps it is something else.
For just a moment let’s contemplate the amount of wine. We know there were 6 jars that held between 20-30 gallons of water. Roughly 150 gallons of wine, that works out to 1600 glasses of wine. A wedding feast was a week long event and the biblical witness tells us we are half way through it, so that means that there are 457+ glasses of wine for each day. That is a lot of wine, a lot of very good wine, more wine than you need.
One hundred and fifty gallons of wine, jars filled to the brim. When Jesus comes on the scene we move from shortage, scarcity and lack to overflowing abundance.
When Jesus Christ set foot on earth, when he comes among us, there is an abundance of love; there is an abundance of hope, an abundance of joy and an abundance of courage.
But we have a problem understanding, accepting that truth and enjoying the life that God meant us to have.
It wasn’t just at the wedding at Cana that Jesus modeled the overflowing abundance that he would bring to our lives, the feeding of the five thousand- five loaves and two fishes and twelve baskets of left over food.
And it is not because we are too educated, too smart. It is not because we are too sophisticated and scientific. I believe that it is because we are o so careful, o so restrained and o so cautious.
Right now Nancy is leading a Bible study about stepping out in faith. And in our very first lesson we talked about Peter going to walk water to Christ, you remember the story; the disciples are out in a boat and a storm comes up. In fourth watch at the darkest time of night Jesus shows up walking on water towards them. “When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” Jesus said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” And Peter did. The thought never crossed the minds of the other disciples in the boat.
We just don’t make big moves in life. We don’t ask big things of God. We keep our faith to ourselves, safely tucked away in the confines of our church. We keep our prayers subdued, cautious and careful.
And it might be because we think of our relationship with God in the context of what we feel, what we believe, or what we do. And we all know how frail, how limited, how finite our resources are.
How many times has someone come to me and confessed; “I fear I am losing my faith.” Usually it is when they are going through a tough time. They feel their faith is being tested by their circumstances, and they fear they will lose what little faith they have. In that fear, they ask, “What can I do to hold on to my faith?” “How can I have more faith?”
But what if, what if our faith, our belief, our love of God is truly a gift of God and not our personal achievement? What if God is there waiting, wanting to give us more faith, while our fists are clenched trying so hard to hold on to our faith he wants us to open hands and hearts and receive from him, more love, more energy, more hope and more joy.
In short, what if this morning’s gospel is true? Jesus comes to a party in Cana, out in Galilee. When the wine gives out, he tells them to fill up the large stone jars with water, not just fill them, but fill them to the brim. When they do, the water is turned into wine, lots and lots of wine, more wine and better wine than anybody could possibly need to have a good party! When he fed the five thousand, there were twelve baskets left over. Five thousand people five loaves, two fish, everyone had their fill twelve baskets left over.
The good news this morning is that we have a God who is gracious and generous beyond measure. If we open hands and our hearts and our spirits to receive the gifts of faith and hope and joy God will give us more faith, more hope, more joy, more than we could possibly need.
Let us pray: Lord give us a bold love for you. In our prayer, give us a willingness to ask you for big gifts, not small ones. Gifts like peace, love and justice. In our lives inflame our desires for more abundant life. Life lived in your light. In our discipleship tempt us to try large tasks, great ventures and remarkable feats. Change our insipid water downed faith into the bubbling joyful wine of faithful discipleship. To your glory we ask these things in Jesus name, amen.
May your week be filled with God's mercy, may his mercy you move you closer to Christ, and may the Holy Spirit fill you with the courage to answer God's call on your Life!
Blessings, Pastor Dottie