2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
John 2:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Sermmon Nugges by Lindy Black
EPIPHANY 2C
January 17, 2007
SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 62:1-5: Return from exile is not the final goal of God's
salvation. God intends to make the restored Israel "a crown of beauty
in the hand of the LORD," a sign that the LORD has chosen and "married"
this people.
-The return of the small remnant of Jews from exile is described here
as the espousal of God with his formerly abandoned people. The marriage
relationship is a fitting sign of the relationship of God to his people
because the committed-in-love partners are fulfilled in one another�s
presence, and yet never cease to seek fulfillment
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11: The first of a series of readings in the later
chapters of I Corinthians. This week: "Spiritual Gifts 101 � Many
Gifts, One Spirit."
John 2:1-11: Jesus turns water poured into empty purification jars into
wine for a wedding in Cana, the first of the "signs" in John's gospel.
-This is also obviously a miracle of transformation and new
possibilities
We can better learn how to share the unlimited gifts God offers us. We
can better learn how to celebrate the joys of human community and the
union we can have with God, one that will sustain us through our
journeys of faith.
-What were they doing with all that water? (180 gallons) Well,
this water is for the Jewish rites of Purification
-In the first century, a typical wedding feast lasted at least seven
days. This wedding may have been its third day -- so there are a number
of days left for the celebrating
-This story form John's Gospel is sort of a parable of abundance...a
promise that God will give us what we need....Wilimon
-We live in a flattened modern world where all mystery is researched,
defined, explained and thus narrowed. Willimon
William Barclay makes a lot of the fact that there were 6
stone jars, with 6 being the Jewish number for imperfection. He sees
this story as at least partly symbolic of the imperfection or inability
of the Law to bring true cleansing or purification. What the Law was
unable to do, now the grace of God in Jesus was able to do.
-"It is inaccurate to say describe this miracle as Jesus' rejection of
the waters of purification and hence a symbol of his rejection of
Judaism. Rather, jars stood empty, waiting to be filled. Jewish vessels
are filled with a wondrous new gift. This miracle is thus neither a
rejection nor a replacement of the old, but the creation of something
new in the midst of Judaism" (page 538,
Vol IX). This seems to go along with the teaching of Jesus concerning
new wine. You do not put new wine in old wine skins, The
New Interpreter's Bible
-a miracle, or sign, does not have a life of its own. It points to
something else, something greater, something more eternal � or
certainly longer-lasting � than itself. May we be signs that
point to God's abundance. Stoffregen
-The point of the story is not that Jesus can take plain drinking water
and make it 20 proof. It is that those who once found access to God by
means of the ritual of purification now find their way to God through
Jesus. He is indeed the way, the truth, and the life Randy Hyde
-The good wine is a symbol of the inbreaking of a new age-a new world
order, a new way of living together in community, a new way to reveal
the great gift of the mystery of love in the midst of the party. This
is an epiphany, the revelation of God's presence in the person of
Jesus. Patricia de Jong
-Martin Luther King Jr's birthday celebrated January 18th.
Vocation is a good theme for this week.
-The Cana miracle is only found in John.
-John regards this miracle as the first sign of glory pointing to
the divinity of Jesus
-The stone jars were were normally filled with water for the Jewish
rites of purification. And they held a good deal of water, enough to
purify the whole community. Probably between 120 and 180 gallons in
total.
*-Abundance! Reminiscent of feeding the 5000, of God's love, of God's
forgiveness, Of God's grace, etc. etc. etc. All
transforming!
-Jesus embodied extravagance, and it is his spirit of extravagance that
it is so important for us to proclaim, not just from the pulpit, but
from the pulpit of our lives, day in and day out.
-Water into wine is the transformation God holds out to all of us
within our own lives, the creative and imaginative change, which only
God can offer through Jesus Christ
-Our Lord's turning the water, which was poured out so plentifully,
into wine, is a sign of the plentiful pouring out of his Spirit into
the hearts of believers
-"The life of the party" not Jesus but the new wine
-The Messiah is at this wedding and the wine which He gives indicates
His presence.
-Who are the "Mary's" in our lives who nudge us to reveal God at work
in our lives?
-Relationships are the wine of our day and our society.
-If it matters to me, it matters to Jesus. Jeri Ann Harvey
-"Human kind Recycles Water Into Wine".
-The "vineyard" Israel was going to see a great transformation. The old
"wine" was coming to an end, and Jesus alone would be able to turn
their attention from the old rituals (washing and the like) into a
Covenant of "New Wine" that would be more satisfying and more wonderful.
-Jesus' first miracle was a sign....an epiphany
-Human-generated things run their course. They satisfy for awhile, but
then they are depleted. What God gives is more satisfying, more
abundant and far better quality.
-I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly� (John 10:10).
SERMON
Transformation The word transformation means so
much more than the word change. Turning water to wine is a
transformation. Peter Gomes says that the greatest miracle was
not that however but the transformation that took place within the
disciples AFTER Jesus performed the miracle. Their perception of the
future changed; of God; of Jesus; of themselves; of their purpose; et.,
etc. I think we all want those kind of changes so a sermon on
transformation might be needed. The greatest transformation I saw
this past year was after a minister and his wife found out their
daughter was gay. Maybe that will help you see why I chose the
quotes below. Lindy
-Grow inside out
-Instead of trying to change our circumstances, God is trying to change
our heart!
