From Scarcity to Abundance: Lessons from Cana

John 2 begins a theme throughout this entire Gospel account: Eucharistic Abundance —
Jesus provides an ultimate feast for all

 

Isaiah 62:1-5

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

John 2:1-11

Psalm 36:5-10

 

©2025 The Rev. Seth Olson

 

This sermon was preached originally on January 19, 2025 at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles. A video of this sermon may be found here. 

Loving and Beloved God, may my words be your words and when my words are not your words may your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen. 

 

Today’s Gospel passage takes us to a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first recorded miracle: turning water into wine. It’s a story brimming (pun intended) with significance, humor, and the revelation of God’s abundant grace. It is also profoundly important to understanding who God is and what God’s Reign on earth looks like.

 

Let’s begin with the scene itself. Imagine the joy of a wedding, a multi-day celebration filled with family, friends, food, and music. Such occasions are moments of union, community, and celebration—a microcosm of God’s desires for us. Weddings in the ancient world were significant communal events, meant to bring people together in shared joy. In the midst of this happiness, however, a problem arose: the wine ran out. Nowadays, if this were to happen someone would simply go on a b double e double r u n (beer run), but in those days there weren’t convenience stores. For the host, this would have been a complete social catastrophe, a failure to provide hospitality and celebration for the guests.

 

It was into this moment of scarcity that Mary, Jesus’ mother, stepped forward. She conveyed to her child, “They have no wine.” Jesus’ response might strike us as humorous, even slightly abrupt: “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” Now, if I said that to my momma, I would have gotten “the look” or worse. Yet, Mary didn’t argue. Instead, she turned to the servants and said, “Do whatever he tells you.” There is a quiet confidence in Mary’s faith here, an abiding belief that Jesus would act—and that whatever he did would be enough. I pray that God might bestow upon us that same sense of trust in God.

 

Back to the action, what Jesus did next was extraordinary—supernatural even. He took six stone water jars, each holding twenty or thirty gallons, jars meant for Jewish purification rituals, and transformed their contents into wine. That’s over 900 bottles of wine and not just any wine, but the best wine, better than what had been served the rest of the feast. The steward’s reaction says it all: “You have kept the good wine until now!”

 

Now, I’m sure we have all been to great weddings. I am personally partial to Kim’s and my own. A hot July day in Austin Texas meant that everyone was a sweaty mess even before the ceremony—celebrated by two of our best friends (who also happen to be priests). Even with the heat (and notoriously bad Austin traffic delaying the ceremony from starting on time) it was outstanding. Plus, a BBQ feast, delicious ice cream, and a packed dance floor made it the most fun night of my life. However, even my own wedding is not the most meaningful wedding to me, for this Cana wedding feast story reveals so much about the nature of God. 

 

First, it shows us a God who cares about celebration, about joy, and about the flourishing of life. Jesus’ first miracle is not performed in the Temple or for a grand audience, but at a wedding party, a simple, human occasion. God’s abundance is revealed in this moment of turning scarcity into plenty, a sign of the overflowing love that is at the heart of our Trinitarian God who is always loving so very much that it overflows the bounds of just that relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit. 

 

Second, this story points us toward transformation. The water jars used for ritual cleansing—signs of the old order, of the need for purification—are repurposed as vessels for celebration. In this act, Jesus is not discarding the old but transforming it, showing us a new way of encountering God’s grace. Truly, both are always needed—purification and celebration! This transformation invites us to look at the ordinary elements of our lives and see how they might be used to reveal God’s glory. A simple hike through the woods surprisingly reveals the creative love of God. Coffee with a friend becomes sacramental helping you to feel seen and heard by God through the compassion of a beloved one. Where else in our seemingly ordinary lives is God’s glory already shining?

 

Third, this is an Epiphany story. During this season, we celebrate the ways Jesus’ magnificence is revealed to the world. Here, in Cana, God revealed Jesus’ glory not with fanfare but through an act of quiet abundance. The disciples see it, and they believe. And, to be fair, who wouldn’t? 900 bottles of wine is a mighty tool for spreading the Gospel. All joking aside, it is a sign not just for the people of Israel but for all the world, a glimpse of the universal grace that Jesus offers.

