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Sermon on the Wedding at Cana Rev. SAM DESSORDI

Today's lectionary: Isaiah 62:1-5 / 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 / John 2:1-11

Let’s us pray: “Lord, Jesus, you are the bridegroom of this wedding where, we the church are betrothed. Help us to fulfil our vocation in this relationship of love. Give us the awareness to the needs of others, because it is only servicing and loving others, we truly please you. Amen.”

Have you ever been in the situation that you went to a festivity, and when you got there, you realized that you forgot the gift for the host?

Have you ever been in a situation where you were in charge of bringing food or drinks to the party and you rushed out the door and left everything in your fridge, or you were so overwhelmed that you drove to the party without stopping by the liquor store?

It’s happened to all of us, but I’m curious here about the feelings generated by that experience.

I have done that. I have traveled to spend Christmas with a family of friends and totally forgot the gifts for the family. This was embarrassing because I had created the expectation of bringing awesome gifts. The fear that you will be less loved because you slipped up, made a mistake, or the fear that the person might think you don’t care about them.

These are just some of the feelings that may pop up in your mind when you find yourself in that situation.

Today’s Gospel is all about traditions and behavior in the ancient Mediterranean world. To understand what is happening we need to understand:

What is the relationship between a mother and her adult son?

What is expected in a Jewish wedding in Jesus’ time?

Putting on the lenses of Mediterranean culture, we will notice that the language Jesus uses to address to his mother, “Woman”, is not that rare in their context.

After a mother gives birth, boys and girls were often brought up together exclusively by the women (mother, aunts, sisters). Since boys were highly valued in this culture, they were pampered and spoiled by the women. A strong relationship resembling codependency developed between mothers and sons, especially the eldest son.

When the boys begin puberty, they begin having more relationship with the older men and it was very different experience compare to the relationship with the women. They experienced a rude awakening. And that’s because, in those days, the hierarchical dynamics was to create a clear line between men and women status.

To help young men develop a masculine identity, other men often punished the young man physically. “He who loves his son will whip him often” and “beat his ribs while he is young or else he will become stubborn and disobey you” are words found in the Hebrew scriptures.

So, entering adulthood, the young man had to find ways to weaken the bonds with the women he grows up with it. It was a way of expressing independency and maturity.

In today’s gospel, has the mother coming to Jesus and poking him with domestic issues in front of other’s made him feel embarrassed and reluctant on taking an action.

Now, he wasn’t the only one close to embarrassment. The bible tells us very little about the couple who is getting married. We don’t know their names or their relationship with Jesus, but here is what theologians suggest.

In small villages, like Cana, everybody would know everybody. And a wedding party would go for many days. Generally seven days. It is very possible that the wedding was someone from Jesus family. There is an ancient legend that maybe Mary was in charge of the wedding feast and that’s why she comes to Jesus asking for help. We will never know that for sure. What we do know is that if you are throwing a party, you need to plan well and be prepared to serve well your guests.

A professor of mine in theological school used to say: “Weddings are accidents waiting to happen. Something almost always goes wrong at weddings, in the ceremony or in the party.” It was not different in the wedding in Cana. It was probably not the fault of the couple, since their families are in charge of the marital contract and the party. To fail in offering a proper celebration would doom the couple for the rest of their lives. They are breaking one the sacred elements of their faith, good hospitality.

There is a family crisis and a huge risk of being remembered forever as the ones who didn’t know how to treat the guest with honor. Kinda like you going to a Christmas party and forgetting the gifts. Except that in Jesus time, not welcoming people well, would lead to a life of social discrimination by the neighbors, guests and relatives. The couple would probably have to leave town to begin new life.

What is considered the first miracle of Jesus, happens with the same spirit of his miracles through the gospels: restoration and social inclusion of the human being. The gospel says he felt pressured by his mother, and he didn’t feel like the right time to perform his first sign/miracle, HOWEVER, he changes his attitude when he realizes that his reluctance would create a disastrous future to the new couple.

In an attitude of Grace, he transforms water into wine. And what was a sign of emptiness, becomes a time of abundance.

Finally, the text teaches us about the power of Christ’s message among people. Some theologians refer as the Cana-Grace. The Cana-Grace is the ability to encounter God in the feast. It is acknowledging that Jesus’ first miracle happens in the context of a party and abundance of wine. Alcohol that for many centuries puritan Christians have been describing as something bad.

The image here is that everything that represents the old status quo is now renewed through Jesus’ arrival in people’s lives. The story points out that the six water jars were for Jewish religious purpose, and they were not proper for use. However, Jesus uses the old religion to be transformed in something new, that will serve all in abundance. His message comes to replace the old order.

Jesus gospel comes to us and challenged us. People in the house could have said to him: wait a second, these jars contain things that is sacred to us. People who gave us these jars will be offended if we use something else there that it is not clean water.

If they had not let Jesus transform the situation, the wedding would have been cursed for the years to come.

Like I said in the beginning, the story of the Wedding in Cana has much symbolism to offer. The relationship between Jesus and his mother, the risk of failure on the commandment of good hospitality, and finally, letting Jesus Christ act in our lives.

May God open our hearts to be transformed by the Good News of Jesus Christ. In this relationship of love between Christ and his Church, we need to be loyal to his message, and that begins when we let him to change our emptiness into abundance. From water to delicious wine. Amen.

ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, TEMPE, ARIZONA
Created By
Fr. Sam Dessordi
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Credits:

Created with images by dimitrisvetsikas1969 - "marriage at cana detail mosaic" • ulleo - "olive tree nostalgia background"