January 18, 2004
Isaiah 62:1-5; I Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
As pointed out earlier, the prophets served to encourage the Jews not to give up in despair in the face of defeat even when it was clear that there was no obvious reason to be hopeful. A major function of the prophets was that of continually reminding their people that they had reason to hope for something better in the future than they were presently experiencing. It was this hope that was the foundation for the continuing development of Judaism. It was, and continues to be, this hope that empowers them in their insistence that they have a right to exist as a nation. The prophets insisted on reminding the Jews who they were--that they were children of God and that worthwhile opportunities were available to them in the greater scheme of things. The Jews were reminded that even when they turned their back on God, if they were willing to "move toward God" in terms of remorse, behavior, and attitude, opportunities would be available to them with which they could move forward in the journey of fulfilling their potential. The hardships experienced by the Jews and their persistence in giving some measure of positive response to the message of the prophets became an important ingredient in the process of their developing faith. Every experience of life, positive or negative, had for them and has for us, the potential for contributing something worthwhile to a faith that nudges human beings on their journey to fulfillment.
It is this message from the prophets that is important and dependable. The prophetic message often read into their words in "hindsight" is not dependable beyond the nurturing of hope and inspiration for changing attitude and behavior. Anything deemed to be a fulfillment of prophecy should be viewed only as "self fulfilling prophecy" and not the fruition of God's pre-ordained plan. It is worth considering that God has not planned and does not now plan the future for human beings individually or collectively. It is worth considering that God provides resources and opportunities for human being to create a future from the present, the past, and their creatively resourcefulness. The Jews believed themselves to be God's "chosen people". By virtue of birth each of us is a "chosen person". We must help one another and ourselves in fulfilling that birthright.
The Apostle Paul, author of the letters to the church at Corinth, knew little if anything about genetics. What he did know was that individuals are born with a great variety of capabilities--he called them "spiritual gifts". Certainly Paul (known in his former days as Saul, when he was an enthusiastic promoter of Judaism) embraced the idea of the Jews being a "chosen people" by their Creator. But he also embraced the idea of diversity. It was clear to Paul that all people are not "gifted" in the same manner. He viewed this diversity as a gift from God to human beings that should be utilized for the entire human family. It should be noted that these words from Paul were a great "stretch" from where he had been in his thinking as a devout Jew. The process of growth was working in Paul to the extent that he was able to see that persons other than Jews should also be included as children of God. Furthermore he believed that even if persons had in the past been responsive to idolatry, they could forsake their idols and become part of the family of those who followed the way of Jesus in the journey of their relationship with their Creator. Paul did not see diversity which was recognized as "gifts" from God as a challenge. Instead he viewed diverse gifts "of the spirit" as essential to the "whole".
In the modern world which is small in relational size by amazing technological means of communication and transportation, this message of "diversity" and "wholeness" is extremely important. Never in the history of the world, has the need for positive relationships been so great. A major task for everyone in the world is to learn about, and appreciate more, the positive differences represented among us, accepting as fact the idea that we were created to be a mutually supportive human family, not a group of people intend on destroying one another.
The story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding was intended, by his disciples, to lend weight to the idea that he was "the only begotten Son of God and Messiah". Furthermore it was designed to serve notice to other religions which held forth leaders believed to be capable of doing unusual (miraculous) things that Jesus, leader of this new sect of Judaism was as capable as others. The passage closes with "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him." The imaging of Jesus as a worker of miracles was important to early Christianity in its need to compete with other established religions in the world. It is this fact which has nudged the church into emphasizing the importance of believing in miracles to this day.
Realistically we all know that we cannot count on miracles to provide either human needs or wants. It takes more than a command from a pious leader to transform water into wine. Among the requirements are: hard work; much knowledge; fertile soil; the right climate; proper technique; and good marketing. All of us are sufficiently realistic not to depend on instantaneous miracles to provide wine for occasions of celebration. Few of us appreciate as we should, the wonderful process of one "miracle" after another in "'turning water into wine". And so it is with all of life. Few, if any events in life, stand on the basis of an instantaneous miracle regardless of how wonderful the final product may be. Consider the many miracles at work in the creation and development of a human being. There are miracles at work in many manifestations: Ingredients from the soil, air, water, and spirit which go into the making of parental bodies, minds and spirits; The chance meeting of a given sperm with a given egg which results in the creation of a fetus; the process of development which occurs before and after birth; and all the ingredients which go into the making of a social, spiritual, intellectual and physical human being who is easily recognizable as the child of a loving God. Add to these sample examples of miracles in process, the involvement of other human beings! How great our responsibility not just to ourselves in our journey of "becoming"! How great the privilege of being co-workers with God in, among other things, human beings!
Jesus became the founder and short-term leader of Christianity as a result of the image which was created of him. The image of Jesus was created in a manner which had meaning to the people of his day in relationship to their understanding of the world of that day. That part of the "process" was wonderful for then. It is important that we build on what Jesus and others did, as we seek to engage in the continuing process of the human journey. The world of our understanding is much different today than it was at the time of Jesus--and of the development of the New Testament. Are we sufficiently brave to build on that but move on beyond and from that?