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First Preached  14/1/2001  Epihany 2 C

John 2.1-11                                                                                              

Of all the miracles of Jesus this is I think  the oddest. It was also the despair of the Band of Hope and other temperance movements.

Yet to John it is obviously important. It is he said the first of the signs by which Jesus reveals his glory. That Glory which he claims to have seen.

 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1.14

Now his disciples see this sign and believe in him. It is only they and Mary of whom this is true. It remains hidden to the main beneficiaries, the Bridal Couple and the ‘Toastmaster’. The events are known to the servants. But they do not know what the disciples already know.

“We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth” John 1.45

To those on the outside it is hidden. To those who already have some inkling it is a confirmation. They can see the glory of God, and they are moved to faith. Those who are outside are left baffled and bemused.

That is how the signs work in John. The crowds believe in him because of the signs that he does. (6.2 & 12 .8) Nicodemus says, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”  (3.2)

That is what signs are there for: ^“ Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. (20.30f)

But they are signs. They are not proofs. To the ruling council, they are a source of annoyance rather than a call for faith.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs.  ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”  (11.47f)

On the other hand there is a demand for more signs “In order that we may believe” (6.30) A request which might seem a little unreasonable since it follows the feeding of the five thousand. There is no pleasing some people!

They are signs, not proofs. Yet they reveal that there is something extraordinary here. They are part of the reason that Jesus was remembered by his disciples as more than a mere mortal. He revealed himself to be something more. But what?

A sign is supposed to tell you something. There is reputed to be a notice in the Yorkshire Dales which only says, “It is an offence to throw stones at this notice” But usually signs are a little more forth coming. Signs point to something or tell you something useful.

What does this sign tell us about Jesus.

Firstly he is “the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote”

Here he fulfills the words of Isaiah. “

“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost (Isa 55.1)

The works of Jesus are the works of His Father. Looking at Jesus will show you what God is like.

Secondly he is the new wine of the Kingdom. In place of the ritual purification of the Law, comes life and celebration.

Common Worship gives a number of ways of introducing Holy Communion, but, “Hey let’s party”, does not seem to be one of them. Which is a pity. We do refer to it as a celebration of Holy Communion. But we do not take the word seriously enough (If that is not a contradiction)

Jesus is here and that is a cause for real joy.

Finally, this is the new wine of the Kingdom which is to come. It is a foretaste, of the life eternal.

John saw Jesus transformed an ordinary wedding. Another John would write, “‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” Rev 19.7

In Jesus the powers of the Kingdom are already breaking into the present world. He calls his Church to drink deeply. To be transformed from water into wine.

