MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN

I remember as a college freshman having to read "Moby Dick". To my surprise I found it to be a pretty good story. The entire "chasing a whale" thing with a strange captain and crew made for a good tale. I was a little upset when the English teacher insisted the story was not really about a strange captain chasing a whale! She said the real story was about our lives and how people react to various circumstances.

That teacher ruined a perfectly good story!! For a while I wondered if Melville should sue her for insulting him..

Today we have a similar story. A bit of an aside .... one fascinating aspect of Bible study, and more specifically Bible debates is the insistence by some people that a passage have exactly one meaning - or at most two. The idea that scripture could have as many layers of meaning as "Moby Dick" just seems to be ignored. The idea that God could be as good an author as Herman Melville is not widely accepted. .... strange.

Today we have what seems to be .... and in many ways is .... a simple story ... much like a you might get from a diary or a letter to a friend. "Last week we went to a wedding and that character Jesus did the funniest thing!" .... Unfortunately, like we might do with a good novel, we hear the action and miss some of the details.

For example ... why would John include this story? At the end of his gospel, John says Jesus did more miracles than could possibly be written down. And yet John takes this very valuable literary space and writes about something that seemingly anyway, has no place alongside raising the dead or healing the leper. John includes a story that has been made into a joke more often than anything except walking on water. .... What makes this so important?

Maybe the answer is very simple. Maybe it is just that this was Jesus' first miracle and is worth recording for that simple reason. Could be. .... Or maybe that is only part of the reason.

Before we settle on an explanation ... or explanations let's take a moment to read the passages as we might read "Moby Dick" and see if the flow gives us any hints. The gospel of John begins with "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God" .... then John the Baptist is introduced and he introduces Jesus. Jesus walks past the Baptist a couple times and John shouts out: "there is the Lamb of God!" During this time, and the gospel suggests we are only talking about a couple days, Jesus recruits His first couple disciples.

Then ends chapter one and the chapter two, today's reading, begins: "on the third day". The gospel has events continuing very quickly. Jesus goes to the wedding feast and afterwards goes with Mary, His mother, and the disciples to Capernaum. After that, and we are probably within the first couple weeks according to the gospel of John, Jesus goes to Jerusalem, makes a whip of cords and drives the money lenders out.

Huh??? Didn't Jesus drive out the money lenders the week before He was killed? Matthew, Mark and Luke record this event as happening during Holy Week. Some scholars in fact argue that was the real reason Jesus was arrested. The temple priests could allow Jesus to preach about anything but when He started messing with their money He had to be stopped!

Yet the gospel of John says it happened during Jesus first couple weeks of ministry and not His last.

Asking "Which is right?" may be asking the wrong question. The gospels were not written to be history in that sense. However I also argue that insisting it could only happen once is also weak logic. In either case, early or late, I suspect the money lenders were back in place the next day ... maybe within a couple hours! So the possibility that it happened twice is very reasonable.

But we have jumped away from today's lesson. The gospel of John has lots of things happening in the first couple weeks and a includes this relatively simple event. That suggests we might be overlooking some of its importance.

Let's set aside one part of the story .... a good laugh but not accurate. Jesus did not react in any negative way towards Mary. The word He used which we translate "woman" is not deriding but rather respectful. The male equivalent, if it had been His father, might be "sir" - and without any insulting tone! Of course His statement is confusing. Jesus says "my hour has not yet come" when just the day before John the Baptist is proclaiming Him the messiah!

But notice that Mary does not respond to the question about why He should be concerned. She simply assumes Jesus will know what to do. She tells the servants: "Do what He tells you" and goes out.

Why? ..... Jesus' question is a good one, what concern is this of either Mary's or Jesus'? Many scholars argue that since the Jewish wedding was a multi-day event and one of the most important social events of the year that the hosts were about to be very embarrassed. But why would Mary care? Some scholars conclude this must have been a close friend or relative being wed and Mary was concerned to keep from being embarrassed. Some suggest it is even Peter's wedding .. the Peter Jesus just met but also the Peter whose mother-in-law He will later heal.

Doesn't really matter -- the point is that Mary is concerned and wants Jesus to do something about it. In fact the teaching may be more powerful if the wedding party are only casual acquaintances.

