(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Calverley Community Methodist Church led by Rev Lisa Quarmby one of our Circuit Ministers.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
“What concern is that to you…?”
Call to worship:
“As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
Song – StF 25 – God is here!
Prayers of thanksgiving, confession and the Lord’s Prayer:
Let’s come to God in prayer…
In the quiet, let’s spend a moment waiting on God to speak into the silence.
Loving and mighty God, we thank you for bringing us safely through the night;
For the rest and refreshment of sleep; for the beginning of a new day – full of potential.
As we look around our homes, we thank you for the shelter our houses provide;
Safety and warmth; security, and a place to belong;
The pleasure of a comfy chair; photographs of loved ones and the memories they evoke;
Here are reasons we are thankful today.
Food in our cupboards, fresh water from the tap, radiators and fires that keep us warm during the winter;
We have so much to be grateful for.
Most of all, we thank you for Jesus – our friend and Saviour,
Our companion throughout this day.
Forgive us we pray, for times when we have let you, others or ourselves down in this past week. We come in honesty in the quiet of our hearts and homes and say we are sorry.
When we truly repent and turn back to you, we receive again your love and forgiveness.
So we bring all our prayers together, as we say the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done;
On earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory; for ever and ever – Amen.
Hymn: Singing the Faith 394: “Spirit of God, unseen as the wind”.
Reading: Psalm 36, verses 5 to 10.
Reading: John chapter 2, verses 1 to 11.
Song – StF 153 – Break thou the bread of life
Sermon: “What concern is that to you?” (John chapter 2, verse 4a)
Now, imagine you are at the wedding at Cana. You – like Mary, Jesus and his disciples – have been invited as guests of the bridegroom or bride. The feasting is taking place all around you and you are there, ‘people-watching’.
What do you notice? What can you hear, smell, taste? Immerse yourself in the reception… do you notice there is some kind of kerfuffle in the background? Servants are looking confused. Mary seems to be anxious. Her son Jesus seems to be unconcerned and hanging out with his friends, the disciples. What’s going on?
Mary approaches Jesus and they exchange words; you can’t hear what they say to each other but she goes off and has words with the servants while Jesus gets on with the feasting. In many ways, it’s a common enough scene that any one of us might have encountered as a wedding guest – things don’t always run smoothly. I remember at my own wedding, spending hours meticulously working out the seating plan; only to arrive and find out the organisers had completely ignored it! Best laid plans, and all that… hurried and hushed conversations trying to put things right; and such a scene is being played out in John’s story of the wedding at Cana.
The writer/redactor of John’s Gospel never wastes a word: there is always significance in what seem like throwaway comments or everyday details. This is the First Sign; and we are asked to see this as a pointer to who Jesus really is: our Saviour, God on earth, the one to redeem us all.
Mary has been invited, and the fact that she worries about the wine running out is likely to be an indication to us that she knew the family well; and she was probably important in the smooth running of the wedding feast. But she can see that the wine supplies are low, which would be a disaster for the families concerned. She seeks to do something. Her first thought is to ask Jesus: she knows and trusts him to meet these needs.
But then, we have this tense exchange between them. As observers at the wedding, it could look to us that they have a clipped conversation and that Jesus walks away. Listening in, we might misunderstand Jesus’s response as a grown son not wanting to be told what to do by his mother; after all, he is with his friends and celebrating; why is she bothering him?
Jesus’s reply certainly seems cryptic – “My hour has not yet come” – in other words, it’s not the time now for me to show yet who I am – that is in God’s hands and he, like his mother, must trust God with that rather than try to hold on, to manoeuvre God into action. This is a grown-up son reminding his mother that there are bigger forces at work here. Mary, though mother, is under Jesus’s leadership, as both of them are under God’s. Mary knows this because her comment to the servants makes it clear she is under Jesus’s authority: “Do whatever he tells you”. This is his ministry, and she steps back to let him work in the way he knows is best.
Then we have the miracle of water being turned into wine – and not just any old wine, but the very best saved to the last; which would be really unusual at such a gathering. People would usually serve the good stuff first, while folk are sober enough to appreciate it; and as a party went on, and people became (shall we say) less discerning, then they would be given the cheap stuff, because by then they wouldn’t know the difference!