-Transformation literally means going beyond your form. Wayne
Dyer.
-Enormous spiritual sacrifices are made in the transformation of
shopkeepers into employees.
-Here and there and now and then, I find a new being WITHIN
me...sometimes hidden sometimes manifest. Buechn
-Transformation goes from mind to heart.
- The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming
is where the dance of life really takes place. Barbra Deangelis
-Changing water into wine was an act of transformation, a breaking down
of boundaries, a different way of seeing the world and God's presence
in it.
-Go beyond transaction to transformational.
-So we live our lives �east of Eden,� outside of connection to God, and
we become self-centered. To be born again is to undergo a
transformation that leads to an identity that is a source of freedom
and peace and joy, a kind of serenity. Borg
-Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal
of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good
and acceptable and perfect.� Romans 12
-"The openness to transformation, to new knowing, has to move from head
to heart."Arthur Zajonc - Professor of Physics, Amherst College
-�transformation from darkness to light
-Like a boat going through a lock. The boat doesn�t realize anything is
different. Surroundings are the same but all of a sudden everything is
seen from a new perspective. �Journey could not go on without that
uplifting experience.
-No one puts old wine in new wine skins..." Mk. 2:22
-Two kinds of peace: change world around us or inner peace.
-we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our old ways and
thoughts
-When you put your head in the sand, you know what's up.
-Things do not change, we do. Thoreau
-Don't be one of God's frozen people
-Godly power depends on INSIDE things, (love, faith, truth, etc.)
-Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing
himself. LeoTolstoy
-A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Emerson
-God is not through with us yet.
-Build thee more stately mansions O my soul, O.W. Holmes
-Growth is important as a spiritual process and a physical process.
-Where new blossoms of me can bloom
-"we must be hatched or go bad."C.S.Lewis
-Increasingly, we live our lives from the outside in rather than from
the inside out, taking our cues from the world, taking our cues from
others, taking our cues from culture. Buechner
HUMOR
- Something old, something new.
-"Operation Punch Bowl "
-Jesus and his disciples have been invited to a wedding celebration
(which often lasted a week or more) - longer than some marriages
these days.
-"What's the difference between an Arkansas Baptist
and an Arkansas Methodist? Arkansas Methodists say
"hi" to each other in the liquor store. Bill
Clinton
ILLUSTRATIONS
-Have you ever tasted a bottle of wine that aged too long? The old wine
begins to taste like sour vinegar. Have you ever tasted a wine that has
been left in the refrigerator too long and has been left uncorked? It
turns into vinegar. Have you ever had some 7-Up that has been sitting
out for a few days. It is flat and awful. Jesus said that the religion
of the Jews of his day was like old, bland 7-Up or even worse, like old
stale Root Beer. That is the worst. There is no joy, no crisp
effervescence, or life to it.
-I met a minsiter and his wife who spoke at a church meeting about
their lives after they found out their daughter was gay. How they
transformed their thinking, their knowledge, their lives, their
judgements! Mostly how they transformed themselves.
Lindy
CHILDREN
- Make the story real for the children. Bring in garbage
containers to show just how much water (wine) we're talking about.There
were 6 large stone jars near the door. These were used for water.
Jewish law and tradition called for water to be available for purposes
of purification and cleansing. For example, the wedding guests may well
have had water drawn by the servants from these jars to use in washing
their feet and in washing their hands. There were, for example,
specific instructions and rituals for washing your hands before and
after meals (see
John 3:25 and Leviticus 11:33). These jars could hold 20 to 30 gallons
of water! The result is that there is now about 180 gallons of wine in
the jars in which there had just been water
-Have a beaker of water and small containers of iodine and
bleach. The beaker of water is like a person after they've been
baptized�clean and fresh, full of possibilities. If we listen to Jesus'
teaching as we grow, we stay strong and full of promise. But if we find
ourselves listening to other influences such as, to be a winner you
need more money, things, designer clothes, drugs, alcohol, power, and
so on (after each item drop a little iodine into the water and the
water grows cloudy), then our lives can become messed up like the
water. But if we invite Jesus to be part of our lives, he can help us
find the right path again (add bleach to the water which clears
immediately). In today's reading Jesus turns water into wine. It is as
if he is saying, when I come into your life, your life is changed, it
has been renewed. Jesus is always ready to give us a fresh start.
Gathering
PRAYER PHRASES
-Lord, may your hour come in us. When you come and ask us to follow
you, our prayer is that you will find us responsive to your call
because we want to see more than just water made into wine. We want to
see you in all your glory Randy Hyde
-Like empty stone jars, you have filled us with your goodness and
grace. Now pour us out onto a world that needs so much your love
and holy presence. Be with those this day who still fell empty, broken,
standing all
alone. Let your love flow to those thirsty for acceptance and a new
beginning.
- ...give us a willingness to ask you for big gifts, not small one,
gifts like peace, love, and justice. In our discipleship, tempt us to
try large tasks, great ventures and remarkable feats. Change our
insipid watered-down faith into the deep wine of faithful
discipleship....Wilimon
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