January 19, 2025 
Lighting the Christ Candle

Welcome and Announcements 

Call to Worship
God’s love is as big as the universe, and his purpose is greater than the oceans.
Yet in his greatness and goodness nothing is lost or overlooked.
Nothing, neither human nor mouse, nor the tiniest thing escapes the regard of God.  God’s love is greater than we can know or understand.
We are sheltered under his wings.  We are fed at his banquet.  We drink at the fountain of his delight.
No matter what, God is with us in all things.  His grace is always overflowing.
We are lifted in God’s love, therefore we rejoice because the best is yet to come! 

Hymn:  313 O Worship the King

Prayer of Approach 

Oh God in the Perfect Light of your revelation, show us again how you  shone in the life of Jesus.  Show us again how his presence and his actions are meant to fill our lives to overflowing.  Then, in that revelation, so shine in us and through us, so that we may be filled with his goodness, mercy, truth and compassion.    Fill us and all creation with the revelation of your word again, so that by proclaiming your joyful promises to all nations and singing of your glorious hope to all peoples, we may become one living body, your incarnate presence on the earth. Amen. 

That we may be the presence of God on earth, let us come together in confession and be assured of the grace of God which fills  our lives.    

Prayer of Confession:
Lord, we need a miracle today.  Like Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana, we need a miracle today.
We are tired, Lord, of the hurts of this world.
We are discouraged in the face of injustice, war, poverty, and indifference.
We need a miracle today, Lord.
Your steadfast love, like a mighty mountain,
will not be moved.  Your gifts, as many as the mighty winds, cannot be counted.
Your glory, like a mighty torch, will not be put out.
Lord, crown us with your love. Show us your glory, that in you we may be moved
to acts of kindness, love, justice, and mercy.
Lord, we need a miracle today. Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon 

On the mountain of salvation, the Lord Almighty has prepared a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.  The Spirit summons us to come to the banquet  saying, “Come.  Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.  Let us rejoice, in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. 

Passing the Peace

Hymn:  350  To God be the glory

 

Scripture:

Responsive Psalm 36 
John 2: 1-11 
 

Sermon:  The best is yet to come 

If there was ever a passage of Scripture that was begging to begin with an examination of the culture of the time, this one is it. 

In this time, the water was often undrinkable, and if it was, it had to be hauled in from a shared well.  Wine was the drink that was served for celebrations.  The abundance of good food and good wine was a sign of the hospitality and generosity expected of a good host. 

 

So when the wine ran out at the wedding, it was a big problem.  It would put the host to shame, and bring the party to an unexpected end, as the guests departed with disappointment and maybe a word or two of judgement, wondering why there wasn’t more thought and planning put into the preparations for the wedding feast.   

 

Providing hospitality in our culture is a different story.  Making our events a place in which all feel welcomed and appreciated means paying attention to the needs of those whom we invite.  Do they have allergies?  Does anyone not drink?  There is thought and planning that goes into making sure that everyone is able to find what they need. 

But that really is the bare minimum when it comes to hospitality—to put thought and planning into making sure everyone is able to find what they need.  What is also needed, to be a good host is to make sure that everyone also feels welcome and included and valued as a guest at your table.   

That latter requirement is what is represented in the 150 some odd gallons of wine.   

Let’s look at some of the details of the wedding. 

 

Mary is the one who notices that the wine has run out, and she goes to Jesus to tell him about it.  He is not overly receptive to her information, and from his response to her, it is clear that he knows that she expects him to do something.   

His ministry has not yet begun, he is, as they say, “still wet behind the ears”.  His baptism has been recent, he is barely finished gathering his disciples and has yet to embark on what God is asking of him.  No one recognizes him for who he is, and what God is calling forth from him. 

No one, but Mary. 

Did you notice that Mary ignored what Jesus said, and simply spoke to the servants, saying, “do whatever he tells you.”   

There is nothing like being put on the spot by your mother. 

And yet, for so many reasons this is the most appropriate of first miracles to declare who Jesus is, and what he is to be about. 

Who he is and what he is called to be, is the abundance of God’s grace. 

