Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on January 14, 2007
(Year C, Second Sunday after the Epiphany, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 96 or 96:1-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11

While attending a friend’s ordination last spring, the Bishop of Tennessee was telling tales of attending different congregations each Sunday and having to serve with as many different acolytes. Now some of these acolytes were unflappable; they could have been serving a newly ordained priest or the Archbishop of Canterbury, it wouldn’t have mattered either way. Other acolytes were young and inexperienced; they were afraid that they would do something wrong, which was magnified by having to serve the bishop. One Sunday he was at a parish with a young acolyte, and it came time to wash his hands before the consecration. Well, similar to ours, the parish had silver ewers for both the water and the wine. Unlike ours, they were not marked accordingly. As he held his fingers over the lavabo bowl, the acolyte began pouring, and to both their amazement, the stream was a deep purple in color. Not trying to make a scene the bishop leaned down and quietly said, “It’s wine!” To which the youngster replied with astonishment, “It’s a miracle!”

In today’s Gospel reading, we find Jesus and a few of his disciples invited to a wedding in Cana along with his mother. Now weddings were two or three day affairs of festivities, and here, on what appears to be the first day of the celebration, the wine has already run out. This would be a huge disgrace for the newlyweds and their families.

But immediately, Mary says to Jesus, “They have no wine.” She doesn’t say this to merely state the obvious nor is she trying to make fun of them. She is truly concerned for their embarrassment if this is found out.

Now with all due reverence, what’s the point of giving birth to the Son of God if he doesn’t make his mother proud! Seriously, Mary has been pondering the miraculous birth of her son for about thirty years, isn’t it time for him to play his hand? So her statement is more along the lines of, “They are out of wine already. Don’t let them be humiliated. You are the only one here capable of doing something.”

And   Jesus says, “Woman, what concern is it to you regarding me? My hour has not yet come!” This statement tells us that Jesus and Mary have had this discussion or something like it before now, and he is not being sarcastic or rude by calling her ‘woman,’ which is a form of solemn and respectful address. But at the same time he is letting her know that it is not the proper time for him to be glorified, and that he can only accomplish that which his Father in heaven accomplishes through him. He is on the Father’s time schedule not hers.

And   Mary turns towards the servants and says, “Do what ever he tells you.” Now on the surface she is telling the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. But on the other hand, her statement could be interpreted as that of coming from a scorned mother to an impudent son; “Fine! Then do what your Father tells you to do!” But that would be very un-Mary-like. The young woman who said, “Be it unto me according to your word,” wouldn’t take that kind of attitude. But knowing that Mary has been pondering all of these things in her heart for so long and having made the presumption that she and Jesus have discussed things of this nature before, her statement could be viewed as a severing of ties between a mother and her son, or a recognition of completely turning over her thoughts and concerns to God. Or perhaps a releasing of the natural so the supernatural can shine through.

In any case, Jesus instructs the servants to fill six stone jars with water that were set aside for Jewish ceremonial purity rites, and when this task is complete, they are to draw some out so that the chief steward can give his approval. Now we don’t know when the water became wine. Was it wine when the servants drew it from the jars? Did it change in whatever container that the servants used to carry it to the chief steward? Did the chief steward wonder why the servants were giving him water to taste or did it change as it was being poured out for him? At what point did the servants realize what had happened? It doesn’t matter! The point is that something potentially embarrassing was turned into something for which to celebrate. Something common became something uncommonly delicious. Something ordinary was transformed into something extraordinary!

This was something so remarkable that the chief steward commented to the bridegroom that nothing like it had ever taken place before. And even though the text doesn’t say so, the bridegroom had to be astonished. He was reaping the accolades and benefits that were undeserved for an event of which he was not responsible.

Isn’t this a wonderful illustration of God’s plan for salvation? Because of our disobedience; because of those things which cause us embarrassment before God and others; because of our sinful behavior, we are as ordinary as the stuff of the earth from which we are made. God tells Adam and Eve as they are ejected from the Garden, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” In essence, you are now mortal and will die. But when we come into contact with Jesus Christ and accept him as Lord, we are transformed. We are water changed into wine! The common becomes the uncommon. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary! We have no reason for shame or embarrassment; only cause for celebration! We will be called righteous and allowed into the presence of the Father for all of eternity. We did not deserve this blessing; it was not given for anything that we did, not even for anything that we may have attempted but for what Jesus accomplished on the cross. By willingly sacrificing himself on the cross, Jesus died for all of our sins so that we may live. His precious blood was shed for our atonement. We are no longer empty containers sitting idle by the way but we have been transformed into living vessels full of God’s grace.

This is the significance of the miracle in Cana. Just like the Incarnation and the Baptism of Jesus, it is another epiphany of the convergence of heaven and earth! It is another glimpse of the Glory of God shining forth from Jesus! It is a sign that Jesus is Lord with power over the substance and matter of this world. It is a manifestation of Jesus as Christ who has the power to transform us from what we have become into what we were intended to be.

I have read somewhere that a student of St. Jerome asked him whether or not the wedding guests in Cana drank all of the wine that was in the six jars. He answered that indeed, we are still drinking from the jars. Jerome is of course alluding to the Holy Eucharist. In fact, it has been noted that in the Gospel of John, the Miracle in Cana combined with the Feeding of the Five Thousand is a foreshadowing of the Eucharistic elements of Bread and Wine. Indeed, the one hundred and eighty gallons of wine and the twelve baskets of leftover bread are symbolic of the abundance of God’s grace available to each and every one of us in the Blessed Sacraments. By regularly feeding on the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ we are able to sustain and nurture our transformed lives within the relationship that we share with our Lord and Savior. And in this constantly renewed state of grace, the world should be able to catch a glimpse of the Glory of God shining forth from us. As we prayed in today’s collect, we asked God that we may be illumined by His Word and Sacraments, so that we may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory so that he may be known, worshipped and obeyed to the ends of the earth. The invitation is there for us and for the whole world to share in the miracle in Cana. Jesus says, “Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.” Leave behind everything that separates you from God, and come share in the abundance of the Father’s grace.

Gloria Patri.