• Uncategorized

First Preached  26/1/03       Epiphany 2  C

[Gen 14.17-20]     :         Rev.19.6-10         :        John 2.1-11

Aim that my congregation may learn to ask in faith

1. First we must contemplate the fact that this is a scene of joy and delight. I have spoken of the disconcerting nature of Christ, but he was not proud, or reserved, or sniffy as so many great men are -not to speak of Saints. God may be present at our revelry as much as at our work. He is only absent from our sins; and innocent enjoyment is no sin. The care which Christ shows for the sick and suffering he extends also to the feelings of a young couple. In a village they would never have lived down a wedding feast that turned into a disaster.
2. So we have this extraordinary miracle. It is extraordinary and there is no getting around that fact, but extraordinary things happened around Jesus. The belief of the disciples in the risen Jesus was prepared for by the amazing things that they saw when they were with him. So the conclusion of the miracle was that they saw his glory and believed on him.  This is the other side of their encounter with Jesus. Last week I spoke of Jesus human nature, how fascinating and yet disconcerting he would be to be with. To that we must add this week, what fun. But there always was the other side. Jesus perpetually opened the eyes on those with him to behold heaven. Those who accompanied him were forced to ask, not simply, “What is he doing?”, but also, “What is God doing?” Jesus promised Nathaniel, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1.51 This was the first time that happened. It would not be the last. In fact the first twelve Chapters of this gospel are concerned with a series of signs. They are miracles, but not just spectacles to impress the crowds, they are demonstrations of spiritual power that demonstrate something of the nature of  what Jesus is about.
3. In this case it is certainly not to impress the crowds, it is almost private for the disciples, Jesus mother and a few others. What is it about? It is about the New wine of the Kingdom of God. In place of the old dispensation, which brought purity, but was flat and lifeless, (Symbolised by the ritual purity which was the business of these water jars) Jesus creates that which symbolised well being good fellowship and joy.  “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.” Amos 9.13  This miracle is a clear sign that something new is happening. Recall Jesus’ saying about new wine Mark 2.22  So also we drink wine at communion, as the sign of the new covenant. Something new is here. There is new life and power in Jesus. How do we access it? Like Mary we ask.
4. Note this little dialogue. Mary comes to Jesus – he is now (Joseph it seems is dead) head of the household. It is his job to fix things. “Run down to the village shop  dear and get a couple of boxes of ‘Bulgarian Cab-Sav’.” On that level she gets a rebuff. Jesus is almost rude to her, certainly off hand.  She must realise that he is no longer at her command. Since his Baptism he has a new role, he is about his Fathers business now. Soon he will part from his family to pursue his ministry. Now it is an interim time. He knows of possibilities she has not even dreamed of, but they are not her’s to command. It requires a leap of faith, even a leap of imagination on her part. So she makes it. Mary was an extraordinary woman. She presses on in faith and obedience. “Do whatever he tells you.”We need a degree of perseverance in our prayers. Somehow human longing opens the wayfor divine initiative.
   This is a common pattern in the gospels. And I think we could do well to take it into our life of faith. A human, but inadequate approach is made to Jesus for some low level help. This is rebuffed, but if it is then met with a higher level response, one that indicates real faith and openness then there comes a divine response which often surpasses what was first sought. We can see it here, at the raising of Lazarus, and in several of the Gospel healings.
5. It is a model for the life of prayer. Sometimes we lack faith because we do not believe enough. We do pray without much hope. Sometimes we show our lack of faith by the smallness of our requests. We underestimate what he can do. But sometimes we mistake presumption for faith. We do not so much ask God as tell him what he should be doing. The art of prayer is to bring the whole situation before God. Explore every corner and every possibility of an answer but let Him answer in His own way.
   The proper phrase is, “Thy will be done”. Not in the almost hopeless sense which we often use, “I suppose nothing can be done and I shall just have to put up with it” But in its proper sense, “Something certainly can be done, Lord show me what it is and through it reveal your Glory”.
6. So pray. Pray boldly, but pray with openness to let God work in his way. Finally let us pray with obedience. The last little lesson from Mary – Sometimes we have to make some small act of obedience in order to let God make some great act of power.

• Epiphany 2 C

First Preached 14/1/07            Epiphany 2                  

1 Cor 12.1-12                          John 2.1-11

Children’s Talk:  Grapes. Jesus turned water in to wine. This is as close as I can let you get to wine…. [Show them a bunch of grapes, hand out a few.] … but it will do, they are a fruit that makes for fun and celebration in a way that lemons somehow fail to do. I just want you to remember Jesus came to put Joy in our hearts. So be happy and be grapeful.

Adults:

Who remembers the 60’s? Oh then you weren’t really there.

There was a lot wrong with the 60’s in fact we have spent the last 50 years putting right the damage done. But the one thing that was different was that people thought that things could change for the better. The world seemed wide open with possibilities. Not just because I was 16 then & 60 now.

Now the world all seems shut down. If you enjoy something you can bet it is bad for the environment. The image of the 60’s was a hippie, now it seems to be grumpy old men. The frightening thing is that they are the same people.

The world has lost its hope.

We have gained the whole world but lost our soul.

This passage from John is a counter blast. It is all about hope and new life and celebration. It is about a world of endless possibilities.

