January 17, 2010
Excess in a time of scarcity
- John 2:1-11
- Dr. Teri Thomas
Two years ago Jack and I had the privilege of traveling to Israel. Among the sites we visited was the tiny village of Cana, the site of this morning’s Gospel reading. As we neared the site where the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding was to have taken place, we noticed billboards and signs advertizing Cana Wine, the Best Wedding Wine in Cana, Mineral water and Miracle Wine for sale here.
When we started walking through Cana we discovered not one, but three churches where the miracle took place. Each church had the original six jars that Jesus used. We were expecting a small site commemorating a small miracle and instead we had an abundance of churches, an abundance of sites and jars.
And that wasn’t the end. As our guide was explaining how all three churches could claim historical authenticity, I wandered across the street into one of the many wine shops. They had postcards, souvenirs, bottled water and of course shelf after shelf of miraculous Cana Wedding wine. The shop keeper asked me if I wanted some wine. “Just looking,” I responded politely. But then he came out from behind the counter, “Enjoy this while you look. It is a free sample. Try it,” he said as he handed me a very large, very full glass of wine. This was not a one ounce taste like you get in Napa, this was a huge glass. This was abundance, plenty, loads, more than enough, oodles, ample. Actually since our group was moving back toward the bus it was too much, it was excess, surplus, over kill. So I could have turned down the gentleman’s generous offer and walked to the bus but we all know I am not one to turn down a free glass of wine. So I accepted the sample, gulped it down, and then had to run to the bus.
That is really what this story from John is all about.
The wedding is running out of wine and Jesus responds
with joy and generosity and abundance
six jars- 30 gallons per jar- 180 gallons of really good wine
Jesus responds with excessive joy,
excessive generosity,
excessive abundance
It is a story of being filled to the brim with divine generosity
God bursting out of the bounds of what is expected.
But for me, the real issue this story raises this week is-
how many people does it take to make a miracle?
I know, God performs miracles- with us or without us.
But this particular incident gives us another perspective.
The miracle at the wedding feast in Cana began with Mary.
There seems to be a question in Mary's voice as she points out to Jesus that the wedding guests have run out of wine. A question familiar to many of us: Will I have enough? Are we running out? Are we rich enough? Safe enough? Good enough? Will we go over the budget? There is a question of scarcity in Mary's voice, along with a confidence that Jesus can and will solve the problem.
The second major contributors to the miracle were the servants.
I'm not sure if they were impressed by the authority of Jesus,
or were intimidated by Mary's insistence.
One way or another, they did exactly as they were told.
What they did was very remarkable.
The pots which Jesus ordered filled
were not containers of drinking water;
they were wash water -- the jars for purification.
When Jesus instructed the servants to take some water from those jars and deliver it to the steward that was a huge risk.
Water in place of wine was bad enough, but wash water?
In that society, Jesus couldn't have delivered the wine himself.
He was dependent on the cooperation of the servants.
God hardly ever does a miracle unaided.
Just as God works with us in the routine business of this world,
so God works with us in the extraordinary and the miraculous.
Sometimes you and I are privileged to participate in very small, yet very real miracles. Have you, with sudden unexplainable impulse, sent a card or note to someone, then had them tell you that your greeting came at just the right time? "How did you know," the person asked. “How could your timing be so perfect?" Yes, how?
Human compassion often leads to a miracle.
Tomorrow we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his part in the miracle of civil rights in this country. He did not do it alone. God did not accomplish this miracle alone.
There was Rosa Parks,
Jackie Robinson,
Thurgood Marshall,
and ordinary church folks from across the nation
who worked a miracle of justice and brought change to this country.
You and I live in a time and place where miracles are badly needed,
and in short supply.
We are so skeptical, not only of God,
but even of our own generous impulses,
that the miraculous often must struggle to take place.
We watch the images coming from Haiti
where thousands of people are desperate for any water at all,
let alone fine wine,
and we ask where is the extravagance of God?
As the poorest nation in the western hemisphere,
we could hardly think of a worse place for such a disaster –
much of Port-au-Prince has been leveled.
Casualties in the hundreds of thousands are feared,
We want to tug at Jesus’ sleeve and whisper in his ear,
“They have no wine.”
Like Mary, we want Jesus to fix it and make everyone happy.
At times such as these it's important that those of us who believe in God, and who believe deeply in love, compassion, and service to others
are sensitive to our potential as agents of the miraculous.
Mary said to Jesus, “They have no wine.”
But then she said to those standing around waiting to help,
“Do whatever he tells you to do.”
Many prayers are left unsaid, or are spoken,
because we have been conditioned to expect nothing;
and expecting nothing, we ask for nothing, and we do nothing.
Many ventures,
some grand and some ordinary,
are never begun because we don't have the faith to dare.
We think moderation is more polite.
Miracles are needed,
which will bring true and worthy intoxication to life.
Jesus Christ waits, ready to introduce such gladness.
He waits to perform the great and necessary miracles,
the superfluous and unessential miracles;
the colossal and the minuscule miracles.
But these miracles call for helpers:
a "mother" who will insist on asking Jesus for help,
and servants who will dare to deliver the water-made-wine.
Our Lord will do the rest.
But he counts, as always, on our doing what only we can do. Amen.