The jars for ceremonial washing were standing nearby and Jesus instructs the servants to fill the jars. 

Did you notice the size of the jars? 

There were 6 jars, each holding 20 to 30 gallons.  6 times 30 is 180 gallons, so to say there was roughly 150 gallons of wine would suggest the average of what became available.  Certainly enough for the party and then some. 

That the ceremonial jars were filled with wine, is suggestive of a change to come in the ways in which people will be received into a relationship with God. 

The ceremonial water was to be used for washing in order to cleanse a person to be ceremonially pure.  That special handwashing had nothing to do with having clean hands for dinner; and everything to do with representing clean hearts for participating in the grace of God. 

What you want to say right now is, but the wedding guests are not gathered for worship, why do they need clean hearts?   

Glad you asked. 

 

In Scripture, weddings are often an expression of the coming kingdom of God.  That coming kingdom was to be ushered in by the Messiah through whom  the grace of God would be poured out upon all people without counting the measure or the cost.   

This kingdom is not just about an abundance of grace; but about an unlimited amount of grace.  With unlimited grace comes unlimited joy and celebration. 

 

So the wedding feast continues, and the compliments start to come to the bridegroom.  The master of the feast, tasted the wine and said to the bridegroom, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”  John 2: 10 NIV 

The best is yet to come.   

 

The new thing that God is about to do is work through Jesus a space in which hospitality and belonging will come together in ways in which they have never been known before.   

When we read through Scripture, we see that God always intended for hospitality to be extended to all people, not just the people of Israel, but for the foreigners that lived among them, the beggar at the gate and the widow and the orphan.   

We see Jesus prove this out again and again in subsequent miracles.  Healing the “unclean” lepers.  Healing the child of the “enemy” Roman soldier.  Giving spiritual water to the “despised” Samaritan woman.  Raising from death the widow’s son.   

What each of these people have in common is that they were outside of the religious society. 

That ministry continued in the church as it welcomed Greeks along with all the Jewish converts.  No elaborate rituals were needed to belong to the Church—only expressing faith in Jesus.  

The new wine that is being poured at this wedding is a symbol of the new wine that will be poured out through Jesus.  This first miracle is an expression of the eschatological hope that is expressed in the Messianic prophecies.  That future hope that God will bring all people together in Jesus.  That future hope that in Jesus all people will not only be together, but also be welcomed, included, loved, cared for and EQUAL.   

Paul himself expressed the reality of that hope in the words, “there is no Greek or Jew, or slave or free, no male or female”.  All are welcome.  All are included.  All are equal.   

More importantly, there will be justice for all.   

We recall the invitation found in Isaiah, where he issues the invitation for all to come, saying, “Come, all you who are thirsty,  come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!   Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,  and you will delight in the richest of fare.  3 Give ear and come to me;  listen, that you may live.  I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.  4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.  Is 55: 1-4 NIV 

When we look at the Scriptural evidence, we begin to see why this first miracle was so profound.  It’s extravagant because it is meant to be a symbol of how extravagant God’s love for all people is.  It is a miracle of great quantity and great quality.   

But we also need to note that John does not call it a miracle, but a sign.  In Scripture, signs point to something that is beyond themselves.   

The water that turns into wine is about more than the wine.  It points to all people coming to live in the life and joy that only comes from God.  It points to the restoration of God and his people.   

The wedding supper itself is already pointing to the abundance of what God is giving to his people.  Isaiah reminds us that the feast that God prepares will be for ALL people; and a feast of rich food and of well-aged wine.  Amos describes it so beautifully, writing, 13 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes.  New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, 14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.  Amos 9: 13-14 

Do you get the sense of the foreverness of this promise?  This feast and the preparation for it will overtake all the other work.  Reaping will overtake sowing.  Making wine will take over planting vines.   

Now imagine the possibilities in that.  Joy will overtake labour.  Peace will overtake injustice.  Inclusion will overtake segregation.  Grace will overtake sinfulness. 

This party of the kingdom of God will last forever. 

Have you ever been to a potlatch?  One of the expectations of a potlatch is that the guests will stay until the food is all gone.  But they keep bringing more food.  A true potlatch would go on for days and longer.  It was a sign of the love, generosity, and hospitality of the host.  It was a sign of the respect and love of the people, as they stayed to celebrate and party as if they had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go.  

