Year C, Epiphany 2 John 2:1-11 & 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
One of
the most well-known miracles in the Bible is when Jesus turned water into
wine. There are a couple of reasons for
this popularity. To many, it feels like a more relatable miracle, than say
Jesus exorcising demons out of a person. In this story, Jesus is celebrating
along with his family and his disciples. People find it refreshing to imagine
Jesus just hanging out and enjoying life.
Because let’s face it, much of the Gospels are about Jesus preparing for
his death. There are not many stories of
him just hanging out with his friends—not preaching, not healing…just hanging
out. It’s also popular because there are
also a lot of people who like wine and the idea that Jesus would provide wine
for a party …that’s an appealing image of Jesus.
This
miracle is the 1st miracle in the Gospel of John. It’s not just
Jesus’ first miracle, it’s his first public act. He had just called his disciples and one of
the first things they do is go to a wedding together. In the Gospels of Matthew
and Luke, Jesus’ first miracle is a healing.
In Mark, it’s an exorcism. Those
are classic Jesus miracles. John is the
only Gospel that tells the story of Jesus turning water into wine. The Gospel of John is unique in many ways. The Gospel writer doesn’t refer to miracles
as miracles, they are signs and revelations. They are opportunities for Jesus’
divinity to be revealed. They are also opportunities for God’s children to
participate in the miracle.
Let’s
look at this first miracle. One thing
that usually catches people’s attention is the interaction between Jesus and
his mother. She is the one who alerts
him to the issue. Normally, people
running out of wine would not be an emergency, but wedding celebrations were a
really big deal at this time. They still
are today, but normally (at least in the circles I travel in) running out of
wine on the 3rd day of festivities would not bring shame to the
family. At this time, wine wasn’t just a
beverage, it was also a symbol of life and blessings. (Remember, John loves
signs and symbols.) Running out of wine indicated a lack of blessings, which
was not good for a wedding.
Perhaps Mary knew the family…perhaps she was just more
sensitive to potential social shaming.
We don’t know why she got involved, but it’s clear she wanted Jesus to
help and she knew that he could. Jesus’
response to her is a little surprising.
He tells her that his time has not yet come. He knew that once he started performing
miracles or signs, there was no turning back.
Even though this miracle was not in front of a large crowd, the servants
were aware and word was bound to get out. Everything would change after this
miracle.
We
often associate miracles with things that just come to us. We ask for it, God gives it---that’s a
miracle. But what Jesus showed in this
miracle was not merely a fondness for good wine, but the fact that sometimes
miracles require the effort and help of others. It’s a community effort. If you
look at all the miracles in the Gospel of John, almost all of them include the
effort of humans. When Jesus fed the 5000, it started with a boy bringing him 5
loaves and 2 fish. Once Jesus multiplied this offering, the disciples had to
hand out that food to 5000 people. Then,
they had to gather all the leftovers. That is a fair amount of effort on the
part of the disciples.
Our
reading from Corinthians is another familiar one. It’s often lifted up as an example of the
Christian community and how the community is made up of a variety of
gifts. That’s a fair reading. But Paul’s emphasis here was the origin of
the gifts. All these gifts came from the
same Spirit. He repeats the phrase “same Spirit” several times.
If you read the chapters before this one, you will see
that Paul was frustrated with the people of Corinth because they were getting a
little competitive with their gifts. They were showing off and lifting up
certain gifts over the gifts of others. The gift that they often revered was
that of speaking in tongues. Paul
includes that in his list of gifts, but it’s the very last one. Paul says that “all these gifts are activated
by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the
Spirit chooses.” When we talk about
spiritual gifts in churches today, we often talk about it from the perspective
of what we are good at. I don’t think
that is what Paul meant. It’s not necessarily about how we choose to serve God,
it’s about what the Spirit chooses.
Notice
in the Gospel what Mary says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” This was an opportunity for these servants to
participate in a miracle, but first, they had to listen to Jesus. That is true with all of us. Yes our Christian community depends on the
gifts of all of you. I have witnessed so
many beautiful gifts in this parish. I
have seen you giving of yourselves for the common good again and again. But we cannot overlook the necessity of
listening to God, allowing God’s wisdom to infuse us. Listening is the only way we can determine
what the common good is. According to
Paul, all these gifts contribute to the common good of the community. Listening to God also enables us to
participate in miracles.
I expect that we have all had times when we prayed for
miracles and those prayers were not answered in the way that we desired. I
don’t want you to walk away from this sermon thinking that I am telling you
miracles depend on our effort and if we just tried harder, than these miracles
would happen. I wish that miracles
worked like that. It seems like that
would be a lot fairer. Perhaps we need
to change the way we think and talk about miracles. Remember, John never referred to anything as a
miracle. They were signs that helped people see God more clearly. What if that is part of our calling as
Christians---helping people see God more clearly?
That is one of the things that Martin Luther King Jr.
did. At the time, many white people
thought that only white people were created in God’s image and that really
messed up people’s perception of God. Because
if white people were made in God’s image, then God was obviously white. Martin
Luther King showed people that all people, no matter their color or race were
created in God’s image. God was and is
so much bigger than our narrow perceptions.
Even today, with all our open minded thinking, God is still bigger than
we will ever know.
I would like us to redefine miracles—so they are not
just something that happened long ago or to a small portion of the
population. What if they could be any
opportunity to experience God’s grace and love, or any opportunity to share
God’s grace and love with the people around us?
If that is true, then opportunities for miracles are far more numerous
than we could possibly imagine. Not only that, it means that we are all miracle
workers.
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