While not specifically referenced, the first reading, Isaiah 62:1-5, and the second reading, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, really fit well with the sermon for today.
The holy gospel according to John (2:1-11)
On
the third day there was a wedding in
Cana of Galilee,
and the mother of
Jesus was there.
2Jesus
and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3When
the wine gave out,
the
mother of Jesus said to him,
“They
have no wine.”
4And
Jesus said to her,
“Woman,
what concern is that to you and to me?
My
hour has not yet come.”
5His
mother said to the servants,
“Do
whatever he tells you.”
6Now
standing there were six stone water jars
for the Jewish
rites of purification,
each
holding twenty or thirty gallons.
7Jesus
said to them,
“Fill
the jars with water.”
And
they filled them up to the brim.
8He
said to them,
“Now
draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”
So
they took it.
9When
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
10and
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.”
11Jesus
did this,
the
first of his signs,
in
Cana of Galilee,
and
revealed his glory;
and
his disciples believed in him.
The gospel of the Lord.
-----
The story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana is one of my
favorites. It is so
unreasonable! So irrational! Why would God come and provide wine, of
all things, to a celebration where people are already so far into the wine
previously provided that it’s run out?
Why does Jesus choose, for his first sign, turning water
into wine, saving the happy couple from embarrassment or shame? What does it mean? Much of the time, when I think about
God, I think about God’s love for all of us, but I forget that it’s not just
love—regular, ordinary, hanging out with family and friends love—it’s extravagant
love. It’s over the top, head over
heals, to the moon—no to the cross—and back love.
For you, for me, for everyone. God’s love is so extravagant, that God provides everything
we need. God creates earth, this
complex combination of countless eco systems, to produce all the food we
need. The oxygen, the water—everything
we need is provided for us.
Now,
the fact that we as humans waste food and give preference for things like food
and water to some over others instead of sharing equally as any has need does not
mean there’s not enough. It just
means that we’re not quite as in-tune with God’s vision of life—and not just
the surviving the daily trials kind of life, but abundant life.
Out of God’s extravagant love for all of us, God’s wish and
hope for us all is abundant life.
Not the excessive, hoarding and collecting until it all runs out kind,
just the abundant—enough for everyone—kind of life.
And that’s why there’s so much wine! (about 150 gallons of it!) and it’s soo good. Not because God wants us to become
drunks or alcoholics, but because God’s extravagant love spills out into God’s
desire for abundant life for all people and all of creation. God wants us to enjoy the gifts of
creation, to enjoy life. Smell the
roses, have the party.
That is God’s vision that we feed on in communion. God provides what we need in life and
we get a foretaste in communion where we receive bread—nourishment and
sustenance for the journey—and wine or juice—festive celebration for the
journey as well. Communion is both
a nourishing experience and a celebratory one. It is a new economy—God’s new economy as God in Jesus says
to everyone, “Come and eat.”
At communion, all are welcome at God’s Table, all are fed
with the bread of life—the bread of heaven—and the cup of salvation—covenant
and celebration. It is the Table
where there is no clothing too inappropriate, no action too cruel, no skin too
light or too dark, no experience too controversial, no life and no person too
far gone to be welcomed with open arms.
Because it is precisely our whole selves, our whole beings,
that God loves, and loves together.
It is our diversity, our uniquenesses, that make us who we are
individually and together. The
abundance of diversity that God creates and loves excessively.
This past Thursday some of us gathered together and tried to
watch the “Confronting Racism” webcast, the second part of a webcast series
Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and William B. Horne II, a member of the ELCA
Church Council, are leading to encourage us all to… confront racism—to learn
about it and how it impacts us and others. We had some technical difficulties, so here’s the shameless
plug to join us on the 27th at 6:30 to try again.
But like our less than ideal distribution of food in the
world—where some have too much and others have too little, racism keeps us from
living into God’s abundance. It
keeps some people from making it to the Table. This country was built economically and physically by people
who were enslaved—largely, though not exclusively, folks who were kidnapped in
Africa and sold as property.
Now, slavery still happens today in sweatshops and brothels
all over the United States and the world, which is another topic entirely. And racism, this concept created to
reinforce the supposed “rightness” of slavery, also continues today.
It continues when people of color are more likely to be
killed, more likely to be arrested and jailed (for the same crime), and less
likely to receive equal pay than their white counterparts.
It happens when the cultural histories of communities of
color are not taught accurately in schools, when some people think that Native
Americans are all dead, and when some people think slaves came over from
Africa, instead of people who
were kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Racism is a complex system and it is a structural sin that
keeps us all from abundant life.
It keeps us from truly joining all our broken bodies together to receive
Christ’s broken body, God’s extravagant, loving grace.
Because it’s an all or nothing kind of thing and God is in the business of choosing
all.
God’s love pours out over our full diversity. This weekend is Martin Luther King, Jr.
weekend and we celebrate, not just today, but especially today, his vision of
the beloved community. King’s
dream for our country was one where “the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave owners will be able to sit down together” where all people “will
one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character.”[1]
Where all people, black, white, anglo, latino, are celebrated for the ways God
makes us unique—the gifts the Spirit gives us.
King’s is a dream worthy of God’s extravagant love—a dream
that lives into God’s vision of abundance for us all. It is not easy.
King followed Jesus to the cross, followed God’s vision of abundance and
it cost him his life at the hand of racism.
It is not easy, but it is possible, and it starts here. It starts at the cross where we confess
our sins, our shortcomings, our brokenness, and receive forgiveness—as we did
at the beginning of worship today.
And it starts here with bread and wine—the body and blood of Christ we
will soon receive, poured out in extravagant love for abundant life for every
single person and all of creation.
Thanks be to God.
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