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Some of you were here in November on All Saint’s Sunday when I gave a children’s sermon about those people in our lives – the saints – who teach us through word and deed about God’s love. I asked the young folk who was a saint in their lives, And they shared various answers: My dad, my grandma, my mom. Well, during most of the sermon, I could see a young girl out of the corner of my eye. It was Julia Pawlich, a first grader, with her little forehead furled, looking deep in thought. So before we finished up, I asked her: “Julia, do you have something you’d like to say?” She didn’t hesitate at all. “Yes,” she responded firmly. “Why don’t we ever talk about Jesus’ mother?” Why don’t we ever talk about Jesus’ mother? Now that’s a very good question! I said. And one that we can talk about in the future. Well, friends, that future is NOW! Jesus’ mother – Or the mother of Jesus as John refers to her – figures prominently in today’s Scriptural text. In fact, as John records the miracle at Cana, it is the mother of Jesus that is mentioned first; it is the mother of Jesus that notices that there is no wine. It is she who nudges her son to a miracle, And it is the mother of Jesus who believes that, indeed, the hour has come for Jesus to share God’s love in an extravagant way. As a follow up to her question, I visited with Julia Pawlich – and her brother Jack and their mom Laura – a few weeks ago. I wanted to talk with Julia about Jesus’ mother, Mary, to hear her thoughts – and some more seven year old wisdom - and to ask her if she had other questions. Julia shared with me that she already knew some things about Mary- She rode a donkey to Bethlehem, She had Jesus in the stable, And that she was a mother. “What do you know about mothers?” I queried. “I know they love you,” she said, And we agreed that just like her mother, Mary loved Jesus, she loved him very much. “What do mothers do?” I then asked her. Just as she did back in November, Julia responded without a moment’s hesitation. “They tell you what to do. They tell you not to talk back.” Mothers tell you what to do. Don’t talk back to your mother. Even before we read the Scripture lesson together, Julia hit the heart of the exchange between Mary and Jesus in today’s lesson, didn’t she? In the midst of the celebration that day, Mary tells Jesus what to do, perhaps not explicitly, But we know what’s coming, don’t we? “They have no wine.” Weddings were an important celebration in the life of the Hebrew people in the time of Jesus. They often lasted for seven days, and were a time to celebrate the joy and commitment of a couple, And also the faithfulness and love of God. So, when Mary notices the wine has run out before the feast is over, She knows that the hosts of the party are about to be put in an uncomfortable spot. The guests will not feel welcome, The celebration will be cut short. “They have no wine.” Mary says aloud to Jesus. What she doesn’t say aloud is: You’ll have to do something about it. And how does Jesus answer his mother? “Woman, what concern is that you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” Now, when Julia heard this part of the story, She said that it sounded a lot like Jesus was talking back to his mother! And I had to agree with her. And yet, Biblical scholars assert that Jesus’ response was not rude or hostile. It seems that in those days, addressing your mother as “woman” was acceptable; It seems that Jesus’ words were necessary for him – Like all of us - to begin to claim for himself how and when God was calling him to his mission and ministry. All this might be true, and yet… And yet, I can’t shake the wisdom of a seven year old. I can’t shake the experience of being a mother. As a mother I want to respond to Jesus: What do you mean that it is of no concern to me? Listen to your mother! I carried you for nine months in the womb; I bore you, I held you more times than you can count when you cried. I nursed you in the middle of the night. I saw your first steps, And heard your first words. I changed how many diapers, Fed you how many meals? What do you mean, It’s no concern to me? Well, mothers have been handling talk back for centuries. I hear Mary in this text following the same advice I read so fervently and feverishly in many a parenting magazine and book: Don’t engage. Keep focused. