John
2:1-11
Isaiah 62:1-5
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Dear King of
Kings, I am overwhelmed by your love. I
have spent 1/3 of my life ministering with you.
It is time for me to go. I have
so many feelings about that. I feel
sad. I feel grouchy. And I feel grateful, joyful, hopeful, and
even happy. I have to go. It is time.
You ready for some
good news?
You are full of
gifts! It wasn’t just the church in
Corinth that had gifts. This is a
beautiful, healthy, congregation.
Through all its turbulent history, you have worked through the trials,
set limits about what you’d put up with, held each other close, laughed, cried,
and prayed, prayed, prayed. And you
worked hard! Together! No one can take your history away from you,
what’s made you who you are as a congregation.
What a gift that history has been and now this ministry becomes part of
that history. Some of it has been
great. Some of it has been painful. Some of it has been messy. You’ve tried to learn everything you could,
so that you didn’t repeat our mistakes too many times, but there’s plenty of
grace to go around. That’s another gift,
grace. You’ve got God’s grace,
forgiving, loving, freeing. You’ve got
grace for each other, to call each other on what needs to be said, but to
remember we’re all human and fallible, so let’s try again.
Not only does the
congregation have gifts, but all you individuals have gifts. You have gifts of teaching, of truth-telling,
of time, of listening, of quiet support, of prayer, of openness. I’ve seen you use them hundreds of thousands
of times. Let your gifts bring you
together and compliment one another.
Keep on sharing those gifts with the body of Christ, the larger
community, and everywhere.
Keep those gifts flowing. Keep your financial gifts flowing. They don’t belong to you, anyway. They are God’s. Don’t withhold your giving out of protest of
something that’s not going your way. Keep
on volunteering and showing up and praying.
Keep sharing your gifts, because that’s what God gave them to you
for. They are for times of discomfort
and uncertainty at least as much as for times of joy and ease.
Put aside your
humility for a second and listen. It
isn’t just my skewed view of things. You
are beautiful. You are beloved. You have a lot to offer another pastor and
visitors and this neighborhood. Stand up
tall. I have been saying to everyone
else, but maybe I haven’t said to you until now, how spoiled I’ve been to be
here because of God’s gifts and blessings through you. I’m not saying it has been a total walk in
the park, but where it matters, you show up, you face your challenges with
courage, and you have everything you need, with God’s help, to go where God is
leading you.
Which brings me to the next gift. God is with you. My favorite psalm is 139. “If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I
make the grave my bed, you are there also. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me
and your right hand hold me fast.” There
is nowhere we can go that God isn’t with us.
God’s been the faithful one, yes working through me, working through
you, but it is God who is ultimate good and never abandons us. That’s not going to change. God is with you and will continue to be. God is with me and will continue to be. God’s work continues in a different way.
How can I thank God enough for all God’s gifts to me
through you? You were there for me when
my child was born and walked with me through 7 years of motherhood. You had faith enough to send me on a
sabbatical. You honored my days
off. You poured yourself into the ministry
here. You took leaps of faith. You visited each other. You offered me so much forgiveness. You stuck it out. Keep up the good work! I will watch you from afar and pray for you
and cheer you on.
So here we are at the wedding at Cana. Jesus’ first miracle. He doesn’t heal anyone. He doesn’t even provide something necessary
for life. He keeps the party going. This time is difficult for me, for us. But Jesus saves the best wine for when there
is only water left. We’ve had lots of
wine together, over the years. Now it
feels a little more like water, like the chaos, like a death or many little
deaths. But Jesus is here. And Jesus is turning our water into
wine. This worship is a party, a
celebration of all that God has been doing.
We sing a little, we eat a little, we communicate, we smile, we are
gathered with our host Jesus. And I hope
you’ll stay for the after party in a little while and celebrate, because we are
resurrection people. We can go through
the tough stuff, knowing that we’re not alone, that the community gathered is
the body of Christ risen for the world, that there will be celebrations and
Jesus never misses a party. It’s a mixed
feeling when he turns the water into wine.
Not that many people witness it.
Probably most of the people who drank it, didn’t even know it was
miracle wine. But then to think of Jesus
at the last supper and in communion offering wine as his blood poured out for
us. All the emotions are mixed up
together, kind of like they are today.
Gratefulness, sadness, grief, fear, hope, joy, love. Jesus’ first miracle shows us what kind of a
Savior he’s going to be. He’s going to
give his life that we might have life, and not so we can stay in sadness or
fear or guilt forever, but so that we might have joy and celebration and hope.
Someone told me last week, “Sorry to tell you this,
but we had a really great meeting without you.”
I was not sorry and you shouldn’t be either. This is the work we’ve been doing
together. You are equipped. If you’re not, you have what you need to get
equipped. You’re going to be fine. Don’t think I need you to fail so that I know
I am important. When you soar, I
soar. When you have a great meeting or
learn something new or connect with someone, that is the building up of the
body of Christ. God has done a good work
in you. I got to come over here and play
for a while. I brought everything I had
and what I didn’t have you helped me bumble through. But God did this, not me. I accept your love and your thanks and I
offer it right back to you, but don’t try to give me the credit. We danced together with God as our leader and
you will dance and drink wine again and so will I, maybe even soon.
I thank all of you and I thank God for giving you to
me for a little while to teach me how to be a pastor.
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