Luke 4:21-30          

            Have you ever been really angry?  Angry enough to call someone a bad name?  Angry enough to throw a punch?  Angry enough to break a window?   Angry enough to push someone off a cliff?

Have you ever been really angry?  Is anyone angry today?  It’s possible.  There are all kinds of things that can upset us – the behavior of someone in the next apartment who likes to play loud music at three in the morning, an end of year statement showing how much your investments have lost value, upset that the Congress can’t approve a health plan, the driver of the car that just cut you off, trash left in the park. 

This is a story that my hometown minister, George Reinecke told one Sunday when I was about 7 years old.  I don’t know why I remember this particular story, in fact I don’t remember anything else he ever said.  Maybe it had to do with the surprise at the end of it.  Many of his sermons included stories from his time in the Navy during the war, which – he always cautioned – happened before he met his wife.

Well, here’s the story.  Apparently, his navy base out in the Pacific had both men and women on duty.  And there was one woman in particular that the men had given a nickname … and she didn’t know about it.  They only mentioned it when she wasn’t there to hear it.  George didn’t say the name out loud, but I’m going to guess that it was an unkind word based on sailing terminology, like foghorn, fish guts, barnacle breath, or some such thing. 

This woman finally learned that the men on the base had given her a name, but she didn’t know what it was.  She was angry about it and wanted to find out.  One day she got her chance.  George was out at the end of the pier and she came up behind him, and blocked him from getting past her.  And she gave him an angry ultimatum:  “George, I know you guys have a nasty name for me and I want to know what it is right now!”  Well, the last thing that George wanted to do was tell her the truth, so he claimed ignorance.  But she said to him, “George, either you tell me that name or I’m going to push you into the ocean!”  And she planted her feet on the dock and squared her shoulders in such a way that she showed she meant business!  So George had to give in, and he grudgingly told her the truth about the unkind nickname.  And she was so upset at what he told her that she pushed George into the water anyway.  There was nothing he could have done.  Avoid the truth … SPLASH!  Tell the truth … SPLASH!  Either way, George was going to get wet.  She was that angry about it.

I remembered George’s story of standing at the edge of the dock in thinking about Luke’s Gospel.  The angry crowd chased Jesus out of town, they cornered him at the edge of a cliff, and they were going to push him over the edge.  It was for the same reason:  they were demanding an answer.  He could spare them the truth.  Or he could tell them the truth.  Either way, they were going to be just as angry, and ready to push him over the edge. 

Now George’s story was told with good humor – we laughed when we imagined him soaking wet in his navy uniform.  But this Gospel story is much more serious, because in their anger the crowd threatens real harm.  Here’s why:  Jesus had shared a beautiful vision with those people shortly before, when he read from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown synagogue.  And they were glad to hear it, believing that he was offering a special blessing upon all of his hometown neighbors in Nazareth.

And that’s what they asked him, “Jesus, you grew up in our town, and now you’ve come back with a reputation as a holy man.  You’re going to bring health and prosperity to your hometown, aren’t you?”  They were sure that their luck was going to improve. 

Well, the truth was very different from that, and he could have spared them disappointment by dodging the question.  But he knew they would get mad if he held back.  He also knew that if he told them the truth, the result would be the same.  So he told them the full truth:  “the Gospel I bring is not to feed your selfishness, it’s for the whole world, and it’s especially for the people you don’t like.” 

Jesus loved his hometown, it’s where he grew up, and it’s where all of his relatives and friends lived.  But Jesus had a vision, and the hometown boundaries everyone else understood, were changing, expanding outward in ways that were hard for them to grasp.   So far that even their enemies were promised God’s care and blessing.  And that was what made them really angry. 

So what happened?  I like how this part of Luke’s story ends.  As the angry crowd surrounds him on the edge, Luke tells us that Jesus passed through the midst of them, and went on his way.  Don’t you wonder how Jesus did it?  How did he walk right through that angry crowd that was trying to do him harm?  I want to know because you and I sure could use some good ideas for facing situations like this.  Did Jesus suddenly run through them like a double reverse run on the football field, catching them all flat-footed?  Did he throw them aside and push his way through with some slow-motion “karate” before they had a chance to react?  Did he nonchalantly walk past them, looking up at the clouds, leaving them stunned by his audacity?  Did he look each one in the eye until they backed away sensing the power in his stare?  Did he part the angry crowd like Moses lifted his staff and parted the waters of the Red Sea?  I wasn’t there, and I really don’t know how he did it, but he did do it, with some combination of purpose and compassion, some miraculous mixture of determination and gentleness.  They were ready to kill him in their anger, and he walked right through them, no one hurt.

