Last Supper, First Banquet

    One time on the way back from visiting our college mentor Noel King in Watsonville, a friend and I took the mountain road over the hill past Mount Madonna and into the countryside west of Gilroy. We pulled up short at a crossroads. There was a Mexican wedding celebration in progress and it filled the intersection … with music, laughter, food, and joy. We gladly pulled over and paused to take in the sights and sounds of the festivities before us. Yes, there was a mariachi band. As a singer friend of mine once said, when you hear mariachi music, you should have a beer in your hand. 

Maybe at a mariachi wedding mass...

48 years ago my cousin was getting married. Before the wedding the groom's brother and I drove across town to pick up the keg. Since it was a long drive Lonnie stopped to pick up a six-pack so we wouldn't get thirsty. We made it, there and back again. The wedding ceremony itself was a small affair; one less person and I'd've been best man. 

The party however was in the front yard of the shop, Blue Ox Millworks. The band set up on the back of a gooseneck trailer. And we made it through the keg. I guess if we'd run out Lonnie and I would've been back across town to get another one. Maybe less expensive. 

Because as we know, everybody serves the good stuff first, and once taste buds are coarsened, you can fill in with Old English 800, Burgie, or two-buck Chuck. 

The point is not the beer, or the wine. Maybe it's the party. We celebrated. Something joyous was happening - and has kept on happening ever since. 

There was definitely something to celebrate in that little hillside town in Galilee that day. And there was no reason to stop, if the refreshments held out.

A wedding is the beginning of a brave adventure. 

A Palestinian winemaker recently explained to a reporter why he’d named one of his new wines “Grapes of Wrath”: “The vineyard (in the middle of the West Bank) reminded me of the book by Steinbeck,” he said. “The delusion of opportunity on one hand, the resilience and the transforming of pain into opportunity.” 

[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/dining/drinks/palestinian-winemaker.html]

Marriage has many pains, as Dr. Johnson said, but celibacy has no joys.

Friends invited me to their Jewish-tradition wedding service, at the Camp Fire Girls headquarters in San Francisco. Under the shade of the huppah, they exchanged vows, and then stomped on a glass.

The Talmud says, “Mar bar Rabina made a marriage feast for his son. He observed that the rabbis present were very gay. So he seized an expensive goblet worth 400 zuzim and broke it before them. Thus he made them sober. (Berakhot 5:2 )”

In other words, it has been said, where there is rejoicing, there should be trembling.

[https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/breaking-the-glass-at-a-jewish-wedding/]

We know the trembling as well as the rejoicing. If we have been to a wedding, we know.

The Massacre of the Innocents, ordered by the king soon after Jesus’ birth, was just the beginning, of the suffering that he, and his Mother, would know in his lifetime. 

But weddings are the celebration that reminds us of the Song of Songs, in which we sing that love is strong, strong as death.  

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

    as a seal upon your arm;

for love is strong as death….

(Song of Solomon 8:6) 

The jars were empty; Jesus had them filled. Israel had come to the end of a long road. John was the last and greatest prophet of the old. New had come. The witness of Mary began the celebration. 

There was definitely something to celebrate in that little hillside town in Galilee that day. But of course there was something more going on. Something bigger. But somehow the same... in a couple of ways. There was something to celebrate, and the best wine, held till now, was certainly appropriate.

For at last and already time was coming to its fulfillment. In a simple town, in a smalltown wedding, among friends, the Messiah revealed himself. This was the first sign he performed in the village of Cana, in Galilee. He'd be back soon, and he'd heal a royal official's son. Who wasn't even there. He was down the hill by the lakeshore, an eight-hour hike away, past Tabgha, at Capernaum. Jesus just said to the man, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. (John 4:50-51) A second sign.

Is this small-town stuff? A wedding banquet is saved, a boy gets well.

Or are these the beginning of something great? These were the first two signs, in Cana, and eventually, the time for signs would disappear. But before it did, Jesus held up a cup of wine at another banquet, and said something unexpected (or dreaded): This is my blood shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. 

And soon enough it would not be a sign anymore, not a pointer to anything beyond itself, for Jesus' blood would indeed be shed, and if it pointed to anything, it pointed to itself, to the outpouring of love by God in that moment, and in all moments.