I have been to a few mini-potlatches hosted by my friends Tom and Margaret in the residence at VST.  The abundance of food was overwhelming.  And as we left one by one, while there was still food on the table, Tom would gently chide us and say, “you can’t leave, we still have food left.”  Their culture and the culture of the guests were at odds, as we left making our excuses of papers to write and exams to prepare for.  But I have often wondered what life would be like if we were just able to let go of all the other obligations and all the “must do things” in our lives, and just stopped to enjoy the party and celebrate being present with one another until the food is all gone. 

The commentator Johnson writes, “the reign of God is like a village celebration to which everyone is invited and at which the guests are surprised by the abundance and quality of the wine.” 

As I have pondered this truth, I kept being drawn back to something Amos said.   “New wine will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,  and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.  Amos 9: 13, 14 NIV 

Do we remember a hill near Jerusalem, where the blood ran down the cross and down the hill like wine running down the mountain? 

There are clear links between the abundance of wine and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper where the cup of wine is the symbol of the blood of Jesus shed for the forgiveness of sin.   

When we are invited to the Table we are invited to taste and see that the Lord is good.  The commentator Harmon wrote “it helps that the sensory pleasure of the meal at least delights our taste buds in a way that the truths they represent ought to delight our souls.” 

Time and time again we come to the Table and are reminded that the wine is that blood of salvation. And we are reminded that this wine is poured out without any consideration to cost or quantity.  Not only is it abundant, it is also everlasting.  It will never run out.   

This eternal feast will be something that we will continue to enjoy after our earthly deaths, and I think we will participate with a joy that we cannot even begin to comprehend right now.  More than that, this feast will never end because the abundance is without end.  And none of us will make an excuse to leave.  

Amen 

 

Hymn:  407 Praise my soul, the King of heaven

Offering and Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer
Faithful Father, thank you that you give us the gift of abundant, purpose filled life. Your generosity overflows to us. Everything we have is a gift from you. We bring our offerings to you, giving back to you the from the abundance of of your steadfast love displayed in the wedding in Cana.  The delight of that celebration prompts us to give you our tithes, our wealth, our lives so that we may join with you in  delighting all who are in need or want.
Transform our hearts by your Spirit, that we may use our varied gifts to show forth the light of your love as one body in Christ. Amen. 

  

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession 

O God we praise you for filling our lives with joy.  In Jesus your brought not only salvation, but also rest for our weary hearts, peace for our troubled minds, and joy as we greet you each morning.   

We thank you that each day is the celebration of your presence, as you enter our weariness and connect with us when our lives run dry, we come to you as empty vessels and you restore us by replenishing the joy we have in you.    

We thank you, that when we we plead with you to transform our lives you provide what we can never provide for ourselves.  We trust you to fill us with the richness of new creation in you. 

As we bring our prayers of intercession, we lay our concerns before you trusting that you will fill our prayers with that same new creation.   

JOY 

CONCERNS 

WORLD 

Peace treaty Israel/Hamas, peace with Palestine and through all the Middle East 

South California fires 

Unity in Canada as we face tariff threats together 

Inauguration of Donald Trump, wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit in his tenure 

 

  

With joy, we praise you for your wonderful power and grace, coming once to give us what we needed and coming again to make all things complete. 

 We place our trust in you, believing in  the glory you have revealed, as we join together to pray as Jesus has taught us, saying:    

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever.  Amen 

 

Hymn:   457 Now thank we all our God

Benediction  

Go now from this place, remembering that the God who calls us to mission also calls us to feasting and dancing.  Let us remember that each day is a  holy day to rejoice in the miracles that only God can bring.
Let us trust our days to the one who turned water into wine and who fills our days with joy.  Let us trust that in all things God’s will transforms our lives and that impossible things come to pass. 

Let us trust the journey to the blessing of  God:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit 

 

Blessing Song:  445 Open our eyes Lord

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.  Open our ears Lord ad help us to listen
Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus 

1976, PCC 

3 Fold Amen