We all know the saying, “Can’t see the forest for the trees” when we get so caught up in the details, we do not see the whole picture. Today I want to play with that saying a little. Our gospel lesson is Jesus’ first sign, the miracle at the wedding in Cana when his mother says, “They have no wine.” I heard the account differently after realizing that Jesus’ second sign, of seven signs, also happened in Cana. Coincidence? I doubt it.
Cana is about ten miles north of Nazareth where Jesus lived, but only mentioned twice in John’s gospel. Probably best known for the wedding at Cana where Jesus turns water into wine. But when we look at the forest rather than the trees, we see that in chapters 2-4, Cana bookends a larger narrative. Jesus explains his body is the new temple, challenges Nicodemus to be born from above, offers living water to an unnamed woman at the well and returns to Cana to give life to the son of a royal official (Feasting on the Word, C1, p.261). Each account, each tree, can stand on its own, but when you hold them together you see a pattern, you start to see the forest. Nicodemus is a Jew who is transformed by his encounter with Jesus. The woman at the well, a Samaritan, receives living water and then shares the good news converting many in her community to the way of Jesus. The Roman official was a Gentile who desperately sought out Jesus to save the life of his son and became a believer. Jew, Samaritan, Gentile, essentially everyone is coming to believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world (4:24). In our gospel lesson today, the disciples believed after Jesus turned water into wine. The woman believed after Jesus had told her everything she had ever done. The official believed when Jesus saved his son. Nicodemus failed to believe but into this moment, Jesus shares the great truth, “God so loved the world, that God gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him… will have eternal life!” (3:16). It does not matter your background or ethnicity, your station or gender, your power or lack thereof, what matters is you come to believe in Jesus!
Later John writes, Jesus did many other signs, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name” (20:31). That is the forest and why we have all the trees!
Now let’s look at the tree known as the Wedding at Cana. From his very first sign, Jesus knew his destiny. “On the third day” reminds us of what? The resurrection of course. But here it is at the beginning of Jesus ministry. There are many thoughts about this phrase but the one that speaks to me is this miracle is “a third-day kind of happening, a rebirth of possibilities in a post-Easter perspective” (Feasting on the Word, C1, p. 263). This sign is a reversal, a change of the usual way of serving wine at a wedding so that the best is served last, much like our life with Jesus is a reversal of our circumstance in light of grace. The ultimate reversal is the promise we have when facing death. Even though our bodies will die, we know we have life eternal with God, we know that our story does not end there. Another part of this resurrection miracle story is Jesus telling his mother “My hour has not yet come” (4). The hour is John’s way of saying Jesus’ time; time for a miracle and starting his ministry or his time on earth is not over. When the Jewish leaders were looking to arrest him, the reason he is not captured is because “his time had not yet come” (7:30, 8:20). Later Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (12:23-24). The hour, Jesus’ hour, is the time of redemption when Jesus gives his life on the cross. The hour is when you and I are forgiven and made new. From the moment of his first sign, Jesus is mindful of how his time on earth will end. Every Sunday when we spend an hour in church, we are reminded of the hour Jesus died so that we might live in the abundance of his grace.
The Psalmist describes abundance, “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” This fountain imagery reminds me of the living water Jesus offers to the woman at the well. Water is so vital and necessary in the desert, and Jesus offers living water in abundance. At the wedding however, they run out of wine. Jesus sees six empty water jars used for purification. Some have argued these empty jars represent the emptiness of the traditional religion. People going through the motions without truly connecting to God. A complaint made of the church today. But Jesus not only fills the jars but fills them with exquisite wine. They become vessels of God’s abundance. We no longer have purification practices. Today we might say we could never repent enough, pray enough, do anything enough to be pure before God. The reality is we can stand before our Maker loved and forgiven because Jesus’ hour has come, because Jesus died, and God raised him to new life. The same new life we are promised.
When we taste God’s abundance, when we are filled with the love of Jesus, then we want to share our faith because we want to share the love of God with others. Many of you were at the lively discussion about authentic evangelism during adult education. We discovered how Jesus built a relationship with the woman at the well. He listened to her and offered her something she needed; living water. Sharing our faith is not about selling it, putting it in a pamphlet, it is about matching the gifts we receive from God with the needs of others. The need for God is as basic as our need for food and water and just as life giving. So I ask you a question we discussed this morning: Think of the daily needs of people you are in relationship with. How could they benefit from the Good News?
That is Authentic Evangelism, sharing our faith in genuine ways, in loving ways because we are certain of the value of what we have already received from God in Jesus. Authentic Evangelism is the second of seven marks of vital congregations- the focus of our Bible studies. The first is Lifelong Discipleship Formation. I am sharing these so you will be ready to join us next week in Bible study. I truly hope you will come.
We started this sermon with “Can’t see the forest for the trees.” I think that image works for how we understand discipleship formation. Just like each one of our accounts, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman and the official was its own event, so it is with the trees in the forest of our discipleship formation. The forest is our lifelong formation as a disciple of Christ. The trees are the events, moments in our lives, when we are drawn closer to God, shaped by God. Some of our trees might be baptism, Sunday school, the youth retreat, having a child, music that touched your soul, a grandparent who inspired your faith, a friend who invited you to church. God might have touched you in a moment with nature, spoke to you in the silent darkness, gifted you with a community of faith who loves you. Can you think of a tree in your forest of discipleship formation? A time the spirit moved; you were in awe, or transformed, or simply at peace. I hope you can see lots of trees in your forest, lots of moments when God felt close, or Jesus walked with you, or your community of faith lifted you up.
At the wedding in Cana, Jesus offered abundance. The abundance of wine, the abundance of his life that he willingly gave when his hour came, and the abundance we know when we are in relationship with God. I hope your forest of discipleship formation is one of abundance as well. Trees of love, inspiration, hope and help. God continues to plant trees in your forest. Cultivate them. Amen.
