The first sign of Christ’s glory

Sermon for Epiphany 2

Romans 12:6-16  +  John 2:1-11

How do you describe our God to people outside the church? You could say all kinds of things. You could describe Him as a God of love, a God of justice, the good and gracious Creator of all things, as the God who rules over this universe, as the God who will judge all men one day. Those things are all true. But the problem is, a lot of different religions could say that much about their gods. If you want to get more specific, you could describe our God as the God of the Bible, as the one God who is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Still, that’s so abstract, hard for people to latch onto until they know Him better.

If you really want to describe our God to people, the best way is to start with the incarnate God—the God who took on human flesh and was seen on earth for those special 33 years. In other words, the best way to describe God is to describe Jesus. And I mean, describe Him as he spoke and He behaved, as recorded in Holy Scripture. And, by the way, it’s important that people know that the Scriptural record is reliable and that we actually believe it. We do not present a Jesus to the world who is a myth or whose words or deeds are myths. The story of Christ is the truest story in the world.

At Christmas, God the Father truly sent His Son to the world as a gift, and we celebrated that gift at Christmas, while the rest of the world celebrated all sorts of other things. In this Epiphany season, we continue to unwrap that gift, a little bit more, a little bit more, as Christ reveals His glory, not in a brilliant flash of light, but in little revelations given (originally) to a relatively small handful of people, revelations of His glory and of His deity and of what our God is like as He describes Himself to us in the person of His Son.

He unwrapped a little of that in the visit of the wise men. A little more when Jesus was twelve years old. A little more at His Baptism. And yet a little more in today’s Gospel at the wedding at Cana.

What things are revealed about our God here?

He’s the kind of God who is happy to attend a wedding dinner to which He’s invited. A wedding party, even. Jesus goes with His first few disciples to this wedding, showing us that He favors these good and healthy parts of our life. He’s the One who instituted marriage in the beginning and still has much to say about how husband and wife are to live within marriage. Some early Christians got the idea that marriage is too earthly, too beneath the children of the light, that if you really want to serve God, you have to go live in a monastery or renounce marriage. Try telling that to Jesus as He sits at this wedding at Cana. No, when He calls people away from this life, He isn’t calling people to live in a commune or to abstain from all the good gifts God has given. What He is calling you to do is to renounce sin, to treat marriage and the other activities of this life as gifts to be enjoyed along the way to your real goal of eternal life. What He is calling you to do is summarized nicely by St. Paul in today’s Epistle: Detest what is evil. Cling to what is good. Love one another deeply, with brotherly love. Surpass one another in showing respect. Do not be sluggish in showing diligence. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be devout in prayer. Share in the needs of the saints. Pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. On other occasions, for example, when Lazarus died, Jesus wept with those wept. Here at the wedding at Cana, Jesus is rejoicing with those who rejoice.

In the midst of the rejoicing, they ran low on wine. And Mary took it upon herself to get Jesus involved in that relatively insignificant problem. They have no wine, she said, clearly implying that He should do something about it. But His answer reveals something else about Jesus. “Woman, why do you involve Me? My hour has not yet come.” To call Mary “woman” wasn’t as harsh as it sounds in modern English. But He didn’t call her “mother” or “mom,” either. Now that Jesus has begun His ministry, His relationship with Mary has changed. She will not be His guide or His counselor. Does she think this is His chance to reveal Himself to the world? She’s wrong. Jesus has His hour always in view, even at a wedding celebration. His hour would come about three years later, and He would say it openly. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. During Holy Week. Showing His true glory in going willingly to the cross for our sins. He has that always in view, where all things were leading. So don’t look to Mary for advice or even for intercession with her Son on your behalf. He will listen to your own prayers and petitions, just as He once listened to hers. But He will do what He knows to be right. He didn’t need Mary’s advice. He doesn’t need yours, either.

But Mary did suspect that Jesus would do something on this occasion, so she instructed the servants to do whatever He tells you. And what He told them reveals a little more about our God. He instructs the servants to fill these six stone jars with water, about 150 gallons of water, and then tells them to draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. And just like that, the water was turned into wine. And the only ones who knew about it were the disciples and the servants. Quietly, behind the scenes, without drawing any attention to Himself, Jesus performs what is really an incredible miracle, an act of pure creation, changing simple H2O into perfectly aged, fine wine. And so He reveals His divinity, His absolute power over nature. He also reveals that He hasn’t come to get rid of alcohol or to turn His followers into fanatics who rave against alcohol and distinguish themselves from the world by abstaining from such things entirely. That form of Christianity is not something that Jesus ever espoused. No, He condemns the abuse of alcohol and the abuse of any good gift, but not the gift itself. Again, you don’t have to renounce all the good things God has given in this life in order to follow Christ. You just have to make sure you’re using them, not in a sinful way, but for His honor and glory and in thanksgiving.

Now, what else does Jesus reveal here? He reveals His willingness to perform a great miracle in order to solve such a little problem. No one’s life would be any worse because they ran out of wine at a wedding. Now, if He’s willing to remedy even this little problem, what won’t He do for those who love Him, if it fits into His good and gracious will?

And then, consider again the miracle itself. Jesus provided wine in abundance—far more than was needed. And He provided wine that was “the best wine,” leaving the master of the feast astonished. And the purpose of it wasn’t to fix a terrible problem, but to provide a source of joy for the people around Him. A free gift that causes rejoicing and celebration.

The other purpose was to teach His disciples, and us, and the world, through us, a little bit more about Himself, a little bit more about our God. We’ve unwrapped a little more of this gift of God’s Son today. And what have we seen? A God who came to live among us and to participate in our lives, who attends weddings and parties (not to encourage or participate in bad behavior, but to support that which is good). A Savior who, even at such times, is mindful of the reason why He came, not to get absorbed in earthly activities, but to give His life on the cross so that we could survive the destruction of the earth and eternal condemnation through faith in Him. A Savior who didn’t come to make our lives bitter, but to take the bitterness of this life and make it a little better now, until He makes all things new at the heavenly wedding banquet.

So when you think of describing our God to someone, don’t imagine you have to start with some obscure doctrinal points. Talk to people about the God who has revealed Himself in the person of His Son. Yes, He’s the same God who, through Moses, turned water into blood as the first of his great signs against the unbelieving Egyptians, and that’s an important story, too. But when God sent His Son into the world to save sinners, the first of His signs wasn’t something horrifying and destructive, but something joyful and sweet, turning water into wine at Cana, revealing Himself as the God who came to give us the free and abundant gift of life and joy in His presence. Put your faith in Him! And tell the world of His goodness in Christ Jesus! Amen.