Sermon for January 20th, 2013: "Knowing Good Wine When You Taste It"

Isaiah 62:15

Psalm 36:5-10

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

John 2:1-11

All quotations from scripture come from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, with the exception of the Psalms, which come from The Book of Common Prayer, 1979. Not all scripture passages from the lectionary may be quoted or referenced in a given Sunday's sermon. For more information on the lectionary used in The Episcopal Church, please visit http://www.lectionarypage.net/.

“Knowing Good Wine When You Taste It”

The Rev. Nicholas S. Szobota

January 20, 2013
Christ Church, West River, Maryland

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other participants in the civil rights movement of the mid-20^th century believed they worked to secure rights already promised to themselves and others. They did not seek to generate something new in American history, but rather they made their appeal upon the rights and freedoms given by God to each human being and promised to each American citizen in the United States Constitution and other founding documents of this nation. As Dr. King shared in his “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28^th, 1963:

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. (Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream.” American Rhetoric. 28 August, 1963. Web. January 17^th, 2013.)

Dr. King and other like him appealed to realities that existed already, but that certain portions of the American population had chosen to deny. I say this with an understanding that some regions of this nation perpetrated this ignorance through law, but even the region from which I come embraced a de facto racial inequality when no laws promoting segregation existed. All regions of this nation participated in this kind of injustice.

The sensitivity of Dr. King and others to realities that lie hidden finds a resonance in today’s gospel reading. Those attending the wedding feast in Cana little suspect the truth that has come into their midst: Jesus Christ, a human being who is God incarnate, fully human and fully divine. Jesus provides a hint of his true nature by changing water into wine, a sign that an attentive person would recognize as something beyond normal. Jesus does this due to a shortage of wine at the wedding feast, a situation that does not bode well for the bride and groom. In this culture, having enough food and drink to satisfy one’s wedding guest would foretell prosperity in a marriage. Running out of food and wine meant poverty in the relationship. Note that, in this case, the wedding couple may very well have planned for sufficient food and drink to satisfy their guests. The chief steward implies that the wedding guest have become drunk, suggesting that they may have over-indulged. With some prodding from his mother, Jesus fixes the situation by transforming gallons of water in stone water jars into wine for the feast. If the guests had not been drunk, perhaps they would have recognized what happened.

Jesus’ actions in this story challenge my understanding of how God works. I am accustomed to imagining God up above me, a way of understanding how God comes from a supernatural place beyond my comprehension to interact with the world. Once God has done what God intends to do, God withdraws back into the incomprehensible world beyond my knowledge. Yet, even today’s Psalm passage suggests God might behave differently. The first verse and a half of what we read proclaims, “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep” (Psalm 36:5, 6). In this passage, God does not come from above to interact with human beings who lie beneath. Rather, God stretches up to rise to the clouds. God’s love lies founded upon rock-solid mountains and in depths like the ocean. Instead of coming from outside of the realm of earthly experience, God emerges in the midst of creation. God works amongst us and through us and in us.
St. Paul describes this in his first letter to the Corinthians as he teaches about the Holy Spirit. He writes, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:4-10). God the Holy Spirit works in each person to accomplish God’s aims. St. Paul contrasts this to a person’s life prior to Christianity, remind the Corinthians, “You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak” (1 Corinthians 12:2). Paul warns the people against returning to a practice of worshiping something which is not God in place of God, whether those idols are statues of gods that do not really deserve worship or aims that turn one’s attention away from the true purpose of one’s life: greed, inordinate desire for success, and so on. God does not want people’s attention turned toward externals that distract. Instead, God invites each one of us to turn inward to discover what God has already begun to do inside of us.

Each one of us can accept this invitation. First, one must realize that God truly wishes to interact with us and work within us. Often, one can imagine God pushing people away because of their faults, mistakes, weaknesses, or sins. One must realize that God desires to embrace us and does not push us away. Second, once each one of us realizes this, each of us must make space in our lives for God. How often do we pray before undertaking a major task or project? How often does God become the first to hear our cries for help when we get stuck or face a challenge, in addition to our seeking the support of people who can help us? How often does God become the first to hear our joy and thanks at a great success? Each of these moments presents opportunities to make room for God in our lives. Finally, each one of us can take the time to ponder what spiritual gifts God has given to us, even if they are not on the list presented by Paul in First Corinthians. We might start by pondering what kind of work sets our hearts on fire, or perhaps by paying attention to what other say about us. “You seem to be the kind of person whom people ask to pray for them. They know you will.” “You’re really good at caring for others. People know that you’ll listen when they want to vent.” Each of these can point us toward how God has gifted us for ministry, whether that becomes readily apparent or takes a lifetime to unfold.

Let us not lose awareness, like the guests at the wedding too drunk to notice Christ in their midst. Even the chief steward, if he did not fully comprehend who Jesus was, knew good wine when he tasted it. Let us cultivate such awareness and drink deeply of God’s presence working among us, through us, and in us. Amen.