They Have No Wine!

Sermon for 2 Epiphany RCL 2010, Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11

When the wine was all consumed at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, the mother of Jesus came to her Son, who was enjoying the feast there with his new disciples, and said, “They have no wine.”

Who is it that intervenes to help in this situation? It is the mother, of course. No great surprise there. But in this story, it is not the mother of the bride, but rather the Mother of God. Mary explains the situation to Jesus, and it seems that she expects him to immediately jump to fix the problem, but he is not inclined to this. His hour has not yet come. He was not ready to respond, not yet ready to jump into action and to start his ministry of power among the people.

But there is no one who has as much of a claim upon the heart of a son as his mother. Jesus is prevailed upon to display his glory through the insistence of his mother, Mary.

Mary’s direction to the servants is paramount: “Do whatever he tells you.” Do whatever he tells you. God despises coercion. The blessing of the wine for this feast, the miracle of water changed into wine, depended entirely upon the servants taking orders from someone who had no standing at all there in the wedding, no position of influence. For all that they knew, Jesus was simply the son of a woman who was a friend of the family. Why take orders from him? Let’s remember: carrying 150 gallons of water in heavy stone jars is no small task! Besides, I am certain that there were many other things to be done. But, they listened to Mary’s guidance and they did as Jesus asked. And God’s glory was revealed.

How often is God’s blessing not poured into our lives because of our unwillingness to listen to what the Mother of God says, because of our unwillingness to do what Jesus tells us? The truth of our life is that God has given us all of the guidance that we need to live full, joyful, abundant, fulfilled lives. The task is ours to put this guidance into practice.

Just look at what happens when people listen simply and directly to what Jesus says. This amazing story is about abundance, extravagance, and transformation.

The amazing abundance of wine is a sign. The Hebrew prophets had often used the image of overflowing wine as a sign of the endtimes when God would restore the fortunes of the people or even simply as a sign of God’s tremendous goodness. Remember the beloved 23rd Psalm: “You have anointed my head with oil; my cup runs over.”

Here we see Jesus at the very beginning of his earthly ministry miraculously providing a huge amount of wine. 150 gallons of good, fine wine! And here at the end of the feast when most of the guests were already drunk!

It is clear that the Gospel writer intends for this story to be astounding. It is meant to teach us something very important. When the wine of life runs out, Jesus provides a superabundance of grace beyond anything that our human minds can comprehend.

It is no coincidence that in our lives today as disciples of Jesus we experience grace upon grace bestowed upon us in the amazing feast of the Eucharist which is itself beyond anything our minds can comprehend. At the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, the water is changed into wine, and here at this weekly feast the wine is changed into the life-giving blood of Christ our Lord.

God’s glory, divine power, and grace is offered to us in many diverse ways, but pre-eminently here at this table. Jesus calls us, his family, to gather at the table to feast, but we must do whatever he tells us. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (John 6:54). True life is freely offered to us, but it is our task to get up and get out the door to gather where this grace is so freely offered.

The Gospel reading this morning ends by saying: “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” In the Church, Jesus does thing, an amazing sign each time we gather, and he reveals his glory among us; and we believe in his power and goodness.

This is the story that the Gospel of John presents to us today. But to be honest, my friends, it feels very difficult to talk about God’s abundant grace in these days. Our country is dealing with financial trouble, with many in our communities still unemployed. Our congregations wrestle with meeting our financial burdens and taking care of our facilities. And of course, we have just witnessed a horrendous earthquake to strike Haiti and cause human pain and suffering on a massive scale. This earthquake is likely to go into the record books as one of the 10 deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

In addition to the grim statistics, it is right for this disaster to affect us Episcopalians even more deeply. The Diocese of Haiti is the largest, most numerous diocese in The Episcopal Church. And in an era of falling church attendance and the closing of churches, Haiti has been our brightly shining exception. The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti has continued to open new missions and new churches, and their attendance has been steadily increasing. At least in Haiti in recent years, the mission and message of our church has been appreciated and received by many.

But we know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So if this is the same Lord who made such a super-abundance of wine available at this wedding feast in Cana, we must ask the question: what can He do now in Haiti? If this Lord had the ability then to change ordinary water into the most excellent wine, then what can He do with the immense destruction of Haiti?

O Lord, our hearts are troubled and we ask you: can you change that immense pain into new hope? Can you, Lord alter that devastation so that it becomes a place of healing and new life?

After all, that is the mystery that we are talking about here. When Jesus first replies to his Mother’s concern, he states: “My hour has not yet come.” In the Gospel of john, that is a clear reference to the Passion of the Lord. Later in the 12th chapter, Jesus makes the connection clear: “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). In His Passion, the Lord takes a brutal and horrible death and turns it into a source of unending life and healing. THAT, we believe, is how God works! Bringing light into dark places, bringing life into places of death.

At this wedding feast at Cana, there was no great suffering, no terrible human need that called out the Lord’s response. They ran out of wine! So what?! I think they would have survived. But here…here in this dire situation in Haiti, the need is clear. And billions of prayers are being made each day now for the people of Haiti. Will the Lord hear and respond?

The answer may be up to us. After all, we are the body of Christ.

The collect for today has expressed this truth: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory. And why? What happens when we do this? “That [Christ] may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth.” So may the Lord listen to the prayers of his people, and also make us listen faithfully to Christ and do whatever he tells us, for the healing of the nations. Amen.