Preacher: Rev. Anne Jensen
Readings: Is. 62:1-5, 1Cor. 12:1-11, John 2:1-11
Garrison Keillor begins his weekly monologue with “It was a quiet week here in Lake Woebegon.” He starts by mentioning a few ordinary events, but the extraordinariness of the events grows through the monologue.
This week started off quietly enough after the baptisms and all-parish meeting of last week. The children went to school, the parents went about their usual activities, people kept up with their chores, and then the earthquake hit. It didn’t hit us, but it could have, since we too live on a geological fault line. Instead it hit Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and it has affected all of us. You cannot see the pictures or hear the stories of loss without being heart-broken. Even the reports of rejoicing at finding a relative alive remind us of how many have lost their lives.
These events have overshadowed all else, but this is also the weekend we remember Dr. Martin Luther King and his mission of justice, equality for all people, and peace. Tomorrow we begin the week of prayer for Christian Unity, which probably isn’t on your usual calendar. How do we hold all of this together?
We are blessed by the scriptures appointed for today. From them I believe we can weave a tapestry that is rich in color and movement, with scenes that reflect God’s love for all of us, but especially for the dispirited, and unite us in one another through Christ, whose glory is revealed in our everyday ways of being followers of Jesus.
The first scene is in Jerusalem. Our lesson from Isaiah is especially important at this time of suffering among the people of Haiti. This part of Isaiah was written after the people who had been hauled off to Babylon were allowed to return. Jerusalem was a shadow of its former self, having been ravaged by war; the Temple was in ruins, and life was miserable. I imagine the prophet advocating for the people, comforting and encouraging these people, and I image that God is saying these same words to the people of Haiti: “I will not keep silent…I will not rest until her vindication shines out like the dawn and her salvation like a burning torch.” That is to say…until she returns to her former glory…until Haiti is rebuilt, until there is good water for everyone, until there is shelter and food. God is no less an advocate for Haiti than for Israel. I can imagine God saying to Haiti, “You shall no more be called desolate or forsaken.” God gives Israel new names to reflect its new status—a renewed covenant with God—married, married to the builder. God is no stranger in Haiti. The faith of the people of Haiti is evident in the TV reports and interviews. We’ve also seen that many, many church groups have sent missionaries and aid workers, many of whom are coming home, but only temporarily. Once the crisis phase is under control I have no doubt more will go back.
One of the comments I heard a Haitian woman make is that God has a purpose for everything but as she said in a resigned voice, she doesn’t know the purpose of this earthquake. I have enormous compassion for all the people who are suffering. However, when I hear “God has a purpose for everything” I go crazy! This is really bad theology! -- because it implies that God wills such a disaster. God the creator and giver of life does not willfully take life. To those who think this is some kind of punishment to the people of Haiti, look in Chapter 13 of Luke. There people ask Jesus if the people who were killed by Herod or who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell of them, were they worse sinners than other people in Jerusalem? Jesus’ unequivocal answer is “No.” Pat Robertson was just wrong when he said this is punishment for making a deal with Satan to drive out the French; it’s an embarrassment to all thinking Christians. Our God is not a vengeful being; God is in the midst of this tragedy, suffering with those who are suffering.
God can redeem any situation, and I believe God can bring good out of this tragedy by making it a place of reconciliation as people from all over the world come together to work for relief and development. People who feel forgotten will know the whole world cares about them.
Scripture does not say that God can protect us from all harm. What we hear time and again is “Do not be afraid.” We hear God’s promise to be with us always and that nothing can separate us from the love of God. The psalmist writes, “How priceless is your love, O God! Your people take refuge in the shadows of your wings.” Let’s weave those images into our tapestry.
Turning to our Epistle and Gospel we can add more texture to this tapestry. The story of the miracle at Cana is the first sign or miracle in John’s gospel. As in so many of the stories in this gospel it is layered with symbolism. At a recent clergy gathering we were asked to identify with one of the characters of the story. The most commonly chosen character was the steward, who didn’t know how it happened, but was there to tell you that it did, and almost everyone trips over the glitch of how Jesus speaks to his mother. I’d like to take a second look at Mary in this story. Mary sees a need, “They have no wine.” Jesus responds in a way that distances himself from his mother, but she takes little notice, and just turns to the servants and tells them to do whatever he says. She creates for him an opportunity to step into his ministry…to move toward the hour of his full glory. This miracle was not a big public display like feeding 5000 people, but a quiet one, at a country wedding. Only Jesus, Mary, the servants and the disciples know what happens. Mary believed in him; the disciples saw this miracle and they believed in him and knew that he was of God. Epiphany is about recognizing God in our midst. In the reading from Isaiah, God makes promises. In this story we see how God is fulfilling those promises. In Christ, the very nature of glory is being redefined. Its purpose is to create and maintain faith in Christ Jesus who responds to human need.
Human needs abound—in Haiti especially at the moment, but elsewhere as well. Martin Luther King Jr. saw human need in black people of the United States. His message sprang from the saga of the enslavement of black people in North America, their continued oppression and humiliation, and the stirrings of freedom at work among them. In the world view of faith we are governed by God who is grieved by the suffering of the people and whose will it is that they should have life characterized by justice. King said the deliverance of black people would occur only if the movement toward freedom were aligned with the agape nature of Christ's ministry and the redemptive character of his death.
Haiti has many black people, descendants of slaves from an earlier age. They too have lived in oppression with meager resources. King’s vision was focused on conditions in the United States, but he would want no less for the people of Haiti.
We, the church, are the body of Christ. We gather in his name. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians tells them that there are varieties of gifts, but one Spirit; there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. What is the Spirit saying to us as we join these threads together?
We see the human need and we respond according to our gifts. The greatest need right now is for money. There may come a time within the year when work parties can go to Haiti, just as people have gone and continue to go to the Gulf Coast following Katrina. Rebuilding Haiti and restoring the spirit of her people is a long-term effort. God has not forgotten her. Indeed, God has reached out to her through the many people who are responding with help. Many of those people are Christians, and we can consider the work our sisters and brothers in Christ are doing as our common prayer. Sometimes we pray through our deeds, sometimes with words, and sometimes by writing a check.
God is working through the generosity of people of many faiths and of no faith. Compassion for the suffering of others is part of our humanity, and it is at the heart of our faith. Out of compassion God became human in the person of Jesus, and through him is our salvation.
Are we not blessed to reveal the glory of God when we refuse to keep silent when we see suffering (Isaiah 62), when we employ our spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 12), and reach out to Haiti and others around us, and when we celebrate the "Dream" Dr. King held out in his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
Our tapestry reveals God’s love for his people; it is filled with the glory of God, which is revealed in Jesus’ changing water into wine. His glory is the source of our faith and the motivation for all that we do.
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