 

But there is another layer to this story that connects deeply with the broader themes of John’s Gospel—themes that further reveal the nature of God. In John, there is no Last Supper narrative as we find in the other Gospel accounts. Instead, the theme of Eucharistic abundance is woven throughout the entire story. Jesus is the Bread of Life, the one who provides living water, the one who ensures the wine never runs dry. The wedding at Cana is the first of many moments where Jesus provided in abundance, foreshadowing the ultimate feast of the kingdom where all are fed and all are welcomed. And, that feast is still ongoing. We will partake in it this morning as we gather with Jesus around God’s holy table.

 

This Eucharistic abundance stands in stark contrast to the scarcity mindset that so often pervades our society. We are constantly bombarded with messages that we are not enough, that we do not have enough, that we must strive and consume to fill the void. But the kingdom of God operates differently. In God’s economy, there is always enough. In God’s economy, nothing is wasted. In God’s economy, there is always more than enough. The invitation is to trust in that abundance and to live as people who reflect it in our lives. That’s why so often at the offertory I talk about our connection to this table. For together with God we always have enough and God has a way of taking what we give and transforming our blessings into the blessings of others!

 

So, how might we live out this abundance this week? Perhaps it begins with gratitude, recognizing the ways God has already blessed us. Maybe it extends to generosity, sharing what we have with others (yes in the offertory plate, but also throughout your week). For the hope of God is that all may experience the joy of the feast. And, living out of God’s abundance certainly involves a commitment to celebration, to being people who reflect God’s joy and invite others into it. Come play Bingo on Friday night with your church family, come have fun with our Gumbo Gala squad, join us at our beans and rice Mardi Gras dinner in early March.

 

As we go forth today, let us remember that the same God who turned water into wine at Cana is at work in our lives, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, scarcity into plenty, and inviting us into the joyful feast of God’s kingdom. May we shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, so that God’s abundant love may be known and shared to the ends of the earth. Amen.

 

Epiphany: When the Rest of the World Gets It

An Epiphany meme found on www.reddit.com

Today is Epiphany! YAY! The Wise Men finally reached their destination. As a child the Sunday closest to Epiphany was when we did the full Nativity pageant. Sure on Christmas Eve we had some fun with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus; however, it was not until later that we brought out the full cast. I loved playing the part of the Innkeeper the most, as the lines were short and I got to sit in a pew by myself; however, I also loved being one of the Magi. As much as today is about the Wise Men, we often can confuse their presents with the deeper significance of their presence at the side of Jesus and his mother.

Yes, this is the day when three guys triangulated the city of Bethlehem with a star that led them to the baby Messiah and his mother, but it was also the precise instant that persons outside the Chosen People of Israel came to see, gift, and worship the Incarnate God in the person of Jesus. THIS IS A BIG DEAL! For thousands of years the tribes of Israel had worshiped the One God, but it was not so clear that anyone else cared or "got it." And yet, in this moment three men who practiced a completely different religion that focused far more on stars and the natural world than a monotheistic interpretation of God traveled from afar to be with this new born king.

Epiphany is the celebration of the rest of us getting it. Jesus had come to his people and according to John's Gospel account the people did not recognize him (1:11). So for another people to come, see, and worship him as God opened up a completely new possibility for the saving work that Jesus did. This was not just something confined to one group, one tribe, or one religion. This was the event that uncorked the beautiful saving embrace of all people.

Those in the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate this as the most high moment of what is called the "Nativity Cycle" that is Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. They can easily relate to the ones from the East, so this makes sense that they love this day. Although we in the U.S.A. are not from the East we are Gentiles like the Magi. So, this is our day to celebrate salvation coming to us as well! Those in the Eastern Orthodox Church do not just confine Epiphany to a remembrance of the Wise Men though, they (and we with them) celebrate different moments of other people getting a glimpse of Christ's coming in Jesus, most notably the Baptism of Jesus and Jesus' first miracle at a wedding reception in Cana.

Today is the day when all people are invited to get the miracle of Christmas. We are invited to dwell fully in the mystery of Emmanuel: God with us. The Divine comes to earth to save all people. Today we go with the Wise Men to see the mother and child. We watch as Jesus rises from the River Jordan and hears God's voice calling him "My beloved Son." We celebrate heartily as Jesus transforms water into wine. This is the day when we get invited to be part of God's people, as we recognize the transformative power of the Incarnate One.

EUREKA

Audio of sermon can be found here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/3201704/Olson_010715_Wed_Noon_Eureka.MP3

Have you ever had a “eureka moment”? You know what I am talking about, right? When something clicks into place for the first time. A time when something becomes clear that was not so clear just a moment ago. Where does it come from?

