Sermon delivered at St. Mary’s Church, West Dean – Sunday 21 January 2024 – Epiphany 3
Genesis 14:17-20; Revelation 3:1-12; John
2:1-11
May I
speak in the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
I guess everyone here this
morning is very well acquainted with our gospel reading this morning – the
miracle at the wedding at Cana – a favourite of mine having heard it from
childhood and, of course, a miracle involving wine – a favourite tipple,
especially a good Medoc. Indeed, it is
rather ironic that first of all, I have never preached on this particular piece
of scripture before, and secondly, I recall a rather cold and wintery Maundy
Thursday held in this very church sometime before I was licensed as a minister
when Nils took the Eucharist service and Richard Carter and me acted as chalice
bearers. As was Nils’ custom, we did not
use communion wine but instead a rather nice claret. So much wine was left over afterwards that
Richard and I were asked to consume it at the end of the service. I somehow managed to get home okay but if
stopped by the police I suspect I would have been over the limit and that would
have been an end of my ministerial career.
“I have only been to church officer” might not have been enough.
But back to the story of the
Cana wedding. It is interesting that an
account of this event, described as the first miracle performed by Jesus, is
only to be found in John’s Gospel. You
will not find it mentioned in any of the three other synoptic gospels and this
might be significant in that John’s Gospel is to some extent more of a
theological nature than the other three, Matthew, Mark and Luke, which are more
biographical. You would have thought
that a recording of the first miracle would have been very much an event to be
written down as a matter of biographical importance. I believe, therefore, as
it does appear to have been of significant theological importance to John we
must look very closely, again at the passage. As we do so, I would like you to
see if you can note something extremely important and different from the
accounts of other miracles performed by Jesus.
The first thing to note is that
this story appears in the second chapter of John’s Gospel, after the baptism of
Christ by John the Baptist and after the calling of the First Disciples. Last week we looked at the calling of Philip
and Nathanael and it has been suggested by some biblical scholars that the
bride at this wedding might have been Nathanael’s sister. Another suggestion has been that it might
have been a relation of his mother’s, Mary. These suggestions have been made to
give a reason why Mary was so concerned about the shame or embarrassment to the
host family if the wine had run out and the party abandoned. Another suggestion
is that Jesus bringing extra guests in the form of his new acquaintances, the
disciples, might have upset the carefully budgeted catering arrangements. It
really doesn’t matter which, if any of these theories is correct, or none, it
is clear that Mary was concerned and knew that her son, Jesus, could provide a
solution. What this passage does show,
though, as with other pieces of gospel scripture, Jesus and his disciples were
very much part of the communities around them and that Jesus himself enjoyed
convivial company and at times a party and this passage has been used on
countless occasions to dissuade people that being a Christian is all about
being miserable and a kill-joy. In the
right place and right time and circumstances Christians are encouraged to be as
fun-filled as anyone else.
As we read on the wine did give
out which, as mentioned earlier, would have been a very embarrassing moment for
the host. Weddings, at that time and
place would have gone on for several days and therefore it was expected that
the host would ensure that there was plenty of food and drink to last out that
period. Mary seems to be the one to whom somebody has confided that the wine
has run out – this leading to the earlier suggestions that the host was a close
relation to her or to one of the disciples.
Mary conveys this news to Jesus who replies “Woman,
what concern is that to you and me? My time has not yet come”. We
don’t hear or read of a response to that question and
comment from Mary, instead turns to the servants and in a “fait accompli” tells
the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Until his Crucifixion, this is, I believe,
the only time that Jesus appears not to be in control of any situation but, as
with the Passion, he is being controlled by God the Father, on this occasion
through his mother, Mary.
We are then told that there were
six jars each capable of holding twenty or thirty gallons of water which would
have been used during periods of purification. If we say the average was
twenty-five gallons then this equates to 150 gallons or 682 litres. That is
equivalent to 909 bottles of wine so, in all probability it might have been as
much as 1,000 bottle of wine. What an
amazing party that must have been.
As we find out, the servants
fill each of the jars with water and that water miraculously turns into the
finest of wines – better than what had been provided earlier.
So, has anyone yet spotted what
the interesting fact is surrounding this miracle? What did Jesus actually do?
……. In fact he did NOTHING! He simply
gave instructions to the servants. It is
them who filled the jars with 150 gallons of water, it was the servants who
then transported the wine to the chief steward or “maitre d’” and drew out the
wine. There is nothing in the passage anywhere to indicate that he took any
part in the process unlike when he spread out his arms and stilled the sea
during the storm.
This is where we can look
carefully for messages of theology in John’s account. The steward does not know
where the good wine came from or how it was made – indeed, he calls the
bridegroom to compliment him on having given out the best wine last unlike what
would appear to be the normal manner of providing guests with the poorer wine
after they were already drunk on the better stuff. Only the servants, behind
the scenes are aware of what has taken place, apart from Jesus and his mother.
So, who performs the miracle or
more correctly who makes the miracle happen? It’s the servants who do all the
work – and filling six jars with 150 gallons of water would have been quite a
heavy task, just think of a two-gallon bucket full of water!
Two things, therefore become, I think obvious
from this event and reading of it in John’s account. First, under Mary’s
instructions, not Jesus’s, the servants are told to be obedient to what Jesus
is going to ask of them. Secondly, on
Jesus’s instruction, it’s the servants, not Jesus who undertake the work they
are instructed to do by Him and are therefore obedient to his call resulting in
the amazing miracle.
Likewise, as followers of
Christ, we too are expected to be obedient to his calling however strange that
may sound – I am sure the servants could never, in a million years, think that
the ordinary water with which they were filling the jars would turn into a fine
wine which normally would take years to grow and mature. Again, we might be
called to do ministry in the strangest of places or in the strangest ways –
even what might appear a casual encounter with somebody which could change
their lives through the will of God.
In March we will once again
celebrate the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday in this church I believe –
possibly with a good wine again (I hope!).
We will also be reminded in that service of Jesus washing the feet of his
disciples – a task given in those days to the lowliest servant in a house.
Jesus took on the form of a servant – as Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:6-7 –
“Though he was God, [Jesus] did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to. Instead, he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born
in the likeness of men.”
Miracles
do still happen and we often provide the hands and feet to make them occur –
just as the servants at the wedding in Cana did all the hard work. I think that
I can do no better than leave you with that wonderful prayer of Theresa of
Avila which I have quoted on many occasions because it reminds us that as
Christians we still have much work to do, so many jars still to fill :
Christ has no
body but yours,
No hands, no
feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the
eyes with which He looks with Compassion on this world,
Yours are the
feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the
hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the
hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Amen
MFB/197/18012024
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