Let Christ be revealed in us

A wife noted for her husband that their 10^th wedding anniversary was coming up and that she thought that was an important milestone. Then she politely and firmly suggested that his gift to her should reflect the importance of such an occasion and that the gift should be something befitting this important occasion. She then suggested politely that it should be able to go from 0-200 in about 3 seconds. What did the husband go and find for that special gift? A new set of scales.

Revelations can be a scary thing. And perhaps that makes Epiphany a scary season of the Church. Things are revealed. Maybe it is something new that we have never seen before. Maybe its that we have seen before but have not seen it or understood that thing we have known in this way before. After all every knows about parties and no one likes to run out of their favourite beverage. No one wants to make that late evening dash to the store because they are out of chip dip. Everything is supposed to be done decently and in order. Yet this season should disturb us at least a little. We are getting glimpses of God on his way to the cross and to resurrection.

Much is made of how much wine there was at that feast. First of all the wedding planner blew it because the feast was ongoing and there wasn’t enough wine – perhaps not even enough to last the night. In urgency, Mary goes to Jesus and tells him, “They have no wine.” Jesus responds with a cryptic tease by telling his mother that his hour had not yet come. Mary could be any person, even you or me, complaining that there is little time left because the life of the party will soon run out and so the party will end. After all as a song from my childhood state, “We are here for a good time, not a long time. So have a good time… the sun does not shine every day.”

In a sense, Jesus came not only to show us how to celebrate but to change the reason for us to celebrate.  So what did Jesus come to show exactly this Sunday? He came to give us a sign of his glory in the midst of everyday celebrating. Some will worry about how much wine was made – what we need to know is that there was an abundance of what was needed to sustain the party. God will sustain the life of his people. And in the process Jesus did something that most were not aware of. He took something (the large pots) that was empty and inadequate and gave it a new purpose and a new meaning, bring it to life. He allowed something to point to the glory of the Lord almighty so that those who knew could put their trust and faith in. The Law had failed to give life and so God comes to us to restore and to renew the life he put in us. In essence, because of Jesus there is a new measure, a new scale and we need to be aware of that. And thus we discover that God’s agenda and our agendas are not always the same thing. We desire the party of our own making while God comes and reveals to us that the reason for the party is about to change. The party is not about us anymore; its about Jesus and the God given desire to bring forth new life.

We seem to live in the Church in the same way these days: thinking that there is little time left until the Church fails and falls and we will need someone else to turn out the lights and lock the doors. We worry about there being no life left in us. Why haven’t we as individuals and as Church asked God to fill us with what we need to live that abundant life. And it s does not matter how old we are – young or old – will we not live the life that is within us to the fullest extent? Remember the words of Mary to the household servants: “Do whatever he tells you”. There are moments and perhaps this is one of them when we need to move from just being prayerfully aware bemoaning the circumstances around us into prayerfully doing whatever it is we are led by the Spirit to do. We don’t always have the answers, the magic words, the map, the program or whatever it is we think we are supposed to have to get knew people into the Church. We need to be at all times that people whom God calls by name. It is time to listen and to do what the Master says. It is okay to have questions, worries and concerns. Yet we need to keep walking, praying and doing that his Light might shine in us and that people might see the face of Jesus in us. Let Jesus Christ be revealed in us this way in this week.