There was a wedding, a bringing together, a joining of two into one. And then there was a bigger banquet, where we were made one with God, in the wine, in the food, in the death, in the resurrected life, of the one who, unexpectedly, became the life of the party, and the reason to celebrate.

In Galilee at that time it was almost an act of defiance to have a wedding. Maybe in some ways it always is: for love is strong as death; Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. (Song of Songs 8:6-7) 

And the forces of death will be vanquished, in that very cup and that very bread, shared and broken, that at this first banquet and that last supper showed that in him was life, this life was the light of all people, and the darkness has not and cannot overcome it. (John 1:4, 5)

So - extra wine? A second keg? Or a crack in the midst of something ordinary, so that the light got in and shone upon us, showing us the truth that is beyond and behind every occasion of joy: the presence of the joyous one in our midst, hidden or revealed, that is God with us.

 

The proper preface for Epiphany:
Because in the mystery of the Word made flesh, you have 
caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the 
knowledge of your glory in the face of your Son Jesus Christ 
our Lord.

CEpiphany2 2025 
Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Tucson. 
Saturday 18 January 2025, 6pm
Sunday 19 January 2025, 8 & 10:30am

https://www.youtube.com/live/7_vdjKHj0No?feature=shared

• Isaiah 62:1-5
• 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
• John 2:1-11
• Psalm 36:5-10

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

"Last Supper, First Banquet" title courtesy Fr. Fred Masterman.

a wedding in Cana

Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Tucson. 
Saturday 18 January 2025, 6pm
Sunday 19 January 2025, 8 & 10:30am

• Isaiah 62:1-5
• 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
• John 2:1-11
• Psalm 36:5-10

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Before the wedding Eric's brother and I drove across town to pick up the keg. Since it was a long drive Lonnie stopped to pick up a six-pack so we wouldn't get thirsty. We made it, there and back again. The wedding ceremony itself was a small affair; one less person and I'd've been best man. The party however was in the front yard of the shop, Blue Ox Millworks. The band set up on the back of a gooseneck trailer. And we made it through the keg. I guess if we'd run out Lonnie and I would've been back across town to get another one. Maybe less expensive. 

Because as we know, everybody serves the good stuff first, and once taste buds are coarsened, you can fill in with Old English 800, Burgie, or two-buck Chuck. 

The point is not the beer, or the wine. Maybe it's the party. We celebrated. Something joyous was happening - and has kept on happening ever since. 

There was definitely something to celebrate in that little hillside town in Galilee that day. And there was no reason to stop, if the refreshments held out.

But of course there was something more going on. Something bigger. But somehow the same... in a couple of ways. There was something to celebrate, and the best wine, held till now, was certainly appropriate.

For at last and already time was coming to its fulfillment. In a simple town, in a small town wedding, among friends, the Messiah revealed himself. This was the first sign he performed in the village of Cana, in Galilee. He'd be back soon, and he'd heal a royal official's son. Who wasn't even there. He was down the hill by the lakeshore, an eight-hour hike away, past Tabgha, at Capernaum. Jesus just said to the man, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. (John 4:50-51) A second sign.

Is this small-town stuff? A wedding banquet is saved, a boy gets well.

Or are these the beginning of something great? These were the first two signs, in Cana, and eventually, the time for signs would disappear. But before it did, Jesus held up a cup of wine at another banquet, and said something unexpected (or dreaded): This is my blood shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. 

And soon enough it would not be a sign anymore, not a pointer to anything beyond itself, for Jesus' blood would indeed be shed, and if it pointed to anything, it pointed to itself, to the outpouring of love by God in that moment, and in all moments.

There was a wedding, a bringing together, a joining of two into one. And then there was a bigger banquet, where we were made one with 

God, in the wine, in the food, in the death, in the resurrected life, of the one who, unexpectedly, became the life of the party, and the reason to celebrate.

In Galilee at that time it was almost an act of defiance to have a wedding. Maybe in some ways it always is: for love is strong as death; Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. (Song of Songs 8:6-7) And the forces of death will be vanquished, in that very cup and that very bread, shared and broken, that at this first banquet and that last supper showed that in him was life, this life was the light of all people, and the darkness has not and cannot overcome it. (John 1:4,5)

So - extra wine? A second keg? Or a crack in the midst of something ordinary, so that the light got in and shone upon us, showing us the truth that is beyond and behind every occasion of joy: the presence of the joyous one in our midst, hidden or revealed, that is God with us.

