January 20, 2013 John 2:1-11

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.


***


Last Thursday at Lectionary Bible Study, I asked the question,
“Where have you seen a miracle this week?” I pose the question to you for a
moment. “Where have you seen a miracle, a sign from Jesus this week?”


I also asked, “Where do you need a sign or a miracle this week?”
Likewise, I pose this question to you. “Where do you need a sign or a miracle
this week?”

   
I must tell you, perhaps ashamedly, I had very hard time answering
where I had seen a miracle this week. It has been a hard week in our church.
So many people are sick, and so many are at deaths door. I had not seen
great healing. I had seen suffering, and pain. I had seen the places that
needed a sign, that needed a miracle. I had not seen the places where Jesus
was working miracles. I had not seen the signs that pointed to the glory of
our Lord. I was looking for miracles more similar to the raising of Lazarus,
than the wedding at Cana.


But here it is, this party, is the lectionary scripture for today. This party,
is Jesus’ first miracle in the gospel of John. And I’m glad it was. I am glad it

was. I am glad this was Jesus’ first miracle, and I am glad it was the
lectionary for this week, because I had Jesus in a pigeon hole. I was thinking
of Jesus in all his divinity and his ability to heal. I was waiting for a big
miracle. I was waiting for an enormous sign. But instead I got water into
wine, and perhaps that was just the miracle I needed. I needed to remember
Jesus in his humanity. I needed to remember the story of the wedding at
Cana because I was missing Jesus’ signs of joy all around me.


This past week I found out I get to go on a trip with three of my
favorite people on earth. It is to this place called the Wave in Arizona. It is a
petrified dune of sandstone. Only a few people are allowed to hike it each
day. You have to get a permit, and in order to get a permit, you have to win a
lottery. A friend of my best friend Anne got the permit. By chance the friend
could not use the permit and gave it to Anne. Anne called me, and said I
should come, and that she was trying to get two of my other friends, Liam
and Lisa to come. I told her if Lisa and Liam could commit 100%, I would
come if I could find someone to preach and the P.A.R.T.Y. Group gave an
okay. Liam and Lisa committed. Out of the blue the Gideon's wanted to
preach, the party group said go for it. I have been happily hopping around
my house for the last few days. In many ways it was a miracle, getting my
friend Lisa to commit to anything usually is, much less, the lottery, and the
permit, and the preaching. But I didn’t think of it as a miracle from Jesus, or
a sign of his work. Miracles were big things like unexplained healing, not a
trip with friends to a beautiful place. I was missing Jesus’ signs of joy all
around me. I was the chief steward in the wedding at Cana. The chief
steward did not know that the good wine was a sign of the miracle Jesus had
preformed. I did not realize that this gathering of friends was indeed a sign
of miracles Jesus was preforming.


The P.A.R.T.Y. Group (aka Pastor Advisory Resource Team Y’all,)
met on Wednesday. There have many times this P.A.R.T.Y. group has
discussed hard issues. There are many times P.A.R.T.Y. meetings have
included my tears. Even this time, we held Molly and her mom’s
hospitalization in prayer; we held Betty Duncan in prayer after Floyd’s
death; we held Dale and Shirley in prayer as Dale suffered with singles. But
we also gathered and talked, and laughed. We ate together, we drank
together, we had a party. Part of me felt guilty, like I was wasting the group’s
time, if we did not have some hard church issue to discuss. I was the chief
steward in the wedding at Cana. I was missing Jesus’ signs of joy all around
me. I did realize, that like Jesus’ first miracle, to gather, to talk, to laugh, to

eat, and to drink together is enough, is a sign of our Lord. The simple joys
are miracles of our Lord, and I was missing it.


I brought cheese and apples, and wine, to Lectionary Bible Study
because we studying the wedding at Cana, and I asked the question, “Where
did you see a miracle this week?” I sat there stumped. I could not think one
miracle. I did not realize the miracle was right before me, a simple snack, a
drink, a gathering of people. I was the chief steward in the wedding at Cana.
Good wine was being served, and I did not realize it was a sign of our Lord.
I was missing Jesus’ signs of joy all around me.

Despite, all the suffering of this week, I needed the wedding at Cana
to be the lectionary. I needed to realize miracles are not simply about healing
the sick, they are also about gathering for a party. I needed to pray not only
prayers of concern, but prayers of thanksgiving for the abundance Jesus
provides. I needed to remember that the signs of our Lord come also in joy
in the simple things. Today, after reading the wedding at Cana, I am no
longer the chief steward. I now am one of the disciples, or one of the
servants who has seen the sign, who has seen Jesus revealed in his glory, who
has believed in him. I now see signs everywhere.

Before to long we will walk out of this sanctuary into the fellowship hall. We
will eat, and drink, and talk, and laugh, and this will be sign of our Lord, a
miracle of joy. This afternoon there will a Young Families Sledding Party -
we will gather, young and old, and this will be sign of our Lord, a miracle of
joy. Every morning at 7:00 middle school kids will come into our warm
basement for a meal, for a game with friends, and this will be sign of our
Lord, a miracle of joy. This Thursday folks from our congregation, from
other congregations, and from the community will pack bags of food for kids
to bring home, and both the packing and the meal in those kids home will be
sign of our Lord, a miracle of joy. Yet, I tell you there is a miracle even closer
at hand.


