Acres Of Diamonds

2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

John 2:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Acres of Diamonds

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

12:1 ¶ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed.

2 You know that when you were heathen, you were led astray to dumb idols, however you may have been moved.

3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

6 and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

11 All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

John 2:1-11

2:1 ¶ On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

2 Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.

3 When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."

4 And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."

5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.

8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it.

9 When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom

10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. RSV

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

Russell H. Conwell wrote a speech many years ago entitled "Acres of Diamonds" where he laid out that there were acres of diamonds of opportunities for people who were searching for jobs. He said there were acres of diamonds all around us for the grabbing if we would just open our eyes and see those opportunities.

I would like to use his analogy to say that there are indeed Acres of Diamonds all around us, not the diamonds of the earth, but sparkling stones, brilliant in color and radiance all around us. These stones light up the lives of people they come in contact with, they light up the lives of people.

For the Acres of Diamonds all around us are the opportunities for us to reach out a helping hand to others. We have acres of opportunity of service all round us. We have acres of diamonds, acres of service in our back yards, in our neighborhoods, in our churches, town and communities. For when a person helps another it is like lightening up a diamond in their lives. Our touch, our kindness lights up a life just as sparkling as a diamond lights up a hand or necklace.

Our gospel lesson this morning is about Jesus reaching out at a wedding to do a kind deed and our second lesson from 1 Corinthians speaks about the gifts of the Spirit which is used to help others.

Our gospel lesson speaks about Jesus reaching out to help at the request of his mother. Mary comes to Jesus and says, "They have no wine." A simple statement and in that statement is a request, "Do something" Jesus answers, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." In other words, Jesus is saying this is something he cannot be bothered with and that his mother does not really understand what Jesus is all about.