***

Of wine and weddings:

A Palestinian winemaker named one of his new wines “Grapes of Wrath”: “The vineyard (in the middle of the West Bank) reminded me of the book by Steinbeck,” he said. “The delusion of opportunity on one hand, the resilience and the transforming of pain into opportunity.”

 

[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/dining/drinks/palestinian-winemaker.html]

One time on the way back from visiting our college mentor and friend Noel King in Watsonville, Imam Bilal Hyde and I took the mountain road over the hill past Mount Madonna and into the countryside west of Gilroy. We pulled up short at a crossroads. There was a Mexican wedding celebration in progress and it filled the intersection … with music, laughter, food, and joy. We gladly pulled over and paused to take in the sights and sounds of the festivities before us. Yes, there was a mariachi band. As a singer friend of mine once said, when you hear mariachi music, you should have a beer in your hand. 

Another friend invited me to their Jewish-tradition wedding service, at the Camp Fire Girls headquarters in San Francisco. Under the shade of the huppah, they exchanged vows, and then stomped on a glass.

The Talmud says, “Mar bar Rabina made a marriage feast for his son. He observed that the rabbis present were very gay. So he seized an expensive goblet worth 400 zuzim and broke it before them. Thus he made them sober. (Berakhot 5:2 )”

In other words, as it has been said, where there is rejoicing, there should be trembling.

[https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/breaking-the-glass-at-a-jewish-wedding/]

We know the trembling as well as the rejoicing. If we have been to a wedding, we know.

The Massacre of the Innocents, ordered by the king soon after Jesus’ birth, was just the beginning, of the suffering that he, and his Mother, would know in his lifetime. 

But weddings are the celebration that reminds us of the Song of Songs, in which we sing that love is strong, strong as death.  

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

    as a seal upon your arm;

for love is strong as death,

    passion fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

    a raging flame.

(Song of Solomon 8:6) 

The jars were empty; Jesus had them filled. Israel had come to the end of a long way. John was the last and greatest prophet of the old. New had come. The witness of Mary began the celebration. 

Are you sure?

When we were in New York last October we met a couple on their honeymoon. At their wedding, before they exchanged vows, the officiant cautioned them: "Life is long. It wasn't for our forefathers and ancestors. When they got married, they'd say, like, "We're married for life," and go for ten years and die. You guys are looking at a thirty or forty year proposition... If you stay healthy, you could be looking at each other for over fifty years. So I ask you one more time. Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!" 

At another wedding, in New York years ago, the preacher said this: “When two people in this crazy world are willing to commit themselves to each other for life, we’ve all got something to celebrate.”—Barbara Crafton 

You have been to some pretty good weddings I imagine – so have I. What was the most fun about them? It varied, didn’t it?

From the look of love on the groom to the bloom on the bride to the wedding guests’ hilarity and the cute little kids having a party of their own around about knee height of the grown-ups ... to the message of grace you may have received, or the grief you may have revisited, as you were recalled to past experience. But then you recover yourself – and are present to the day – and wish well with all others as the two take their vow.

But then comes as a surprise: you are asked to make a vow as well. Yes, the third vow.

Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these two in their union?

Yes, we will.

When we are guests we bless and we receive a blessing –

We witness vows and we make a vow…

“Will allow of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”

At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus and his companions are invited guests.

He is not the bridegroom.

He is present at the wedding – of the couple and family at Cana, as he is at the wedding of God and God’s people.

And he is a bit - disruptive...

Jesus and his boys show up when the party has been going for a while and they’ve run out of wine.

“They have no wine.”

“Fill the jars…”

When the guests arrived they could have expected nothing like this. Not what happened when Jesus showed up. In those days the party – the wedding celebration – typically went on for a week. It may have started as early as seven days before Jesus and his followers arrived. But when the Messiah appears — this is when the fun really begins.

A party that was about to run out of gas – embarrassing for the host, out of wine – suddenly revived. And more than revived. What was old was transformed. What was old became new.

Okay, stone jars. Big jars. Great supply of water for washing your hands. You would want to do that every once in awhile while you are eating and drinking for seven days with the whole town at a big party. But –

“Fill the jars with water.”

“Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”

The servants drew – and they knew. And Jesus’ disciples knew. They were in on the surprise!

What was manifested was a wonderful superabundant presence – indeed, as they soon perceived it, the very presence of God. In joy and laughter, and in blessing, God was there. In the midst of life. With us.

