This sermon was preached at Bridlington Priory Church by Rev K. F. Godfrey on Sunday 13th January 2008.
Let us pray. Almighty and Ever Loving God, We thank you for this day, for bringing us to your church and for your presence with us. May your words speak to us, teach us and change us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Dear Friends, I am indeed pleased to share the word of God, in the beginning of this New Year.
Many in our society have the wrong impression that God and faith are boring, and humour and happiness are contrary to faith. They think that to be secular is to seek for happiness, and to be religious is to curtail that freedom. But the readings for our meditation today portray that the truth is just the opposite. God’s presence brings real joy to us.
In the Old Testament reading, the prophet Jeremiah says that it is a joy to be in the presence of God. It was a context where the Israelites were returning from the Babylonian exile. They believed that God's presence fully dwelt in the Mount Zion. Hence, to be in exile was not only to be away from their own country and culture, but also was to be away from the presence of God. Thus, for them, to come back to Zion is to come back to God's presence. Jeremiah 31: 12ff says, " They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord…Their life shall become like a watered garden - and they shall never languish again." Jeremiah also says that wine and oil, which symbolises joy, will be in abundance for them.
It is true that to be in the presence of God is to be joyful. The Israelites experienced that God's presence turns situations of embarrassment into situations of joy.
Interestingly, a similar lesson can be learned from the wedding at Cana. The New Testament teaches us that God fully dwelt in Jesus. God's presence, which was dimly apprehended in mountains and in other places, is now fully manifest in Christ. In our gospel reading, we heard that Jesus attended a wedding, a joyful occasion. Just like Jeremiah portrays wine as a symbol of joy, wine symbolised joy and happiness in Jewish weddings too. The liturgy of Jewish wedding has a sentence, which says: "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe who creates the fruit of wine, the symbol of joy." Of Course, wine can symbolise joy and happiness in other cultures too, including Western culture. However, unexpectedly, there was a shortage of wine. The organisers of the wedding began to feel social embarrassment. In that situation, Jesus revealed that water can change into wine before him.
The presence of Jesus changed a situation of despair into a situation of joy and fulfilment. Jesus came into the world and blessed it with his presence - so that we would have life in its fullness. The presence of Jesus in us, brings us a joy which no-winter or no-illness or no-one can take away. As St. Paul says, "…even death cannot separate me from the love of God in Christ."
Now, the question: Did water literally turn into wine? One of my Sunday school teachers interpreted - that there was already some concentrated wine hiding in those six jars, and the pouring of the water only diluted it. Interesting interpretation! However, beyond doubt, that is not what St. John really wants to convey.
To understand the in-depth meaning of the scripture, particularly St. John's gospel, we need to read it from inside. St. John's gospel has many imageries like the word became flesh, the living water, the branches abiding in the wine and so on. I shall explain it with an analogy. The Church of England is known for stained glass. We and the visitors who come in here admire the stained glass of our church as well. During the day, when the Sun is bright, the beauty of the stained glass is meant to be observed, enjoyed and appreciated from inside the church. If we look it from outside…it would look like how it looks now….Years ago, St. Anselm of Canterbury, on understanding God, writes that the direction which we should take is Faith seeking Understanding. He said, "I believe so that I understand."
Thus, the real question which we should raise is not how did the water change into wine, but why does St. John believe that the water literally changed into wine. He writes it from his life experience. For St. John, the change which he experienced within himself, because of the presence of Jesus in and with him, was much greater than the change which Jesus did at the wedding at Cana. Hence, St. John is not really worried about how the change took place or even about the large quantity of water that changed into wine. He just believed that if the presence of Jesus can change the lives of people, completely upside down, there is little wonder in water changing into wine.
Last week, I was watching a gospel programme on television. And a woman from Manchester was sharing her testimony. She said that her husband left her when she had three children. Understandably, she was worried and went to a church to pray. She testified that she experienced Christ entering into her life and with tears of joy in her eyes…she continued, “now there is a joy in me and now I know that I am never alone.” Jesus came into the world so that we may have life in its fullness.
For John, the presence of Jesus at the wedding brought joy to them. Eternal joy is to know and experience that Jesus is with us. The foretaste of that eternal joy and fullness of life should begin in our life in this world itself. Life has ups and downs. But as Peter could walk on the water as long as he was looking at Jesus, we could move forward as long as our focus is on Christ. As soon as Peter looked at the raging waters he began to sink. However, Jesus lifts him up again when he called for help. Let us focus on Christ in all situations of our lives.
For Jesus, the changing of water into wine was fulfilling a need. For those who viewed the change it was a wonder. For those who tasted the wine, it was a better wine. And for the disciples, the change initiated an element of faith in Jesus.
It took only water for Jesus to change it into wine. But it took his life to change us from mortal beings to everlasting beings and to enable us to be with him forever and ever.
The presence of Christ with us should constantly change and transform us - from strength to strength and from glory to glory. It should be a change that could be tasted - that brings joy to us - that reveals the glory of Christ and a change - that helps us to put our faith in him.
Bringing ourselves to Jesus is the difficult task. However it is not impossible. Once we bring ourselves to Christ change in us is inevitable. May God help us not to live like plain water but like wine, in this New Year and always.
Amen