As a child growing up my parents had this annoying habit of interrupting my life asking me to do tasks. They would break the serenity of my time in front of the television or reading a book asking me to do something . . . to take out the trash, to find one of my siblings, or to take the dogs out. Like any other child annoyed with unwanted duties, I would roll my eyes, moan and groan, and whine, “Why me!”
Reading our scripture lesson this morning I had flashbacks to those days. Jesus is at a wedding with his disciples. They are relaxed and enjoying the festivities . . . there is a calmness, a serenity, a peacefulness . . . then suddenly, “Jesus!” Mary, Jesus’ mother, shatters the mood, “Take out the trash.” Actually, she said, “They have no more wine.” To which Jesus, like any good child, responds, “Ah, maw!”
What Jesus really said was, “Woman, why do you involve me?”
As far as Jesus was concerned, this was not his party. Not being his party what did he care whether or not they had any wine? It is not his problem. In our reading he states it bluntly, “. . . why do you involve me?” In other versions, one gets the same feeling . . . this is not Jesus’ problem. The New International Reader Version states it this way: “. . . why are you telling me this?” In the Message it reads: “Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine?” In the New Revised Standard Version he says: “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?”
Any way you read it; it still comes out the same. This is not Jesus’ problem . . . not his issue to deal with . . . not his concern. And not being his concern or problem, he is irritated. At the same time, Jesus is no dummy. Jesus knows that if “mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody’s happy”! Being a good and obedient son he does as he is told. He performs what many call the first miracle of his ministry. He changes the water into wine . . . not any wine, but the best wine.
God appears to us in the most unlikely moments of our lives. God speaks to us when we least expect. God confronts us in the stillness and chaos of the world around us. God busts through in the common everyday experiences of our journeys. And, in doing so, God calls us to be concerned . . . to be involved . . . connected.
It has been said that there are no coincidences in life . . . that everything happens for a reason. As Jesus is basking in the celebration of a wedding, enjoying the company and the festivities, God speaks to him. The party needs some more wine. To what purpose does this serve? It’s not Jesus’ party . . . it is not his concern. He is just as content to sit there with an empty glass as he is to have a full one. It is not his problem. Yet, through his mother, God insists . . . to what purpose?
Well, we said it earlier. It is Jesus’ first miracle in his ministry. A miracle serves the purpose of showing the presence of the Holy . . . the presence of God. And that is exactly what happens. The writer of the Gospel of John tells us: “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
God revealed . . . the Holy exposed and experienced . . . the “aha” moment . . . the epiphany.
Now one would think that as we grow older that we move beyond our earlier ways as children. You would think that we adapt to things like interruptions like parents bothering us to do something. That we would move beyond rolling our eyes and bellyaching when called upon. You would think, but in this story, we see that we don’t . . . after all, Jesus is an adult and he is not happy with his mother bothering him. It is not his concern. It is not his problem. Let someone else take care of it. Who cares?
We all do it.
Unfortunately, Jesus did not help us out on this one. No, he did as he was asked to do. He made it his concern. He gets involved. He does something. In fact, throughout his ministry and life, it seemed as if Jesus was constantly sticking his nose where it did not belong . . . constantly getting involved is the lives of others . . . constantly picking fights that did not involve him . . . loving those the rest of the world had given up on . . . challenging the status quo . . . calling people to care and love beyond themselves . . . to love others . . . to reveal God.
If you could stop the world in its tracks, what would you see? What would you see as you look around? More and more often folks state that they no longer watch the news. The news is too dark, too depressing, too divisive . . . everywhere you look, the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and no one can take it anymore. The problems taking place in some other nation, state, or even community . . . those are not our problems. So, don’t bother us with them. It is not our concern.
Yet, no matter what we do, there seems to be no escaping what is happening around us. It keeps on popping up despite our best efforts to adamantly proclaim that it is not our problem, not our concern. It keeps on popping up. It is an inconvenience . . . like a pebble in our shoes. We keep moving it around, but we cannot escape its presence. It is always there reminding us.
We live in an age in which we cannot escape the inter-connectedness of the world which we live in. It has always been there, but with all the technological advancements we can see it more clearly. We are connected . . . connected to one another as the human race; after all, we are the children of God. All of us. No matter where we are in God’s creation, we are the children of God. We are God’s family . . . brothers and sisters. Because of this, it is our concern.
We are to care . . . to care for God’s family.
We can try to ignore it, but God is pretty insistent. How would our story this morning plays out if Jesus had tried to ignore his mother and her request? You tell me. What do you remember about those times that one of your parents asked you to do something you didn’t want to do? For me, I would never hear the end of it until I did what I needed to do. My parents would have kept at me. So does God.
Remember there are no coincidences in life. It is the Spirit at work. It is the Spirit showing up over and over again calling for involvement . . . calling for some action . . . calling for us to care. And the Spirit won’t stop until . . . until it becomes our concern. Until we provide the miracle . . . until we show the presence of God . . . reveal the Holy.
So often in life and our experiences we look outward to find the answers to our questions, to find the solutions to our problems, to expect some outside expert to come and save the day. But I have never believed this. I believe that God equips us with all we need to solve the issues in our lives. That we have what it takes. We just have to do it. We have to care enough to make it our concern.
As we look around the world in which we live . . . it is overwhelming to consider how messy it seems. Too big to handle . . . and, besides, what can one person do?
A lot.
Look at what Jesus accomplished.
We might be one drop in the bucket, but eventually the bucket gets full until it is over-flowing. God believes in us. Calls us by name. We can make a difference in the world in which we live. Believe . . . believe in yourself, believe in others, believe in God. After all, God believes in us. Amen.
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