What is God Doing?

The Biblical message of unity and interdependence that we find in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and in the Gospel of Luke is in sharp contrast to the individualism and competitive nature of our American society.  Our readings invite us to ask what God is doing.  More importantly, what is God doing today?  Churches and communities of faith present an important alternative to the prevailing cultural emphasis on individuality.

In his First Letter to the Church in Corinth Paul emphasized membership in that early Christian community and made a comparison to the human body.  He said, "Just as the body is one and has many members, all the members…are one body…. In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free."  The point for those Christians in the city of Corinth is the same for us today.   We are interdependent beings, united in baptism, and we bear both the joys and sufferings of one another.  "If one member suffers, all suffer together."

Then, as Jesus began his ministry he understood what Paul later wrote.  Jesus was aware of his prophetic ministry when he stood in the synagogue for the reading of the Scripture and then sat down to speak.  He read from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and said his prophetic message was to bring good news to the poor and to announce the jubilee year, a time when liberty was proclaimed, all debts were canceled and all property was restored to the original owners.  He said, "This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."  Imagine what a year of jubilee would be like today!

In this gospel account Luke has woven together passages from the 58^th and the 61^st chapters of Isaiah.  Those are the chapters in which the prophet talked about "loosing the bonds of injustice," "freeing the oppressed," and being anointed by the Spirit to bring good news to the poor.  We learn that Jesus was filled with the Spirit.  His mission went beyond Israel to all who were in unfortunate circumstances; he was to fulfill God’s promises.

Luke's purpose in writing his gospel was not to be a reporter of historical event but to give an interpretation of what God was doing in Christ.  There is universal appeal and an interest in social relationships.  There is concern for people who are outcast, who exist on the margins of society; for women; and for those who are oppressed.  There is also an emphasis on joy and the Holy Spirit, on the graciousness and sovereignty of Christ, and an interest in Christ’s second coming.

As he wrote his account of Jesus' life and ministry Luke interpreted what he understood God to be doing in Christ.  What would you and I write if we were to share our story of Christ?  What are the questions we would ponder in sharing our stories?  Here is a rather lengthy list: What is God doing today?  Who are the poor in our communities, the prisoners or captives, those who are blind?  To what extent are they simply those unfortunate other people -- the victims, or the enemies, or the other sex, or another race, or the sick, the diseased, the physically challenged, the mentally ill, or whatever and whomever the “other” might be?  Is good news preached to them?  Are they released from their bondage?  Is their sight restored?  Are they being given freedom from their oppressors?  Are they welcome in our church communities?  Who is proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor?

What is God doing today?  Does God speak through the diversity of religions throughout the world?  What is God saying to the people of Israel and Palestine?  What is God saying to the citizens of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, North Korea?  What is God saying to the United States?  What is God saying to our societies when some are well-fed, well-housed, well-educated, and well-paid, and when others are hungry, have no shelter, live or exist in deplorable conditions, and die of preventable diseases and starvation?  What is God doing?  Is God making a statement?  Through whom and to whom is God speaking?  All these questions are a bit overwhelming.

When I look at the world around us I often find it hard to imagine what God is thinking or doing.  The question persists:  What is God doing?  What is God saying to you and me?  Does Jesus Christ live only in our historical memory, or is Christ somehow alive in our world?  When you or I sit down with a friend or even a stranger, what do we have to say about God’s activity in the world?

Jesus proclaimed the prophecy of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth.  In that prophecy he offers us a way to respond to our many questions.  The Spirit of the Lord anointed him to bring good news.  It conferred on him duty toward the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed.  What do these words mean?  The answer is implicit.  As Christians we have a ministry to the entire community.  We are to invite those in the community who hunger for the compassion of God to join in relationship with us in the life of the Spirit.  Spirituality without ethical behavior or engagement with others in ministries of compassionate love, justice and peace, is no spirituality.  We are to serve body, soul, mind, spirit, emotion, everything.  That is the ministry exemplified for us in the anointed Jesus.

As was Jesus, so are we anointed by the Spirit of God.  We have been anointed by our baptism to announce that God’s day is today, that now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.

The words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about many members and one body make the point that in the body of Christ no person is before or after, greater or lesser, than any other person.  All parts of the body regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality, are needed for the body to function.  Each person is important and necessary in God's economy.  In our life within the Christian community each person is commissioned and anointed by the Spirit of God to bring the Messiah’s promise of freedom and compassion to others.

