Mother's Day - sermon

                Mary, the mother of Jesus, takes center stage in the beginning of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in what we call the Nativity story or birth story of Jesus.   But then, she seems to almost disappear completely.  She is mentioned a few more times in various ways, but no longer are angels coming to her, no longer are shepherds or wisemen coming to visit her and her child. 

            The Gospel of John has this unique story of Mary attending a wedding where Jesus and his disciples were also in attendance.  John does not have the birth story like Matthew and Luke do.  John starts with a Creation story, then the baptism of Jesus, and then he calls his disciples, all in the first chapter.  This is the first time that Mary is mentioned and her name is not even used, she is named as:  the mother of Jesus.  On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  She is described, not named, but she is mentioned before Jesus. 

            Once the Gospel writer sets the stage by letting the reader know who is there, he immediately names a problem.  Mary, Jesus, and the disciples are at this wedding, but the wine has run out.  Mary notices the problem and knows how to fix it.  She has raised this amazing young man and she knows what he is capable of.  The reader may not know, the disciples may not know, no one else at the party may not know, but Mary knows that Jesus is more than just another guest at the party.  So, in order to keep the party running smoothly she tells him that there is no more wine.  And his response is rather fresh.  Yes, he is a young adult, but he seems rather rude – he seems to rebuke his mother stating:  Woman, what concern is that of you and me?

            Well, Mary doesn’t let his comment stop her.  Some may say she is meddling, others might say she saves the day.  Maybe it is a close family member who is getting married and she does not want the family to be embarrassed that the wine has run out.  Maybe she is ready to push Jesus out into the public eye letting others know what she already knows about him, that he can perform miracles.  Whatever her motives are, she quickly goes to the servants and gives them a heads up.  Do whatever he tells you to do.  And sure enough, Jesus goes to the servants and has them fill 6 stone jars with water.  Now, I think we all know where this story is going right, no spoiler alerts here – the water has been transformed into wine. 

            Mary might not have a name in this story, Mary might even be called woman by her own son, but in this story, she prepares the way for Jesus’ first miracles, she paves the way for water to turn into wine, she paves the way for abundance instead of scarcity.  Perhaps this was an actual wedding or perhaps it is a parable or metaphor for God’s gift of Jesus into the world.  How ever we read the story, literally or symbolically, Mary is the catalyst inviting the presence of God to get to work. 

            Mothers just might know their children have special talents or a unique calling and sometimes they sit back and wait for the child to discover that talent or calling on their own.  Or, sometimes they encourage and nurture and maybe even push a little to help the child engage in that calling.  Or, sometimes the child feels pushed in a direction that they have absolutely no interest in at all.  Do I really have to take piano lessons?  Do I really have to play tennis?  Do I really have to turn water into wine? 

            There is a lot of deep meaning going on in this passage, as Jesus takes water jugs set aside for the ritual of purification and transforms water into wine.  There is some major forshadowing going on here leading into the sacrament of Communion.  In the Jewish faith, water was used for purification, just as we do with baptism.  But now, this water becomes wine.  It is not just wine for the party, but it is really good wine, usually the host serves the better wine first, but the better wine is that which Jesus creates.  For those that follow Jesus, for those that continue to follow him after his death, they will remember the story of the purification water transforming into wine and the connection to Jesus at the last Supper proclaiming that this cup is the cup of the new covenant sealed in his blood for the forgiveness of sins.  It is a new form of purification, a spiritual purification, cleansing our inner being. 

            And Mary paves the way.  Just is in the Christmas story, Mary opens her life for this miracle of possibility, she allows her life to be changed forever, she does not run from all the fears and questions that she has, but embraces the divine and becomes a servant to God, trusting that God’s plan is at work.  And then, after all the years of raising this child, she knows it is time for God’s plan to unfold even more, and again, she sets the stage to allow other people’s lives to be changed forever.

            We have much we can learn from Mary.  Mary learns that there is scarcity at the wedding, they are out of wine, but she also knows that God is a God of abundance.  Mary turns to the source of God’s abundance, she seeks him out, perhaps interrupts him with his buddies, and abundance is restored to the party.

            Where in our lives, where in our community, where in this greater world is there scarcity?  We live in such an abundant culture that sometimes it is hard to see the scarcity.   But just this week, we are engaging in two places of scarcity and we will bring, through God’s love, abundance.  We have been collecting coffee in honor of Mothers and will bring from our abundance to Faith Kitchen coffee for those whose lives are so fragile and vulnerable as they struggle day to day in scarcity.     And then on Thursday, a handful of church members are fixing a meal, serving the meal, offering hospitality to several families in the Family Promise program.  These families are housing insecure, and Family Promise is the safety net of meeting them in their scarcity and lifting them up and providing a lifeline until the family is able to get back on their feet. 

             God calls us to those places of scarcity and to use our resources, our time, our talent, and our treasure to bring abundance.  We may not be able to literally turn water into wine, but maybe we can be like Mary and set the stage for the divine, the sacred, the gift of God’s abundance to be present in the situation, and who knows, who knows, perhaps instead of water into wine, we will have families with a home or hungry people with a meal or isolated people with a friend.  Amen.