I got curious about the word itself. Eureka has become an English word, but originally it meant something a little different in the Greek. “I found it,” that’s what eureka means, and the great mathematician Archimedes gets credit for first saying it. Of course, the moment when he said it is more fascinating to me. Archimedes stepped into a bath tub when he realized that the water level rose as his body’s mass sunk beneath the surface, thus he discovered the law of water displacement. Only a mathematician would shout out loud, “I FOUND IT! EUREKA!” when discovering a law in the bathtub.

Have you ever had a eureka moment? A moment when something becomes apparent for the first time. Maybe it was when you first fell in love with your spouse. Perhaps it was that time when you first fell out of love with someone. A eureka moment could be when you happened upon your life’s great passion, or when you came to connect with God in a deeper way.

Yesterday in the Church we remembered a collective eureka moment, the day of Epiphany. Epiphany is another old word that means revelation or manifestation, and it is the time when we celebrate the Incarnate God in the person of Jesus being revealed as messiah to a people outside of his own tradition. This is our collective eureka moment. We most closely connect the Epiphany with the story of the Magi, three wise men from the East following a star, so that they could bestow gifts upon a child savior, but strangely enough today’s story is another Epiphany moment, another eureka!

A professor in seminary once wondered aloud about today’s gospel lesson. She said, “What does it say about John’s gospel account that the first of Jesus’ miracles that he writes down is turning water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana?” “Is he a drunk?” I thought. “Does John just really love wine? Maybe he’s a big proponent of preparing for wedding feasts?” Of course, what my professor was going for is that Our God is abundant and loves to celebrate with us. Hold onto those two revelations from this story for a moment because we need to explore what happens between Jesus and his mother to fully observe this epiphany.

The way that John records this story strikes me as peculiar, at least upon first reading. “There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.” John needs for us to know that Mary is there. Then he tells us that Jesus and his disciples were there. “When the wine gave out,” the story continues with a twist in the plot introducing us to some drama, Mary says, “They have no wine.” At this moment I am struck that Mary takes on someone else’s problem. This is not her son’s wedding. She could have left this problem alone, but instead she turns to Jesus.

Now, I am not opposed to taking our problems to Jesus, but I do not think that is the eureka moment. This is not what we are seeking to find. Jesus responds to his mother almost coldly, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” If I talked to my dearest darling mother in this way, I would get at least a death stare if not worse. Yet, what Jesus does here is fascinating. He does not urgently panic about what to do, nor does he immediately coddle his mother or the stewards or the bride and groom. His mother also does not get defensive about how Jesus speaks to her, instead she simply says, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Mary has faith in her son that he will do the will of God. Jesus though is not a magic eraser, he’s not Mr. Fix-it, nor is he some magician who waves a wand over the problems of the world. That is not why God became incarnate.

Jesus was a Jewish man, but for him to ask the servants to fill the jars of purification with water was a big no-no. In this moment he reveals a true miracle: Yes, it is turning water into wine! Yes, it is producing enough wine to open up a Galilean winery! Yes, it is helping the celebration of two people coming together in marriage to continue late into the night! Yet, it is even more than this. Jesus transforms the rite of purification into a moment of celebration. Jesus initiates his ministry with this first miracle not to solve a problem that is not really a problem, but to show that He is God and our God is a God of plenty and festivity.

This is the eureka moment! We have found God and Our God is not just here for purification, but for celebration. Our God is not just here for fixing problems, but for responding to even our small concerns with great richness. And our response to this Epiphany should be following mother Mary’s words, “Do whatever he tells you.” In this time of year when we recognize God’s manifestation as Savior of all people let us observe God’s abundance, celebration, and presence all around us and even within us.

The Feast of Holy Name: How Do You Celebrate New Year's Coming?

What do you do to celebrate New Year’s Coming? Do you stay up to watch the ball drop? Do you quietly make some resolutions for the impending year? Do you watch some football games? How about cooking up some black eyed peas and turnip greens? What ritual brings in the New Year for you?

Every year we celebrate Holy Name on New Year’s Day and we celebrate the circumcision and naming of Jesus in the Temple. Talk about a different type of New Year’s ritual! On the eighth day of a Jewish boy’s life, he would have been taken to a rabbi to take part in this ceremony, so that he would have been marked as one of God’s Chosen People. While this simple rite comes at the end of today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel, what tends to overshadow this ritual is the visitation of the angels to the shepherds and recalling Jesus’ virgin birth from Mary.

