“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)

“I think I first began to have a pale version of the experience that Saint Paul describes in his letter to the Philippians. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” he writes, “for God is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” I was a long way from thinking in terms of my own salvation or anybody else’s, but through the people I met…it seems to me now that a power from beyond time was working to achieve its own aim through my aimless life in time as it works through the lives of all of us and all our times.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Mary and Jesus are at the wedding of a nameless couple. We know nothing about the status of this couple or their relationship to Mary and Jesus – all we learn is that they seem to have no idea how much wine to order for a week-long wedding. Disaster has struck their wedding celebration – and they faced possible embarrassment and humiliation. This miracle comes at the beginning of John’s Gospel and the purpose of this story soon becomes very clear – it is Jesus’ first miracle. And it is from this miracle that the power of Jesus is unleashed – and word of his actions spreads far and wide. Of course, we cannot miss the fact that by Mary telling the servants “Do whatever he tells you”, she initiates the miracle. She takes the risk of either embarrassing her son or further embarrassing the host. But if Mary had not spoken up, would Jesus have acted?

As Buechner suggests, it is often through the people we meet in our lives that we are given purpose and direction. As Paul says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Perhaps Mary does not speak out of turn like some might think – instead this was part of G-d’s plan. If we think we can work out our own salvation, if we believe that we do not need others in our lives, then we live to our own detriment. Living in community means we open ourselves to the influences of others, and they open themselves up to our influences as well. We often need the others in our lives to give us the opportunity to do G-d’s will – and to offer our gifts – and to be the miracle in someone else’s life. We always need to be on the lookout for opportunities – to see the miracles happening in our lives, and to see the opportunities to be someone else’s miracle. Being the miracle in other’s lives only takes the openness to see the opportunities.

Pastor Dave

“Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Mark 7:31-37

“Two American tourists are driving through Wales. They decide to stop for a bite to eat in the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Baffled by the name, one of them turns to a local and asks, “Would you please say where we are—very slowly?” The Welshman leans over and says, very slowly, “Burrr-gerrr Kinngg.”

“Not long after A Long Day’s Dying was published, a man I scarcely knew asked me to have lunch with him. He was one of the ministers who came regularly to preach at the Lawrenceville chapel and whose sermons had a sort of witty, sardonic liveliness to them. Had I ever considered, he said, putting my gift with words to work for—God, did he say? Or the Church? Or Christ? I no longer remember how he put it exactly, and he made no great thing of it but passed on soon to other matters so that I do not to this day know whether this was what he had asked me to lunch to say or not.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

“Be opened”, Jesus says – and the man’s ears were opened, and his tongue released. This healing begs the question: are our ears open to the word of G-d? Yes, if we watch worship or read the bible often, we are opening ourselves up to the word of G-d. But that does not mean that our ears often get “stopped-up”. What do I mean? Well one of the disadvantages to growing up in the church, as I see it, is the danger of scripture becoming “too familiar”. How can this be?

Well, when we open ourselves up to hear the Gospels read just on Sunday mornings, then we run the risk of knowing only snippets of the Gospels rather than really immersing ourselves in the Word of G-d. So, how can we hear the bible in new ways? How can the bible be opened to our hearing so that we might hear them with fresh ears?

The best way to hear the Gospel is to hear it in multiple formats – to hear it preached – to engage it in bible study – to hear different interpretations – and to listen for the Holy Spirit as you seek guidance in understanding the scriptures. As Buechner shares in his story above, sometimes we encounter G-d’s impact and power through others – especially in their scriptural understanding.

Take time in 2021 to read the bible daily – especially those parts that are not that familiar.

Pastor Dave