Again, like a great novel notice the flow of events. Just a few verses before John's gospel tells us that this is the Jesus, the God who created the universe. And a couple verses after that explains this is the one who takes away the sins of the world. Now, this universe creator, this sin remover is making wine so the party guests can have a good time! .... Any author who wrote that novel would hope we recognized there is something to be understood in this series of events.

True, it could be simply a coincidence .... John just inserted this, Jesus' first miracle in the middle of "important" things. But what if there is more to it?

Consider the events in a more general manner: before, the creation of the world, the removal of sins .... afterwards a Passover trip to Jerusalem where He defends the temple, the house of God, the worship of God and declares how His life will end.

In the midst .... water into wine. .... Could it be there is a teaching in this flow? Could it be that God is trying to teach us that everything ... the creation of the world, the forgiveness of sins, the worship of God ---- and the joy of life is part of our relationship with God? Could it be that God is trying to help us understand that we should not limit God to the major, earth shattering events? Certainly not limit God to crises and negative events? Could it be that this explains how God is present at the wedding and the reception? That God is present at the baptism and the celebration? Could it be that God is telling us that the plan for our lives includes joy and happiness?

Maybe I am reading too much into this novel but it all sounds reasonable, and good to me.

However there are other aspects of this story that we should examine and they link directly to the Epistle reading. Notice what happened -- Mary told the servants to do as Jesus tells them, they do, and they bring the new wine to the steward -- the head servant.

Notice what did NOT happen. No one told the steward where the wine came from. No one proclaimed the miracle although apparently someone told the disciples. Mary? Anyway, except for the disciples no one else at the party knows this behind the scenes effort insure everything goes smoothly.

Now consider Paul's teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. First though I will take a moment and comment on the general concept. Paul is clearly not trying to produce an exhaustive list of such gifts. These are examples only.

Furthermore I don't believe Paul would get excited about what is, and is not, a "gift of the Holy Spirit." I believe Paul's point is that whatever we are capable of, whatever we have is both from God and to be placed at the service of God. And that we place ourselves into God's service by serving the community .... making sure the wedding feast goes well if that is the situation.

Certainly throughout scripture we find allusions to the importance of "hospitality". In Old Testament mid-east hospitality was one of the central, cultural laws. Were Jesus, and Mary, not demonstrating the gift of hospitality? The willingness to do what is necessary for the welfare of others?

I believe when we consider these two passages together we find important lessons. Just as we may learn more by studying several of Shakespear's works rather than just one. Paul tells us that all we are is from God and to be used in God's service by serving the community. Jesus demonstrates this with an emphasis on the service rather than any reward or credit.

We discover that all of our lives can be, and should be part of our service to God. Not just when we do something dramatic like creating the universe .... not just when we do something for the temple - the church. But all that we are and do is part of our life with God.

When I lead studies on the gifts .... when we attempt to understand better what God has given us to place back into God's service .... I stress that this is about all of our lives.

Consider the list from this week's lesson .... wisdom or knowledge certainly are important beyond only the obviously spiritual realm. A person who has great knowledge - usually differentiated from "wisdom" as knowledge being information and wisdom being the applications -- a person with great knowledge or wisdom can use those gifts in any number of circumstances: business, civic affairs, family. HOW they are used determines whether or not they are being used as Christian gifts.

Or the gift of healing ... most of us have observed a hospital nurse, or technician, or doctor whose presence makes the situation feel better. The patient might or might not be cured but there is a healing. ..... Can we see that as a talent, as a gift from God?

Or the discernment of spirits .... POSSIBLY the most important gift even if Paul keeps stressing they are all equally important. What powers are influencing us to certain actions? Are these powers ultimately for the good? Or for evil? When the family debates over a financial or health issue, the person who can understand where the various influences come from might be the most important person in the room! ..... Probably the least appreciated but that's another matter.

When the church, or the civic club wonders which path is the correct one, the person with this gift can be essential to a good decisions.

Paul, even more strongly in other passages, emphasizes how each of these are for the benefit of the community - not the individual. Just as Jesus wanted the celebration to be joyful and was willing to do what was necessary.

AMEN

We have previous sermons on our website. To read an earlier sermon just enter: www.st-christopher.org/sermondate. For example, the July 16, 2006 sermon can be found at:

www.st-christopher.org/sermon06-16-06

CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)