2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
John 2:1-11
"Signing Us!!"
"A young couple, who were new Christians, suffered a terrible financial setback due to a disabling illness of the husband. The wife found work, but her income barely made a dent in the mountain of bills. They lived in constant prayer, praying that somehow they would be given the strength and courage to live in this brokenness. They prayed for deliverance, they prayed for a sign of hope and they prayed with hope that somehow there would be a light at the end of this long tunnel!.
One day they had no food. No one knew that their refrigerator and cupboards were practically bare. During the day, an uncle arrived carrying two bags of groceries and boxes filled with canned goods. After he finished carrying them in, he sat down at the table and said, "I don’t know why, but I just felt that you could use these things " They thanked him, hugged him and he left with a smile on his face and a promise in his heart that he would check in on them again real soon."
John says in our gospel lesson: "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him." A sign is something addressed to the senses to attest the existence of a divine power. A sign points to God’s glory among us. A sign uses elements of our world to point to God’s presence, God’s glory among us. A sign, water to wine, a sign, bread and wine, Jesus’ body and blood, a sign, water, cleansing, new birth, a sign, groceries coming out of now where. God’s signs of his presence are all around us. As God’s children, God has been signing us, showing us His presence, showing us his presence among us in many different ways.
Our gospel lesson is the first of these signs of God’s presence through Jesus in the world. A most confusing sign changing water to wine, but never-the-less a sign pointing to the glory of God . Jesus was attending a wedding, which in his day was a major festival. The bride and groom would return to the groom’s house after the brie! ceremony and celebrate with their friends as long as a week. During the celebration, the wine ran out. Mary, being a friend’ ofthe family found out and depending upon her eldest son as she usually did since Joseph died, goes to him with the problem. His response on the surface may seem abrupt, and rude, but it really isn’t because the English doesn’t translate the Greek or Aramaic very well. I don’t know what Mary thought Jesus could do? Maybe find some more wine, maybe try to substitute something else. But she turned to Jesus for help, Jesus answers "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." A strange answer, but on further examination, not so strange. The word woman is translated better, lady, or dear woman, a sign of respect and honor. The rest can be better translated, "Don’t worry; you don’t quite understand what is going on; leave things to me, and I will settle them in my own way."
Jesus knew his hour, had not yet come. He knew it would be awhile before he would die. He also knew he must live his life to God’s will and direction. And so to begin that process of showing people God’s plan, God’s salvation, God’s redemption in the world, he takes an embarrassing situation, no wine and turns it into a time of joy and happiness. He redeems the situation. Now wine was used in Jesus’ day as an acceptable drink because the water was so foul. But drunkenness was not acceptable. Each drank in moderation.
A side note. Did you know that many countries today use wine as the acceptable drink because of their foul water, but the U.S. which has the most clean water available to its people, has the most problems with the abuse of alcohol?
As John wrote, this was the first of many signs Jesus used to help the disciples, the people to believe in his mission, his purpose on earth. Just as Jesus changes water into wine, he came to change people, to make them pure and holy, acceptable to God. And those signs of God’s presence, God’s presence which changes and redeems us are still with us, water, bread, wine, the word, people, a handshake, a greeting of love, a smile, a forgiving embrace all are signs of God’s presence with us as he continues to show us signs of his love.
A pastor tells the following, "The Church of the Saviour in Washington understood the power of God’s signs among them. A girl named Meg came to the church one Sunday morning. She listened intently to the sermon, sang with joy the hymns and began to feel a happiness and purpose to her life which had not been there. Something inside led her to that church that morning. After the service, the people greeted her, welcomed her. She learned they were interested in her as a person. They learned she was living of life of alcoholism and prostitution and her marriage to a war - veteran was falling apart so much so that her husband tried to commits suicide. The people, some who had been in the same situation began to care and work with Meg. Some helped her with her drinking problem. Some listened to Meg and her husband, as they worked out their marriage difficulties. Others helped Meg get a job and others helped her husband become rehabilitated from his war injury. In time, Meg’s life and her husband’s were changed, transformed, redeemed and rescued from the brokenness of this world. Meg said later, ’At first I thought these people were crazy. Then I didn’t care what they were. I suddenly wanted what they had.’"
These people came to be signs of God’s love in Meg’s world. These people had a direction, a purpose in their lives. They knew what God wanted them to do, love one another, and Meg caught that spirit and wanted to have some for her life. God’s signs among us do give our lives some direction and purpose.
