The Second Sunday after Epiphany ----- 17 January 2016

John 2:1-11

1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." ⁴ And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." ⁵ His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." ⁶ Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. ⁹ When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom  and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee

·        Let me ask you a question: Where is God? A simple enough question, isn’t it? If God ‘is’, God ‘is’ somewhere.

·        To say “God is everywhere” is almost too simple. To say the opposite, that God is only in certain places or is not to be found at all, is too simple as well.

·        There are some people who would hold that God is far too “holy” to be found in the everyday things of life or the simple things of the created world. Their idea of holiness is more suited for a god who is unconcerned with our reality or who is constantly angry about offenses against a perceived holiness.

·        The word “holy” means “to be set apart”, apart from the ordinary, the mundane, what is normal. This could be taken to mean that God is “too holy” for parties and meals of celebration. It might also mean that God is too holy for pancakes and babies and kittens and picnics and short drives. And families. And problems.

·        If that’s how we define and understand “the holy”, we need to entirely rethink it. The answer to the question “Is God too holy for all this?” is a resounding “No.” No arguments. No variations. No exceptions. Just… no.

·        The real answer, the biggest answer to that question is seen in the great festival of the Nativity of our Lord which we celebrated not too long ago.

·        The story from John’s Gospel of the wedding feast at Cana shows Jesus in a similar light. First of all, he’s invited to the wedding and he goes; such a thing is not beneath him. He goes to celebrate this occasion and when the disaster of lack of wine comes, he does respond – after a little discussion with his mother – by turning water into wine, and not just a little bit.

·        It’s been estimated that when Jesus was done, at least 450 litres of wine were available for the feast. The best of wine, too, available to everyone. At the time, the important guests got the best wine at a wedding feast while the “less eminent” ones drank either cheap wine or a mix of wine, vinegar, and water. This time, however, everybody got the best vintage! The chief steward acknowledges this and is so surprised, he brings it to the attention of the bridegroom.

·        Such a leveling of social and economic classes is quite an example of God being not-so-holy and getting involved in people’s lives. There is more to this story, like the idea of new wine being a symbol of the Messianic kingdom in the prophets’ writings and Jesus using items specific to Jewish practice to further his message, but this idea of wine for all will do for now.

·        The action that precedes this passage has John the Baptizer preaching and baptizing people in the Jordan River. He recognizes the presence of the “Lamb of God” among the throng at the river bank. Normally this sort of epiphany would be reserved for the Temple. Now it can be anywhere! Not that it couldn’t be in the Temple; it could, but now the entire world is Temple.

·        If all the world is Temple, there is no distinction between sacred places and so-called secular places. All places are blessed since God’s presence can be found everywhere. As if it were a good cup of tea, the entire world is steeped in God’s presence.

·        It is true that there are times and places where the presence of God is remembered more and seen more. Those times and places are reminders that God is present beyond those times and places.

·        For example, God is present when the Word is preached. When we acknowledge that, we remember that God is present when the Word is shared in those conversations of support, of concern, of hope and faith, and in those conversations where we share a little bit of our lives over a cup of coffee and a cookie.

·        All time and all places belong to God and can reflect, remind, and even reveal God’s presence to those who have received the gift of faith. It can even be that Jesus would never say that we are “too close for comfort.” That’s what the stable, the wedding feast, the teachings, the healings, the cross, and the empty tomb are about.

·        Sometimes we avoid talking about the birth and incarnation of Jesus and the continuing presence of God in and around us because it is too hard to take. We’re the ones who would feel that God is “too close for comfort.” If we can keep God at arm’s length as too holy for us, we can avoid or even ignore what God is asking of us – probably something as simple as acting like people who have experience grace.

·        Yet, down deep, isn’t this what we really want? We don’t want a God at arm’s length; we just don’t know how to handle God at such close range.

·        Well, that’s for another time of preaching.

·        This week, I found a little poem that seemed to sum all this up. I suppose I could’ve used this poem all by itself and not bothered with such a long sermon, but I think these verses make more sense at the end of today’s preaching. They are the words of John Henry Newman, a rather well known English churchman.

·                    I sought to hear the voice of God

And climbed the highest steeple.

But God declared, “Go down again,

I dwell among the people.”