2 Epiphany, Yr C (2025) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

2 Epiphany, Yr C (2025)                                                         The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Psalm 36:5-10                                                                     St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

1 Cor 12:1-11

John 2:1-11

In the name of the one, holy, and living God:

            in whom we live, and move, and have our being.  Amen.

Are you a glass half-full

or a glass half-empty kind of person?

Glass half-full?

            Glass half-empty?

Or maybe your answer depends on recent life circumstances?

Today Mary, Jesus, and his disciples are enjoying themselves at a wedding feast

when Mary notices that the wine has run out.

Some glasses may be half-full,

 but others are dry as a bone!

“They have no wine,” Mary remarks to Jesus.

“Well, what is that to us?” he responds. 

This is not our wedding…

            The wine is not our responsibility.

       It is not yet my hour….

It is not yet time to reveal the glory of God.

Despite Jesus’ response, Mary knows his heart…

and his capabilities,

            so she discreetly tells the stewards to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.

Now, after Jesus’ biting remark to his mother to mind her own business,

            he gives in to the generosity that was nudging her heart and his,

       and he tells the stewards to fill the six enormous stone water jars to the brim…

knowing full well that when the stewards draw the water, wine will pour forth.

This is Jesus’ first miracle.

The beginning of his end…

            or the beginning of new life,

      depending on how you look at it.

It is a glass half-empty,

if you see this as the beginning of his journey toward his own death.

or it is a glass half-full,

if you see this as the invitation to the new life Jesus offers…

       an invitation to the miraculous.

John begins this story noting the time: “on the third day…”

The third day…

            a tag-line which would remind hearers, including us,

       of Jesus’ resurrection.

The three days at the end of Jesus’ life

 begin with Jesus emptying out his own life on the cross…

only to be filled to fullness and overflowing on the 3rd day!

But just in case we missed the reference, John ends today’s story saying,

“Jesus did this,

the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee,

and revealed his glory.”

Jesus’s glory:

            God’s wildly abundant, embracing, gracious, overflowing, life-filled glory!

At this wedding in Cana of Galilee,

       Jesus was called upon to offer the gifts he had been given -

                perhaps not at the time or the occasion he would have preferred -

                        and yet he offered his gifts anyway.

Now, the offering of his gifts meant a shift in his life.

He could no longer go about quietly.

He became a threat to the people in power.

He was rarely able to get away by himself anymore.

His life even became endangered.

According to John, Jesus knew all these things would take place,

and yet he chose to move forward anyway,

                  offering life abundant to any who would listen.

So…what connection does this have to us?

I can’t help but think of today’s passage from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth

and wonder about the use of our own gifts.

To the Church at Corinth Paul says:

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

            and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;

       and there are varieties of activities,

                 but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.…”

The manifestation of the Spirit for the common good shows up in a wide variety of ways.

Like Jesus, sometimes our response to a need may be:

            “of what concern is that to me?”

I do not have the time, or energy, to meet that need…

            at least not now, or in this place….

                        maybe I can respond tomorrow or next week.

And yet, I would wager, that most often the generosity that nudges our hearts

leads us to step up and offer our gifts anyway,

       despite the cost or disruption in our lives.

Many of us are just trying to get through the coming days or weeks or months.

We have our own health issues

            or those of our family members.

Perhaps there have been challenges at work…

            or even the ability to find a job at all.

And then you throw a hurricane on top,

            as well as political tussles and vitriole…

      and violence and natural disasters across the country and the world.

So that sometimes it just feels like too much,

            like Jesus saying, “Woman, what is that to us?”

It is a glass half-empty…at best.

But…we are a faithful lot,

            even if, at times, we are a bit weary on the journey.

We, at St. Andrew’s, are a small community,

            but we are endowed with many and varied gifts!

In this Season after the Epiphany,

            when we celebrate God’s light shining in the darkness…

     perhaps it is a good time to discern how God is calling us to use our gifts:

                our gifts of space and time and talent in these days….

both as a community and as individuals.

I invite you to dream

            and to step forward,

       trusting in God’s abundance.

What is it that we hope for at St. Andrew’s,

            and what do we need to do to achieve those dreams?

I invite you to share your ideas with your vestry and clergy,

            ways you want to engage,

                        even if, or especially if, it seems way outside the box!

How are we being called to reflect the abundant, generous, life-giving Light of Christ?

When the wine gave out, Jesus’ mother said to him,

            “They have no wine.”

And Jesus said to her,

            “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?

       My hour has not yet come.”

And yet, Jesus says to the stewards:

            “Fill the jars with water,”

       and wine poured forth.

And not just a little wine to tide the party over for a couple more hours

            but 180 gallons!

The party could go on for weeks!

             and not only that…

      but the new wine was far superior than what they had in the first place!

The way we are able to step forward with our gifts,

(even at a time when we may feel like our glass is half-empty)

       is by trusting that God is able to do far greater things than we can ask or imagine.

Life wells up and flows forth from God…

            we are merely stepping into that abundant flow

      and allowing God to flow through us.

Jesus did this,

            the first of his signs,

                        in Cana of Galilee,

                                    and revealed his glory;

      and his disciples believed in him.

How might we reveal God’s glory in our own lives

            and through the communal life at St. Andrew’s

     so that the world around us may see and believe?

Where might you feel God nudging your heart to reveal God’s love in this world?

I pray that God will fill our jars to overflowing,

            that the Light of Christ may shine forth.

Amen.