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

Our Gospel lesson this morning is fraught with theological imagery, deep symbolism, and the unmistakable presence of the Holy Spirit.  John refers to this event as the first “sign.” “Sign” expands our conception of miracle; the term “sign” clearly indicates God’s all-powerful presence in the human person of Jesus Christ.  This understanding of God’s presence in the human person of Jesus Christ is our Epiphany.  Jesus is Lord and Savior.  There would be other “signs” to come as John’s account of the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ unfolds.

The scene of our lesson is a wedding feast.  Isaiah speaks of the joy of the bridegroom over his bride as symbolic of God’s joy over us, his people.  We frequently equate the Holy Eucharist with a wedding feast.  The true bridegroom is the host of our weekly feasts, and he invites us to come again and again.  

A wedding feast, then, is the appropriate setting for our reflection on our common humanity being offered to Jesus Christ that he might transform us and fill our emptiness to overflowing blessings as is our experience each time we come to the Holy Eucharist.

Our lesson describes empty vessels being filled with water at Jesus’ instruction, the common water then transformed to the finest of wine, overflowing abundantly and miraculously.  We are drawn to the reality of the presence of Jesus Christ transforming our earthliness into that that is sacred over and above our expectations – abundantly and miraculously.  

Significantly present at the wedding feast is the God bearer, the Theotokos, herself the vessel of the abundant miracle of the Incarnation and, in this account, the instigator of this very familiar transformation of water into wine.  

 Jesus’ mother surely is aware that her son was born exclusively for God’s purpose; in this case, she seems to prod him to get on with his mission – a prodding Jesus doesn’t seem to appreciate.  In this way, the writer catches our focus and broadens our understanding of the human aspect of the beginnings of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  Jesus and his mother seem to be struggling for clarity of their roles in this encounter and how and if these empty vessels enter into God’s plan. They become collaborators.

In this account of the Wedding in Cana, Jesus came to understand clearly that he was called to transform these common jars of water to overflowing with the finest of wine; we too are transformed abundantly and miraculously when we give our earthly lives to Jesus Christ; we too become vessels of the finest wine, human bearers of the Gospel message.

The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the people of Corinth of the spiritual gifts.  Paul’s words are clear in specifying our variety of ministries that are the manifestations of our individual spiritual gifts – manifestations for the common good, which is the essential question.  Does this service or activity meet the common good?  

Paul writes that there are a variety of services and activities, but all from one spirit.  He lists spiritual gifts as the utterance of wisdom and knowledge; in addition, sharing the faith, bringing healing, and working miracles; and there are others that we too often assume are elusive or archaic – prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpreting the speaking of tongues.  These spiritual gifts are just as real today as ever, and we should not sneer or dismiss the reality of any of these spiritual gifts and certainly not the manifestation of common good that they produce.

Each of us is gifted with the spirit; yet we are mere water-filled vessels until we offer our gifts, made manifest through Jesus Christ, that these spiritual gifts might be transformed into overflowing abundance.

Newly adopted into the Body of Christ, the greeting for the people of Corinth had become, “Jesus is Lord.”  United with these earliest Christians, our affirmation is the same.

Jesus is Lord; his earthly presence is the manifestation of all common good.  Jesus is Lord.  

There are empty vessels in this wedding feast we call life.  There is much about life that depletes our vessels and robs the energy required to fill them.  Now, more than ever, we need to come to the wedding feast.  Now, more than ever, we need to taste the finest wine, the blood that was shed for our salvation.  From emptiness to overflowing abundance, the Good News of Jesus Christ is revealed in glory and, along with the disciples at the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee, we believe.  Believing, trusting, our spiritual gifts become the finest wine.  Believing, trusting, our ordinary lives are transformed into that that is sacred – miraculously, abundantly filled.