Containers of water were there for cleansing and purification between covers, and they are now filled to the brim – this is a small detail, but mentioned because it shows nothing else could have been added to the totally full jars. This is not a trick, or a deception, where water is coloured or flavoured with wine – there is no room to add another drop to the vessels.
This is a miracle – the First Sign of who Jesus truly is! The best wine served last.
The ‘old wine’ of the law and human leadership is about to move over for this wonderful, rich, effervescent new wine of the Kingdom – God on earth in Jesus: the fulfilment of all that has gone on before. This is the Living Water, the wine that will quench everyone’s thirst once and for all – now is the time to “feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life”, as we are told in the Psalms today. This is abundant life, pressed down and overflowing with love, forgiveness, acceptance, belonging… such a gift, that brings light, healing, refuge; just as a chick is protected under the wing of its parent.
This is a new era that Jesus is ushering in – God’s kingdom being initiated here on earth through the presence of Jesus among us.
So now, as you sit and watch the feast around you at Cana, how does that new wine taste to you? Is it good? Do you long for more? Has it surprised you – do you want to get others to taste it, and see for themselves how good it is?
Today, as we open the Scriptures, what do you take from them as food for the week ahead? Maybe you need to hear the words of encouragement from the Psalmist – that you can take refuge and rest, safely being with God “in the shadow” of his wing. You are not alone, whatever difficulty you are facing; God stays beside you and will protect you.
Perhaps you are in a situation that feels dark and oppressive at this time for you; it is important to know that “in your light we see light” (Psalm 36 verse 9). The darkness now will not overcome you – God’s love is steadfast and will bring you through.
Maybe we can see in ourselves the compulsion to control God – to try to make God do what we expect, what we think is right – like Mary asking Jesus by suggesting ‘they have no wine, sort it!’ We feel anxious and want to make sure everything will be alright, but we can’t always micro-manage the people or events around us. We have to let go and trust – Mary does this when she tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.
She hands it over – is that what we need to hear today?
Or perhaps like Jesus, we may feel cajoled, steered, expected to do/think/behave in a certain way. The need to please is great sometimes; we don’t want to disappoint others but deep down we know that’s not the way we must go. We recognise the wisdom of not going down the popular route, the path of least resistance… instead, we do what God asks even if it does put us at odds initially with those around us.
Watching this all pan out, we hold onto the miracle that happens at Cana – miracles like this that God still performs in the 21st century, if we have eyes to see and belief to trust. Something that seems impossible to us, is possible with God – and that is what we need to hear today.
As a guest at the wedding, you know you were invited; you were good enough to be there; and that what we might need to believe. God seeks us out, he invites us in; we are good enough, and God longs to spend time with us as part of his family.
I wonder what else you can see in this story?
How has God spoken to you today?
My prayer is that this familiar passage has come alive and has reached out to you from the page. Amen!
Song – StF 495 – Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Prayers of Intercession:
Let us welcome Jesus with joy into our hearts, and bring our gifts of prayer to God.
The magi came from the east to worship your Son:
Father, grant each one of us the longing to find you.
Lord of glory, hear our prayer.
Jesus received gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh:
Father, accept the offering of our hearts and minds.
Lord of glory, hear our prayer.
The Holy Family lived in exile and in the shadow of death:
Father, look in mercy on all who are poor, voiceless or suffering.
Lord of glory, hear our prayer.
Your Son shared the life of his home and family at Nazareth:
Father, protect and love our families, our neighbours, this church and our community.
Lord of glory, hear our prayer.
Jesus brought love, good news and healing.
Father, call us to be your light and witness,
So we can seek out your children and attend to them with love, warmth and hope.
Lord of glory, hear our prayer.
Jesus died and rose again, to be welcomed into your arms: Father, welcome the friends we have lost into your home.
Help us to remember the love they gave us.
Lord of glory, hear our prayer.
With all the angels, we rejoice in our fellowship
And thank you for being with us. Hear all our prayers – in the name of Jesus: Amen.
Song – StF 548 – Blessed assurance
Blessing:
God’s peace rest upon you and grant you his strength in this week ahead.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.