Photo by Daniel Lerman on Unsplash
Genesis 14:17-20; Psalm 128; Revelation 19:6-10; John 2:1-11
Here’s an epiphany to have and hold,
A truth that you can taste upon the tongue,
No distant shrines and canopies of gold
Or ladders to be clambered rung by rung,
But here and now, amidst your daily living,
Where you can taste and touch and feel and see,
The spring of love, the fount of all forgiving,
Flows when you need it, rich, abundant, free.
Better than waters of some outer weeping,
That leave you still with all your hidden sin,
Here is a vintage richer for the keeping
That works its transformation from within.
‘What price?’ you ask me, as we raise the glass,
‘It cost our Saviour everything he has.’ (1)
How good are you at noticing things? There have been lots of TV programmes looking at how reliable we are as witnesses, how well we look and observe our surroundings, even remembering someone we’ve just met. What was their accent? What colour hair? In one programme I watched, hair colour from witnesses varied from light brown to ginger! We humans don’t seem to take much notice of what is going on around us on a daily basis. If an accident or crime happened in front of us, how many of us would really be accurate eye-witnesses? If you were recalling the events of the wedding at Cana, what would you remember? What would you have noticed? No-one there seems to have noticed the quiet man organising the filling of huge water jars which then turn out to contain wine! Well, I suppose if they’ve finished off the first lot of wine, perhaps their powers of perception were a little hazy!
“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” The disciples certainly noticed something, something different, something special about this man they had chosen to follow. Well, they wouldn’t have followed him if there wasn’t something. And at this wedding they get a glimpse of what that something is: a sign, a miracle, an authority. Jesus changed the situation from one of potential huge embarrassment for the bridegroom and his family to one of amazement: as the steward says: but you have saved the good wine until now! Jesus changes things, changes something ordinary into something special, something holy. Quietly, just making things better. But using the everyday, transforming it into something new, whether that is water, bread or wine itself: behold, behold I make all things new beginning with you and starting from today, for I am Christ the way (2). And most people only notice the superficial, the fact that suddenly they have nice wine to drink, and isn’t that great. What a kind host. Jesus doesn’t even get the credit! Unless you were watching, observing, really taking notice of what was going on. And this watching, observing, awareness is how Rowan Williams describes discipleship: being aware of Jesus’ presence and power to change the world; of seeing Jesus’ actions and expecting change, expecting to see his power at work. (3) This is what the disciples experience at that wedding – they have listened to the call and now they see what Jesus is doing, What he is capable of doing, and his glory is revealed. And this continues for them throughout Jesus’ ministry from this moment. Through this gradual opening of their eyes and minds through Jesus’ actions and words the disciples see God and are inspired by the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’ work, mission and ministry after the Ascension. This is the Trinity in action. (3)
And we, like the disciples, are called to follow Christ, to look for his power at work in the world, to respond and to join in. To see the transformation that can happen when God’s love acts through the lives of those around us: when we see kindness, service, self-sacrifice being acted out by those we see. The doctors and nurses who go to conflict zones to help; the people who donate time or money to organisations that help those in need; those who simply offer a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand, that cup of tea at a stressful time. All these are signs that reveal Jesus, reveal the love of God in the world and which transform the world, allowing the kingdom to break through. These small, quiet, “transformations from within”: everyday acts that are transformed by the power of the Spirit into acts that reveal Jesus, reveal God amongst us in the hearts, hands and actions of others. And we are called not only to notice these, to be aware of what is being done around us, but to join in and become part of this transforming power ourselves. To follow Christ by living his work, his mission and ministry in our lives: by welcoming all who come through our doors, by opening our hearts and minds to those in need, by loving God’s people and revealing God’s love in the world through our actions. We are to live expecting to see and hear Jesus and his power in our lives and in our world. And to join in.
So, look at the world through Christ’s eyes and expect to see Christ in it. Williams says, as disciples, we are to watch “with a degree of inner stillness that allows the unexpected world-changing to occur” (3). Because, as at the wedding in Cana, Jesus’ power and glory are constantly revealed through the everyday, through the ordinary actions of ordinary people inspired by the Spirit, often in the background, easily missed. Just as when Christ transformed the everyday by turning the water into wine. And his power was strong enough to transform even the cross into something new, something more powerful, something holy – the means of hope and salvation. As Malcolm Guite puts it:
‘Here is a vintage richer for the keeping, That works its transformation from within’. ‘What price?’ you ask me, as we raise the glass, It cost our Saviour everything he has.’ (1)
But through the signs of water, bread and wine, the cross, through his power, the world has been and continues to be transformed. Behold, he makes all things new, beginning with you and starting from today. Come and join him, he is waiting in the streets for us to take up our discipleship, notice him and act alongside him to continue to transform the world through our everyday kindnesses, challenging injustice, and bringing hope and love. Amen.
- Epiphany at Cana https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2019/01/19/an-epiphany-at-cana-2/
- Bell John L (1984) Come All You People, Iona Community Wild Goose Publications, Glasgow: “Behold I make all things new p.84
- Williams Rowan 29/04/07 Being Disciples Conference https://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/articles/being-disciples-2007-conference-rowan-williams/
- Williams Rowan 29/04/07 Being Disciples Conference https://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/articles/being-disciples-2007-conference-rowan-williams/
- Williams Rowan 29/04/07 Being Disciples Conference https://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/articles/being-disciples-2007-conference-rowan-williams/