“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When 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 and 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.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:1-11

{A wife asks her husband, “Could you please go shopping for me and buy one carton of milk and, if they have avocados, get six.” A short time later, the husband returns with six cartons of milk. “Why did you buy six cartons of milk?” his wife asks. He replies, “They had avocados.”} (Tom Buoye, Manchester, New Jersey)

Mary the mother of Jesus tells the servants “Do whatever he tells you.” And the fact that they do means they were, unbeknownst to them, about to witness the first miracle of Jesus. Had they not been willing to listen to his mother, they would have missed the miracle that her son performed. How many times do we miss the miracles that happen in our lives? How many times do we assign happenstance or good luck to events that may have been little miracles?

As the story suggests, it is easy to misunderstand what we hear – just as it is easy to misunderstand what we see. The husband buys six cartons of milk, when the wife wanted one carton of milk and six avocados. Sometimes it matters where we put the qualifiers in our sentences – or, as the famous joke states, we just might “…throw the horse over the fence some hay.” When the miracles happen  in our lives, we need to be paying attention enough so we can understand that the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. And being the miracle in others lives only takes the openness to see the opportunities.

Pastor Dave

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.” Mark 1:14-20

“There are any number of distinct ways that we can follow Jesus. And, indeed, follow him immediately – here and now, in the world and time in which we live. What seems at the heart of the matter is that we can follow Jesus in all of these different situations and circumstances precisely by trying to imitate him – by trying, that is, to treat others with the same regard, love and patience that he did, including all manner of people but especially those who were overlooked by society. This, I think, is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian: to try to live and treat others as Jesus did, embracing the values of inclusiveness, love, forgiveness, and healing that he radiated in word and deed.

…we are invited into and promised a secure place in the Christian community only (by) the grace of God, apart from any effort or merit on our own. And yet at the same time I think the day-to-day benefit we experience from being included in the Christian community is affected dramatically by whether or not we try to live into the identity we have been given. God will always treat us a beloved child, yet whether we act like a beloved child of God – and receive the joy of acting like one – depends greatly on whether we try to follow Jesus and live into the gift of that identity.” David Lose, “…in the meantime”, January 19, 2015, Following Jesus Today)

Jesus says “Follow me” and we think to ourselves “I AM” – we think our lives are models of faith and devotion. And still we hear these words “Follow Me” and we have to wonder:  “Is Jesus calling me?  What is he calling me to do?” It is hard, is it not, it is hard NOT to answer a ringing phone. I see this in happen in my home every day. When the phone rings, when someone calls and I see that the phone call is from a number I am not familiar, you know someone trying to sell me something, I tell my boys not to answer the call. And you would think I have just ask them to walk on hot coals, so compelled are they to answer that call. The question is ask is this, are we just as compelled to answer the call of Jesus? When it comes to being disciples of Jesus, and when it comes to seeking out people to join us in worship and service, we often find ourselves scratching our heads trying to find ways to bring people into our midst. In our gospel lesson my friends, Jesus is calling us – to go fishing with him – to go fishing FOR him. My friends, are we answering that call?

Anyone who fishes knows that fishing takes time and patience, fishing takes knowing the territory and knowing the conditions – the same is true for fishing d Nafor people. The radical nature of this text is that Jesus took ordinary fisherman and told them that everything was about to change – everything they knew or thought they knew about fishing, about family relationships, and about life would have to change. They would have to rethink how to fish – and not just for the perfect catch – but for all kinds of people, the imperfect as well as the perfect, the smelly as well as the well groomed, the colorful and the plain. Jesus wants to teach us, and then to have us teach others, how to catch people in the net of God’s love, mercy and grace. 

Pastor Dave