Homily
Question for collaboration: How can we help make our community better reflect God’s abundant love?
We are at a wedding out in the country, on a beautiful evening. Glasses are clinking, candles are flickering, music is playing, and wine is flowing. But then suddenly, it’s not—whispers circulate that the bartender has run out of wine. The bride’s parents are looking a little frantic, the bride is starting to cry, the groom is doing everything he can to reassure her.
Many of you have had the honor of hosting weddings over the years, as Jeff and I have, or you have been married, or been to weddings. You know how uncomfortable this moment would have been.
This reading is situated in the 2nd chapter of John’s Gospel, and says that the action Jesus took here was the first of his “signs.” It heralds the beginning of his ministry, the beginning of his mission to invite all to participation as the people of God, to a new way of life based on love, and on working for justice for everyone. This seems like a trivial story, but if we look with a wider lens we can see the scope that John is trying to project.
One image that can give us an idea of this larger significance is the amount of wine. If there were six jars, and each held 20-30 gallons, that was around 150 gallons of wine! Plenty for many weddings! Plenty to convey the extravagant generosity of the God Jesus was starting to teach about, of the limitless love Jesus was inviting the people to be a part of.
I love that Mary was the one who really saved the day here. Though Jesus actually performed the “sign,” Mary is the one who moved him to figure out how to help these people out, and to start to fulfill his future at the same time. “This could be the moment!” she seems to be telling Jesus, “The moment that we as the people of God have been waiting for, the moment when God’s commitment and fidelity begin to be revealed and renewed!”
Tomorrow we celebrate again the life and example of another prophetic example, Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King’s voice, as in the passage we read from his speech today, projected the aspirations of all those who long for justice and equality, and dared to envision humanity’s capacity for love and unity. Over and over, in his sermons, speeches, and writings, he described the Beloved Community, the goal we all reach for as believers in God’s love, and in our potential as lovers of one another, if we only can reach beyond our own insecurities and tribal self-limitations.
Taken together, these readings tell us that God’s love exceeds the depth and commitment of the best of marriages. We have the capacity to reflect this love to one another, if only we will take the risk of breaking out of own our complacent, insulated existences to begin to recognize God in everyone, no holds barred. And the moment to do it is now, while the candles are still glowing and the music plays and hope is still alive. Mary, the prophet encourages us,
“Do whatever Jesus tells you!”
So what do you think- what can we do to help make our community better reflect God’s abundant love?
My suggestion- read Waking Up White by Debbie Irving. It’s about recognizing the degree of privilege you and I have as members of the dominant racial group here in the US, how to avoid being even unconsciously complicit in keeping other groups down, and how to learn to progress toward making some authentic contributions toward justice for all groups.
Question for collaboration: How can we help make our community better reflect God’s abundant love?
We are at a wedding out in the country, on a beautiful evening. Glasses are clinking, candles are flickering, music is playing, and wine is flowing. But then suddenly, it’s not—whispers circulate that the bartender has run out of wine. The bride’s parents are looking a little frantic, the bride is starting to cry, the groom is doing everything he can to reassure her.
Many of you have had the honor of hosting weddings over the years, as Jeff and I have, or you have been married, or been to weddings. You know how uncomfortable this moment would have been.
This reading is situated in the 2nd chapter of John’s Gospel, and says that the action Jesus took here was the first of his “signs.” It heralds the beginning of his ministry, the beginning of his mission to invite all to participation as the people of God, to a new way of life based on love, and on working for justice for everyone. This seems like a trivial story, but if we look with a wider lens we can see the scope that John is trying to project.
One image that can give us an idea of this larger significance is the amount of wine. If there were six jars, and each held 20-30 gallons, that was around 150 gallons of wine! Plenty for many weddings! Plenty to convey the extravagant generosity of the God Jesus was starting to teach about, of the limitless love Jesus was inviting the people to be a part of.
I love that Mary was the one who really saved the day here. Though Jesus actually performed the “sign,” Mary is the one who moved him to figure out how to help these people out, and to start to fulfill his future at the same time. “This could be the moment!” she seems to be telling Jesus, “The moment that we as the people of God have been waiting for, the moment when God’s commitment and fidelity begin to be revealed and renewed!”
Tomorrow we celebrate again the life and example of another prophetic example, Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King’s voice, as in the passage we read from his speech today, projected the aspirations of all those who long for justice and equality, and dared to envision humanity’s capacity for love and unity. Over and over, in his sermons, speeches, and writings, he described the Beloved Community, the goal we all reach for as believers in God’s love, and in our potential as lovers of one another, if we only can reach beyond our own insecurities and tribal self-limitations.
Taken together, these readings tell us that God’s love exceeds the depth and commitment of the best of marriages. We have the capacity to reflect this love to one another, if only we will take the risk of breaking out of own our complacent, insulated existences to begin to recognize God in everyone, no holds barred. And the moment to do it is now, while the candles are still glowing and the music plays and hope is still alive. Mary, the prophet encourages us,
“Do whatever Jesus tells you!”
So what do you think- what can we do to help make our community better reflect God’s abundant love?
My suggestion- read Waking Up White by Debbie Irving. It’s about recognizing the degree of privilege you and I have as members of the dominant racial group here in the US, how to avoid being even unconsciously complicit in keeping other groups down, and how to learn to progress toward making some authentic contributions toward justice for all groups.
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