Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship for this 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany, landing on January 19, 2025!
The bulletin for this service can be found here. You can use it to follow along with the service, or simply just follow along with the words that will appear on your screen. The bulletin will also have the full sermon, and it is also included on this page below the worship video.
For a fuller online worship experience, you may have a candle in your space, lit at the beginning of the service and extinguished near the end when the altar candles are extinguished after the sending hymn. And if you are comfortable, you are welcome to participate in communion by having something small to eat and drink nearby ready to consume. Further instruction will be given at the appropriate time.
May God’s rich blessing and presence be apparent to you this day and always!
(The stream unfortunately was cut short due to technical difficulties, but the sermon was re-recorded and has its own post in the blog. Sorry for the inconvenience!)
Gracious God, by the power of your Spirit, may our eyes be opened to your providence, our ears opened to your promise, and our hearts opened to your presence, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
You know, I may have mentioned this before, but I really don’t like these miracle stories. Not just ones that are from Jesus, like today’s very famous and even sought after water into wine miracle, but I’m talking about any of the miracles that we get from the Old Testament to the New. No matter who performed the miracle or the reason they performed it, they just don’t do it for me.
I know, what a Debbie Downer, right? (sorry, Debbie)
But I think the reason why I don’t really like them is because… well, they’re nice and all, it’s just that… I mean, good on those who were at the receiving end of them, but it’s like… just… where are my miracles? Where are my magic healings and provisions? Where is God revealing Godself in my life?
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that God is present in and around our lives and all that, it just seems like God is more present and does more for the people we read about in the bible, supernatural miracle-wise, I mean. Like, I was never able to part any seas or lakes or barely even puddles to escape my pursuers. I never had mysterious bread fall out of the sky for me to eat whenever I was dying of starvation, even though I probably wouldn’t eat it anyway because that sounds kind of gross. I never had a loved one come back to life or be healed sooner than the natural recovery process that was predicted by modern medicine. I never get any of these kinds of things happen to me or for me.
So I read these stories and I can’t help but wonder, because I never experienced similar kinds of things first hand, does that mean that I am not faithful enough or something? Am I not worthy to have some power from heaven sent down my way to help me out a little? Am I not as loved as those we read about in the bible?
And seeing as how I could probably list 20-30 people alive now that are easily more faithful, worthy, and lovable than I am, it’s not that much of a stretch for me to think that it is just me. All I really have going for me are my looks.
But then I remember that not only did these things never happen for me, I don’t know of them happening to anyone that I know of either, including those 20-30 more faithful, worthy, and lovable people that I just mentioned. Nor have I really heard them happening at all to anyone outside of the bible throughout all of the history, at least not from credible sources. Low quality and poor resolution videos posted on social media don’t count.
So what gives?
I mean we read about these miracles all throughout the bible. We read about how helpful they are, how they bring community together, and how they keep the party going. They reveal God’s intention, plan, and will. They show God’s providence, grace, and love. They tell people that they aren’t alone in their situations, but that God is with them always.
So why the heck don’t we get them now?
Well, I wonder if by asking this kind of question, we might be focussing on the wrong thing, and in doing that, we might actually miss the point. I wonder if zero in on the negative implications to these stories, we might miss the positive ones. I wonder if we get caught up in the what, we might lose sight of the what for. I mean if we just look at the miracle in today’s story, the ever popular water into wine, it’s not hard for us to wonder a whole bunch of other things in this story, like who is getting married, why was Jesus invited, and how can we get to this level of desperation that we can get a miraculous outpouring of free booze?
I mean, we know this story don’t we? Jesus is fresh from being baptized and has been invited to a local wedding. And we know that weddings in those days were a huge to-do, where they party it up for days on end. And it wasn’t like these days, where we’d have a guest list of just the select 2 or 3 hundred of our closest friends organised in an A and B and maybe even C list, but everyone in the whole village or town and surrounding area would be welcomed, and they’d have to shut everything down just so that everyone can be there for this.
But we know what disaster happens next, early on in the party, the wine goes dry. Now, the text doesn’t say if there was a panic or anything, but it certainly is implied with how Mary goes straight to Jesus to update him on the situation. Jesus doesn’t seem to care much, telling Mary to mind her business, but Mary just tells the caterers to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.
See this raises some questions too, like what did Mary expect Jesus to do? Did she know that Jesus had the power to do something miraculous or was she just expecting him to distract everyone, I don’t know, with a reading from Isaiah or something while they got more wine from their supplier? Who even was she that they would bother to listen to her?
All these questions, right?
Don’t get me wrong though, there’s nothing wrong with having these kinds of questions in our minds. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to understand the story better. There’s nothing wrong just wondering. But the problem comes when our minds become flooded with thoughts that seem to be pertinent but actually aren’t in the larger picture. When we are distracted by the who’s and what’s and why’s and taken away from the “because God, man.” When our focus leans toward human things and away from heavenly things.
And when that happens, we might start dissecting the miracle too much. Maybe rationalize it out of its meaning and scientifically explain it away. Maybe even wonder why them and not us so much that we lose the point.
See John’s gospel doesn’t call these miracles miracles, but rather they are called signs. And what do signs do? What are they for? Well, they point us in the right direction. Using words and symbols, they reveal information that is actually helpful for us. They bring focus.
The sign that we read today isn’t about the party. It isn’t about Jesus revealing his divine Messiahship to the people and shutting them up about their complaining. It isn’t even really about keeping the week-long party going. Rather, it’s about the living water that is used to baptise, to cleanse, and to satisfy. It’s about the wine that is the new covenant, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. It’s about the presence of God in and around us, in every aspect of life, revealing to us grace, blessing, and peace.
See in this sign Jesus encapsulated the whole Christian life, including the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, and led people into community full of joy, celebration, and love.
And I think this is the point of this story, I think this is where our focus should be, I think this is what this sign was even for. To show us how God is present, how God brings us together as a community, and how God’s intention, plan, and will are revealed. In the flowing waters of baptism and blessing, and in the nourishment and fulfillment from God’s body and blood, giving us life and showering us with love.
So the question isn’t why doesn’t this happen to us, but more how does this happen for us. As mentioned we have the gifts of baptism and communion, we have the living water and the life of community, we have the welcome of God’s Word and truth that tells us how we all belong in this church, this family, this body of Christ. We can see the miracles of relationship, reconciliation, and restoration. We can see God in the grace we give and receive. We can see the blessing in our community, our service to each other, and in the joy of knowing that we are all, each and every one of us, a beloved child of God.
Sure, they may not be supernatural miracles that defy all logic and scientific reason, but they are signs, pointing us to the God of welcome, grace, and joy. The God of community, relationship, and service. The God of abundant and overflowing blessing and love. They are given to us throughout our lives, we just have to recognise them. And that is the point.
So in this season after the Epiphany and beyond, may we always be aware of Christ in our lives, miraculously pointing us toward the grace and love of God, which leads us into community and right relationship with each other and all the saints, now and always. Thanks be to God. Amen.