Water into Wine..........

It's one of those expressions that American English speakers use (don't know about the British).....turning water into wine.  It's a wild example of an outrageous impossibility or a miraculous occurrence.  I've often wondered how many folk know its origin.....right there in the gospel of John, and a wedding at Cana.

It's the wedding story to top all others.  No wine in sight, a fact which will cause some serious embarrassment for the hosts.  12 jars ready for the purification rights.  A command from Jesus, 'Fill them with water.  Now draw out some and give it to the steward' (master of ceremonies). What do you know?  It has turned into wine.  Not any old wine, but a fine pinot noir from a good year.  In other words, a very fine wine indeed.

Since the writer of John uses this miracle to start off Jesus' public ministry it clearly has an important role in John's telling of the story, but I want to know what role this water into wine story has in your faith story, in your ministry, in your spiritual growth and in your faith life.

None of us are out there trying to turn water into wine, right?  ....except perhaps those who work daily with addicts, walking with them, confronting them, comforting them and occasionally seeing their transformation into recovery.

Or perhaps those devoted caregivers - often spouses and children - who repeat the same information again and again to their beloved ones who can no longer hold onto any memories.  "No Mom, I am Carol. Your daughter."  If you look closely you will see how the frustrating repetition of the mundane is now the fine wine of deep and abiding love.

Or the teacher searching for something (anything) which will open the pathways for the young minds in front of him....or the father who has no idea how to parent but takes his son fishing and his daughter to dance class and tucks each into bed at night with a prayer....or the clerk at the DMV (they always get a bad rap) who sorts out your confusion and puts you on the right path....or the medical technician who makes small talk while you nervously undergo yet again another test that has you frightened to your toes.

Or a thousand other possible examples of those who have been baptized into Jesus Christ stepping out into this world with mercy and grace and forgiveness and compassion and invitation and, in so doing, they turn the mundane that threatens to drown us into the wine of fellowship and belonging and being treated with dignity....and love.

What if Jesus was simply giving us a short lesson in faith walking?  It isn't about pulling some parlor trick or even accomplishing a true blue miracle.  What if this story is about a guy who shows up at a wedding with his mother, who steps into this' behind the scenes' dilemma and transforms that which would embarrass into that which brings enjoyment and sustains the fellowship?  What if we are supposed to do something similar?  Just step in and do what we can to ease the way.

Would you be able to see the miracle in that?  Would recognize God at work through you?  Would you be willing to name that moment (if only to yourself) as the kingdom of God breaking into our world?

I would.

Water into Wine....Who is this Jesus?

If you are familiar with the story of the Wedding at Cana in the Gospel of John, you have probably noticed the unusual conversation between Jesus and his mother (who BTW is not named).

Mary notices that the host has run out of wine.  More than an inconvenience, this would prove a major embarrassment to the entire family, and believe me, in the small towns of those days would be talked about not for months but for generations!

Mary tells Jesus who has tagged along to the wedding with her.  He has the strangest response, "Woman, what is that to me?" ...the first century equivalent of "none of my business" or the less polite "whatever."

We don't want Jesus to sound like this.  None of us and I am more than willing to think that his tone of voice would give it a different inflection, and possibly this phrase doesn't translate well across time and culture, but really....doesn't it sound a bit harsh to you?  Impolite?  Disrespectful?

Now Jesus follows this up by saying "My hour has not yet come" which in the gospel of John is shorthand for "I'm not on duty yet as the Messiah"  It is, in fact, a very important phrase; when Jesus was about to be arrested he announced that now his hour was upon him.

But it all gets even stranger because Mary does not argue with him.  Rather she tells the servants to do whatever he commands.  This whole episode feels like a text message sent in all those three letter abbreviations...a little cryptic to outsiders.

But that does it.  Jesus commands the jars be filled with water.  When it is drawn out again it is fine wine, better than anything the bride and groom planned on.  And no one knew where it had come from ......although the servants knew.  And thus completes the first miracle of Jesus according to the gospel of John.

Thus begins Jesus' public ministry, a revealing of who he is and whose he is.  John gives us a wonderful metaphor for the life of faith and the reality of a human being God incarnate and eventually the resurrection where death becomes the fine wine of new life.

Why did Jesus had to talk that way?  I'm not sure [and I've read any number of explanations]. Why did Mary simply ignore his response and prepare the servants for what was coming?  I don't know.  How did Mary know what was coming?  I don't know.

These things I do know.  In the gospel of John, these were Jesus' first steps as the bringer of life to those around him.  Mary chose to focus on the moment and to do her part in Jesus' work rather than dwell on an awkward exchange between mother and son. Those servants who followed Jesus' command were given unique insight into who he was. From Mary (who doesn't even get the honor of being named)  to those who were working the kitchen, it was the anonymous ones who receive the first invitation to faith.

That funny dialogue between Mary and Jesus trips me up every time. But if Mary could ignore it and simply support the work that God was about to do in Jesus, then I guess I can too.

The body of Christ...........

"I still can't explain my first communion.  It made no sense.  I was in tears and physically unbalanced: I felt as if I had just stepped off a curb or been knocked over, painlessly, from behind.  The disconnect between what I thought was happening - I was eating a piece of bread; what I heard someone else say was happening - the piece of bread was the 'body' of  'Christ,' ....and what I knew was happening - God, named 'Christ' or 'Jesus' was real, and in my mouth - utterly short-circuited my ability to do anything but cry."  

"And so I kept taking communion, unprepared and unreformed.  I figured communion would take me, too - wherever I was going." 

Yes.  That's it.  God's holy supper will take you - your life - wherever you are going.
Where is God taking you?

Thank you Sara Miles for sharing this wonderful description of your experience of  Christ in the meal.  How powerful it is to be invited into that place, around that table,  with Christ as host week after week after week. Quotes are from Sara Miles' book, "take this bread", pages 59 and 83.

It's not about the wine

Now, that might not be particularly good news for you nor would it have been for the wedding reception guests when they found out that the wine was all gone.  (John2.1-11)

They had been partying for 3 days and the wine was all gone.  But instead of signally the end of the festivities, the lack of wine would have been a huge faux pas for the hosts.  A sign of poor hospitality.  A sign of stinginess.  An embarrassment of the first order.  To quote David Lose, "Wine isn’t just a social lubricant, it’s a sign of the harvest, of God’s abundance, of joy and gladness and hospitality. And so when they run short on wine they run short on blessing".

So Mary 'suggests' that Jesus address the situation.  He thinks he isn't ready to get involved in such matters.  It is not yet 'his hour'.  She ignores him.  She was the one who gave birth to him and so she knows something about timing.  Babies come when they come.  It was time for Jesus to step out into this new world as he had been called. 

So he turns 180 gallons of water into wine - very good wine..."more than enough for even three more days. No one...could now leave this wedding thirsty, for abundance and blessing overflowed."

And yet, it's not about the wine.  It's about Jesus.  His time had begun, and he could bring full and abundant blessings into the most ordinary of situations, like walking and living among us as a brother in the flesh.  Jesus inaugurated a time of 'sheer possibility' and opened the future for all who had eyes to see. 

So enjoy the wine, it is a gift to you.  Brought to you by Jesus, the gift beyond all others.