Sermon-Sunday-Jan 14, 2007
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s Gospel lesson is about transformation. Jesus transforms water into wine at the request of His mother Mary who realizes that the supply of wine at this wedding that they had all been invited to had run out. And the transforming of the water into wine is a wonderful miracle, and it wasn’t just about preventing the inconvenience of people not having wine to drink at a party. In other words, Mary’s appeal to Jesus when the wine ran out, although a very human request, was not as trivial as it might appear to be today.
In first-century Jewish culture, running out of wine at a wedding would not have been a minor inconvenience, it would have been a social disaster and a disgrace, and the family would have to live with the shame of it for a long time to come. So by fulfilling Mary’s request, Jesus wasn’t just preventing the supply of wine from running out, he was building and restoring relationships between all those who had gathered for the celebration, which would have been pretty much the whole community.
Nevertheless, the transformation that this passage points to and that John’s gospel continues to speak of, goes beyond the restoration of human relationships. The transformation that this lesson speaks of refers to the different dimension of reality that comes into being when Jesus is present, and when people, through faith, are transformed by that presence. It speaks of the coming together of Heaven and earth.
And in Mary you see a living example of this transformation taking place. We see just how much she has grown from being in the presence of the Word made flesh in Christ Jesus. We see just how far she has gone in the transformation that was being worked in her. She has been transformed from a young mother struggling with doubt and confusion to a faithful servant who appears to have no doubt whatsoever that Jesus will honor her request; so much so that she doesn’t even wait for Jesus to say yes or no, she simply tells the servants to do whatever he tells them.
Jesus honors her request, but he also lets it be known that he has a much bigger purpose, that he is bringing about a much bigger transformation than what his mother is asking him to do here, when he says to her “What concern is that to you and me, my hour has not yet come.”
Mary has come a long way in her own transformation, but she still doesn’t quite see the big picture. But we are told that this is the first of Jesus’ signs that reveal his glory. This event was a sign, not just in the fact that it verified that Jesus had these unique abilities, but more importantly it was a sign that pointed to something other than itself, something beyond itself, something bigger than itself.
The miracle that took place when Jesus changed the water into wine at the wedding at Cana was a sign that pointed to the ‘hour’ that Jesus referred to when he told Mary that his ‘hour’ had not yet arrived.
We see the arrival of this ‘hour,’ the very event which the wedding miracle points to in the second of the only two appearances of Jesus’ mother in John’s gospel. The second time we see Jesus’ mother is at the foot of the cross. The glory of Christ Jesus is fully and completely revealed, not in the miracles that he performs, or the exorcisms, or the healings, or not even in the raising of Lazarus.
All of those certainly show his glory, but we don’t see the complete revelation of his glory until he dies on the cross. That is the ultimate moment where Heaven and earth meet. It takes faith that can only come from being in the presence of the living Christ to see the glory of God hidden in the shame of an innocent man dying on the cross. This is the faith that we see in Jesus’ mother Mary, two women who were very close to Jesus’ mother, who probably also spent a great deal of time in the presence of Jesus, and John, the disciple who was considered to be beloved, as they travel with Jesus on those final steps to the cross.
This is the very faith that you are being filled with daily as you live in your baptism. As the Holy Spirit comes to you daily in God’s Word, as you come forward, in repentance to experience the real presence of the living Christ in the bread and the wine of His supper, faith is being created, nurtured and sustained in you.
This is the faith that was begun in you through the waters of baptism. This is the faith that enables you to look at the cross of Christ and see it for what it really is; the moment where Christ Jesus took your sin upon himself, where he paid the penalty you couldn’t pay, and gave you his righteousness.
This is the faith that fills you with the assurance that in the waters of baptism, the true old creature in you, who likes to go things your own way, and likes to define Jesus on your own terms, and put your interests before your neighbors, has died with Christ Jesus on the cross.