L’chaim – to life – indeed!

What does Jesus bless?

-       This happy couple

-       This community

-       LIFE

HILARIOUS ABUNDANCE

breaks out as God’s presence

becomes manifest

as God’s glory

is revealed—

and the Jesus movement begins.

We are part of the Jesus movement. And the cause of God’s love in the world can never stop and will never be defeated. (Michael Curry)

That is what our gathering here today is about – and that is what the lesson of the gospel says. And it says more: not only will the mission continue, not only will it persevere, but it will thrive, in joyous abundance – in hilarious overflowing of the grace and love and mercy of God.

On that day in Cana, God was present – in companionship, in abundance, in overflowing joy.

God is present with us, now – in companionship, in mirthful abundance, and in overflowing joy.

So how are we to persevere in the abundant outpouring of joy that this sign presents?

How do we, his disciples, support and sustain the committed relationship of people to God?

In Baptism, Confirmation, or Reception, in every Communion, every feast, we draw on his abundance, his goodness.

We take Communion (bread and wine) not just for ourselves but for everybody in the Body of Christ – to sustain that Body…. (A Testing of Hearts, Donald Nicholl)

Just as we have been given and exercise our gifts not just for ourselves but to sustain and build up the whole body of God’s people, in relationship to God, our maker, sustainer, and redeemer.

The Spirit indeed is the chief sustainer of the faithful,

And itself divine,

A gift from heaven

And itself the giver.

Bring us to the feast, guests with you [Lord Christ]

at the marriage of the bride that is Creation,

to the holy groom God-among-us.

Guide us to the overflowing abundance

of your unexpected presence

as we ourselves are wed to Eternity.


__________________

Silent Bob Weds Gina and Terry. YouTube. Published on Sep 23, 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfP66Say5Zc accessed March 27, 2016.

wedding/gifts

 

Ever been to a wedding? One where the gifts piled up? Years ago Jackie and Glenn got married; and there was a table in the reception hall just piled with wedding gifts. I wonder if that was what it was like for Jesus and the disciples, as they came into the celebration of the wedding at Cana.

They’d traveled a long road up from the Jordan valley, where John was baptizing, and John had baptized them – all of them, including Jesus. Then John pointed out Jesus to some of his disciples, who were standing around, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” So naturally some of them went over to talk to him. And they stayed with him.

And then he said, “Follow me.” And off they went. When they got back home to Galilee, where some of them, including Jesus, were from, they found themselves invited to a wedding as guests.

What do you bring? Do you have a year if you forgot?

There they were – and the wine ran out.

In a desert town far from here there was a woman who was a legendary hostess. She had, as David Steele puts it, “the gift of throwing parties that combine food, decorations, music, and laughter to create an atmosphere of welcome, well-being, and love.” She had three daughters, and they learned this grace from her.

What is happening at the wedding party is that Jesus and his disciples are learning that grace too: from his mother. For there they were: at the beginning of his public ministry, she points out an immediate need – an opportunity, an invitation.

Jesus doesn’t say, “I don’t know how,” or “that’s not my job.” He does say, “Is that our concern? I’m not ready yet.”

He is not ready to be revealed for who he really is – not fully, not yet. But fullness is what is needed here. Abundance has an opening here. And his mother points it out to him.

She trusts him: “Do whatever he tells you,” she says.

Jesus begins to show he knows what it means to throw a party. Indeed, he shows what it means to bring new life, new laughter, new hope, new joy, when it seems like the party is over. “They have no wine.”

Over? The party is just beginning!

He takes what is there: six empty ritual jars, sitting there unused and ineffectual. “Fill them.”

What is drawn out of those once-empty stone jars is abundance, fullness, richness – a cup of blessing is brought to the chief steward. He knows what he tastes – it’s the good wine, at last.

All Israel has been waiting for this wine – for centuries.

This is where the party really starts to take off.

Each of us may find ourselves at a party with no wine, just some empty old stone jars left over from a ritual of the past that no longer works.

But into our lives if we welcome him comes the life of the party – the new life that fulfills life, beyond our hopes and dreams.

And each of us is called to bring something to the party (something we are given in the first place) – some steps in the dance, some gifts for the table, some action or word or service, that is our unique offering to the whole. Together we form, with what each of us is given to bring, a community of joy, love, life, and laughter.

