Each year, congregations are required to report to vestry and the diocese how we are doing. Among the information that is required are statistics about how many people attend and how well we are paying our bills. These measures of butts in pews and dollars on plates are very visible attributes. We can see how many people show up each week and whether or not our buildings are neglected. Based on these attributes, some may make assumptions about the health of a congregation and its future.
When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’
Jesus, his mother, and his disciples are at a wedding, and the celebration runs out of wine. It is a visible reality that could impact the entire celebration leaving people to question the health of the family and the future of the couple. After all, if they can’t provide sufficient resources for this celebration, how can they provide for their life together? One could even imagine how word would spread through the community about this couple, this family falling short in this moment. The assumptions people would make could impact relationships long into their future. Thus, running out of wine at the wedding feast might become more than an inconvenience, it could be a pivotal event in their lives.
Concerned, Mary asks Jesus to do something so the couple can avoid the impending embarrassment. She wants to protect them from the consequences of this situation, from the harsh criticism of the community. Initially, Jesus appears indifferent, his hour has not yet come.
Initially Jesus appears indifferent, and yet, Jesus does act. He chooses to help in a very symbolic way. Jesus points to the water reserved for the Jewish rite of purification. This was water set aside for ritual cleansing, acts that could lead to transformation, to being made new. Through Jesus this water itself is made new, transformed into the best wine at the party. While most of the guests are unaware of what has happened, those who know, recognise this moment for what it is, a miracle through which Jesus glorifies God.
So, it is with the Church. We may live in a context where it appears there are many congregations where the wine seems to have run out, where the visible measures of butts in pews and dollars on plates suggest that the future of the family of faith is in question. Based on these measures, our own context doesn’t look great. But our prayers shouldn’t simply be focused on getting more wine. Our priorities shouldn’t be about how we look and avoiding some impending sense of failure and embarrassment. There is more to a wedding celebration than wine. There is more to faith than butts in pews and dollars on plates.
In what ways are we experiencing God taking the tools of our faith, the parallel of Jesus using the jars containing the water for the Jewish rites of purification, and transforming these for our benefit? How has the experience of the waters used to welcome Kiera and Oliver through Baptism last week been like the experience of good quality wine that invites us to engage more meaningfully new members of our family? To what extent have the intentional efforts to embody the Baptismal Covenant created opportunities for us to become more fully acquainted with the wider community so that we can participate in the wedding feast a little longer? In what ways has our attention to the Marks of Mission transformed our hearts so that we recognise the importance of continually using our resources to give glory to God? How has the glory of Jesus been revealed in this work of ministry helping us to believe more deeply and more fully as the disciples did in Cana of Galilee when Jesus changed water into wine at a wedding?
There is more to a wedding celebration than wine. There is more to faith than butts in pews and dollars on plates. May we trust the ways that God is working in and through us, transforming the tools of our faith into the best wine so that God’s glory is revealed in ways that are more than we can ask or imagine as God has done from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus. This we pray as we sing: 73 One Bread, One Body