This faith also assures you that in the same way that Christ Jesus was resurrected anew three days later when He walked out of the tomb where He left your sin, He resurrects you as the new creation emerges in you daily in baptism. This is the faith that fills you with the peace that surpasses all understanding. This is the faith that frees you to serve your neighbor through word and deed. This is the faith that Paul writes of in the second lesson for this morning when he reminds us that no one can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
Paul also reminds us that the same Holy Spirit who calls you to faith in Christ Jesus, has called you to utilize the varieties of gifts that you have been blessed with. On Friday, I was reminded of how we are called to utilize these gifts that we are blessed with, when I walked into the conference room and I saw Carol Berg and Lavern Johnson working on what had to have been Annual Report budget auditing stuff. I just saw a bunch of numbers, and decimal points, and that’s all it took to confuse me.
But Carol and Lavern were in and out of there in what couldn’t have been longer than 15 minutes. Carol even left her car running. Not long after that, Evelene came into the office and told me that all of the numbers matched up, whatever that means. After that I couldn’t help but wonder, “If I had to do that how long would it have taken me, and how bad would I have messed it up?” But because two faithful servants were willing to utilize their gifts for this, it got done quickly and effectively.
No matter which of these varieties of gifts you have been blessed with, the Holy Spirit has a place for them in the Body of Christ. If you feel the Holy Spirit moving you to start a Bible-study then do so. If you feel the Holy-Spirit calling you to preach, then do so. Whatever your gifts, there is a calling for them in the church.
Mary’s request to Jesus at the wedding in Cana would lead to a sign that points to Jesus’ glory. Today, as the Body of Christ, we are called to be a sign pointing our neighbor to Christ Jesus. We are post-resurrection people eagerly awaiting Jesus’ return. So as a sign, we point both to the future of the promised return of Jesus, but also to the past of what Jesus has done for you and for your neighbor.
We are called to point our neighbors to the cross, where we see the complete revelation of the glory of Christ Jesus in what He has done for us. The Holy Spirit gives us the very gifts we need to be able to do this, and guides us as we do this. And the Holy Spirit gives us the faith in the eternal promise of what has already been done for us, and assurance that the Holy Spirit is at work in us, speaking through us, and transforming through us.
Amen
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s Gospel lesson is about transformation. Jesus transforms water into wine at the request of His mother Mary who realizes that the supply of wine at this wedding that they had all been invited to had run out. And the transforming of the water into wine is a wonderful miracle, and it wasn’t just about preventing the inconvenience of people not having wine to drink at a party. In other words, Mary’s appeal to Jesus when the wine ran out, although a very human request, was not as trivial as it might appear to be today.
In first-century Jewish culture, running out of wine at a wedding would not have been a minor inconvenience, it would have been a social disaster and a disgrace, and the family would have to live with the shame of it for a long time to come. So by fulfilling Mary’s request, Jesus wasn’t just preventing the supply of wine from running out, he was building and restoring relationships between all those who had gathered for the celebration, which would have been pretty much the whole community.
Nevertheless, the transformation that this passage points to and that John’s gospel continues to speak of, goes beyond the restoration of human relationships. The transformation that this lesson speaks of refers to the different dimension of reality that comes into being when Jesus is present, and when people, through faith, are transformed by that presence. It speaks of the coming together of Heaven and earth.
And in Mary you see a living example of this transformation taking place. We see just how much she has grown from being in the presence of the Word made flesh in Christ Jesus. We see just how far she has gone in the transformation that was being worked in her. She has been transformed from a young mother struggling with doubt and confusion to a faithful servant who appears to have no doubt whatsoever that Jesus will honor her request; so much so that she doesn’t even wait for Jesus to say yes or no, she simply tells the servants to do whatever he tells them.
Jesus honors her request, but he also lets it be known that he has a much bigger purpose, that he is bringing about a much bigger transformation than what his mother is asking him to do here, when he says to her “What concern is that to you and me, my hour has not yet come.”
Mary has come a long way in her own transformation, but she still doesn’t quite see the big picture. But we are told that this is the first of Jesus’ signs that reveal his glory. This event was a sign, not just in the fact that it verified that Jesus had these unique abilities, but more importantly it was a sign that pointed to something other than itself, something beyond itself, something bigger than itself.