When we gather around the Altar, God’s holy Table, to offer ourselves, our praise and thanksgiving, and to present bread and wine "that they may be the Sacrament of the Body of Christ and his Blood of the new Covenant," we are nourished and renewed to carry on the ministry of invitation and hospitality to all people.  Let us proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.  Today the scripture can be fulfilled in our hearing for the Spirit of God is upon you and upon all of us.  Amen.

A Sign of God’s Generosity

The predominant theme throughout our Scripture readings this morning concern celebrations.  The reading from Isaiah celebrates salvation: “I will not rest until [Jerusalem’s] vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.”  The Psalmist rejoices and celebrates God’s love:  “How priceless is your love, O God!”  The Letter to the Corinthians celebrates varieties of services and activities given to each person for the common good:  “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit…who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

The wedding feast in the gospel of John is another celebration.  Jesus turned water into wine as a sign of abundance and generosity.  “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory.”  It was a magnificent celebration.

This story of the wedding in Cana is unique to John’s gospel.  The bridegroom was the person who provided wine for a wedding.  In this case the groom likely did not have enough for his guests.  So Jesus, as one of the guests , transformed the water into wine.  This was the first of seven signs in John’s gospel, and it is a sign of what God’s power and love meant to the gathered community.

A miracle, a symbol or sign, points to something that is greater, something more long-lasting or even eternal.  The good wine in this story is symbolic of a new age and a new way of living together in community.  It is the revelation of the great and mysterious gift of love that is present at the wedding feast.  It is also an epiphany, the revelation of God's presence in the person of Jesus.

In your service leaflet this morning there is a reprint of an icon based on the story of the Wedding at Cana.  As you look at this image, fashioned in the Byzantine tradition, I shall read some of what the artist, Sister Marie-Paul Farrar has written:

 

“In icons that illustrate a scripture story such as this one, the background is represented in a schematic, simplified fashion.  This is done to avoid drawing the viewer’s attention away from the important aspects of the event – the people, their actions, and their relationships.  The table is crudely drawn, with the top apparently tilted toward us.  The chair Jesus sits upon appears to have the rear legs longer than the front ones.  Both are examples of ‘inverse perspective,’ a visual device used in iconography to draw you, the viewer, into the scene.  The towers in the background tell us that the scene took place in a city.  The red cloth drape across the top is a symbol that the events took place indoors.  No highlights or shadows are ever represented in icons to indicate that God’s light surrounds all.  The gold leaf background is another symbol of Divine light, gold being used because it reflects and enriches light in a manner so different from paint.

“All the persons mentioned in the Gospel story are included or symbolically represented in the image.  Seated around the table from our left to right are Jesus, Mary, the groom, the bride, a representative disciple of Jesus, and the chief steward.  One servant pours water into the jars while another serves the wine.  Jesus and Mary have their heads surrounded by halos indicating their sanctity…. [Jesus] wears a tunic of red, symbolic of his blood shed for us, and a cloak of dark blue, symbolic of the mystery of his divine life.  Mary’s hands are raised toward Jesus in supplication as she intercedes with him on behalf of the married couple.  Church tradition has used this Gospel account to reinforce Mary’s power as an intercessor, since she overcame her Son’s reluctance to perform this miracle.  The bride and groom are in the center focus of the scene, heads inclined toward each other indicating their love.  The disciple is represented with a very large and high forehead, symbolic of spiritual enlightenment.  His hand is raised in a gesture of blessing, acknowledging the manifestation of the Messiah’s power.  The steward, obviously a connoisseur of fine wine, sits in rapt appreciation of his glass.  The servants are drawn smaller than the guests, indicating their relative status.

“The Wedding Feast at Cana is the first of seven miracles described in the portion of John’s Gospel known to modern scripture scholars as ‘the Book of Signs.’  John’s sequence of events, the revelation of Christ’s glory taking place ‘on the third day’ after the call to Philip and Nathanael, seems deliberately to recall the connection to Christ’s Resurrection on the third day following His death.  By changing water set aside for Jewish rites of purification into the new wine of the Messianic age, Jesus here begins a pattern of transforming the institutions of Judaism into those of Christianity.”

As we look at this picture of the Wedding Feast and reflect on it, we should know that Jesus is our host at every celebration of the Eucharist.  His hospitality is greater than anything we can imagine.  All are welcome; everyone is invited.  We consume wine from the cup in celebration of God’s relationship with us, aware of the difference that is made by God’s presence in our lives.  Wine is a sign of God’s abundance.  As the Psalmist said, “How priceless is your love, O God!  They feast upon the abundance of your house; you give them drink from the river of your delights.”  We are all invited to a life that is more than we can imagine.  It is a sign of God’s abundance and generosity.  Amen.