The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Isaiah 62:1-5 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11
Have you seen the “Got Faith” billboards? They show an open spigot with water pouring out and by the time the water reaches the glass held beneath it, it has turned to wine. Got Faith? I love these billboards. I love the connection to the “Got Milk” ads. The idea that faith is as wholesome and healthy and perhaps as everyday as milk appeals to me. The dairy commission began the “Got Milk” ads to boast an industry that was faltering because people weren’t drinking milk. Kids were drinking soda and juice and even health conscious adults were avoiding what they perceived of as a fattening drink. The brilliance of the “Got Milk” ads is their portrayal of milk as something fun and cool. Something that athletes and celebrities enjoy. Something everyone can and should have. Something good for you and good to drink. If you were cool, you too would drink milk.
I love to think all the same things about faith--that it is fun and “sweet.” That it is good for you and tastes good too. That it is something everyday and accessible. And what if it is something that athletes and celebrities enjoy? I wonder what a “faith” mustache would look like!
The “Got Faith” ads play on something else as well--the miracle of water turned into wine, the miracle of the Wedding at Cana. If you didn’t remember where the water-turned-into-wine story happened, here it is. It is told only in John’s Gospel where it occurs early in Jesus’ ministry. We are told that it was the first of his signs, works that he would perform that revealed his glory and indicated that he was not just any rabbi. We preserve that tradition in our marriage liturgy in this church where the opening lines of the service state that “our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.” (BCP p. 423)
But while the image of marriage is highlighted in the Gospel and in the reading from Isaiah this morning, I want to tell you that this story is not about how wonderful marriage is, nor is it a testimony for the state of marriage suggesting that we should all be in it. It is about faith. Now faith is an integral part of marriage. No doubt you know this whether marriage is part of your life or not. But more than that, faith is an integral part of what it means to be a community and marriage is really a microcosm of a community of faith. It is one example of how two people can live in covenant with one another and choose to love their neighbor as self. We are not all called to marriage. We are all called to love our neighbor. We are all called to community and to faith. Just what does that mean? Let’s look at this miracle.
The wedding takes place on “the third day” a clear foreshadowing of the resurrection. So its celebration might perhaps give us a taste of the Kingdom of God to come. Jesus and his disciples, his followers, had been invited. We, as Jesus followers, are invited to the Great Feast--the eternal banquet in the Kingdom of God. But in the Cana celebration on this side of the resurrection, the feast is about to falter. The wine runs out. There is no more. This is not just a matter of a host running out of food. It is a matter of a celebration coming to an end. Yet, Jesus is present and the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection will never end. So what will Jesus do?
His mother, having faith in him and being the teacher that shows us the way, tells the servants (tells us) to “do whatever he tells you.” There are empty water jars nearby. Six huge stone water jars each holding 20-30 gallons (imagine a large garbage can is usually 30 gallons). They have nothing to do with the wedding, but Jesus tells those there to fill them. And they do--to the brim. Now in a desert country, 180 gallons of water is already an abundance. And I am sure that filling them was no small task. But there is more. And that is the truth about God working with us and in us--there is always more, much more. So Jesus tells them to take a cup of water to the chief steward.
It is in the tasting that the wine is discovered. The steward didn’t know the wine was out. He didn’t know that water had been drawn. He didn’t know that Jesus was behind the miracle. But we know. So what does this have to do with us? I think the “Got Faith” ads may mislead us just a bit. It is not our faith that turns the water into wine. It is not simply a matter of believing hard enough. In the miracle of Cana, faith fills empty water jars just because Jesus said so. Jesus turns the water into wine.
So…have you been filling any empty water jars lately? I can’t help but think of how this plays out in times of change and transition. The old wine is gone. It has been enjoyed. It has run its course. Now it is no more, and no amount of pining after it or forming committees to discuss why it ran out will bring it back. But that does not mean the party has to be over. We have another choice in times of transition and in times of change. We can be people of faith. We can listen to Jesus and get busy filling water jars.
From where I stand, the people of Nativity have been doing just that. People have stepped out in faith, stepped out in leadership, stepped out in care for others following Jesus’ instructions. People here have found new ways to feed the hungry, care for the downtrodden, speak wisdom and knowledge through the Spirit. And I can tell you that some have tasted from the water you have gathered and discovered it is new wine. The faith that we need is not a faith that makes things happen because we believe the right things strongly enough. Turning water into wine is an act of Christ, not a work of our belief. Our faith is about filling the empty jars with water, with what we have, and letting Jesus do the rest. Our faith is about sticking with the community, even when it seems the party is over, and holding on for the new wine that God will bring.
In this time of our mortal life, the wine does run out. In our relationships, in our jobs, in our households and communities, the wine does run out. Feasts on this side of the resurrection always end. But we don’t have to call it quits. We can fill empty jars with water, with hope, with joy. We can fill them to the brim with the expectation of abundance and then trust that God will turn it to wine. Taste and see!
Amen.
copyright Anne E. Kitch © 2007