The miracle that took place when Jesus changed the water into wine at the wedding at Cana was a sign that pointed to the ‘hour’ that Jesus referred to when he told Mary that his ‘hour’ had not yet arrived.
We see the arrival of this ‘hour,’ the very event which the wedding miracle points to in the second of the only two appearances of Jesus’ mother in John’s gospel. The second time we see Jesus’ mother is at the foot of the cross. The glory of Christ Jesus is fully and completely revealed, not in the miracles that he performs, or the exorcisms, or the healings, or not even in the raising of Lazarus.
All of those certainly show his glory, but we don’t see the complete revelation of his glory until he dies on the cross. That is the ultimate moment where Heaven and earth meet. It takes faith that can only come from being in the presence of the living Christ to see the glory of God hidden in the shame of an innocent man dying on the cross. This is the faith that we see in Jesus’ mother Mary, two women who were very close to Jesus’ mother, who probably also spent a great deal of time in the presence of Jesus, and John, the disciple who was considered to be beloved, as they travel with Jesus on those final steps to the cross.
This is the very faith that you are being filled with daily as you live in your baptism. As the Holy Spirit comes to you daily in God’s Word, as you come forward, in repentance to experience the real presence of the living Christ in the bread and the wine of His supper, faith is being created, nurtured and sustained in you.
This is the faith that was begun in you through the waters of baptism. This is the faith that enables you to look at the cross of Christ and see it for what it really is; the moment where Christ Jesus took your sin upon himself, where he paid the penalty you couldn’t pay, and gave you his righteousness.
This is the faith that fills you with the assurance that in the waters of baptism, the true old creature in you, who likes to go things your own way, and likes to define Jesus on your own terms, and put your interests before your neighbors, has died with Christ Jesus on the cross.
This faith also assures you that in the same way that Christ Jesus was resurrected anew three days later when He walked out of the tomb where He left your sin, He resurrects you as the new creation emerges in you daily in baptism. This is the faith that fills you with the peace that surpasses all understanding. This is the faith that frees you to serve your neighbor through word and deed. This is the faith that Paul writes of in the second lesson for this morning when he reminds us that no one can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
Paul also reminds us that the same Holy Spirit who calls you to faith in Christ Jesus, has called you to utilize the varieties of gifts that you have been blessed with. On Friday, I was reminded of how we are called to utilize these gifts that we are blessed with, when I walked into the conference room and I saw Carol Berg and Lavern Johnson working on what had to have been Annual Report budget auditing stuff. I just saw a bunch of numbers, and decimal points, and that’s all it took to confuse me.
But Carol and Lavern were in and out of there in what couldn’t have been longer than 15 minutes. Carol even left her car running. Not long after that, Evelene came into the office and told me that all of the numbers matched up, whatever that means. After that I couldn’t help but wonder, “If I had to do that how long would it have taken me, and how bad would I have messed it up?” But because two faithful servants were willing to utilize their gifts for this, it got done quickly and effectively.
No matter which of these varieties of gifts you have been blessed with, the Holy Spirit has a place for them in the Body of Christ. If you feel the Holy Spirit moving you to start a Bible-study then do so. If you feel the Holy-Spirit calling you to preach, then do so. Whatever your gifts, there is a calling for them in the church.
Mary’s request to Jesus at the wedding in Cana would lead to a sign that points to Jesus’ glory. Today, as the Body of Christ, we are called to be a sign pointing our neighbor to Christ Jesus. We are post-resurrection people eagerly awaiting Jesus’ return. So as a sign, we point both to the future of the promised return of Jesus, but also to the past of what Jesus has done for you and for your neighbor.
We are called to point our neighbors to the cross, where we see the complete revelation of the glory of Christ Jesus in what He has done for us. The Holy Spirit gives us the very gifts we need to be able to do this, and guides us as we do this. And the Holy Spirit gives us the faith in the eternal promise of what has already been done for us, and assurance that the Holy Spirit is at work in us, speaking through us, and transforming through us.
Amen
posted by Steve at 1:52 PM
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