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| When you just know Jesus was here! |
January 20, 2019—Second
Sunday after the Epiphany
2,026 days ago I stood right where I am standing now. It was our
first Sunday together sharing ministry. At the start of that sermon I held up
some old ratty cross-country spikes. There’s little reason why you would
remember this, but during that sermon I recalled my senior season of running in
college. Back at university, I had written several motivational phrases inside
those shoes. One was the first half of an African proverb: “If you want to go
fast, go alone.” I left off the second half of that piece of wisdom back in
school—I thought I was cool. But on that Sunday five and a half years ago what
I hoped for us in our shared ministry was the second half of that expression:
“If you want to go far, go together.” Friends, it feels like we have gone far.
Of course, at this moment it does not feel like it—I am standing
exactly where I stood back then. And, you might be sitting exactly where you sat
back then—we do love our assigned pews, right? But, still a lot has happened in
the interceding seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
Our lives look different. Our campus looks different. We’ve
started new ministries, increased our budget, and taken part in the building up
of God’s Kingdom. We’ve had 15 baptismal services and 4 Confirmation services
with dozens welcomed into the Body of Christ. We have also seen many beloved
friends die. 39 services of burial to be exact. Others have dealt with loss,
illness, and grief. Still, there have been so many high points: 14 weddings,
countless Christian Formation classes, 100s of TonT questions, and 100s of pet
blessings each year at our St. Francis’ service. We’ve shared 6 Lessons and
Carols, 6 Christmases, and 5 Holy Weeks. We’ve been nourished by the Body and
Blood of Christ 1,241 times since the summer of 2013. Right over there I was
ordained a priest by Bishop Santosh. Up there I celebrated at my first
Eucharist. Over there was where my own child was baptized. And, there have been
so many other holy moments.
I got to thinking about all this time since the beginning of our
shared ministry, and it started to hurt my head. Y’all may know I don’t
particularly like doing math problems. And yet, here goes. It has been 2,032
days since I began working at St. John’s Church. And, that is 5.56 years
together. But, each of us in that time has lived 5.56 years of our own. And,
there are 646 members of St. John’s. So, if we multiply 5.56 years times 646
members we have lived way more than five and a half years together. We have
lived approximately 3,592 human years during our shared time of ministry.
That’s a lot of time! We have spent so many moments together studying, praying,
singing, worshipping, talking, eating, drinking, living, breathing, and loving.
That is so much time that if we could string it together into one human life,
it would take us all the way back to before the start of Jesus’ own earthly
ministry. Hey, isn’t that what today’s Gospel lesson is about—the beginning of
Jesus’ ministry? See what I did there?
Somehow it feels just right that on this day when we celebrate the
ending of our shared ministry together, we also celebrate the beginning of
Jesus’ ministry. Endings and beginnings are always tied together. And, as
important as our ministry together has been, what truly matters is why we have
shared in this ministry in the first place. Why have we done all this? Because
everything we do is about taking part in Christ’s ministry. Everything we do is
about the transforming love of God that we most clearly see in the life, the death,
and the Resurrection of Christ Jesus. Everything we do in our individual and
corporate ministries is about taking part in the ministry of the Father, the
Son, and the Spirit. And, today in John’s words we see revealed what Christ
Jesus’ ministry was all about! So, let’s look closer at this beginning even
here at this ending.
This lesson begins on the third day, what third day? Is this
foreshadowing of the Resurrection on the third day? Most likely, but it was
also the third day of Jesus’ public ministry. On the first, Jesus called his
first disciple Andrew who in turn called his brother Simon (we know him as Peter).
On the second, Jesus traveled to Galilee and called Philip who then called his
friend Nathanael. On this third day this new ragtag group of a teacher and his
disciples traveled to Cana for a wedding. How did they get invited to a wedding
on such short notice? That’s the real miracle here! Okay not really, but the
first real sign that Jesus was not just some teacher came here at the wedding
feast.
In the midst of a party so fun that they ran out of wine, Jesus, reluctantly
at first, pointed in the direction of what he came to earth to do, who he came
to be. On this day that is fraught with emotion and grieving, it is crucial to
see where Jesus was headed. It’s paramount to know what our shared ministry
together with Him is to look like. And one of the best ways we can see this is
by looking at the setting. This was not a slow dirge, nor a quiet shindig. No,
life in Christ was, is, and will be a raucous throw down. So, what exactly happened
when the party looked like it would stop?
There was a moment of tension at the very start of Jesus’ public
ministry. What would happen? Would the party end? Mary knew. She trusted Jesus.
Mary could see what she had seen in her son all along. Jesus’ mother had come
to believe that he was not just some teacher or a carpenter’s apprentice. But,
Jesus balked. He said his hour had not yet come. This was something he would
say throughout John’s Gospel account, until finally on the cross the time did arrive.
But, all the way back in Cana Mary had faith. She told the steward to do what
her son said. And, the procrastinating Jesus, the one through whom all things
had been created out of nothing, created something else out of nothing but
water. In the process, Jesus showed us what shared ministry with Him is like.
What does ministry with Christ look like? In one word: Transformation!
Transformation is what this ministry is all about! Here are three different
ways that Jesus’ first sign pointed in the direction of transformation.
First, Jesus transformed water into wine. Now we say this so often
that it needs a bit of unpacking. Jesus got some servants to fill six huge stones
jars with water. Imagine the immensity of those containers. They were made out
of rock and then they were filled to the brim with 20-30 gallons of water.
Heavy (doc)! So, imagine the huge scale of this transformation. 25 gallons
times six (here I go again with the math). This equates to 757 750ml bottles of
wine. That’s 4,542 glasses of wine. An abundant transformation!
Second, those gigantic stone jars were supposed to be used for
purity rites. But, Jesus transformed that too. He repurposed those religious
instruments. The old ways of purity codes and having to follow the rules to
receive approval from God were metamorphosed into a new way. This way was not
about only the few who followed the rules getting into the party. Nope! Instead
it was about everyone joining the festivities.
Third, and perhaps most fittingly for today, Jesus transformed the
ending of that wedding party. Sound familiar? When we expect death, God hits us
with life! Because of His shifting the water into wine, the gathering could
keep going, more could be invited, and the celebration could continue on and on
and on. Thus, Jesus’ first sign pointed to how life in Christ transforms us.
This miracle didn’t signify having too little, having to follow
certain rules to be a part of the party, or cutting something short. No, this
first sign pointed to God’s abundance, inclusion, and eternal gifting. This was
a jubilee that was just getting started, and it is one that we are part of now,
and one that will keep going forever.
We are still celebrating this same feast. When we gather together
at God’s Table—wherever we are—we will share in the same fruit from the same divine
vine. And, while today is the ending of our shared ministry here at St. John’s,
it is not the end of our shared ministry with Christ Jesus. For the ministry
that we share together with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit goes on
into eternity. God’s transformation love as seen in the life, the death, and
the Resurrection of Christ Jesus is a sign telling us the supplies will never
give out, all are invited, and there is no end to the feast. So may we continue
to go far together as we celebrate with God and experience transformational
love forever.
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