Sermon on John 2:1-11 (Epiphany 2)

God of the Ordinary

Last year Lauren and I became good friends with the intern at Calvary and his wife, Alex and Emily, and their daughter Amelia.  Mia will be 2 in May, so any of you that have young children, have had young children or have ever interacted with young kids know that “Going out and doing a bunch of stuff” was not the preferred way to hang out. For Lauren and I that is just fine so we would get together as often as we could to do dinner, maybe watch a movie, but mainly just talk and of course, play with Mia. Sharing and cooking recipes for each other became a main part of our time together and with that sharing lots of laughter, stories, and faith discussions. While they were here in Texas we connected over food. When the time came for them to move back to Ohio we were sad, but also thrilled with the parting gift that they gave to us. They gave us this small recipe book that has some of our favorites from our time together, some suggestions of things to try and some different pictures of Amelia. I love to cook, so it is fun to get to prepare these things and enjoy them, and enjoy the memories that come with them.

Food, watching a movie, sharing stories, laughing, playing…none of these things are overly complicated. In fact you might say that they are rather ordinary. There really isn’t anything special about them in combination. You probably have stories very similar to mine. Time with friends and family that was filled with some ordinary things, but something about that time was special, meaningful. It could have been the place; it could have been the magic combination of people gathered… it could have been any number of things! Here’s another thought: God was present in those times. In and around all of those ordinary things God’s grace and love was present. Makes sense to me!

Jesus’ first miracle as told in the Gospel of John this morning reminds us of one very important truth that I want us to remember: God is present in the ordinary things. You might protest a bit, “But Jonathan it was a wedding! That’s a special moment, not an ordinary occasion!” If you were thinking that you are absolutely right! It wasn’t an ordinary occasion, but it did have an ordinary problem. They ran out of wine! Bummer…party foul. Now what? For some reason Mary seems to take a particular interest in this fact and lets Jesus in on the problem. His response seems pretty formal and rather defensive, “Woman, what concern is it to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” Now we don’t know what happens next…Mary isn’t shown as saying anything else, but as everyone in this room knows there is this special power moms are given in which they can unravel you with just a single look. All we know is Mary looks at the servants nearby and says “Do whatever he tells you.”

Mary knows something that I believe we know and understand too, though we may not always be able to name it. For her it comes from raising her son. Being a parent gives you a special insight into your children that others may not always see. What Mary knows and believes is this: When Jesus is present, miraculous things happen. We know and believe this too, right? Though what tends to happen is we only call upon it when we need it. When things are going wrong, when we have a problem and need a solution we turn to God. This in itself isn’t a bad thing though it can cause some problems and disappointments. We expect God to come in power and in strength to rescue us. “God, come fix this now with the desired outcome of my choosing!” How did Jesus solve this problem at the wedding?

He has the servants fill 6 huge stone jars with water. These jars were used for the purification rites mandated by Jewish law so were pretty commonplace.  Something ordinary. Then when the servants drew water to take to the chief steward, the wedding coordinator, and he tasted it, it wasn’t water anymore, but rather an abundance of great wine! There wasn’t a big flash. No big production. It was just Jesus working quietly in the background to provide an abundance of the best stuff.

I really like Facebook. It couldn’t be because I was going to college when the social media revolution started and I was the target audience. I have come to appreciate it more in recent years because of the many ways it reminds me of how God is with us in the ordinary. Most often I see it through those people I know who have begun the journey through parenthood. It seems like every day there is at least one thing in my newsfeed that reminds me that God’s grace and love still abound in the normal world. It doesn’t have to be catastrophic. It doesn’t even have to be this awesome mountain top experience. It’s just people, especially kids, living their lives out in the world. If you didn’t get a chance to look at the back page please take the chance to look at it because I provided some of my favorite most recent examples there. It’s a beautiful thing. A beautiful reminder that in our day to day lives, especially for those of us who believe, that God is present with us. Not with a big flash or production, but working quietly in the background to always provide an abundance of grace and love. When Jesus is around, you can be sure unexpected, miraculous, resurrection, restoration, beautiful things will happen.

One of the places that we get to see the God of the ordinary at work is here at church. Through water, bread and wine we continue to receive reminders that God is present here in the stuff of life. Not far off someplace else, but right here present with God’s creation. Today we get the opportunity to experience the beauty that is communion, a physical presence of God with us. It seems to me that our world could use a few more reminders of that. Reminders that God hasn’t abandoned us, but walks with us through our pain, doubt, fear, sorrow, joy, hope and love. Perhaps you need that reminder at this moment, I think we all do. I hope you find it here today. That is one of the most important things we can do for each other is to be that reminder. Our calling also goes beyond this place because God wants to remind everyone of the wholeness and restoration that comes through his son Jesus. We are called to be reminders of that for the world. To live knowing that God is present with us. To tell others of a God of the ordinary things who loves us all so much that He would come to live among us to truly experience the ordinary as well as the highs and lows of life. To share how God is present in our lives and why that makes all the difference. It doesn’t have to be with a big flash or production. You may not even feel like you are equipped to handle such a calling, but remember with Jesus around miraculous things happen. Amen.