All from the same source, those gifts come: and we find ourselves giving and appreciating gifts – and seeing them in each other – differently as we grow through life.

This is the community of Christ. This is the place where the fun really begins. Here life, love, and laughter take their place; here sorrows, doubts, shame, and darkness are banished at last.

“I am not yet ready,” Jesus says. He knew at that wedding-feast that the hour had not yet come, the hour when he would be glorified. For the hour of his glory would be the hour of the cross. There he would be fully revealed – for who he is. The splendor of his radiance, the glory of God, would shine through him. At that darkest of hours, God’s grace would be poured out for all.

Like the cup of salvation in the Psalms, the cup of wine at the Lord’s Supper, the cup of blessing that the Lord our Shepherd fills to overflowing. This wedding feast is the first celebration of the kingdom coming into our world.  A meal with Jesus at the head of the table is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet Isaiah prophesied, where everyone drinks their fill of aged wines strained clear.

(Isaiah 25:6–9)

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death for ever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

The hour? Not yet: the best is yet to come.

In the meantime we raise a cup, a common cup of blessing, knowing his life, poured out for us, is the source of our life and our joy.

all along the lakeshore

 

He came toward us, walking along the edge of the water, and we knew he was the one John foretold. He said, “Follow me,” and we made our way to Galilee. First he took us to a party – a wedding celebration in a village near his hometown. His mother was there; we too were invited guests. And that party is where it all started.

He showed us who he was,

            who God is,

not by pointing,

but by a sign,

            a deed, an act,

that made a light to shine

            in our hearts.

It began to dawn on us:

He is the light of the world.

And in his light, we see light.

It began so simply, then:

with a party where the wine ran out.

His mother spoke softly to him,

and before we knew it, new wine

flowed. Wine beyond reasonable

            doubt? –

measure, a sure sign of kingdom of God

–      a miracle!

Where we had felt scarcity,

            he discovered abundance.

Where we had thought

            we were at the end of hope

He found new life.

Where there had been darkness

            he brought light.

If we felt dead, now

            there was life.

And so we follow him –

            we follow him still.

Grace is what you have when you run out –

            of money, of time,

            of your own resources.

Grace does not wait for you to ask;

            grace just comes.

Are you ready for it?

How could you be?

many gifts, one spirit

In the name of God, merciful Father, compassionate Son, spirit of Wisdom. Amen.

There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all. The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good.... But at work in all these is one and the same Spirit, distributing them at will to each individual. (1 Corinthians 12: 4-7, 11)

Different gifts are all the work of the same Spirit, working in each person as God wills.

Different gifts are all manifestations, showings, of the same Lord.

Every gift, every time the Spirit shows itself in a life, and a work, is for the good of all.

In every gift, every showing, every life, the light of Christ shines — and shines through.

The light does not stop with us but through us shines into the world, showing it the glory of God.

How does Jesus show up in your life? How does the Spirit shine through you?


The Spirit showed up in the life of Jesus in many different ways and lives.

At his birth shepherds came to witness the message of the angels – and to see its truth borne out. “You will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

At the visit of the Magi the Spirit shined through a star – and through the testimony of wise people from the east, seeking the one born King of the Jews. They paid him homage at Bethlehem.

At his presentation in the Temple Jesus was recognized by Simeon and by Anna. Simeon sang his praise to the Lord – ‘I have seen with my own eyes the deliverance you have made ready in full view of all nations.’ Anna ‘talked about the child to all who were looking for the liberation of Jerusalem.’ (Luke 2:25-38)

At the baptism of our Lord the Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. And there came a voice from heaven: ‘You are my beloved Son; in you I delight.’ (Luke 3:22)

Later Jesus would stand up in the synagogue at Nazareth, read from the scroll of Isaiah of the year of the Lord’s favor being proclaimed – and proclaim, ‘Today in your hearing this text has come true.’ (4:21)

Up on the mountain, where he took Peter and John and James to pray, they heard two men speak of his departure, of the destiny he was to fulfill in Jerusalem; and they beheld his glory.

And yet his hour had not yet come, not even then: it came on the cross; and it was on the Cross that he was glorified, and glorified God.

All these were manifestations of God at work in the world. But why was his glory shown at a wedding?

Why at Cana in Galilee, as a guest at a wedding? Why was it there that he performed the first of the signs that revealed his glory – and led his disciples to believe in him?

