From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Here are some thoughts on this coming Sunday's gospel text for the Second Sunday after Epiphany. This was sent electronically to friends and members of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.
1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
The picture is from Istanbul, Turkey, a mosaic from the outer narthex of Chora Church, Kariye Museum.
Gospel: John 2:1-11
1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
People know how to party in the Middle East. A typical wedding feast lasted as long as seven days. Even today, Palestinian feasts go on for several days. When we lived in Bethlehem, every year we had a Christmas Feast for Muslims, which lasted three days. That was truly the minimum number of time for any feast.
The water wasn’t necessarily healthy to drink in Jesus’ day, so like many places, people drank wine. Can you imagine the horror of running out of something to drink if you had a party, especially a wedding reception? What struck me as I was thinking about this text is the ordinariness of water. It’s something most everyone has access to. There was nothing special about the water in today’s gospel reading. Yet it is common, ordinary water that Jesus uses for his first sign. Out of this ordinary water, Jesus produced something extraordinary—some very good wine.
The disciples were ordinary people. Through them, God’s church grew exponentially. We too are pretty ordinary people. Through us, God desires to do extraordinary things. We have seen some of this with the 5 and 2 Ministry as well as other ministries. That’s just a glimpse of what God can and wants to do through us.
There is a Christian song from the ‘70s, “Ordinary People,” that kept repeating in my heart as I have been studying this text. Here are some of the words:
Just ordinary people
God uses ordinary people
He chooses people just like me and you
Who are willing to do as He commands
God uses people that will give Him all
No matter how small your all may seem to you
Because little becomes much
As you place it in the Master’s hand
God loves to use the ordinary to do the extraordinary.
The picture is from Istanbul, Turkey, a mosaic from the outer narthex of Chora Church, Kariye Museum.
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