Abundant Life. Focus on John 2:1 11 PREPARING FOR THE SESSION. WHAT is important to know? WHERE is God in these words?

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1 January 17, 2016 Second Sunday after the Epiphany Isa. 62:1 5 Ps. 36: Cor. 12:1 11 John 2:1 11 Abundant Life Goal for the Session Through exploring Jesus sign of changing water into wine, adults will commit to working for an abundant life for all. PREPARING FOR THE SESSION Focus on John 2:1 11 WHAT is important to know? From Exegetical Perspective, Linda McKinnish Bridges Six water pots, used for ritual cleansing, are available. These are symbols that point to the emptiness of the traditional religion. The six pots, while used for religious purposes, are still not complete. The pots contain only water. Soon Jesus will fill them with eschatological wine, a rich symbol in the biblical tradition inferring prosperity, abundance, good times; the wine will overflow the water pots. Their true purpose will be fulfilled. Changing the pots of water into pots flowing over with good wine becomes a metaphor for Jesus ministry as he brings vitality to the ancient religion. WHERE is God in these words? From Theological Perspective, Carol Lakey Hess Yet just as the mother of Jesus saw her son as one who could and should meet need, so do many followers of Jesus. We see a world in need, and we believe in one who claimed to bring abundant life to those in need. In a world where for so many there is no clean water let alone fine wine where is the extravagance of God? In a world where children play in bomb craters the size of thirty-gallon wine jugs, why the divine reluctance? In a world where desperate mothers must say, We have no food, why has the hour not yet come? No matter how we rationalize divine activity, we still want to tug at Jesus sleeve and say: they have no wine. SO WHAT does this mean for our lives? From Pastoral Perspective, Robert M. Brearley It is called Cana Grace, and it is worth a miracle because it manifests the glory of God the very God who wants even now for the community of faith to be a celebration of people. Brothers and sisters in Christ eating on the back porch and laughing until the sun goes down; a new members dinner at someone s home that ends with folks giving thanks to God for the welcome they have received at church it is called Cana Grace. Give thanks for everyone in your church and in your life who has the knack for throwing a party. What a way to begin a ministry! NOW WHAT is God s word calling us to do? From Homiletical Perspective, Ernest Hess The chief steward recognizes the excellence of the wine when it is brought to him, but he does not know its source in Jesus, or its meaning as a sign pointing to God s grace. We are often like that, recognizing good gifts without recognizing their source in the Creator s love. The steward also notes that the ability of people to discern even what is good wine is typically impaired when they are drunk. Both literal drunkenness and, more profoundly, drunkenness as a metaphor for all the ways we dull our physical and spiritual perceptions prevent us from recognizing and choosing not just the better things in life, but the One who is the source of all these things. 1

2 Abundant Life FOCUS SCRIPTURE John 2:1 11 Focus on Your Teaching Our consumer culture is relentless in its message that, no matter how much we have, we must have more. Our perception of what constitutes abundant life is twisted into a drive for abundant possessions. As Christians, we have another perspective on what gives abundant life. At the same time, adults need to acknowledge that our obsession with stuff has serious implications for those denied even the chance for life, let alone abundance. However uncomfortable it may make us, bringing the lens of Scripture to bear on how we live, and the implications this has for others, is worth the effort. Holy God, by Your Spirit, may part of my preparation be a time of selfexamination and discernment. Amen. YOU WILL NEED two sheets of drawing paper marker slips of paper pen basket or box Bibles copies of Resource Sheet 1 copies of Resource Sheet 1 for January 24, 2016 For Responding option 1: copies of Resource Sheet 1 option 2: copies of Resource Sheet 2, pencils option 3: Resource Sheet 1, index cards, pens LEADING THE SESSION GATHERING Before the session, sketch a swastika and a peace symbol on separate sheets of drawing paper, or download images from the Internet. On slips of paper, print the following: Jesus mother, Jesus, servants, chief steward, bridegroom. Make enough for each participant to have a slip of paper, even if roles are repeated. Welcome participants. Form two smaller groups and give one of the symbols to each. Allow a couple of minutes for quickly identifying the symbol and defining its significance. Then ask each group to report on its symbol and what emotions it evokes. Give the group the following information: P Though the peace symbol is now widely identified with a variety of peace movements, it was originally designed for the British nuclear disarmament movement. P The swastika, identified today by Westerners as a symbol of Nazism, was originally, and remains today, a symbol of auspiciousness in Hinduism and Buddhism. Tell adults that in this session they will explore symbols used in the beginning of John s Gospel to identify Jesus and his ministry symbols with religious significance that were transformed and given a new meaning. Pray the following: Holy God, we wait expectantly for your word to us today as we explore your Scriptures. Open our eyes to what you would have us see and our ears to what you would have us hear, and make us aware of your surprising, abundant grace. Amen. 2

