Date: January 13th & 16th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalmody: Psalm 36:5-10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Gospel: John 2:1-11
Our Gospel reading today has many sets of characters throughout, and each of them brings something specific to the story. All of the parts that they play are different, but are crucial to the events as a whole. Recognizing the importance of these different impacts is much like the words of Paul in the reading from Corinthians. We each have been given a variety of gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. Our gifts work in harmony together so that we, as a community, are better equipped for all the different scenarios we may face in the church and in the world. Just within our own church we collaborate with gifts of creativity, technology, communication, numbers/accounting, preaching, teaching, generosity, logic, music, safety, hospitality, administration, and so many more. Each person hearing this sermon has gifts that have been cultivated within them, and we can rejoice with the knowledge that each gift is sacred, holy, and essential. So when we look at the story from the Gospel of John, I want to focus in on three characters or sets of characters, and how their gifts and actions can teach us about how ministry continually follows God's leading.
The first character we learn from is the mother of Jesus. Now, we know her as Mary, but in the Gospel passage for today, she is not called by name, she is identified by her relationship to Jesus. Some of the gifts she shows in this passage are hospitality, motherhood, and authority. When her son shows up at the wedding in Cana, and she has been told there is a problem to be solved, she calls upon Jesus to solve it. This request comes out of a relationship that has already been formed between them. She is not asking a random stranger to fix the problem, and Jesus is not talking back to just anyone when he at first refuses to do anything. Jesus says that his time has not yet come, which makes sense when we consider that in John's Gospel this is the first story that we get about Jesus as a human walking among us. It is only the start of the story, so of course Jesus' time has not come yet, but he has much to do. Still, his mother knows him, and knows that he will do what she says. She knows him as her son who has grown in her house and learned from her, and who has a relationship with her that he will listen to her request. She is so sure in fact that she does not bother to reply to Jesus and instead turns straight to the servants and tells them to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. In doing these things, Mary is using her gifts to set a plan in action for those around her about to embark on the tasks ahead. In ministry, there are always those who fill this role and do so in a way that empowers, encourages, and supports the coming tasks, which can often be confusing, tedious, and long, but who also lead to the Good News.
This then brings us to our second character set, the servants. The servants in this story have gifts of trust, physical strength and endurance, and bravery. When Jesus finally does give them a command, and they follow it because of the words of Jesus' Mother, they begin their task with a lot of trust. Jesus points them to the six purification jars and tells them to fill them with water. These jars are 20-30 gallon each, and they fill them to the brim. Can you imagine the amount of time it takes to fill these jars, or how much trust the servants have put into the words of Jesus in this time. They know that the problem is that the wine is running out, and yet here is Jesus, to them a random guy that they do not know, and he says fill up these purification jars with water. And so bucket after bucket, they filled these jars, while also thinking that doing so does not make any sense for how they understand the problem at hand. Sometimes God leads the church into new forms of ministry that are different than anything done before, or that use new methods, or that experiment with ideas that seem foreign. As we learn from the servants in today's lesson, I think we can remember that God's plans and God's hopes for creation and for the life of the church are so much bigger than we can always understand. Not only that, but sometimes it takes until the end of the journey until we really see what the outcome will be, just like the servants in our story. As they finally finish filling these stone jars- normally meant for purification rituals, for cleaning purposes, not for drinking water, and then are told by Jesus to fill a goblet. And so one of them does. Jesus tells them to take that glass to the chief steward, a very powerful man, and give it to him to drink. And so one of them, bravely, does.
This brings us to our final character, the chief steward. Just like the other characters, he too has gifts to share in the story. In this case he has gifts of an outside perspective, a knowledge of tradition, and communication. The chief steward takes the water turned to wine from the servant and immediately appreciates the taste. I can only imagine that the servant standing next to him would have had wide eyes as he waited for the steward's reaction, knowing what went into the glass he is drinking out of. But the steward does not know any of that, he offers a perspective that is outside of the preparation and planning that went into this goblet, he only sees the result. In doing so, he appreciates the result so much, he makes sure to communicate with the bridegroom about it. He shares his knowledge of tradition, that normally the good wine is served first, but that this wine that has been saved until now, is better than the other. When God leads us through journeys to new ideas and new ministries, we can sometimes get caught in the first two characters. We can get stuck in the preparing like Jesus's Mother, or stuck in the process like the servants, but eventually we get to a point in new ministries where we might get to consider an outside perspective. The view of someone who has not put their energy and time into filling six stone water jugs, but sees the final result and is filled with joy. Not only that, but a person who sees this new thing, and sees past traditions, and praises the opportunity to try something new and different. The chief steward was impressed because he liked the wine, but he was also happily surprised that a cultural tradition was turned on its head. And that is exactly what we do when we find new ministries, plan for them, prepare them, and then present them to our congregation, wider church, and community. We get to say that we are not quite sure how we got here, but God clearly led us the entire way.
As 2022 gets rolling and we continue to consider what it means to be church together in the world, might we utilize all the gifts that God has blessed each person with, so that we are all a part of the new thing that God is doing. May we take encouragement and knowledge from this story so that we might plan like Jesus's Mother, prepare like the servants, and present like the chief steward as God calls us to new ministries and new possibilities. Thanks be to God.