Friends, do you realize the miracle is right before us this day. Here is
the table we gather around, here is the bread, and the juice. Here is a sign
from our Lord, a miracle of joy. If you were stumped and could not think of
where you saw a miracle this week, you are seeing one now. In the
communion table set before us. It is not only a sign of the last supper, and
Christ’s resurrection on the third day, but it is also a sign that on the third
day, there was a wedding at Cana, and water was turned into wine. It is sign

that Jesus values our joy enough to make a miracle in order for a party to
continue. It is a sign that Jesus is at work in the everyday things, the human
things, and especially the joyful things. The signs are everywhere!


Therefore I ask you again, “Where did you see a miracle this week?”

January 6th, 2012 MATTHEW 2:1-12

*MATTHEW 2:1-12

¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking,

“Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?

For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;

 ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him,

 “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁶   ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

          are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

     for from you shall come a ruler

          who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men

and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.

⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,

“Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him,

bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king, they set out;

and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,

until it stopped over the place where the child was.

¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.

¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother;

and they knelt down and paid him homage.

Then, opening their treasure chests,

they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

they left for their own country by another road.

***

            I like to imagine the wise men coming into Jerusalem. Like a circus parade, or exhibition at a world’s fair, I am sure they were a spectacle. Some sources say there were only three wise men, others say 12, and still other sources point out that there would have been servants, and subjects, camels, and who knows what. I like to imagine scientific instruments tied on to the travelers packs. Like today we carry compasses and cameras, binoculars, and magnifying pieces perhaps the wise men carried things for calculating time, and charting the angle of the sun, and the location of the stars. These wise men were not so much kings, but astronomers, learned magi, the true scientists of their time. A time when such things surely seemed magical and unfamiliar. These magi were men from the East; some sources say Persia, or present day Iraq, others say China, still others India, or Arabia, others say a mix from different places, all foreign to this Jewish city. Can you imagine the spectacle as they rode into town?

They come into town asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?”

I wonder if they expected the Jewish people to know where their King was to be born. It was the King of the Jews after all, not the Messiah of the magi. The magi did not share the religion of the Jews. Some sources say the magi were Buddhist, other sources say the magi were of the priestly case of Zoroastrianism, a monotheistic Persian religion. These magi studied the stars, not the Hebrew scriptures, but still they knew, they knew the of the Messiah, and the Jews did not.

Isn’t it this, that in the most unlikely places we find our prophets. These foreigners, these magi of a different religion, these scientists well beyond their time, these wise men, they are the ones to bring word of our Lord. It is not some Jewish priest, it is not some local hero or politician. It is those from the least likely place. I wonder today what our Buddhist, or Muslim, or even atheists brothers and sisters, might be able to teach us about our Lord Jesus. What might the foreigner in our land teach us about the King of the Jews? What might the scientists of our day prophesy about the coming of Christ? What might we be able to hear if we gave the chance to listen, to see ourselves in their eyes, to hear their word for us, to open up and realize that God is limitless and we are not to limit God’s wonder. I wonder if we would be able to listen if similarly outlandish parade of foreigners traveled into Baker City today. I wonder if we could listen.

The Jews, and their leader, could not listen. The text describes, “³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him.” It makes sense they were frightened, we are easily frightened by what we do not know. We are easily scared of those who are different than us. So often I get an e-mail, or see a Facebook post, or hear someone in the news saying something derogatory about Muslims, or the Chinese, or Atheists, or blacks, or Mexicans, or any other race, or religion that is not Christian. There is so much fear, so much xenophobia, so much judgement. This prejudice denies that God is at work everywhere and in everyone. God is at work even in some Zoroastrian astrologers from who knows where in 3 B.C. This isn’t just some simple work either. God was at work prophesying the coming of Christ to these foreigners of other religions. Each year around our sacred nativity, we place three wise men who were not Christian, but who came to the Jews, and to Herod, and come to us this Epiphany day, to tell us about our Lord. Do not be afraid, for they bring you good news of great joy.

¹¹On entering the house, the wise men saw the child with Mary his mother;

and they knelt down and paid him homage.

Then, opening their treasure chests,

they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

These foreigners of other religions were not men of which to be afraid. In all their strange unfamiliarity Mary welcomed them to her child. They were not men of which to be afraid. Instead, they knew whom to fear. “¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.”

Herod is to be feared. Herod is afraid of losing power. Herod killed his own son for fear the son would challenge Herod. Herod was not afraid of killing his son, or other people’s sons, or even the Son of God. Herod was willing to do anything to stay in power. The Herods of this world are whom we must fear. The ones to fear, are the one who are fearful of difference. The ones to fear are the ones who attempt to silence any opposition. The ones to fear are the powerful who oppress and silence the powerless. Those e-mails, those Facebook posts, those one sided news stories, those derogatory comments any other race, or religion that is not Christian, they are what we must fear. Xenophobia, prejudice, and ignorant judgement we must fear. Mary invited the wisemen in. God told the wisemen not to return to Herod. What might God be telling the foreigner, the Buddhist, the muslim, the Egyptian, the Indian, the descendants of the Zoroastrians, and the scientists today? Have you asked? Have you listened for God? Have you heard the good news of great joy? Or have you been too afraid?