George A. Mason 2 nd Sunday after the Epiphany Wilshire Baptist Church 20 January 2019 Dallas, Texas Third Day John 2:1-11 On the third day That s the way John starts this story about the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. He s a skillful writer, John, using hints and signs to foreshadow what s to come. When you read on the third day, a little bell ought to go off in your head about why he s being so specific. In the previous chapter, John introduces three different stories of Jesus with the phrase, the next day. This is different. It s not so much about chronology as theology. What else will happen later in the Gospel on the third day? Right, Jesus will be raised from the dead. John is tipping us off that this story is going to show us life from the point of view of resurrection. Let s see how it unfolds. Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding feast. Oops, stop there again. Another hint. The image of the wedding feast was used to imagine the consummation of God s union with the world. And the prophet Isaiah foretold (25:6-8): On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth In other words, this story anticipates that promised time when poverty is banished and shame removed, because God s will at last will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When the wine ran out at the wedding feast, we see the world that is passing away; when the water is turned into wine, we see the world God is bringing to pass. Having been the father of the bride twice, the father of the groom once, and having been at more wedding receptions as a pastor than probably anyone in this room, I can tell you this scenario is the nightmare any host would dread. The shame of
running out of wine could only mean your family isn t capable of fulfilling its hospitality duties to your guests. Weddings in Jesus day were grand community affairs. The fact that Jesus and his disciples were invited only emphasizes this, since Jesus was from a town nine miles from Cana and his disciples were mainly from the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, some 16 miles away. Guests would have come for up to three days of celebration. That calls for a lot of wine, don t you know?! The world we live in is always dealing with limited supplies. We think about how we can get ours, because there s only so much to go around. We assume a scarcity mentality and don t want to be caught without. It s like a game of musical chairs. We re afraid that when the music stops, we will be the one left without a chair. We ll be out of the game. Some of you in this room remember the Great Depression. Almost everyone who lived through that as children feared running out of things more than anything. My grandmother on my father s side would have loved the Internet. She had television, though, and a telephone. When Ronco commercials came on, she ordered whatever they were selling and stored things away in case she ever needed them. Her house had three sheds in the backyard, a basement, a garage, a porch and an attic, all stuffed with stuff in boxes floor to ceiling, much of it never opened. The wine running out is a metaphor for poverty of any kind and the shame that attaches itself to it. Some of us have more house than we need, more cars, more clothes, more savings, more access to quality education and health care than others. We know this can t be God s dream for the world, and somebody has to notice it and sound the alarm. I was in a meeting the other night with some Black pastors in Dallas from South Dallas. One of them said of those of us in North Dallas that we really don t know how bad it is for our southern sector neighbors in this city. We pride ourselves in Dallas on our prosperity, but our poverty is as severe as our wealth is great. We in North Dallas don t see it because we don t want to put ourselves into proximity of pain. We met in a neighborhood church that none of us in this 2
room would want to attend. It s a reflection of the fact that Dallas leads the nation in inequality. In an Urban Institute study, Dallas came in dead last 274 out of 274 in major cities where parts of our population have had little share in the booming economy since the last recession of 2008 onward. In every category, whether income or education or health care or job opportunity or code enforcement or crime, some people live with want while others live with plenty. We ll be hearing a lot about Martin Luther King s dream this weekend, but his dream for American was nothing more or less than God s dream for the world. God s dream for the world is what the Christian faith is all about. Christianity has a future focus. It s not about figuring out how to adjust ourselves to the world as it is and waiting things out until we get to heaven. It s not about glorifying the past and trying to get back to those good old glory days. I was in New York City last weekend to receive a great honor. I was inducted into my high school football hall of fame. It was a great day. We had a banquet and told stories. I heard things about myself I had either forgotten or never known. Apparently, I was pretty good back then. Many of my teammates were there to help me celebrate. We reminisced about our glory days, about the city championship game of 1972. Yes, 