SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
19 January 2025
Bethlehem Lutheran Church; Los Alamos, NM
*Ada Violet Bergren, daughter of Matt & Heather Bergren, on this day received the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
1 Καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ γάμος ἐγένετο ἐν Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ ἦν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκεῖ·2 ἐκλήθη δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν γάμον.3 καὶ ὑστερήσαντος οἴνου λέγει ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν, Οἶνον οὐκ ἔχουσιν.4 [καὶ] λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι; οὔπω ἥκει ἡ ὥρα μου.5 λέγει ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ τοῖς διακόνοις, Ὅ τι ἂν λέγῃ ὑμῖν ποιήσατε.6 ἦσαν δὲ ἐκεῖ λίθιναι ὑδρίαι ἓξ κατὰ τὸν καθαρισμὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων κείμεναι, χωροῦσαι ἀνὰ μετρητὰς δύο ἢ τρεῖς.7 λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Γεμίσατε τὰς ὑδρίας ὕδατος. καὶ ἐγέμισαν αὐτὰς ἕως ἄνω.8 καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἀντλήσατε νῦν καὶ φέρετε τῷ ἀρχιτρικλίνῳ· οἱ δὲ ἤνεγκαν.9 ὡς δὲ ἐγεύσατο ὁ ἀρχιτρίκλινος τὸ ὕδωρ οἶνον γεγενημένον, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει πόθεν ἐστίν, οἱ δὲ διάκονοι ᾔδεισαν οἱ ἠντληκότες τὸ ὕδωρ, φωνεῖ τὸν νυμφίον ὁ ἀρχιτρίκλινος10 καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος πρῶτον τὸν καλὸν οἶνον τίθησιν, καὶ ὅταν μεθυσθῶσιν τὸν ἐλάσσω· σὺ τετήρηκας τὸν καλὸν οἶνον ἕως ἄρτι.11 Ταύτην ἐποίησεν ἀρχὴν τῶν σημείων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐφανέρωσεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ 4And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ 5His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ 6Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
+ In nomine Domini. Amen.
I have been reading (and re-reading) the Gospel of John for a very long time. I have used this Gospel to teach people who wanted to learn Koiné Greek. I even read Rudolph Bultman’s astounding Commentary on the Gospel of John when I was in Seminary — at least I read the significant parts of those nearly 800 pages.1 Since, at that time, any question you had or might have about John’s Gospel was indeed answered within those pages.
The Fourth Gospel (as we sometimes call it to differentiate it from the earlier Synoptic Gospels [Mark, Matthew, and Luke]) reached its final shape and composition in the last decade of the 1st Century CE, maybe even a few years or so into the 2nd Century. The Greek of this Gospel is much easier than the Greek of Mark, Matthew and Luke. The syntax and word structure are fairly straightforward — which is why, almost always, when Seminarians are learning Biblical Greek, they begin with the Gospel of John.
John has some lovely and astounding parts. The last time I preached from this pulpit [on Christmas Day] I demonstrated that the first verses of the first chapter are way more than a prologue, they are, in fact, an early hymn sung by the followers of Jesus. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In this Season of Epiphany, when the Gospel Readings will be nearly all come from the Gospel of Luke except for the Story of the Magi which we find only in the Gospel of Matthew (that was read on the Epiphany) — beyond this Sunday (the Second after the Epiphany) we will not touch the Gospel of John for another eleven weeks; and that will be on April 6th, which will be the 5th Sunday in Lent. The Gospel portion for that day will be the story of Jesus coming to the home of Lazarus and the encounter between Martha and Mary — where in contrast to her sister, Mary is not serving food, but taking very expensive perfume and anointing the feet of Jesus.
[A bit of an aside; or as I call it an Excursus. The same story appears in the synoptic gospels, but with a difference: in Mark (the earliest) it takes place at the home of Simon the Leper, the woman anointing Jesus is a nameless woman and she pours the perfume over his head; the same is true in Matthew. In the Gospel of Luke, the house belongs to a nameless Pharisee and the woman is nameless again, but is labeled a sinner (which can mean that she is a woman of questionable morals) and she pours the perfume not on Jesus’ head, but his feet — and then she kisses his feet.]
