Water into Wine

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 16, 2010; 2 Epiphany, Year C
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(John 2:1-11) – On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. 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.
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Isaiah lived in a land that everyone could see was desolate and forsaken. Not unlike the images we see from Haiti today. Isaiah said that he could not keep silent. He had to speak out and tell of another vision that he could see for that land.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.

I wonder if anyone but Isaiah could see that joyful possibility when he spoke of it in the midst of forsaken desolation.

Jesus' mother became startled by a more domestic catastrophe. She was the one who noticed at the family wedding feast, "They have no wine." In our culture, that might be interpreted as an unfortunate inconvenience, a minor faux pas. In the honor-shame culture of the Mediterranean, this was a disaster in the making. To bring shame upon a family by failing in a social obligation could brand the entire extended family with disgrace and humiliation that could last for generations. It would affect their business relationships, their circle of friends might disappear, the potential for family alliances that would lead to prosperous and stable marriages would be seriously compromised. For the rest of their lives, this newly wed couple would be branded. Oh, they're the ones whose wine ran out at their wedding. It would hang over them like a curse. That was the cultural norm.

Mary recognizes the threat. Mary embodies the fulsome feminine spirit that is so awake, so filled with compassion an empathy, so attentive to the needs of others. She goes immediately to her son, with an expectation that he do something about it. "They have no wine," she tells him.

She gets a Mediterranean retort in response. "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." Everybody who studies this verse is bothered by it. It is an abrupt and sharp answer. The epithet "Woman" is not kind or complementary. This is a "So what?" answer. "What makes you think this is any of my business?" A Baptist preacher in Austin says he used to have a Big Dog t-shirt that said, "Quit hounding me, Woman!" but it disappeared in the wash after some household "discussion." "Woman!" isn’t the kind of caustic retort we expect from Jesus." (1)

It doesn't seem to faze Mary. She turns immediately to the servants and tells them, "Do whatever he tells you." Sometimes parents have to push their children out of the nest, don't they? Jesus didn't think he was ready for this. Momma thought he was.

There are Marys all around us who see things that are wrong and who really believe we can do something about it, whether we believe so or not, regardless of how inconvenient or costly it might seem to us. The Marys of the world see problems and expect us to do something.

There are a couple of object lessons in this exchange between Mary and Jesus.

For the Marys in the world, for those who see the problems and demand response – don't be rebuffed by the first negative resistence. Sharp language is just family talk. We're all family – human family. Marys, stick by your principles. Let them call you a nag, then insist that they do something.

Another lesson. This story reminds us not to walk away when the wine runs out. It's a reminder that we may have a part in solving problems that aren't ours. So, when Mary speaks, listen! Then do something, even if you think it would take a miracle.

The miracle happens when Jesus sees the water and imagines it to be wine. It's like Isaiah seeing a desolate and forsaken Jerusalem and imagining the city to be a crown of beauty.

When divine energy meets ordinary desolation, life is transformed. Resurrection happens.

A seventeenth century poet wrote, "The modest water saw its God, and blushed." (2) Water becomes wine. A forsaken city becomes a bride.

Listen to the Marys. They tell us to get involved with human need and to do something.

And to all of you Marys out there; don't give up. Don't accept "No" for an answer. Keep believing that God's children will respond and do something.

And to all the rest of us. You may think that the problems are beyond our capacity? You may feel like you are out of wine, that we're all out of gas. Look again. How can God change our mere water into wine?

Today the Marys of our world are insisting that we do something – about Haiti, about health, about poverty and violence. "Do whatever Jesus tells you," they say. "Fill up the jars with water," Jesus says. We can fill up the jars of the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund, and they know how to turn water into wine, how to turn money into life. Let the modest Episcopalian see our God, and blush with love.

There is an abundance that is beyond our limited vision. There is more possibility than we can see. And if we only keep filling jars with water, God has ways to turn it into wine.

Where is the disaster? ...the humiliation or shame? Where has the wine run out?

Listen to Mary. Do something about it. Do whatever Jesus tell you. What is Jesus telling you to do? Do it. And leave the rest to God. God can take whatever modest response you offer, and do miracles with it. God can turn our water into wine.
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(1) Larry L. Bethune, Ph.D., Senior Pastor, University Baptist Church, Austin, Texas. from his sermon: Running On Empty, posted at goodpreacher.com

(2) Usually attributed to Richard Crashaw (d. 1670); or possibly by Abraham Cowley in honor of Crashaw. The original is a Latin epigram in pentameter verse: Nympha pudica Deum vidit et erubuit.
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