Often at this time of year we are bombarded by the miraculous! Angels visiting Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Shepherds, a virgin giving birth to Emmanuel (God is with us), and the magi coming from far away to bestow gifts on this new born king makes overlooking this Jewish rite very easy. This makes me think of how I tend to overlook the commonplace, everyday presence of God, as I seek out some amazing bolt-of-lightning type moment.

When Jesus came to earth we hear of all the miracles that took place for him to arrive. The Incarnation of Christ, the Truth that God would want to dwell within the Creation He made, is in and of itself astounding. Yet, on this day, the Feast of Holy Name what stands out to me is the simplicity and the quiet action of Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to be circumcised and named in the presence of the religious authority of the day. While it comes off as everyday, this rite helps me to know that God With Us was just like us.

We do not have too much about Jesus growing up. There is one story in Luke’s Gospel of Jesus’ trip to the Temple as a child, yet for the most part we are left to imagine what the Son of God was like as a kid, a teenager, and a young adult. Jesus walked around just like you and me. He scraped his knee and ran to Mary for comfort. He played with other children in the neighborhood. He stood beside Joseph watching as the carpenter went about his work.

Certainly, I love to celebrate the magnificence of God coming to dwell with us, the angel’s visitations, and the magi coming. Still what the Feast of Holy Name reminds me of is that God came down and was a little boy of whom Mary and Joseph took care. He was presented in the fashion of his culture. He became just like us and when he did he made our simple rituals and everyday practices holy. Maybe it seems silly to celebrate New Year’s traditions, but even actions as simple as these are made holy by Christ’s coming to be with us.

Matthew 9:9-17: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

Jesus receives many titles throughout Scripture: the Prince of Peace, the Lord and Savior, the Logos aka the Word of God, the Lamb of God, the Good Shepherd, the Christ, the Son of God, and the Son of Man just to name a few. I think each gives us a different way of understanding God Incarnate. In today's gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus himself hints at another title, the Great Physician, which stands out as a particularly fitting nickname for such a source of healing. Wrapped within the profundity of the cognomen itself is the way in which Jesus brings about healing to those who are sin-sick and to all of Creation.

This section of the gospel begins with the call of Matthew, who is a tax collector. Tax collectors in the First Century of the Common Era, just like they are today, were not seen as a likable characters. When thinking of Matthew here at the start negative associations with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are quite appropriate. Especially among Pharisees, folks in Matthew's line of work were villainous, for they would line their pockets with extra taxes that they added on to those imposed by Imperial Rome. Jesus' call to Matthew in light of this comes as somewhat of a shock. Maybe today's equivalent would be Jesus walking into our gridlocked U.S. Congress to call some corrupt politician to "follow me." Jesus call of Matthew is surprising to say the least. Yet, Jesus, as usual, goes a step further.

Jesus not only calls Matthew, a sinful tax collector, he goes so far as to share a meal with the IRS agent and all his friends. To dine with such lowly characters would have given the Pharisees hives. These "sinful" ones were seen not only as corrupt, but also unclean. As the Pharisees walk by they observe Jesus' welcoming action, and they cannot help but say to Jesus' disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus, leaning in the doorway just within earshot of the religious folks, hears their comment. Then, having to stop a very interesting conversation with liars, thieves, prostitutes, and tax collectors Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick [do]." What an obvious retort to the Pharisee's cynical question, yet it is more than just a comeback, Jesus provides with his statement an insight into the purpose of his mission. Jesus is here to heal!

I believe fully in the power of God's healing through Christ Jesus. And, I believe that it did not stop when the person of Jesus of Nazareth commissioned his disciples to go and do the work in the world, as he mysteriously left his earthly ministry. Sometimes though, I get caught up in the mechanism of this healing. Living in such a rational age, miraculous healing sometimes sets my scientific mind on edge. I start to wonder, if Jesus is truly the Great Physician, able to heal us, why have my loved ones suffered? If the Great Physician brings healing, why is there so much pain in the world? Why God?

"Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." The healing that Jesus brings into this world is salvation. There is a 100% chance that all of us are going to die. Our bodies will stop working, our hearts will stop pumping, and our minds will deteriorate. Jesus is not promising that we will not go through this, rather he is offering to all of us who are disconnected from one another and from God a chance for healing. We are given redemption through the Great Physician.

