You may wish to light a candle before you begin.
May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
God of all mercy, your Son proclaimed good news to the poor, release to the captives, and freedom to the oppressed: anoint us with your Holy Spirit and set all your people free to praise you in Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession
Christ the Light of the world has come to dispel the darkness of our hearts. In his light let us examine ourselves and confess our sins.
Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.
May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
God’s Word - Revelation, chapter 19, verses 6 to 10 :-
I heard what sounded like a vast throng, like the sound of a mighty torrent or of great peals of thunder, and they cried: ‘Hallelujah! The Lord our God, sovereign over all, has entered on his reign! Let us rejoice and shout for joy and pay homage to him, for the wedding day of the Lamb has come! His bride has made herself ready, and she has been given fine linen, shining and clean, to wear.’ (The fine linen signifies the righteous deeds of God’s people.)
The angel said to me, ‘Write this: “Happy are those who are invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb!”’ He added, ‘These are the very words of God.’ I prostrated myself to worship him, but he said, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow-servant with you and your brothers who bear their witness to Jesus. It is God you must worship. For those who bear witness to Jesus have the spirit of prophecy.’
John, chapter 2, verses 1 to 11 :-
There was a wedding at Cana-in-Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also among the guests. The wine gave out, so Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no wine left.’ He answered, ‘That is no concern of mine. My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’
There were six stone water-jars standing near, of the kind used for Jewish rites of purification; each held from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water,’ and they filled them to the brim. ‘Now draw some off,’ he ordered, ‘and take it to the master of the feast’; and they did so.
The master tasted the water now turned into wine, not knowing its source, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He hailed the bridegroom and said, ‘Everyone else serves the best wine first, and the poorer only when the guests have drunk freely; but you have kept the best wine till now.’
So Jesus performed at Cana-in-Galilee the first of the signs which revealed his glory and led his disciples to believe in him.
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection on the Readings
Weddings feature quite a lot in scripture, partly because of the symbolism of the two becoming one - so the marriage supper of the Lamb, in our reading from Revelation, refers to Christ and his Church becoming one, within John’s great vision of the fulfilment of all things, and the new heaven and earth; and also simply because a wedding was a huge occasion anyway in the lives of ordinary folk. These days when planning a wedding - pre or post Covid, anyway - we might agonise about who exactly should be invited. But in those days that wasn’t a problem. Everyone would come, and it was a celebration for the whole community.
Hospitality was seen as a sacred duty in the Middle East - still is, in traditional communities, at least. No-one seeking shelter would be turned away from a Bedouin encampment in the desert. Even one’s worst enemy would be welcomed and treated as a guest. The enmity might resume as soon as he left the following morning, but for now, hospitality took precedence. At a wedding, wine would be an important component of the hospitality offered: one Rabbinic saying puts it very simply: “If there is no wine, there is no joy.” It wouldn’t be a raucous or drunken occasion, and the wine would always be taken with water, but for the wine to give out would be a tremendous disgrace and humiliation.
For whatever reason, the wine did give out at Cana. And Mary says to her son, in effect, “Do something!” His reply sounds somewhat discourteous, dismissive anyway - but that might just be the difficulty of translating a phrase in Greek that perhaps had a more straightforward meaning as a phrase and in context. The literal words are “What to me and to thee, woman?” - which sounds even more discourteous than the translation in the version we read. But it was actually a common enough phrase in spoken speech, likely, if spoken gently, to mean no more than “Leave things to me.”
So Mary can then say as she does, with confidence, to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” And then we have the remarkable story of the water-pots. These were seriously large pots, holding between twenty and thirty gallons, we’re told. The original Greek simply tells us that they held two or three measures each - and that Hebrew measure, the bath, would be around eight or nine gallons.
Were I one of those servants, I would be quaking in my boots. The pots were filled to the brim with water. Just water. Then I’m instructed to draw some of that off, and take it to the master of ceremonies, for him to taste. So what’s going to happen to me once he tastes it? Am I ever going to work again? Mary must have been very persuasive when she said, “Do whatever he tells you.”
But of course, what the master of ceremonies tastes is wine, and so the first miracle performed by Jesus takes place, of all things to save the day and save face at a wedding feast. But it’s more than just that. John calls it “a sign that reveals his glory” - and which led his disciples to believe in him.
So we should ask, in what way does this reveal his glory? On one level, this seems exactly the same sort of magic trick that might be performed in a Saturday night variety show by some professional magician - leaving those who watch it amazed, and trying to work out how it was done. But stage magic is always about sleight of hand - it may produce some oohs and aahs, and a round of applause, but that’s all.
In the Epiphany season we see Jesus revealed as God’s chosen one, as the one in whom God’s love is proved, and God’s salvation proclaimed. And if Jesus is glorified here as Messiah, then he’s glorified not by the turning of water into wine so much as by the generous measure of that change. Just as, later, he will take a few loaves and fishes and feed five thousand people, with twelve baskets left over at the end.
God’s grace is revealed in Jesus here - and in that grace there is enough and to spare for all who come to him. That’s what John is wanting us to see here. There’s hardly a wedding on earth that could drink one hundred and eighty gallons of wine, six pots with thirty gallons each. No need on earth, no weight of sin, could ever exhaust the gracious love Christ comes to share - it is by the superabundance of saving grace that Christ’s glory is revealed, and recognised by his disciples.
Statement of faith -
We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers -
We pray we may be ready to recognise in Christ the one who brings salvation to the world, and to respond to the generosity of God’s grace by living generously ourselves. Within the worldwide church we pray for Christians in Bangladesh, and for the Church of Bangladesh within the Anglican Communion. We pray for our own Diocese and for Richard our Bishop, and for the churches and communities of the Bromyard deanery.
Today is World Leprosy Day, and we pray for all in our world who suffer from this disease, and for all who work to bring cure and comfort, and rehabilitation, where this is needed, including the Leprosy Mission in its work worldwide. Holocaust Memorial Day falls this week: may we rid our world of all race hatred, and all that labels fellow human beings as less than ourselves.
We pray for all who are ill, and for their care and recovery. We pray also for hospitals under pressure and health workers feeling overwhelmed by the present crisis. We pray for all who are working, many as volunteers, to enable mass vaccination to happen, and that we may soon begin to feel safer and more secure as this work continues.
We pray for our families and friends, and for the life of our churches and communities. On the weekend of the Great Garden Birdwatch we pray for care of our wild spaces and wild creatures. We pray for people to keep to the rules and to ensure their own safety and that of others. And may we look out for each other through this testing time, and keep safe ourselves.
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. And 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.
Blessing -
May the love of Christ bring unity and peace to his Church, and strengthen us in joyful praise and faithful service; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
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