Readings:
Sermon:
Have you ever been to a wedding? I wonder what you remember as being the most important part of the day? Was it the marriage service where a couple publicly declared their love and commitment for one another? Or was it the venue, a beautiful church or historic building or something different? Or are you someone who judges an event by the standard of hospitality received. Generous catering in terms of food and drink is always a good thing! It speaks of the care and concern for guests and says something about how pleased the people hosting the event are that you are there.
So if you’ve been to a wedding I’m sure that you’ll be able to identify with the scene in our gospel today of the wedding at Cana. This wedding would have been a big community occasion and the family would have wanted to get it right. For the catering arrangements to have gone awry is nothing short of a disaster. Generosity would have been key to this being a successful wedding celebration and it’s all going wrong as the wine runs out. No wonder that thoughtful Mary hopes that Jesus can intervene and save the family from their embarrassment.
Jesus may have wanted to help, but he takes this opportunity, not to be the best wedding rescuer ever by turning the water into wine, but to share something deeply profound about who he is. The wedding at Cana is often referred to be as being the first sign of Jesus in John’s gospel. This is a sign that can point to the reality of who Jesus is and what difference he can make in the world that he was sent into.
So, who is the Jesus you see in this sign? There’s a beautiful line about the wedding at Cana, attributed to several poets, that goes, “The conscious water saw its master and blushed.” How wonderful is that? Jesus turning the water into wine is a sign that he is Lord of all creation. Jesus has power and authority over all of creation, not in a dominating and oppressive manner, but in a way that speaks of the totality of life coming from Jesus, who John has already declared is the Word who was in existence before the creation of anything else. And it is this Word, this Jesus, who is truly God with us, that can use the gifts of water and wine to show that within creation there is nothing that Jesus can’t do.
The beautiful personification of the water blushing somehow reflects that awe and wonder that you might feel and experience when you know and feel that you are in the presence of Jesus, who is Lord over everything that ever was and ever will be. How, you might ask, can you be in Jesus’ presence, when you might feel so unworthy and unprepared? Our sign suggests it doesn’t matter what you might think of yourself, Jesus wants to be with you and you are more than welcome to be in his presence.
So this sign shows you an important aspect of who Jesus is, being at the very centre of all creation. This sign is also about action, as it shows the power of transformation. Jesus takes water, the most basic of life’s necessities and transforms it not just into any old wine, but into the very best of wine. This is a transformation of enormous proportions. Here is someone who can make incredible things happen. And for Jesus, this is only his first sign, his first indication of who he is and what he can do. And already the disciples are able to see his glory and believe in him. There is so much more to come, and all the while John is pointing us to the greatest transformation that will be revealed, that Jesus will be able to transform the darkness of death into the glory and majesty and life of the resurrection.
In this sign you are invited to think what it is that Jesus can transform for you. There may be things that are weighing you down that he can take from you. There may be something that you are being called to do that you need some encouragement with. Maybe he can transform the doubts and uncertainties you have about yourself. And as you continue to life in a broken and fractured world, maybe you can ask Jesus to transform the situations that fill you with worry and distress and make them full of the life that we celebrate in the resurrection hope he can came to share.
Questions:
- What does Jesus being Lord of all creation mean to you?
- What would you want Jesus to transform in your life?