See what is in store for you‽ What better reason to come to Church than to hear the Gospel‽
[Some of you, I know, are taking notes on all this, so I expect you to be faithful listeners to whomever is preaching the Sermon on April 6th — and with any luck that Sermon will be on the text I have mentioned.]
Back to the Story. And the Story is what is absolutely important, when reading the Bible. Why? For two reasons: First, it is God’s Story which is simultaneously our Story. And into God’s Story which is simultaneously our Story we were Baptized (just like little Ada this morning) we were plunged into this Story as she will be [to be plunged into is one of the primary meanings of the word Baptism. βαπτιζειν (Greek) means literally “to be plunged under the water — and then to come up again.”] What Ada and you and I and the entire Church from its beginning and on into its future history, what she and you and I and they have in common is that we are related one to each other εν Χριστο (in Christ) forever, no matter what — no matter what. She joins the family and when in time she comes to the Altar to dine upon the sacred meal, she will be doing so (as do we ourselves) with no less than a billion saints, some present and visible, some past and remembered, and in what we call “these sacred mysteries” some future, yet to be seem, but (as we say) the entire company of heaven.
That is the First Reason the Story is absolutely important, when reading the Bible.
The Second Reason is that this Story has Power and Strength. It has Power to compel us into a life of living for others (as Dietrich Bonhoeffer of sacred memory put it so well). It has Strength to heal our ever weakness, our every doubt, our every misgiving and especially our every fear.
Why? You ask? How? You ask? Because when we read the Story of Faith, it becomes alive — in us! And we respond to this Story, we hear it, we contemplate it, we study it, we ponder it, (we translate it, some of us), we preach it, we tell it — and when we do so, it lives — and in its living it comes with Power and Strength.
What if I don’t believe it? You ask. Did the Water really become Wine? You want to know. My first response (and not meaning to be anyway flippant) is: So what‽ What if it’s not literally true‽
Someone asked me a number of years ago when our son died, “What if he is not with God? What if he is not healed and in a place of quiet peace. What if he is not within the never ending love and life of God?”
And my answer was and is: “If not. I still believe the Story. And the Story brings me great comfort and peace and also in a way I cannot explain, it brings me happiness — so how can that be unholy? So, you can choose that to which your heart clings [as Martin Luther said], but for me and my self and my soul, here is where I put my trust. And just putting my trust there brings me peace and happiness. How can that be unholy?”
In the Gospel of John (and only in this Gospel) the Wedding at Cana takes place in Galilee. Now there are at least historically 4 places, maybe 5 where this could have happened. Almost every scholar today believes that it was in what is now Qana a small city in the southern part of Lebanon about 6 miles from the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean Coast, and about 8 miles north of the present border with Israel — what was in Jesus’ time called the Upper Galilee.
For those of us who have been around for a few years, Qana (Cana) in contemporary times is the site of two major conflicts, one in 1996 in response to missiles coming into Israel — between the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and Hezbollah (whose mission is the destruction of Israel) and also in 2006 during the Israel-Lebanon conflict.
Just to keep that in mind when we read Scripture, especially this story — that in spite of everything, in spite of the teaching of Judaism and of Jesus and the quest for peace — conflict arises.
Back to the Story itself, what is happening? And how will we tell Ada all about this when she begins learning the Story? What will we say? How will we say it? Here is how:
The setting is a wedding. Jesus and his family and his followers are among the guests. In Jesus’ time, weddings were joyful. Wine was the celebration drink. Jesus and company are there having accepted the invitation of a poor couple from a small village of no consequence.
The wine runs out. Now in those times, food and wine were served according to status. Some guests got the cheapest wine, a mixture of wine, vinegar, and water (coincidentally, just like what Jesus will be offered on the Cross); others (the wealthier ones) drank the best.