3 Abundant Life The word eschatological refers to the end time a time of perfection of God s creation. Eschatological wine represents the promise of rich abundance for all in that consummation. EXPLORING Invite volunteers to name miracles they recall from Scripture, such as the feeding of the five thousand or the healing of a blind man. Say that this session explores Jesus first miracle, or sign, the term used in John s Gospel. Set the stage for reading Scripture by saying: Imagine your daughter has just been married, and now the guests are enjoying the reception. Everything is going well, but suddenly your wedding planner sidles up to you and whispers, I don t know how this happened, but we ve nearly run out of food, and only half the guests have been served! Say that a similar situation faced the wedding hosts in today s focus scripture. In those times, rather than going on a honeymoon, couples would celebrate with a seven-day feast at the groom s home. Here the wine was running out well before the party was over. Adults often feel powerless when faced with the reality of those denied the abundant life, and defensive when confronting their potential complicity. Mary s directive to do whatever Jesus asks focuses instead on committing to work for abundance for all. Invite adults to take a slip of paper prepared before the session. Ask them to listen from the perspective of the character on their slip as you read John 2:1 11 aloud. Then invite observations from participants: P What role did your character play? P How did you imagine your character was feeling about what was happening? P What was surprising or unexpected about how this story played out? Distribute copies of Resource Sheet 1 (Focus on John 2:1 11). Remind adults of the opening activity in which they were introduced to symbols whose original meaning was transformed. Have them silently read the What? excerpt. Ask: P What objects in this story become symbols transformed from one meaning to another? P How are they metaphors for Jesus ministry? To explore how Jesus injected new vitality into his religion, form two groups. Ask one to read Luke 5:27 32 and the other Luke 6:1 5. In the total group, ask each smaller group to briefly summarize what they read. Then ask: P In each case, how did Jesus challenge the religious tradition? P If you had been present, how might you have responded to Jesus radical new interpretation of religious law and tradition? To transition to Responding, read the Where? excerpt aloud. Recall the role Jesus mother played in this story, and also Jesus initial response to his mother s entreaty that he address the situation. Tell participants that plentiful wine is a common symbol of God s grace in the New Testament. Discuss: P What is your response to the questions posed in this excerpt? Would you put the onus on God, or does responsibility rest elsewhere? P If the community of faith is Christ s hands in the world, what are the implications for us? RESPONDING Choose one or more of these activities depending on the length of your session. 1. Celebrate Cana Grace By imagining a celebration marked by Cana Grace, adults can envision ways to open the doors to abundance. Describe the spirit of celebration dubbed 3

4 Abundant Life Cana Grace the knack for throwing parties that create an atmosphere of welcome. While the idea originally described the joy characteristic of the Christian life, extending the metaphor helps us envision the context we need to make the abundant life available to all. Invite someone to read aloud the first sentence in the So What? excerpt from Resource Sheet 1 (Focus on John 2:1 11). Ask participants to describe the party atmosphere of abundance that would extend a welcome to the table to partygoers. Then discuss: P Who is left out of the Abundant Life Club? P What steps might we take to include those groups or persons? Encourage adults to think about what they can do, not just to open doors to abundance, but to provide ways for those denied abundance access to it. EASY PREP 2. Create and Transform Symbols By creating symbols for the critical needs evidenced in our world today and transforming them into symbols of abundance, adults can gain more clarity about responses that have potential for ensuring abundant life for all. Distribute Resource Sheet 2 (Transforming Need to Abundance) and pencils. Invite adults to follow the directions to create symbols or metaphors. Together, invite volunteers to describe their symbols, first the one representing the need and then the transformed symbol. Discuss the questions. Encourage adults to take their symbols with them and consider taking that one step in their own lives. Communicate to your pastor or church leaders about your discussion concerning corporate action. 3. Increasing Our Vitality In reflecting on symbols for vitality, adults further their understanding and deepen their commitment to working for abundant life for all. Refer the group to the What? excerpt on Resource Sheet 1 (Focus on John 2:1 11). Ask: P What do we need to do in our churches in order to increase our vitality? Invite participants to reflect on Mary s statements: Give them wine and Do whatever he tells you and on the question: What is Jesus asking us to do? On an index card, have participants write down one action your church might take or a change it might make in order to increase its vitality. Encourage participants to continue to ponder how Jesus is calling them to respond. CLOSING Invite adults to listen and reflect as you read these words of Jesus from John 10:10: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Pray the following: God of abundant life, stir us from inactivity and renew our commitment to making your intention for life available to all. Amen. Distribute copies of Resource Sheet 1 for January 24, 2016, or it to the participants during the week. Encourage participants to read the focus scripture and Resource Sheet 1 before the next session. 4