The community of Christ, the church, you and I as members of St. Paul’s are being used and will be used as God’s signs in this community. You and I are signs of God’s work in this world just as bread and wine, water and the word are his signs of his glorious presence with us. God uses us in the some way to point to his glory. As the signs of water and the word, bread and wine bring hope of God’s presence in our world, you and I are signs for each other, signs for those outside this building of God’s redeeming changing, transforming and saving power in this world.
Because of these signs, there is hope in this world. A hope and a vision of better things to come. As Isaiah saw a vision of hope for the nation of Israel, you and I can see a dream, a vision, a hope for a better tomorrow as you and I bring God’s presence through our individual gifts into this world. Things need not remain as they are.
As Jesus knew what his appointed goal or direction was in this world, to die at calvary each of us have a purpose, and direction to our lives as we seek to do God’s will in our faith journey. Signs, I believe, are all around us in nature, in the wood, in events, in situations, in people, in bread, in wine, in water, in you and in me. As we become acquainted with and look for these signs, we will then be able to do God’s will and sense a purpose and direction to our lives. We can dream for a better live, for those who are oppressed. We can dream and bring to reality God’s reign of justice and fairness in this world as we allow God to use us.
Tomorrow we celebrate the national observance of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great leader of the civil rights movement. But he was more than that, he was a man of God who felt God’s hand on his shoulder and saw a vision of what could be rather than what was in this world. I admire the man and his sense of love and justice he brought into this world. If you cannot agree with all that he stood for, then respect him for the courage and determination he possessed to live his life to God’s purpose, and God’s calling.
His now famous speech during the march on Washington, D.C. in 1963 shows his vision, his dream for all of God’s children to live with peace and justice. A few lines from that speech says: "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.. ...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character; I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made law, the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together....When we let freedom ring when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men., black sisters and white sisters, Jews and Gentiles. Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ’Free at last’! Free at last.!’.!’ Thank God almighty we are free at last."’
Each of us possess a vision, a dream as God’s children for a better world, a world which can be redeemed from the brokenness of sin and despair. Each of us are tools and signs in God’s hand to bring justice, release and victory into this world. Each of us are used by God in unique ways, ways which surprise us, ways which show us what a truly great gift has been granted to us, the gift of our lives, our personalities, our visions our dreams. ’We are capable of much, but sadly, many of us don’t use all the potential, all the gifts God has given us.
Sadly, we just scratch the surface of our abilities.
Many of us are like the knife in the following: "A small boy thought his pocket-knife was to be used for sticking into the ground or flicking it into trees. Grandpa watched as the boy used the knife in this common way for many days.
Then Grandpa said, ’Let me show you what you can do with that! Grandpa found a piece of kindling and carved an intricate design of stars and circles. Grandpa said, ’Let me show you something else. He took some soft wood, whittled,gouged and cut, and shaved for about a half-hour. When he was finished, the boy was staring at the smiling bearded face which had emerged from the block of wood.
Smiling from ear to ear, Grandpa said again, ’Let me show you something.’ He went to the refrigerator and using the knife’s bottle opener, opened two bottle of pop.
There ’’Grandpa said, ’you can see there are a lot of good signs you can do with this knife.’ The boy smiled and looked in amazement at this very special knife."
Many times our gifts, our talents are like that knife. God gave us something beautiful, something which can do a lot of good things, but placed in our hands we don’t know quite what to do with it. Placing these gifts in God’s hands, placing our lives in His hands, then, then we can see how wonderful the gifts are, we can see what truly wonderful things we can accomplish with God’s gifts.
The signs of God’s presence are all around us. They are also in us , the God-given talents and abilities he has given each us so we may use them to His service as we serve our neighbor. May our dream, our vision be one as we use all our gifts to bring a measure of peace, love and justice into this troubled world.
Our lives are signs of God’s presence, may we surrender our lives to Him so that all may see our lives as signposts pointing to almighty God.
A few verses from a well - known hymn says;
"Take my life, that I may be, Consecrated Lord to thee,
Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move, at the impulse of thy love
Take my feet Take my voice take my lips take my intellect
Take my will and make it thine
It shall be no longer mine...
Take myself and I will be...Ever, only all for thee."
Amen
Preached by Rev Tim Zingale
