Sermon for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany
“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it”
The story of the miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee where Jesus changes water into wine, indeed, the very best wine, has been read in the liturgical traditions as an Epiphany story. Something is made manifest, made known, about who Jesus is, about who he is for us and about what he seeks for us. In “this beginning of signs … he manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him.” It is a most powerful, a most intriguing, and a most instructive story. Like so many of the Gospel stories it arrests our attention and demands our thoughtful consideration.
Most intriguing, perhaps, even beyond the questions about miracles which are an important feature of Epiphany, is the dialogue between Jesus and Mary. It sets the context for the miracle and provides the key to its interpretation. More than that, though, it alerts us to the sacramental nature of the Christian faith with respect to the making known of the essential divinity of Christ and to the work of human redemption. Just as his divinity is made known through his humanity, so too the work of human redemption happens through the things of the world. The Christian religion is not about fleeing the world; it is about the redemption of the world. Word and Sacrament are intimately and inseparably entwined as essential aspects of Christian faith and life.
Christ’s Incarnation is God’s intimate engagement with our humanity. God enters into the conditions of our world and day. But why? The great 14th century German mystic theologian, Meister Eckhart, astutely observes that “the greatest good God gave to man was in becoming man.” It is in these stories that we see the goodness of God towards our humanity. Christ’s essential divinity, as one of our hymns highlights, is made “manifest in Jordan’s stream,” referring to his baptism by John. As we saw last week, huddled in the cold of the Hall, that does not mean that Jesus recognises himself as a sinner which is all that John’s baptism really means – a kind of metanoia, a recognition in us about ourselves that expresses a desire to be freed from sin.
Christ’s baptism is about his entering into the conditions of our sinful world. It signals the idea of the divine purpose of the redemption of our humanity. Christian baptism builds on the baptism of John but imputes Christ’s righteousness to us so that we are freed from original sin because we are in Christ. But only through his hour, the hour of his passion and resurrection. It is not just about the recognition of sin but redemption from sin through our incorporation into Christ’s death and resurrection.