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are thirteen or thirty, Or you are in the first century or the twenty first, The same strategy works. Just continue on with what you are doing, Be firm, And the child will get your point – And sometimes even do what you say! So Mary turns to the servants and instructs them: Do whatever he tells you. And Jesus tells them to fill those water jars with gallons and gallons of water. And he tells them to take the water – Now turned to wine – To the steward. And there is the continuation, the abundance, of joy and celebration, and companionship and love. The text doesn’t tell us why Jesus initially responds – Talks back ?! - to his mother’s. Is this a story of Jesus as fully human, A little frustrated with his mother – It happens to us all! Is Jesus showing that he doesn’t want his plan interrupted, And would like to do things on his own schedule? And yet, it appears Jesus changes his mind. And honesty, I don’t know if this is Jesus fully human or fully divine because it appears he changes his mind in response to an invitation by someone he loves, And someone who loves him. The text also doesn’t tell us what was behind Mary’s words and deeds. I believe Mary could say words to Jesus and words to the because she knew that he had a gift, a gift that could be used for the good of others. She trusted that Jesus could do what needed to be done. She trusted that Jesus could change the situation, Mary knew – In her heart and from her history – Remember she received the message from the angel: All things are possible with God! – that Jesus could show the wonder, the miracle, the extravagance of God’s love. Because of this knowledge, Because of her trust in her son and in God, Mary could prod her son - Nudge the divine, as one scholar says, and be a catalyst to Jesus’ extravagant generosity - bringing a sign of abundant grace, an overflow of wine, and joy, and celebration, and hope, and commitment, and love. This is one of the themes that often gets overlooked in this biblical passage. Maybe because Julia Pawlich is right: we hardly ever talk about Jesus’ mother! Mary’s has an important role in this miraculous sign of Jesus. She notices what’s happening, and responds. She sees the difficulty at hand and takes some action to help. Friends, We can be like Mary. We too can notice where there is something that needs to be done, And encourage those who have the gifts to respond. Think for a moment: Who do you know that has a gift that the church or the community of the world needs? Take a look around you for a moment… There is someone who has the gifts of time and energy to serve on a church board, someone who has the gifts of patience and creativity who can teach in church school. There are others with the gifts of faith and openness sitting next to you or behind you who can work with our young people. There are folks who have the gift of musical ability to sing in the choir, Or who can be a good reader or leader in worship, There is someone - or someones - who have the gift of financial abundance to support a special project in the church or community. All that might be needed is for them to be asked to share their gift. Friends, let’s be Mary to and for each other – Encouraging one another to share our gifts to meet the needs we see around us. We can nudge the divine in each other, Nudge the gifts and talents that reflect the image of God in which we are made. This nudging is not just the pastor’s job, Or the nominating committee’s job. It’s all our job, our responsibility as a family of faith, To remind each other of the abundance of gifts and resources we have abundantly present in our midst. Sisters and brothers, our shared gifts may not be able to change water into wine, But they might change fear into moxie, And they might change self-doubt into self-confidence. Our shared gifts can change a perspective of scarcity into a perspective of abundance, And they can change us from a church who gives into a community of joyous generosity. Of course, Our eyes and our hearts don’t just look and feel inside this sanctuary. There is need outside of here - in our community and in our world. This past week, we all saw the images and all heard the cries of need from Haiti after the devastating earthquake on Tuesday evening: Images of destruction and devastation, Cries of longing, cries of pain, cries of help, cries of death. And maybe you did as many others this week, and as we did together this morning – nudged the Divine, prayed to the One who brought the sign of grace and abundance: Dear Jesus, They have no water. They have no food. They have no place to live. So many – who had so little – now have even less. They have so little help, so little hope. And we wait, We wait for God to respond with grace and hope and strength. And we watch, Because when we do we will see that there are already signs of abundance appearing in the midst of the tragedy and suffering: Neighbors helping neighbors search through the rubble for family members, Survivors – scarred yet safe – thanking God for the gift of life, Millions and millions of dollars being given for aid, through the miracle of technology and text messaging. Friends, Beloved in Christ, Whether we nudge the divine in each other or nudge the divine through our prayer, Let us be like Jesus’ mother, Relying on the experience of our hearts and our history. They teach us that God does provide – That God will provide – a future full of more joy and peace and celebration that we can now imagine. Let us, dear friends, continue to walk into this future together. Amen and amen. |