God of all things, may only your truth be
spoken and only your truth be heard ✠
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I’m not sure why exactly, but the story of Jesus at the wedding at Cana is one of my favorite stories in Scripture. Maybe it's because, at least in my mind, it’s a story that clearly points us to the fact that all shall be well. It’s also a fitting text as we continue a sermon series on these Sundays after the Epiphany about Baptism. In the example of empty water jars being filled with excellent wine, we see God’s transforming grace, and what God did with that wine is but a glimpse of the transformation that God has in store for us.
To
grasp what John is telling us through this narrative, we have to skip to the
end before we begin. The last verse we heard today reads, “Jesus did this, the
first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory.” John does not
call this a miracle, but rather a sign. The difference is significant. A
miracle is certainly amazing; and, sure, maybe a miracle shows the power of the
miracle worker, but a miracle is just an event. A sign is something different –
a sign points towards something beyond itself. What happened at Cana was more than
a miracle, it was a sign that points to the transforming grace of God.
And
as the inaugural sign, this one established the trajectory of the grace and
glory of God in Christ that is to be revealed and received. What does it mean
that this is the first sign that Jesus gives us? Well, for one, we can’t overlook
the fact that it happens at a party. People who think God is angry, judgmental,
overbearing, or exacting have completely missed the point. God, quite literally,
is the life of the party and that party has begun. The joy and peace that God
desires for us is not something reserved for after death. As if that wasn’t
clear enough from the prayer that Jesus taught us that “thy kingdom come on
earth as it is in heaven,” the fact that Jesus’ first sign happens at a wedding
banquet is a clear sign that abundant and flourishing life has already begun in
Christ. Baptism is our entrance into that great party as it prepares us to receive
and grow in the new life of grace, which is a sign of the kingdom that is
coming on earth as it is in heaven.
But
then there’s a crisis. “They have no wine.” This isn’t about getting drunk, it’s
a social problem. Weddings in that time and place were not one-day events –
rather the party would last for a week or so. To run out of wine would bring shame
upon the host family, and for a culture that was much more clan and honor-based
than ours, this was an impending disaster. Mary comes to Jesus and says “They
have no wine.” Maybe your crisis is different: “We don’t have enough to pay the
bills,” “There is no cure,” “He has no hope,” “She has no friends,” “I have no more
strength.” Whatever it is that you are in short supply of, God knows it and God
can provide it.
What’s
so fascinating about this incident is that hosts likely don’t know they are
running out of wine. They’re probably talking with the guests and having a good
time. The steward of the party knows they are getting low on wine, and Mary
learns of it and then tells Jesus. It’s a good reminder – when you’re facing a
problem, don’t forget to tell Jesus about it. And when the steward tells the
groom about the good wine coming out, we aren’t told that he’s in any way surprised.
What
I’m saying, beloved, is that sometimes God saves you from dangers you weren’t
even aware of. Perhaps God has already saved you from the mistake that you
never got around to making; maybe God has already given you what you were too
busy to notice that you had run out of. Think about an experience many of us
have had – we arrive at our destination with no real memory of all the stops
and turns that we made along the way. Well, it’s the same thing in life, and just
because we’re not paying attention, it doesn’t mean that God isn’t taking care
of us in ways that we’ll never know about.
Can
you imagine what it must have been like to be the groom? All of a sudden, the head
waiter comes up to you and applauds you for the quality of the wine that you’ve
provided – “Goodness, I’ve never known a family to provide Silver Oak for the
wedding reception.” But you know that, in truth, you bought Yellowtail. If you
don’t drink wine: you’re given credit for providing top-tier stuff when you
actually bought stuff from the bargain bin. The groom is oblivious to what has
happened, but his reputation is going to go up even though he had done nothing
to deserve it.
Beloved,
we all have things to be proud of. To be sure, there are diplomas, certificates,
and awards that are in my office, and, yes, I’m proud of those things. But I
would be a fool if I thought those were all about me. It is God who got me
through those exams and papers, it is God who gave me opportunities to succeed,
it is God who picked me up when I fell, often picking me up out of sight of
others so they didn’t even see the stumble. This sign at Cana is a reminder to
us that the great things that we get credit for are the work of God. So we
ought to always be humble in our accomplishments and ready to give God thanks
even for the things that we don’t know about.
God
provides for us in ways that we are completely unaware of. The steward likely
assumed that the groom had some more wine in storage and simply told the other servers
to bring it out of storage. Now, that wasn’t true for the groom’s family – they
had no cellar full of wine; there was nothing in storage. Just because our tank
is empty doesn’t mean that God’s is. God has things in storage that we don’t
know about.
As
we heard in the reading from First Corinthians, “Now there are varieties of
gifts, but the same Spirit,” and then gifts like wisdom, healing, prophecy, and
discernment are mentioned. God has things and people in storage all over the
place, ready to call into service when the time is right. This weekend, our
nation remembers one such gift pulled from God’s storehouse – the Reverend Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. When our nation needed a voice of moral courage to remind
us of God’s dream of beloved community, King was called upon.
