Monday, March 2

Lessons from the Daily Lectionary – Monday, March 2, 2009

Psalms 2, 101; Deuteronomy 8:1-20; Hebrews 2:11-18; John 2:1-12

Meditation: On Wednesday, I am invited to be the lunch time speaker at the midweek Harmony United Methodist Church Lenten noon-time gathering. (The gathering is open to all, so please come and join in at the Hamilton church!) This will be the second year for me to do so. I am delighted to be participating again. I was able to share last year about this same time and spoke about today’s Gospel lesson, John 2:1-12.

It was actually, an awkward text to talk about at Harmony, last year. The pastor said my sermon sounded “Presbyterian,” which I took to mean a bit overly intellectual or maybe too concerned with the nuances of the text and not its application (I’m not sure). Maybe so, but I do see this seemingly innocent little story about Jesus changing water into wine as quite an amazing moment in the Bible. It leaves me fascinated by its subtle invitations for how we might understand our interaction with God.

The intrigue of the story centers on two surprises. First, there is the surprise about how this is wedding story is really about communion. Yes, Jesus is adding to the festivity of the wedding in Cana of Galilee by helping them to have enough wine at the reception. But this wine of gladness points beyond itself to how the wine of communion should be taken. Communion wine should be consumed as a sacrament of joy and hope. Jesus’ shed blood on the cross is a sign of God’s reconciliation with the world. It invites us to a great banquet, anticipated as a metaphor for heaven. When that great and glorious feast arrives, we won’t be turned out at the end of the night because the refreshments are gone. There will be abundant wine. This is a surprise for us, when we think of God as stingy, suspicious, or skeptical about the folks who stay late at wedding receptions.

Second, the story allows Mary to play a remarkable role. Jesus announces that he is not yet ready to carry out this reconciliation between God and us quite yet. It will cost him dearly, and he is still preparing himself. But like a mother coaching her son at cotillion, Mary, ignoring Jesus’ protests and excuses, pushes Jesus out onto the global dance floor, directing him to act. Given the significance of his action –it will cost his life – in essence, Mary is saying: “Now go on my dear little Jesus. Offer yourself for the reconciliation of the world.” This blows me away. I don’t think of us as having that much say with God. For God to answer our prayers for a sick friend or about a war or famine in society is big enough. Yet, such prayers don’t ask God to offer the only son for our salvation. But Mary’s insistence that Jesus begin his ministry, shows how Jesus’ cross was taken up as an answer to our prayers. The text seems to go that far, to me.

Prayer: God, we don’t often imagine how intently you listen to our prayers. We might shoot one up at you when we awake in the morning or when we are in between appointments. We often say them only half-heartedly, or if we are praying intensely, it is because our eyes are on our own crisis or concern. But you hear us in accordance with your everlasting purpose to love the people you have made and delight in. Let us hear of Jesus’ offering as a gift of your gladness with us, and make our daily prayers those first, as prayers of thanksgiving. Amen.