When the “miracle” takes place, and Jesus changes water into wine, it is First Class Beaujolais — let’s say $100 – $300 a bottle in today’s terms. Not only does Jesus take the side of the poor in the story and makes sure they can remain in the celebrations, he makes it first-class for (and this is the most important word in today’s sermon) EVERYONE!2
[Little wonder that that Jean Calvin (the French Reformer) in response to this Story demanded one barrel of wine a year for the clergy. Luther would have a barrel of beer I think, but then Calvin was of course French.]
Our Story takes place in Epiphany the Season of God becoming Manifest — revealed.
God is not (according to the tale of the Wedding at Cana) distant, but present. God is not absent, but near to us as the one sitting next to us this morning. God is never “too close for comfort”, but always comforting and close.
When asked by my Rabbi friend3, “Why are you a follower of Jesus?” I responded, “Because Jesus is the closest manifestation I have of God. If I can know Jesus, then I can know God.”
Later on when we were together in Jerusalem, that same Rabbi asked me (and Beverly) a question when we came out of a Church next to the Garden of Gethsemane (where according to tradition Jesus prayed before his trial and execution).
It is called The Church of All Nations or the Basilica of the Agony. It is the most beautiful and prominent Church in that spot. Inside the Church at the High Altar is a large rock which it is said to be where Jesus prayed. Both Beverly and I were physically and emotionally moved at that rock.
When we emerged from the Church, my Rabbi friend asked, “What was that like for you?”
I said, “Of all the places we have been here in Israel — this is where we were moved beyond my words, that rock, that piece of stone, that is what touched us deeply more than anything anyplace else.”
My dear Rabbi said, “You know why of course. It is because it is the human Jesus that touches you the most. That is the Jesus you understand, and the one who understands you.”
I cannot say otherwise.
In just a little while we will gather at the Font with Ada Violet Bergren. And we will engage in the Sacrament of Holy Baptist. We will plunge her into the Story (not literally, but with Water and the Word poured over her). As we do that (pour the water over her) please remember the scene where a woman pours lovely scented perfume over Jesus. AND remember this Story of Water becoming Wine. Remember this Jesus who cares so much for EVERYONE that he serves the best he has to offer to all people, no matter what, no matter who. And most importantly, as she grows up within the community of the Church, remind her of this day, and this moment, and perhaps even tell her how we talked her INTO the Story (maybe give her a copy of this Sermon). But most of all, know that she and you and I are all one family in Christ, who brings down the false promises of any who hope to conquer, and raises up the lowly to everlasting and eternal love!
And let us all say: Amen.
1Rudolf Karl Bultmann (20 August 1884 – 30 July 1976) German Lutheran theologian and professor of the New Testament at the University of Marburg. Bultmann was one of the major figures of early 20th-century biblical studies and a major (along with Karl Barth) proponent of Dialectical Theology.
2In all this, and for much of the Sermon I am indebted to Eliseo Pérez-Álvarez [https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-john-21-11-5 (2016)] Pérez-Álvarez joined the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Chicago faculty in January 2021. He holds both a master of theology (1993) and a doctor of theology (2000) from LSTC. He uses theological method and a variety of epistemologies while theologizing and re-contextualizing. His research areas include Queerness and the Bible, the eucharist and world hunger, baptism as the great socio-economic equalizer, neoliberalism and immigration, de-colonial homiletics, humor and resistance. He has taught at United Theological College of the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico, Wartburg Theological Seminary Austin Campus, McCormick Theological Seminary, Seminario Teológico Presbiteriano de México among other seminaries. He is the author or co-editor of more than a dozen books, including Abya Yala; discursos desde la América des-norteada, El muro de tortilla; migración y mitos, We Be Jammin: Liberating Discourses from the Land of the Seven Flag, and A Vexing Gadfly: the Late Kierkegaard on Economic Matter. Read more about Pérez-Álvarez.
3Rabbi Marvin Schwab, Retired; Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe, NM.
Nota(ble) Be(n)e 