King,
as a preacher of the Gospel, knew that he was merely the messenger. King’s
legacy is not perfect, his life was not beyond reproach, he was not the
Messiah. But that doesn’t matter because we already have a Messiah in Jesus and
King knew that. In one speech called “The Drum Major Instinct,” King said, “I
want to be at Jesus’ side in love and justice so that we can make the old world
a new world.” King reminds us that love and justice are God’s work, and though we
are given the gift of working alongside God, it is always God who brings the transforming
grace. We are Baptized with a bit of water, and from there, God’s grace through
us will do more than we can ask or imagine.
And
sometimes the best we can do is to bring water – we don’t have the grapes, the
yeast, or the sugar to make wine. But somehow, God always seems to get the
needed wine. Maybe you don’t even have that much. Maybe right now you identify
more with the empty jars and don’t even have enough water to fill them. That’s
quite alright. Remember, God created out of nothing, so if nothing is all you’ve
got, God Almighty can do amazing things with that. Maybe we can only put in a
little bit, but God can work wonders with even that much. Perhaps it’s just an
hour that you can volunteer, maybe it’s only a small amount of money that you
give, it could be just 5 minutes a day that you spend in prayer or Scripture
reading. Look out now, God will get to work with it.
The
result of Jesus’ intervention is six full stone jars of wine – that comes out
to about 800 bottles. Cana was a small village with an adult population of nowhere
near 800 people – so the bottle-to-person ratio is quite high. And this wine
impressed the chief steward, who presumably had tasted a fair amount of wine.
Not only does God provide the good stuff, but God provides a lot of it.
If
you’ll allow me a point of personal privilege – I want to talk about how I’ve
received the good stuff from you all. Today, January 16, is the anniversary of
my ordination to the priesthood. Twelve years ago today, at the Washington
National Cathedral, I was made a priest and I’m so thankful for that. Goodness
knows, God has certainly transformed water into wine throughout my ministry.
And in this calling, God has blessed me with the good stuff.
You
all know that this pandemic has been hard on everyone. Not that there’s a
competition for “who’s had it worse,” but this pandemic has been really difficult
on clergy – as many, many clergy have walked away from ministry or considered it.
Sure, I’ve had some days that were harder than any I experienced pre-pandemic,
but all things considered, I’m quite good. There are a few reasons for this.
One, when it comes to prayer, I have the gift of discipline, so the well wasn’t
running dry before we got to March 2020. I am also blessed with a supportive
and understanding family. And, as you know, I absolutely believe with every
fiber of my being that, with God, all shall be well. But a huge part of the
reason why, on this ordination anniversary, I’m as grateful and hopeful as ever
is because of you – the good people of St. Luke’s.
This
parish is simply amazing. One part of our parish identity statement is that this
is a place to come and see abundant grace. While perhaps I put a label on that,
I didn’t create it. God working through you has made this a place of abundant
grace, and the credit belongs to you for that. I’ve got story after story from
colleagues both in Salisbury and across the Diocese who have had their
decisions scrutinized, their motivations questioned, their leadership undermined,
and their actions vilified over the last two years. Sure, I know we’re all
tired of masks, but do you know how many times people have yelled at me about
masks? Zero? Do you know how many times I’ve been accused, at least to my face,
of poor leadership in this pandemic? Zero? And that’s not because I’m perfect,
far from it. It’s because this is a parish that knows how to keep the main thing
the main thing – the love of God in Christ.
Thank
you for that. Truly, you all are a blessing; you are the “good stuff.” The Finance
Committee doesn’t meet until tomorrow, so the numbers might change a little bit
as review the year-end numbers, but we had a negative $22,000 budget in 2021 because
we knew that it wouldn’t be a normal year. I really don’t like deficit budgets,
but it’s what we had to do. Do you know how the year ended up? Thanks to the
staff keeping expenses in line and being diligent stewards of our budget, and because
of your generous support, we ended 2021 with a surplus of nearly $35,000. The
budget for 2022 looks like we’re going to be able to give the staff cost of
living adjustments, have the Director of Music Ministry position increased to full-time,
and have a balanced budget while not decreasing spending on any of our
ministries and increasing how much we spend on mission. And, to be clear, it’s
not about the money – it’s about the fact that we are all committed to coming
and seeing the difference that Christ makes. God’s transforming grace is clearly
present here and that makes this such an invigorating and exciting place to be.
Serving as the Rector of such an amazing parish really does feel like getting
to drink the good stuff made possible through God’s grace.
I
think that perhaps the most amazing part of this story about the wedding at
Cana is that there was so much good wine produced that it never ran out. In
fact, I don’t know if you knew this, but that wine that Jesus transformed at
Cana is still available. By God’s grace, the good wine that is a sign of the
kingdom’s coming on earth as it is in heaven is given us to us, Sunday after
Sunday, by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist. On this ordination
anniversary, it remains my sheer joy to break the bread and lift the cup as we
are all nourished by God’s grace. Therefore, let us keep the feast.
