“…and Jesus’ disciples believed in him”. Of course they did.
Who wouldn’t? Someone who can produce somewhere between 120 and 150 gallons of
wine out of nowhere is bound to be worth following.
It’s probably fairly easy to put ourselves into the shoes of
the people who organised this wedding party. If we’ve ever thrown a social
gathering ourselves, and I guess we all have, we are familiar with that dilemma
of trying to work out how much food and drink to provide, and the quiet
messages passed around of “family hold back” if it looks like they are running
short. That's what happened on this occasion. Disaster loomed. It would
bring great shame on this family if they couldn’t provide for their guests, and
this was a culture where loss of family honour was vital. But fortunately,
Jesus was there, and quietly, discreetly, so that only the servants knew what
had happened, he transformed water into wine and saved the day.
John doesn’t just tell us this story to amaze us, though. He
calls it a sign. Signs point to things, they convey messages. So what message
does this one give us? There are many things we can draw from this story, but
here are just two to ponder tonight.
The first is about scarcity and abundance. So often we live
with the fear that we won’t have enough of what we need. We are born helpless
and utterly dependent on others. If we are lucky our parents feed and care for
us. But if they don’t there’s nothing we can do about it. We will starve.
That’s why babies cry so desperately when they are hungry or left alone. How do
they know that anyone will ever come to feed them again? If that neglect is
persistent and extreme people often grow up anxious, driven to hoard and to
grasp. The stories of people who survived concentration camps often reveal this
very vividly.
One article I read about orphans of the camps who came to
Britain after the war is typical. It said this:
The new arrivals had suffered such hunger during the war
that their survival instincts would take over and at meal times huge quantities
of bread would disappear into children's mouths and pockets.
Minia [a helper] remembered: "They were saying, 'We
are hungry, we are hungry,' all the time. 'We want to eat.'
"And whenever they brought the bread, there was never
enough. The boys were putting it in their jackets. They thought they would
never get any bread any more."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8597635.stm
We don’t have to have been through extreme poverty, though,
to feel that anxiety about whether we will have enough to meet our needs, and
most of us to some extent stockpile and hoard, just in case there’s no more
coming.
When Jesus turns the water into wine, though, he reminds us
that whatever else we are short of, we can never exhaust God’s love and grace.
That doesn’t mean that nothing bad will happen to us, but we have access to
resources far greater and deeper than we think. “You shall be a crown of beauty
in the hands of the Lord, “ said our first reading – that’s what God is
thinking as he looks at us, however frail, feeble and poor we feel. When the
apostle Paul was going through a hard time - as he often was - he heard God’s
voice say to him “My grace is
sufficient” 2 Cor 12.9.
So our sense of scarcity may be real and frightening. We may
feel we have run dry of energy, patience, hope, meaning, but God’s promise to
meet our needs with his abundant grace is real too, something we can trust and
draw on.
That’s the first message we might draw from tonight’s
Gospel. The second might sound trite or flippant, but it’s not meant to be. It
is that this story reminds us that, if you are having a party, you should always
remember to invite Jesus.
Think about it. If he hadn’t have been there, he couldn’t
have helped. It was only because someone had invited him, and at the vital
moment turned to him, that the situation was saved.
If you’re having a party, remember to invite Jesus. And by “party” I don’t just mean something
involving balloons and cake, I mean any life event, any experience, any part of
our day to day existence. If you are going to a tricky work meeting, remember
to invite Jesus. If you are fretting about a family problem, remember to invite
Jesus. If you are spending the day with your friends, or going for a walk on
your own, or nipping to the supermarket, take him along with you. Be aware of
him, listen for his voice, think about what he might be thinking. Only when we
do that do we start to see our lives through his eyes, in the light of his
abundant love. If we leave him locked up in church, only to be visited on a Sunday
how can he possibly help when we run out of wine, or energy or hope or all
those other things that feel scarce to us?
So, two messages to ponder from the Gospel reading. In
Christ we see God’s abundant love, his grace, sufficient and more than
sufficient for our needs. But if we want that love to pour into our own hearts
and lives, we need to remember to invite him to the party.
Amen.
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