Listen to Readings and Sermon

Turning Water into Wine

The Good News Written

Psalm 36.7-9 (NRSV)

⁷How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. ⁸They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. ⁹For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

John 2.1-11 (NRSV)

¹On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. ⁹When 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 ¹⁰and 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.” ¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, January 17, 2010.

Today’s gospel story is unique to the Gospel of John. Like most of what we find in the 4th gospel, the story is highly symbolic, metaphorical, philosophical and offers us the most when we view it through the lens of allegory.

John’s gospel is written more than 6 decades after Jesus’ execution and almost 3 decades after the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed. The Temple was a place of gathering, pilgrimage, celebration, hope, opulence, ritual cleansing, a place of blessing. It was a place where people were reminded of their unity with the divine; a place where any false sense of separation from the divine could be healed. But it’s gone when the gospels are being written and long gone when this particular gospel is being written. Without the Temple, where is God housed now? Where might God be found in a world that no longer has this sacred shrine? Today’s reading from John actually answers that question with quite a bit of detail.

On the third day there was a wedding…and the mother of Jesus was there. Unlike other gospel writers, John doesn’t name Jesus’ mother. She is the “Woman” of the story, but she is not named. We see from the very beginning a loving, nurturing, but also guiding, persuasive presence with Jesus. I would suggest that it is meant to be seen as a divine presence, the mothering aspect of God. The divine feminine, far too often overlooked in the historically male dominated Church, is actually expressed in several places in scripture, and in Jesus’ ministry. The nurturing, persuasive, very present Mother is with Jesus from the beginning of today’s tale.

And the story happens on the Third day. Three is almost never a mere fact in scripture…3 doesn’t mean 3 verses to a song or 3 pop sickle sticks…3 symbolizes Something. It often symbolizes a lot! Whether it’s the 3 blessings at the end of Numbers, chapter 6 (May God bless and keep you; may God’s face shine upon and be gracious to you. May God look upon you kindly and grant you peace), or Jonah’s three days in the belly in the fish, or the three days between Golgotha and the Garden – the cross and the empty tomb, Matthew’s baptismal formula (in the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer), or Paul’s triune benediction (May the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the unity of Spirit be with you all)…three pops up a lot in scripture, and not by accident.

Three represents: Mind, idea, expression. The All-in-all. Love, through Law, in perfect Action. It sums up human potential (thought, word, deed).

It sums up human experience (past, present, future).

It sums up the material plane of existence (vegetable, mineral, animal).

It sums up the dimensions of a solid (breadth, length, and height).

It sums up the physical, psychological, and spiritual experience of life (body, mind, spirit).

So Three is a symbol for wholeness, completion, perfection.

It is on the third day that Jesus, in the divine, maternal presence, Jesus shows up at this wedding.

A wedding is a celebration of a union. It blesses two people who are recognizing the oneness that a life of Love provides. God is Love, and whoever lives in Love lives in God and God lives in them (1 John 4.16). The One Power, the power of divine Love, is expressed, witnessed, and praised in the union ritual we call a wedding. On the perfect day of wholeness, the third day, in the maternal, divine presence, Jesus arrives at a celebration of unity and Love. Matthews calls Jesus “Emmanuel” (God with us)…John portrays Jesus as character acting out the message that God is with us, in us, expressing through us.

The wine runs out…and really, if you’re having a party, it is disastrous for the refreshments to run out too soon! The Mother says, “there appears to be lack. The wine has run out.” Jesus shrugs and says, “What do you want me to do.” The Mother seems to say, “What do you think?” And she tells the helpers to cooperate with him to correct the temporary lack. Abundance is on the way!

Now there are big jars used for purification rituals…cleansing rituals, baptismal kinds of rituals, that symbolize the washing away of fear, guilt, shame, regret, or any false sense of separation from God. Jesus says, fill THOSE jars with water. Meanwhile, there are 6 of them.

Six, like most numbers in the bible probably represents something. In the creation myth of Genesis chapter 1, there are six days of creation…each day following the next, building on the one before, leading up to the completion, the wholeness, the perfection of creation and a day of rest and enjoyment.

Six purification jars…how many times have we had to wash away our mistakes, our judgments, our prejudices, our poor self-image…but each time we get healthier, and we grow more into the wholeness and holiness that is our true nature. Fill those six jars with water.

Water can symbolize many things, but one of the things it symbolizes in scripture is mind, soul, consciousness. Those vessels that are used for healing, for restoration, for affirmation, for building people up…fill them with your thoughts and attitudes. Cleanse and purify your attitudes so that you can believe in yourself and expect joy from life and not allow the judgments of others or the situations of life to bring you too far down. Fill up the cleansing vessels with your thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Wash away all the non-sense…remember who you are and start living in the power of that truth.

And what happens? Ordinary water is transformed into the highest quality wine. Where there had been the experience of lack (the wine gave out), there is now the experience of abundance and excellence. Using what was at hand, some jars lying around and plane old water, Jesus shows that if we bless and use what we have effectively, it can lead to something better. Don’t disregard what you have to offer; bless it and use it and what it lead to something amazing!

God, represented as a mother figure, instructs Jesus to raise the bar! Make it better! Do more! Keep up the joy! Share the abundance! Use what you have and grow into something more.

The house of God is us…within us…fill your mind with hope, with gratitude, with remembrance that you are God’s beloved child in whom God is well pleased.

Let your life be transformed into an experience of joy, of generosity, of celebration, of optimism, of gratitude.

Believe in your sacred value, and then give to make sure that others will know of theirs. Use your faithfulness and your generosity to help transform the ordinary into the miraculous. Celebration, abundance, joy, love…this is what life is meant to be. Transform the ordinary water into the best possible wine. Do this at the wedding feast, the celebration of your union with the divine. Come to the community of faith, the shared experience of worship, and give freely, and receive freely.

Jesus shows up to the party (time).

He does something (talent).

And he gives extravagantly from whatever resources he has (treasure).

The result is that others are united to God (wedding), Jesus himself is glorified (demonstrates sacred value)…the experience of the abundance of God’s love for all people is the miracle, the wine of joy that begins to flow again. This story isn’t about physics or alchemy…this is about the transformation of fear into hope, despair into joy, defeat into victory, failure into second chances. This is about sharing all that we are to become all that we can be to inspire others to do the same.

Jesus, in the divine presence, celebrates the unity that is experienced when love is shared. It all happens on the third day, symbolizing wholeness and perfection…the wholeness and perfection that is already our true nature. And trusting his unity with God and with all life, he shares the power of his faith to benefit others. He celebrates love and hope and oneness so consistently and so powerfully that people start to have their minds healed…purified…transformed. They no longer experience lack and limitation, but the abundance of the wine of joy becomes their reality.

By daring to believe in his sacred value, and by sharing his time, talent, and treasure so that others could come to know their sacred value, Jesus was glorified and others were blessed. The Temple may be gone, but God has never been limited by bricks and mortar…WE are the Temple of God’s presence, and as we embrace this truth our lives are miraculous transformed. As people who have been so blessed, we will want to worship gladly with time, talent, and treasure so that others will know that they TOO are the Temple of God’s presence. When enough of us really believe that…well, let’s just keep working on it. Let’s keep turning water into wine. Amen.

The Good News Affirmed

I am one with the All-in-all.

I allow divine Love to cleanse my thoughts.

Divine Love heals my emotions.

My life is being miraculously transformed.

I am blessed.

And I generously bless others.

Amen.

The Good News Repeated

“The miracle is not that we do this work; but that we are HAPPY to do it.” Mother Teresa