This past Sunday morning the TED-ology Christian Education class watched Bryan Stevenson's "We Need to Talk about Injustice." Stevenson, a profound and hopeful defense lawyer from Alabama, put it roughly this way, "We are more than the worst thing that we have done. I believe, if you lie, you are more than a liar. If you steal something, you are more than a thief. And, even if you kill someone you are more than a killer." I believe this is the healing that Jesus offers to us. We are more than our sins that keep us from one another. We are children of God. Made in the image of God. Redeemed by Christ Jesus. Healed by the Great Physician.

We are not to walk around with our sins written across our foreheads. We are not to hurt ourselves with painful sacrifices of shame and guilt, rather we are to see each other as healed by God Incarnate himself. Jesus wants us to be contrite, to show mercy to one another and to ourselves. This is how we are healed, not by calling one another sinners as the Pharisees do. Jesus is our Great Physician and the medicine he prescribes is the sweetness of mercy, not the bitterness of shame and guilt offerings.

Luke 17:5-10: Choosing the Miraculous

This Sunday's sermon can be heard by clicking here or by going to the following address:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/3182162/VN810143.MP3

The notes for the sermon are found below:

Pep Talk

-I thought that I wanted to be a coach

-They had an ability to cut through whatever was going on and inspire me to do something more -Sometimes this was not always done in a pleasant manner

In Today's Gospel Jesus does the same, Jesus is giving a fiery inspirational speech -he is not talking with Pharisees, Scribes, or even disciples... these are the apostles

-We only hear about them a handful of times in Luke's gospel, and each instance is important

-Earlier in Luke Jesus has sent them out to perform miracles in his name

-EVERYWHERE

-We might hear Jesus' words this morning as harsh, but he is talking with his closest followers (Jesus expects more of them)

Here they are asking to have their faith increased

-One would believe that if you are able to go out preaching and healing you have plenty of Faith, but...

-I can relate to how the apostles feel.

-Even when something miraculous happens in my life sometimes I yearn for my faith to increase.

-So how does Coach Jesus respond to this deficiency in faith?

He doesn't respond that they have enough faith already

-Jesus hints that IF they faith mustard seed they could tell a mulberry tree to throw itself into the sea

-Lectio Class: if one planted a mulberry tree in the sea, would it survive?

-While it is an interesting question...

-Jesus is in this bit about the mustard seed and mulberry tree, saying that faith is choosing to be open to something beyond our understanding.

The master-slave parable that follows helps to understand how we might choose this.

First, this parable possesses the word slave in it.

-as persons living in the US we have a host of images that pop up with this word -this is not what Jesus is taking about here

-this is not a condoning the practice of slavery, Jesus is using a controversial to help make his point about what Faith is.

Let me try to modernize Jesus' parable.

-If you were to call the cable company to come install a new service at your house

-And the cable installer came out to your house

-And after doing the work on the outside of the house, but before you had channels on your television, this person sat down at your kitchen table and asked, "why haven't you brought me a steak dinner yet?" Wouldn't you say to that person, get back to work?

So it is with our Faith.

-Our Faith is a choice that we continuously make.

-We do not get a ribbon every time we secure our responsibility of Faith.

(This is especially hard for me who grew up getting a trophy every time I participated in a sport).

-The Good News is we do not faith alone. (Yes I just used Faith as a verb)

In today's epistle Paul sincere begins his second letter to Timothy with a tender greeting

-Paul says that Timothy's faith was first kindled in his grandmother Lois, then in his mother Eunice and continues in him

-The fire of our Faith began in others too, and we have that Faith passed on to us!

Faith of family

-Camp Winnataska

-Babaw, Nangy, Mom, Elin and me, Emmeline -This shows me within my own life that Faith is contagious, it is a learned behavior, it is passed on from generation to generation.

-And yet...

We can ask Jesus to increase our Faith, I believe that to be an honest prayer.

-Yet Paul and Jesus are giving us pep talks

-They are encouraging us to choose to open up to God. We do this together!

-Look around to the persons next to you... they are your faith.

-Look around at your life... that is where faith happens.

-I believe we are called to choose God, to make the choice over and over again to follow Jesus. And while we might want rewards for doing what God calls us to do, that is not what it is about. Faith is about the size of a mustard seed, but it blooms into all sorts of miracles.