Year C
John 2:1-11
The Rev. Denise Vaughn
Lives Turned Into Rich Wine
The priest goes to see her parishioner Fred, who is ninety-four. Fred wants to marry Ethel, who is eighty-one. The priest asks, “Do you love Ethel, Fred?” There is a long pause as Fred screws up his face in concentration, thinks a little more, and finally says without much conviction, “I suppose so.” The priest not entirely convinced probes a little more. “Well, is she a good Christian woman?” Fred replies, “I don’t actually know.” The priest is surprised and still puzzled. So she decides to go for the oldest reason for marriage in the book. “Well, is Ethel rich?” Fred replies, “Nope, she hasn’t got a penny.” So says the priest amazed, “So why exactly do you want to get married?” And Fred replies, “Because she can see to drive at night.”
The reasons for marriage can sometimes be less obvious than we realize. Today, we read the very familiar story in the gospel of John of the wedding at Cana. It seems pretty straight forward but this wedding story is not simply a tale of Jesus’ first miracle to show his supernatural power of turning water into wine. No, it has a much deeper, more symbolic meaning much less obvious than we realize. Those who have studied the Gospel of John carefully know that one has to listen on two levels to hear the messages the author intends. First of all there is the story which in itself is interesting enough. But John is more than a story teller. He writes to an early Second Century church and seeks by his stories to bring the deeper meaning to those with ears to hear.
With ears to hear, the deeper meaning of the identity of Jesus and his ministry is introduced to us today in this story by what he did. The Epiphany celebrates that what was once hidden is now brought out into the open. Jesus, God’s Son, begins to be revealed to us with symbols: a joyous wedding, six Jewish ritual urns, thirsty guests, and an abundance of wine; all to tell us something about the steadfast love of God. Today we are encouraged to come to the feast, with desiring hearts to be transformed by love so that “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
It was a great party with music, dancing, food and wine. In those days, the bride and groom celebrated the marriage not with a honeymoon but with a seven-day wedding feast at the groom’s house. A crisis occurs for the family when the wine runs out. Jesus’ mother observes the difficulty and takes action to help by asking Jesus to do something about it. At first we read that Jesus resisted and his reaction tells us something about him and his mission. He was to be about God’s work first, according to God’s plan, and what was God’s plan here? Obviously, Jesus’ next action tells us.
He has the servants fill six large urns, which sat by the door and provided the guests with water to wash their hands and feet after the dust of the roads. Each urn held 20 to 30 gallons. And when the servants draw out some of the water and take it to the master of the feast, it was wine but not just any kind of wine, it was the finest wine. In Jesus’ day, pure drinking water was hard to find. Yet, I don’t believe Jesus is sanctioning the abuse of alcohol. We are aware that abuse of alcohol and alcoholism is a real concern not only today in our society but all through the ages. It is a disease that seems to run in families and requires treatment and discipline. My father died of alcohol abuse when he was 58 years old. Wine is the substance of celebration as well as debauchery. Wine in the scriptures, is actually often spoken of symbolically for fullness and joy. John uses this story in his gospel to help open our eyes to the deeper meaning behind this miracle which is that God in Christ through the resurrection and gift of the Holy Spirit has turned the water of our lives into rich wine that brings joy and gives glory to God.
What happened that day was an Epiphany moment. Eyes were opened giving a glimpse of what the rest of Jesus’ ministry would bring. And, as we look ahead in John’s gospel, we read of Jesus healing a Roman official’s dying son, we read of Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery, and of him bringing Lazarus back to life. In every instance, he gives spiritual and physical new life. What we are seeing is the very plan of God-to bring life and salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who has come to take the ordinary, the flat, the tasteless, the common, and transform it into something robust, hearty, and joyful. Jesus can transform our lives. In him is all the fullness of God. In him is life, and when he touches our lives what is common and ordinary and flat becomes beautiful.
The disciples that Jesus had just called in the verses right before the story today of the wedding miracle–they were quite common men. They were fishermen and farmers, a government employee—the wrong government—a couple of revolutionaries, a doubter, a few others who were harmless and mild and were never heard of again. Later in the story, Jesus would turn to them and their leader, Simon Peter, and say, “Upon you I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Jesus turned them into robust servants, and history since then is a celebration of the miracle. If we look around the room, we are much like those first disciples and God takes us and makes of us the church. We become the kingdom’s joy. This is how God works. Through Jesus, God gives us the best.
John tells us that this miracle was a revelation and confirmation of faith for the disciples. They saw the joyful, creative power of God at work and through the rest of their time with Jesus they had to learn many other things about God’s power, not all easy to understand but all characteristic of God. This point is made for us in the reading today from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. God works in a variety of ways and does not follow our rules. But to enable our faith to say and to live, ‘Jesus is Lord’ we are given gifts of power to build a community of worshiping people whose lives are directed to God and to building up God’s kingdom.
You and I we live in a time and place where miracles are badly needed. Many are skeptical not only of God, but of even believing that miracles happen. Yet, through the power of God’s Spirit they do happen and we are sometimes privileged to participate in very real, maybe small, miracles. The gifts of power given to us by the Holy Spirit help us become sensitive to and open to love, compassion and service to others. Jesus came face to face with the reality of his mission and showed us just how much God loves us. We, the thirsty guests, are to be a community of people gathered around the wine at Eucharist, discovering that Jesus has made it so much more. What a way for Jesus to begin his public ministry. Today we are encouraged to come to the feast, with desiring hearts to be transformed by love so that “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” May our lives be turned into rich wine.