What did Mary expect. She says to Jesus, in effect, ‘Do something’ What did she expect him to do, pop down to Tescos for a box of Bulgarian Cab-Sav. I do not know what she expected. The most sensible suggestion I have heard was that he and his friends should go away so that there would not be so many people guzzling what was left. The daftest suggestion (Calvin) that he should have given an uplifting discourse, which would have gladdened peoples hearts and made it all right. Try that at a party – “Sorry folks there’s no more booze, but never mind we have a guest preacher here to give a sermon.” -How to make friends and influence people.

Clearly it is a cry of desperation. And the answer when it came was beyond comprehension.

The Augustinian explanation: Jesus  Accelerated the process. [Water =rain = growth = grapes = wine] I find this helps me not at all. It is still beyond my experience and it wrecks all I ever learned about brewing; which is that you cannot rush it. But the one thing it does say to me is that very often when we are praying for a miracle we are not asking for a suspension of the laws of nature but a rearrangement of the possibilities.

Here is a miracle – On Tuesday I had a sore throat. I was definitely coming down with what my wife had had just had; only worse of course. We prayed and the next day it had gone. Well it is a small miracle. These things do clear up; it is not that improbable. But it seemed it when we prayed.

We frequently ‘misunderestimate’ (To quote George Bush) the possibility of a miracle, particularly if we are depressed. The odds against seem overwhelming. The reasons why there cannot be an answer seem innumerable and insurmountable.

I think that is the state of our world. A health and safety mind set, everything is too dangerous. It is depressed because it has lost faith. It trusted itself, instead of God and it let itself down. Everything is bound up in correct procedures.

Interestingly the Jars that Jesus used were all about correct procedures – ritual purification. But they were dry and empty, like many of our slogans today. Our world is full of procedures that have to be gone through; not to achieve anything, but simply to show that you have gone through the correct procedures.

Jesus transformed them he filled them with new wine – The new wine of the Kingdom,  The new wine of the Spirit.

Nothing is deader or dryer than formalised religion – Lacking in power, in joy, in vitality, in transforming power.

But Jesus brings new life. Transformation, joy celebration and the overturning of possibilities.

How – to those who like Mary do not really know what they wantfrom Jesus but are sure that He can do something; to those who will ask and go ahead in faith.

Believe in miracles – surprise yourself. Astonish the world.

• Epiphany 2 C

First Preached      10^th Jan 2010 

Isa 43.1-7        :   Luke 3.15-17&21-22                                                         Epihany 1 C

To take the OT because it has such words of comfort.

Because it is very personal.  It is a new note in the prophets who principally address the nation, or the rulers of the nation.

Because it presages the NT and hence reminds us of Gods patient working. (Sometimes we think his maddeningly patient.)

It would have been words of comfort to a battered and scattered people. Living in exile in Babylon, but aware also that the nation was now scattered. Some in Babylon, some in Egypt, some God knows where. But the assurance is that he does know.

The nation had lost its structure, its temple, its king, its land. It must have felt forsaken. “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” Psalm 137.3  Part of Isaiah’s reassurance is that God is not just the God of the land of Israel, but the God of the whole world –the whole universe.

But here in contrast and amazingly is the fact that this transcendent God, The first and the last apart from whom there is no God Isa 44.6  expresses himself in such terms of affection: Since you are precious and honoured in my sight and because I love you.

The echo comes in the words of God’s voice to Jesus, “You are my Son whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3 .22

We should never forget this Fatherly love of God. Those whom he loves, may go through fire and deep waters, but God will not forget nor forsake. Those whom he has sworn to make his own he will not abandon.

The promise in Isaiah is quite general. In the Baptism of Jesus it becomes quite specific. The way in which God calls us, and the sacrifice he will make to redeem us.

We need that personal. We need also the assurance of the greatness of the God who promises. Isaiah gives us both.

—————-

Isa 43.1-7

• Epiphany 1 C