I can’t tell you how much I relate to the relationship between Mary and Jesus as told in this little story from John’s gospel. I mean, we’ve all met that kid or teen, who would make the perfect stand in for Jesus – not for the water into wine action – but in the look of disgust or epic eye roll that follows the request for the garbage to be taken out or to unload the dishwasher with a “mother, that is not my problem” tacked on for good measure. The “mother” in lieu of what Jesus calls Mary that some translate as “honoured woman” but is apparently more like “ma’am” in our daily speech. “Ma’am, honoured woman, that is not my problem.” I’ve always read this passage as a bit of teen-age snark to which, if I was Mary, would garner the response of “that’s ‘mum’ to you” before turning to the others and telling them to “just do what he says” because trust me, he’s gonna do what I tell him to do. Parent and child, oh the dynamics.
Maybe you are wondering, given this story which we’ve all heard many times, if that is what is unexpected about Jesus – he actually does what his mother asks of him. It is a bit shocking actually. Parents everywhere have had to deal with stinky garbage that has festered too long because of a child dragging their feet in taking it out as requested. But in all seriousness, it is pretty amazing that Mary is given this kind of influence over Jesus in this Gospel. This is Jesus’ very first miracle according to John, so it carries deep significance. Afterall, it meant to reveal something essential about who Jesus is and what he’s all about.
So, if Mary is asking him to do this (or forcing his hand as the case may be), then we should look at what she says about Jesus and what he is going to do in his life. The best place to find that information is in her Magnificat, which she sings in the gospel of Luke (and we hear during Advent). She sings this beautiful song about how, through Jesus, God is going to pull the mighty down from their thrones and raise up the lowly and fill the hungry with good food. It’s a message about a new kingdom of God where all will have enough – and if you look at this story – it is also holds an unexpected abundance.
Most scholars agree that those jars of water used for purification rituals would have held 2 or 3 firkins of water each– which is about 180 gallons or 681 litres of water – which is going to become more than enough wine for even the most well attended wedding – especially since the guests had already been drinking – enough that the original bottles were all now empty – and it doesn’t say anywhere that there were bad wedding planners involved so we can assume that the proper amount of wine had been acquired… and now Jesus makes this absolutely ridiculous over abundance of wine – and not just any old wine – the very best wine. It’s quite the kick-off to his ministry – a ministry who’s central message will be about abundance, the unending abundance of God’s love and God’s grace.
Here’s the thing: we’re not always really great at understanding this miracle of abundance. There is a large proponent of the population who believe that we will never have enough, let alone more than enough, for everyone in this world. It’s a lot easier to believe in what Walter Brueggeman called the “myth” of scarcity – to which all of you are now thinking, “here she goes again”. But bear with me. We live on this earth, which is a gift, but have we started to take seriously the reality that there is a limit to the resources that we are plundering? Quite honestly, we need people and business to live a little (or a lot depending on who or what you are) less.
While this may be true, Sarah Bessey argues the flip side of “being driven by the fear of Not Enough and Never Enough is that we make our decisions out of the fear and anxiety that there isn’t enough for us. These core beliefs can lead us to the treacheries of war and hunger, injustice and inequality. It’s the origin for the belief that we must keep others down so we can stay on top. We stockpile money and food and comforts at the expense of one another and our own souls.”
What would it look like if we could turn this scarcity model on its head and really believe that Jesus came so that people, all people, could have life and have it more abundantly?
It might look like a bunch of food bank directors and volunteers gather around tables trying to figure out when an abundance of food is donated to them instead of being transported to the landfill because of blemishes and imperfection.
It might look like a people with and in support of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank going to Parliament Hill to speak with MPs about the ways their organization is creating world food security in all of its programming and to encourage the government to keep its commitments.
It might look like United Church congregations across the country gathering around a communion table for a feast – trusting that these groups of committed people, trusting that we, have an abundance of love and strength enough to change the world.
To trust in the abundance of love and grace God has for us is to live lives of abundance, and that is a bit of a miracle in and of itself.
But what if this is too much to ask – after all, it was our man Jesus who changed the water into wine, not us.
In response to this pondering, let me share the most unexpected thing about this little story from John about a wedding party gone wrong: it was just a wedding, an average, run of the mill wedding. Some biblical scholars like to point out that running out of wine would have brought shame on the family hosting the wedding and it would have been a very big deal in the social culture Jesus was living in, but let’s get real – it’s really not a life and death situation – at least in our eyes. It was just an ordinary wedding. (As an aside, I realize the wedding industry has gone a bit nuts and these days there seems to be a number of people who believe that the perfection of every wedding detail is life and death stuff, and that there is no ‘ordinary’ in wedding but – as I like to remind couples – at the end of the day, as long as they are still in love and the wedding license has been filled out and popped in the mail, then it was a success!)
My point is this: Jesus’ very first, all important, deeply significant miracle – the one that sets the tone and tells us everything we need to know about Jesus’ ministry is about – is in the midst of everyday, ordinary life. At a party! The Women’s Bible Commentary writes “this opening to Jesus’ ministry shows that the miraculous life giving power of God is at work even (and perhaps, especially) in the intimate daily places of human lives.”
This is the good news of this gospel story. Our God is a God who shows up in our messy, ordinary, everyday lives with unexpected abundance. Our God shows up when we are thirsty and hungry, when we are at our most human. Our God is a God who uses us, ordinary saints, to bring change to the world.
