At a licensing service I was at recently one of the prayers offered was that our churches may be ‘can-do churches, where miracles can happen.’ I thought that prayer was a wonderful offering of faith, but also displayed the sort of faith that we all as a church should be displaying.
For all kinds of reasons many of our churches today seem to be lacking in confidence. Tomorrow, dragging things down a bit (!), is supposed to be the most miserable day of the year. It’s the day when we realise that Christmas is well and truly behind us, that the January pay day for lots of people hasn’t arrived yet, and where the weather and the length of time to go in the winter all seems a bit depressing.
I’m sure it’s absolutely not the case here, but sometimes our churches can feel a little bit like that all the year around if we’re not careful! And today I want to think of that statement about being ‘can-do churches where miracles can happen’.
And our gospel reading is perfect for that. It is the account of Jesus’ first miracle where, at a wedding feast, he turns water into wine. The wedding isn’t the key thing here although it’s worth reflecting on a number of points.
The first is that weddings were huge community events at the time and there was real pride involved in making sure guests were well treated. Running out of wine as they did here could have been a huge embarrassment that would have been talked of for years. Mary though, knowing of this possibility, approached Jesus and asked him to help. I’m not sure whether she knew exactly what he could do, but she knew he could do something.
And that is a key part of discipleship for us all. We may not know what help we can get, but turning to Jesus will provide the answer. It may be in unexpected ways, it may even be in ways that challenge us a bit more, but approaching Jesus is crucial. Mary showed us an example of this by seeing the need in the lack of wine and knowing where to turn to seek a solution.
The second point is that Jesus was at the wedding party. Sometimes as I’ve already hinted at, churches are not the most cheerful of places. And because of that some people outside the church assume that we’re not people who would go to parties, not people who have lots of joy, not people who want to celebrate… It’s not always true by any means, but sometimes our churches don’t look like the faith we talk about…
Because that faith is full of hope, peace, joy and love. It’s full of compassion for those in need, ready to hurt with those who are hurting in any way, but also ready to say that whatever we face isn’t the end of the story. Jesus has offered a wonderful continuation of our life story.
In our faith we need to display that – not that things are always perfect or even good, they won’t be, but to know that we have a message of hope that we can celebrate every day.
And the third point is to believe that miracles can happen. We live in a very sceptical society in some ways, but we’re called to look at Jesus and to think of what we can see, not all the answers and explanations, but the incredible things we can see.
I was talking to someone recently about why they believe and his answer was simple but powerful. It was because of the first disciples of Jesus. When Jesus was arrested and ultimately executed on the cross, they ran and hid. Even Peter, one of the most trusted of the disciples denied even knowing Jesus. And yet, not much later on, these disciples are out speaking openly and courageously about a message that can transform lives – and they knew that so well because their lives were transformed.
That transformation came from seeing and knowing the risen Jesus. They would face struggles in their sharing of the good news of Jesus, but those struggles would always be worth it… And that’s been true of so many Christians through the centuries who have given up so much because it’s so important to share good news. As a church today, our calling is no different.
We have put Christmas behind us in so many ways, but it isn’t over. Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens book, ‘A Christmas Carol’ said, ‘I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year…’ Like Scrooge, I think we all need to recognise that Christmas is something we are invited to live out throughout the year…
If Christmas is the end of things or only something we do once a year we run the risk of ignoring what followed – of ignoring Jesus’ ministry and his life – we can end up ignoring his teaching, ignoring his messages, ignoring the power he showed through the miracles, ignoring his death and ignoring his resurrection… And if we’re ignoring those things then we’re ignoring the fact that he came to offer a very personal invitation to each one of us – an invitation to know a greater transformation than even Scrooge knew in ‘A Christmas Carol.’
That is our invitation today as we think of Christmas and as we think of the power and compassion that Jesus showed in the wedding feast as new wine was produced, even better wine than before. When we allow Jesus to transform us, he does it for the better! We’re invited into a relationship where we can trust Jesus to provide for us abundantly always, even in the toughest times, and we can know that when he provides for us – he always provides the best…
And so back to where I started with that prayer that our churches are ‘can-do churches where miracles can happen.’ I really hope we can all challenge ourselves to see how we do this, to see in our lives, and offer to others, a transforming message that is hope filled and that is visible to all so that all may see and know Jesus… In his name, may we offer this prayer over and over again. AMEN
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