The baptism in the waters of Jordan was a preparation; the wedding-feast is a celebration.

Different partners bring different steps to the dance; marriage is a conjoining of two families, two households – each bringing its own special character, its own manifestation of the creative and generative spirit of God. A wedding brings the promise of blessing, of fruitfulness and delight. And we all delight in the glorious appearance of the bride.

Each partner in a marriage complements the other. A new life is forged between them.

A marriage is the beginning of a journey, a setting-out on a new life together.

Different guests bring different gifts; we are surprised as Jesus was when a guest is asked to turn host. ‘They have no wine left.’ And Jesus at first declines, as his mother nudges him. ‘My hour has not yet come.’ The hour of his glory, the hour of his revealing, that is yet to come, is the hour of the cross.

But then he says, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And water that was poured into stone jars for purification – as the waters of baptism purify – was turned into wine. This was the sign:

Jesus is the Messiah, the one who brings transformation to our world. This is his glory: the glory as of the Father in his only Son. The new day is coming – and it is dawning now.

In the book of the prophet Isaiah, the promise is made: O Jerusalem, city of God, your day of mourning will end; kings shall see your glory.

No more will you be called Forsaken, no more will your land be called Desolate – these terms will no longer apply. For the Lord will take delight in you and to him your land will be linked in wedlock. God will be the one who rebuilds you – and as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:1-5)

As a bridegroom over a bride, God rejoices over the one he restores. God rejoices over the restored intimacy with his beloved people – and calls them his Delight.

God rejoices over the desolate city he rebuilds.

As many gifts show one Spirit for the common good, so many ways of giving and gifts of service show God’s glory as we work together to build up the city of God in the midst of the human predicament.

Each person’s gift is built together into the house of God’s glory.


People who struggle through the rubble of a major earthquake, to restore their lives, the lives of loved ones, and the lives of total strangers,

People who reach out to those with whom they share common humanity;

Relief and development workers already in country, recovering or mourning lost colleagues, family and friends, yet still on the job,

Aid workers seeking to find a way into the disaster area to help;

People who give to the relief of the victims;

People that volunteer, answering phones and receiving donations,

And people, who knowing gifts in kind won’t work right now for that need, give instead to a local food project or homeless shelter,

All these people with their various ways of giving, their variety of gifts, manifest the same Spirit of God, rebuilding, restoring.

And the same Lord is walking with us, working with us, through each long day and night, toward the restoration and the hope of a future of peace, and a renewal of the wholeness of life – a future some will only see where sorrow and pain are no more. Peace is coming.

Guided by compassion and common sense, wisdom and charity, we pull together, to bring into being in this very tangible way a foretaste of the heavenly banquet – the feast that is endless, the celebration of the peace and the reign of God.

Come to us, Lord Jesus, come to us in the work you have given us to do. Come to us in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. Come to us as you comfort the fallen, come to us as you clothe the naked, come to us as you visit those who are sick or in prison. Come to us even as you are there, in those people – those people with whom you walk and whom you serve.

Come to us even as you send us forth into your world, to do what you have called us to do. Empower us with your gifts for your glory, that each of us may show in our lives your glory, at work for the common good. Send us out rejoicing in the power of your Spirit.

Amen. Alleluia.

+

gifts at Cana

First, I'd like to apologize for my wife's absence this morning; second, I'd
like to take advantage of it. Sarah could not be with us this morning because
she has duties at the cathedral today, in children's chapel and in Sunday
School. The advantage for me is that I can talk about her a little bit. We just
got married a year and a half ago, and we are still learning a lot of new things
about each other, and how to get along, every day.

Last night, for example, I was pondering over how spiritual gifts and wedding
gifts relate to each other. What do the gifts of the Spirit that Paul talks
about have to do with the wedding feast at Cana, and Jesus' miraculous
provision? So we took a break from sermon writing, and Sarah unwrapped the last
of the Christmas presents. They were a lot like our wedding gifts.

They were gifts of - and for - hospitality. There were two chafing dishes to
keep things warm, with matching Pyrex for the baking. There was an oven rack
gizmo for potlucks, and some other kitchen gadget. All of these were gifts Sarah
applauded, and was glad to have. And all of them she will use in exercising her
own gifts, of hospitality and care.

