a Sermon for Epiphany 2C
Text: John 2:1-11

first things first

Jesus has been baptized by John in the Jordan. GOD has spoken. The Spirit has descended like a dove. Last week, we got the kickoff to Jesus’s ministry in the world with a big show. All three parts of the Trinity showing up in a single passage. A moment so important to Christians throughout the early church that it was the first big day celebrated. Jesus is not simply baptized with that little silver shell, sprinkled with droplets of water over His head, but he is submerged in the river and a booming voice announces that in this moment, this person, this man is the beloved they have been waiting for. This is serious, big time theological stuff.

Immediately, Jesus gets moving. He collects some disciples. First Andrew and his brother Peter, James and John, and the rest join Him on the journey. Then he and his Mom and these student followers are invited, of all things, to a wedding.

A wedding seems to be an odd place for Jesus to be, particularly now. He’s full of the Spirit. He’s collected his people. It’s time to get moving! It’s time to get out there and do! It’s time to transform the world! And yet here he is, the adult son, sitting with his Mom at a wedding reception.

It is an odd inauguration, isn’t it? The end of the story even names the significance of the moment as Jesus’s first miracle. Not feeding 5,000 hungry people, but turning water into wine so that drunk people can keep drinking!

Hello, Party People!

It’s probably safe to say that we’ve all been to a wedding before. And we know what is expected at them. It begins with an invitation and it is expected that we reply, letting the couple know whether or not we will be attending so that they can count heads. As guests, we expect a lot: directions, a good show in the liturgy, a reminder in a sermon about the true meaning of love, a reception and free food, some music, and perhaps dancing and alcohol. In some situations, plenty of alcohol. But not always. I was once in a wedding party in which the groom and the groomsmen were all under 21 and the bride and her attendants were all over 21. Only half the wedding party was served the champagne!

As participants in a wedding, we have a lot of expectations on how we are going to be treated: the invitations, the food, the opportunity to share a personal moment with the couple. Part of what the couple is obsessed with going into the big day is managing Aunt Ethel’s expectations. It is kind of weird if you think about it. What is even more weird, however, is that this story isn’t about Jesus and His Mom at a wedding, but Jesus, Mary, and the disciples. Did Jesus write the family back and ask “I know the invite said +1, but can I add a 2 on the end? Make that a+12?” Can you imagine bringing your whole crew to this shindig? I don’t know. Seems presumptuous.

I used to assume that they ran out of wine in the story because the host was cheap; that he didn’t order enough for the gathering. That the point was that Jesus saves his butt. But now I’m thinking it is the other reason: that the party was just getting started.

about the Big Reveal

Let’s go back to that great exchange between Jesus and his Mother. So much of what is really being communicated is happening below the surface.

Mary: “They have no wine.”
Jesus (irritated): “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”

Mary doesn’t say to Jesus, Hey, do something! Or Get off your butt and help them out. She simply observes that they are out of drink. It is Jesus who seems to think that He is supposed to do something about it.

It is also interesting because “the hour” is often a reference to Jesus’s death and resurrection, that it isn’t His time to die. But perhaps it is better to say it is not His time to be revealed. It is not His moment to be seen by everyone. That’s future Jesus.

And yet, what happens?

Mary does seem to know what Jesus is capable of. She tells the servants “Do whatever he tells you.” Despite Jesus’s grumblings, she knows He’ll fix things. Then when the steward is served the new wine, it says that he didn’t know where it came from “(though the servants who had drawn the water knew)”. As is the case throughout all the gospels, Jesus is revealed to some, but not all. The big reveal hasn’t happened yet.

attending the party, or working it?

What’s telling for us is who does get to see this are the servants. We normally read this as Jesus supporting the good Jewish tradition of hospitality and not wanting the host to look the fool. But I am moved by the fact that the text points out that the servants get to see what is really going on. Perhaps the disciples are, too. Since someone has to record the event, right? Those attending this big party don’t see who Jesus really is. Just the servants. Just those not enjoying themselves. Those not invited to the party, but those making the party happen.

Therefore, Jesus’s first miracle, His first bit of ministry in the world after gathering his student followers: the disciples: is witnessed by the servants; the underclass. Jesus makes Himself known first to His immediate followers and now to the people that are the working poor.

For us, then, this first moment of ministry is a conflicting vision. In this story, Jesus isn’t ready to reveal Himself to the upper and middle classes. He is focused on the poor and under-served. And yet this expression of generosity, to transform water into wine—and not just any wine, but the really good stuff—comes to us as something of an invitation. An invitation to drink, to gather, to dance, and to revel in the beauty that comes in gathering around two people, called by GOD to become one flesh. To celebrate and be intoxicated by the joyous cup of community. For it will be soon; all too soon; that we will be called to do something more. Something that requires that joy be there already. When Jesus is revealed to all. And our mission is made clear. We’ll need that joy. That celebratory spirit.

So for those with eyes to see: watch. And for the rest, drink up.