A DEFINING MOMENT

 

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

 

January 18, 2004

 

Text: “They have no wine.”  (John 2:3)

 

First Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

 

            The marriage in Cana is probably one of the best known stories in the Bible.  What that does is give us an opportunity to take a closer look at it.  Perhaps we’ll find some things about the story that we’ve not thought about before and will help us understand how we can apply the story to our lives in new ways.  Three parts of the story in particular come to mind, the marriage itself, Jesus’ encounter with his mother, and the water changed into wine.  They are what I’ve chosen to call “defining moments.”

 

            It’s important to notice in the gospels that whenever food is mentioned something important is about to occur.  Of course, the Lord’s Supper is the primary example of that.  But there are others just as important.  Jesus uses the banquet to change the rules about who’s in and who’s out of God’s kingdom.  He uses his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well to teach the lesson about living water.  Mary and Martha invite him to eat with them and they learn important lessons on hospitality.

 

            So, the marriage in Cana ought to alert us to the fact that something important is going to happen.  One alert we sometimes lose sight of is the fact that faith can be a joyful experience.  So often we emphasize the pain of suffering, the sacrifices we’re to make in the shadow of the cross, the tediousness of the work we’re to do in the mission of the church and those are all legitimate.  But none of those should minimize the good times we can have as brothers and sisters of faith.

 

            This morning’s baptism of Samuel Glenn is a good example of a good time.  Christine and Glenn will probably have a party at their home after worship and that’s how it should be.  We celebrate when the communicants join the church.  Everyone had such a good time at the dinner marking our 50th anniversary.  Hopefully, we’ll have the same good time this year when we celebrate the 40th anniversary of my ordination. 

 

            How often have you heard someone remark at a funeral what a shame it is that only death is a time that brings the family together? They go on to say that the family ought to plan a more joyful occasion to gather, but then time goes by and it seldom happens.  Jesus fully intended his followers to enjoy themselves and food was a natural occasion around which to gather.  He used such times to do some of his more profound teaching and what we have today is a very well known example of that.  When John puts the wedding at the beginning of his gospel he’s indicating pretty much what Isaiah foresees as the marriage between God and God’s people.  Only here it’s Jesus the Christ who’s going to usher in the joyful wedding between God and God’s people.  He’ll not only make sure all the guests have a good time, but we come to find out that he’ll become the bridegroom as well.

 

            A second observation about this story is, of course, his encounter with his mother.  I daresay most of us remember a time in our lives when our mothers put us on the spot.  And we probably responded as Jesus responds to his mother, “what has this got to do with me,” or to use the modern day response, “Oh please!” 

 

Some people have made much about the seeming distance Jesus puts between him and his mother.  Why, they ask, does he call her “woman” and not “mother.” For example, is Jesus so embarrassed by Mary or angry with her that he doesn’t even want to acknowledge that she’s his mother?  Or, is somehow Mary’s request that he do something about the wine beneath his dignity as though he shouldn’t have to think about such mundane affairs?  And what about Jesus’ comment that “his time has not yet come?”

 

Of course, Mary, like all good mothers, simply ignores Jesus’ fussing and tells the steward to do whatever Jesus tells him to do, which shows that we have some pretty earthly stuff going on here.  Not only are a lot of people having a good time at a wedding, a mother is concerned that they’re running out of wine and knows someone who can do something about it.  When she confides in her son to do that she’s pretty comfortable knowing that he can rectify the situation.  When her son balks at her request for whatever reason she just ignores him and tells the wine steward that Jesus will take care of business.

 

Let’s just highlight that interchange for a moment, for Mary has something to teach us as well.  We need to trust the Christ more in our own lives to take care of business.  Throughout our own reading of the Bible, within our own prayer lives, during our times of interaction with others, if Christ guides us to do something or say something it’s best for us to do whatever he tells us.  In that sense we need to be good wine stewards as well.  There’s a good correlation between running out of wine at a banquet and our faith level itself getting pretty low.  The way to keep the faith just as the way to have sufficient wine for the guests is to do whatever he tells us.

 

And that brings up the third “defining moment,” the changing of the water into wine.  Two observations need to be made about this moment.  The first is to notice the difference in attitude between the wine steward and the disciples.  The wine steward goes over to the bridegroom and compliments him on his hospitality.  Usually the host serves the good wine first and waits until everyone has had their fill and then brings out the less expensive.  After all, at that point no one will notice the difference.  But after tasting the wine that Jesus has changed from water the wine steward is impressed at the quality and surprised by the bridegroom’s generosity.  The wine steward couldn’t imagine that anything supernatural had occurred.  It must have been the host’s hospitality.  In other words, the wine steward has to do whatever he can to explain the miracle by his past experience.

 

The disciples have a completely different response.  The disciples let the miracle define their future experience, “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”  That’s the dilemma many of us face whenever we experience what could be a defining moment in our lives.  We try to explain it by our past experience rather than letting the moment define what could become our future experience.  The disciples didn’t need any further explanations of what had happened.  They saw in the wine God in their midst.  By following Jesus, they would participate in God’s grace and mercy and Jesus would usher in the dawn of a new age.

 

This is only confirmed by the second observation.  Notice how Jesus uses the six stone water jars standing in the room.  They would be used for the Jewish purification rites.  The Jews were strict about cleaning themselves before eating.  So, undoubtedly they had been used by the guests or would be used by the guests as the reception continued.  What Jesus does is completely transform their use.  Instead of outward cleansing they become the vehicles of Jesus’ internal cleansing.  The water turned to wine is consumed by the guests and the whole event becomes a foretaste of the wine we enjoy today as “the cup of salvation.”

 

            Of all the characters in this story Mary’s my favorite.  She really is a Jewish mother!  In German you would say that she’s a “Mensch.”  In Yiddish you would say that she’s got “Ghutzpa.”  But, what I like best about her is what she says to the servants.  “Do whatever he tells you.”  It’s good advice.  It would do all of us some good if we were to do likewise.  It would become for us as well a “defining moment.”

 

Thanks be to God,

Amen