Later this week we hope to attend a special reception for Paul Kennel, the
president of World Concern, the relief agency that Sarah works for, saying
farewell and thanks after twenty-five years of service. Sarah has the gift of
showing up for these things - honoring watershed occasions in people's lives.
Indeed, that is how we met: under the eaves of St Paul's parish hall in
Healdsburg, attending the ordination of mutual friends (Roger and Libbie Weber).
So there is a connection after all between spiritual gifts and weddings.

The words from the book of the prophet Isaiah, our OT reading for this morning,
proudly proclaim that God's vindication of his holy city of Jerusalem will be
like a wedding: that the Lord will show forth his love for the city of his
kingdom, and it will be called My Delight is in Her, and its land Married. Your
God, the prophet says, will rejoice over you.

The psalm gives our response: to proclaim the good news of his salvation from
day to day, to declare his glory among the nations and his wonders among all
peoples -- for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Let the heavens
rejoice and the earth be glad.

Paul in writing to the church at Corinth tells them how they can all come
together as a family, bringing their various gifts to the table - to the feast
that is the church's celebration of God's. None of these gifts may make much
sense by itself; together, they build up the body of Christ.

And, as one pastor pointed out in The Christian Century, the gifts of the Spirit
and the fruits of the Spirit that we enjoy in fellowship are a lot like the
gifts we enjoy in marriage - listening to one another, interpreting what each
other is saying, hospitality, thoughtfulness - as well as particular functional
gifts, like teaching or administration. Each of our practical contributions to
the work of the people is of value. Eventually, as Paul reminds us, all will
fall away except LOVE.

And love is what Jesus is all about. He and his friends, new or old, have
arrived at a party back in his home place - and the host is running out of wine.
Big embarrassment. Didn't Jesus bring any with him? Could he take a run to the
store and bring more?

Mary puts him on the spot. He does not want to tip his hand - he doesn't think
this is the time or the place - but, just like the man in the parable who opened
his door to persistent knocking, he does respond to the request, and provides
what is needed for hospitality. He does a little more than this.

Presumably he could have gathered the lads together and gone off to buy more
wine. Or he could have made a simple, quiet effort. Instead, he takes the
occasion - and begins to shine forth, revealing who he is, and who God is.

There stand the jars for purification. It only takes a cupful of water, we are
told by William Willimon, to purify a hundred. But Jesus has the servants fill
six stone jars - with over a hundred gallons of water in total - enough to
purify the whole world. Enough to purify the whole world. And he doesn't then
recommend tee-totaling. How about some nice water instead? Nope. He provides an
overabundance of wine that is hilarious. Jesus provides enough wine, we would
think, to host a party that will last until the end of time.

And that is exactly what he is up to.

God sent the prophets, over the centuries, to his people Israel. But he saved
the best for last. The crown of the prophets, his own Son, was Jesus. Jesus, who
shows, even more than any who came before, that the steadfast love [hesed]
between God and humankind, and the love between a man and a woman in marriage,
are the same steadfast love. God is like a bridegroom, loyal and rejoicing in
his beloved, as he contemplates his people.

We his people are like a family. We are called together, to stick together,
through good times and bad. ... Even when somebody stinks up the family car with
cigar smoke, or takes out the trash a day too late. Even when somebody tells us
the truth about themselves, and makes us realize that real love involves
accepting them as they really are.

Even when we are angry with each other. We are to stay together, loving each
other, using the gifts God has given us, and most of all, rejoicing in the
celebration that began that day at Cana, and will extend into eternity. The
feast of God's presence of among us.

JRL+

CEpiphany2 BCP
January 14, 2007
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Willows, California

Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 96 or 96:1-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11


___________________
Lawrence Wood, "Living by the Word: Wedding Gifts", The Christian Century,
January 9, 2007, page 16.

Lawrence Wood, "Living by the Word: Wedding Gifts", The Christian Century,
January 9, 2007, page 16.

William Willimon, "Some Saw Glory", sermon on John 2:1-11 preached 1/18/1998 at
Duke University Chapel.
http://www.chapel.duke.edu/worship/sunday/viewsermon.aspx?id=93

John R. Donahue, S.J., "A Different Kind of Inauguration 1", America, Vol. 184
No. 1, January 8, 2001.
http://www.americamagazine.org/SundayScripture.cfm?articletypeid=40&textID=959&i
ssueID=312