5 January 17, 2016 Abundant Life Adult Resource Sheet 1 Focus on John 2:1 11 WHAT is important to know? From Exegetical Perspective, Linda McKinnish Bridges Six water pots, used for ritual cleansing, are available. These are symbols that point to the emptiness of the traditional religion. The six pots, while used for religious purposes, are still not complete. The pots contain only water. Soon Jesus will fill them with eschatological wine, a rich symbol in the biblical tradition inferring prosperity, abundance, good times; the wine will overflow the water pots. Their true purpose will be fulfilled. Changing the pots of water into pots flowing over with good wine becomes a metaphor for Jesus ministry as he brings vitality to the ancient religion. WHERE is God in these words? From Theological Perspective, Carol Lakey Hess Yet just as the mother of Jesus saw her son as one who could and should meet need, so do many followers of Jesus. We see a world in need, and we believe in one who claimed to bring abundant life to those in need. In a world where for so many there is no clean water let alone fine wine where is the extravagance of God? In a world where children play in bomb craters the size of thirty-gallon wine jugs, why the divine reluctance? In a world where desperate mothers must say, We have no food, why has the hour not yet come? No matter how we rationalize divine activity, we still want to tug at Jesus sleeve and say: they have no wine. SO WHAT does this mean for our lives? From Pastoral Perspective, Robert M. Brearley It is called Cana Grace, and it is worth a miracle because it manifests the glory of God the very God who wants even now for the community of faith to be a celebration of people. Brothers and sisters in Christ eating on the back porch and laughing until the sun goes down; a new members dinner at someone s home that ends with folks giving thanks to God for the welcome they have received at church it is called Cana Grace. Give thanks for everyone in your church and in your life who has the knack for throwing a party. What a way to begin a ministry! NOW WHAT is God s word calling us to do? From Homiletical Perspective, Ernest Hess The chief steward recognizes the excellence of the wine when it is brought to him, but he does not know its source in Jesus, or its meaning as a sign pointing to God s grace. We are often like that, recognizing good gifts without recognizing their source in the Creator s love. The steward also notes that the ability of people to discern even what is good wine is typically impaired when they are drunk. Both literal drunkenness and, more profoundly, drunkenness as a metaphor for all the ways we dull our physical and spiritual perceptions prevent us from recognizing and choosing not just the better things in life, but the One who is the source of all these things Westminster John Knox Press

6 January 17, 2016 Abundant Life Adult Resource Sheet 2 Transforming Need to Abundance The following statistics give snapshots of a persistent and seemingly intractable problem that serves to limit access to the abundant life for millions. Choose one statistic representing a problem, or do a search for statistics on another persistent problem of which you are aware. Sketch a symbol for that problem, or create a metaphor using words. Then transform your symbol or metaphor into one delineating abundant life. For example, you might draw an empty bowl to symbolize persistent hunger. Persons filling the bowl to overflowing from other bowls freely offered might represent abundance. Reflect on the following: What actions or attitudes of those of us who live in abundance contribute to blocking others from the life God intends for them? What is one small step you could take on behalf of making the abundant life available for all? What are some steps we as a community of faith might consider taking? Statistics compiled from article/26/poverty-facts -and-stats; hunger/global/; Statistics 1. Almost half the world over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day, and 1.2 million live in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a day million children 57 percent of whom are girls are not in school in developing countries. 3. In the U.S., more than eight out of ten black and Hispanic fourth graders, and six of ten white children, cannot read at grade level. 4. Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation. 5. Worldwide, two out of three child laborers are engaged in hazardous work. 6. In the U.S., 65 percent of low-income families have at least one working family member, and 79 percent of single mothers who head households work. In most areas, a family of four needs to earn twice the poverty line to provide children with basic necessities. 7. A person working full-time at the minimum wage in the U.S. earns about $14,500 a year. The official poverty line for a family of three one parent with two children is $17, Worldwide, 2.6 million people, many of them children, die from hunger-related causes each year Westminster John Knox Press