1972. Forty-seven years ago. How can that be? For some in that room, it was a high point of their lives. I had a strange feeling about it all. I was happy to renew my friendship with old teammates, coaches and friends. By the way, some of those guys got old! But I realized how future-focused I have been most of my life. I attribute that to my Christian faith and the work I do week by week. My mindset is oriented toward what can be more than what was or is. I live with a sense that our calling is to know and share in the joy of life that Jesus unending supply of wine represents and not just for ourselves but for everyone. This is the good news of God. This story of Jesus turning water into wine shows us that abundance, not scarcity, is the direction of God s rule in the world. And it s an invitation to us to join God in bringing it to pass. 3
All over the world we re seeing fear of lack play havoc with our politics. In Great Britain, the people voted for Brexit in 2016. The main concern was that being part of the European Union had relaxed the borders and allowed too many foreigners to come into the United Kingdom, thus threatening jobs and putting pressure on the economy. In our country, it s the same thing. Globalization is viewed by many as a threat to our way of life. The government shutdown over funding for a wall on the southern border is about the same thing. We are afraid that there won t be enough for us if too many people are allowed to enter our country and share in the resources. We are afraid of the wine running out. We re afraid, because we don t realize who s always here with us. Notice who notices what is really happening in this story. It s the mother of Jesus. She isn t mentioned by name. In fact, when she pulls Jesus aside to tell him They have no wine, he responds by saying, Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? Everything, of course. But the point is that John wants us to see that the woman sees the problem and Jesus listens to her. Listen to the woman. Believe her. Take her seriously. Thank God we don t have that problem today, right? There s probably another reason she isn t called by her name. John wants us to see her as a figure for the church. It s not Mary as Mary who notices and does something about it. It s Mary as the church paying attention to loss and shame and inequality and interceding with Jesus to do something about it. Well, Jesus listens to her, as he does to us when we call upon him. He lets himself be acted upon, to be changed by her. He allows our prayers to change him and move him to act. Jesus tells his mother that his hour has not yet come. That is, the time for him to be revealed as the Son of God is not yet. But she essentially tells him that it is. Now is the time. She doesn t even answer his question about what concern the wine running out is to her and him. She just directs the servants to do whatever he says. She is bold to act on behalf of others in need. I can t tell you how often people who see the problems of our society and cry out about it are silenced and ignored. Now is not 4
the time. Be quiet. Go through proper channels. Ten days ago, some Black Dallas pastors were invited to kick off the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration in Dallas by laying a wreath at City Hall. They decided that they couldn t honor Dr. King by just pretending that everything was fine when it isn t it. They launched into a list of demands of the city council to address the systemic inequalities of Dallas. They rightly claimed that you can only honor Dr. King properly by taking up his same concern for racial and economic inequality. And immediately they were criticized for their bad form. That wasn t the right way to do things. Instead of dealing with the wine running out, people want to focus on polity and politeness. As if the gospel is just about being nice. Of course, that s what many people in King s day thought, too. He was a troublemaker for calling attention to the wine running out. Today we want to make King a symbol of peace and reconciliation; we don t want to remember him as he told us to remember him as a drum major for justice. The mother of Jesus sees and speaks. She identifies with those in need and wants Jesus to do what only he can do. What Jesus can do is more than justice. He can bring justice, but also joy. Justice and joy. When the water becomes wine, it s shocking not just because of the massive supply, but because of its quality. Exquisite abundance. Sweet excess. Not just more but better. You have saved the best wine for last, the steward says. Jesus tells them to fill the six 20-30-gallon water jugs with water. Those water jugs served the ritual handwashing that went with any Jewish celebration. Jesus alters the concept of religion from being used to purify people from the problems of the world into a religion that transforms the world. You can always tell how and where Jesus has been at work. He doesn t just restock the bar; he raises the bar with a taste of the best of life. If you re running on empty today, Jesus is here for you. And we re here to bug him to do it again, and again and again. Critics can chirp all they want. 5
More wine and better, Jesus. Only the best. Which, of course, Jesus himself is. For you. For me. For EveryBody! Amen. 6