            We can learn a lot from Jesus.  He walked through it, he didn’t run away from it, he didn’t avoid it, he didn’t hide from it, he walked through it.  Can you?  Will you?  He didn’t do it by himself.  Remember how he had just preached from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ...”   Jesus felt the power of God, and he did not feel alone.  Maybe that’s the secret for us in this story, that we will find our strength and purpose when we open our hearts to that same Spirit, so that we never need face the challenges of our lives alone … here in our hometown, or anywhere else in the world

            Is the “Spirit of the Lord” upon YOU?  I believe that each one of us has a measure of God’s Spirit, but how is that Spirit doing in you today?  Is it lost, hidden, forgotten, tired, scared, or sleeping?  To face the tough issues of our day, that Spirit needs to be awakened so that it is bubbling, expectant, joyful, optimistic, awake, powerful, ALIVE!  As you sing, feel the power of the Spirit, as you pray, as you ring the church bell, as you witness and testify, feel the power of the Spirit!  For it is ready to be upon you!

John 2:1-11

You name it … God can change it.  If Jesus can change water into wine, surely he can change your heart, surely he can change our world.   You name it, God can change it. 

This is a Bible story that is so familiar to us that we already know the happy ended before we even finish the first verse.  “There was a wedding at Cana … “, and we know that at the end of the story Jesus changed the water into wine, everyone is happy, and it’s the first of his miracles in the Gospel of John.

Many years ago I was in a church where during the communion service, the wine ran out.  We had more guests that day than the deacons had expected when they set up the serving trays.  I could see that we were in trouble when I saw the people in the back rows huddling together and breaking the little bread cubes in half to stretch out the supply, but there wasn’t anything we could do to split a little juice glass in half.  But the church members in back made sure that the guests were served, even if they had to go without. 

That moment where the wine ran out was a good reality check for us, and it got us thinking about the other times in our lives where what we need is lacking.  What could be lacking in your life?  Money?  Employment?  Good Health?  A place to live?  Love?  Friendship?  Hope?  Peace?   

            The wedding was in a village called Cana, not far from Nazareth.  It began with an invitation, like most weddings do.  Jesus had been invited to attend.  Mary, his mother, was there too.  Maybe the bride and groom were relatives of theirs, maybe close friends or just neighbors.  A lot of time has passed since the birth in Bethlehem, Jesus is now about 30 years old, and he appears to have reached adulthood working as a carpenter in his home village. 

But today, something surprising had happened.  Jesus also brought some people Mary had never seen before, who we would recognize as his first disciples, Phillip, Nathanael, Andrew, Peter.  So Mary was watching them.  Don’t forget, Mary had been told by an angel that her son would change the world, but so far in his life things had been quiet and uneventful. 

While thinking like that, she heard word from the kitchen - "No wine!  This is the last jug.  What are we going to do?"  Too many guests had responded to the invitation and there was not enough wine.

            Mary saw this as the moment that her son could make a name for himself.  Mary went right to her son and said, "They have no wine!"  and he looked at her and said: "Not yet.  Now is not the time."   But she went to the kitchen and ordered:  "Do whatever he tells you."  After some time Jesus stood up, went to the kitchen and told them to fill six large stone jars with water.  They filled them up to the brim, wondering what in the world he was up to.  And then the amazing results:  the caterer ladled up a sample of the liquid from one of those big stone jars, tasted it … doubtfully … and then picture his astounded look as he announced to everyone, “That’s not water, it’s wine!” 

            At weddings I enjoy telling the story, because it helps us discover that God is a part of the marriage, even if, especially if, things go wrong at the reception or at any other point in life.  There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee ... and then the wine ran out.  The story helps us expect that there will times in a marriage when things go wrong.    Jesus came to join in the celebration, and he responded when called upon to save the wedding from disaster.  He still does.  Our resources may be exhausted, we’re worn out, tired, fed up, stuck, lost, angry, scared ... but God’s love is never depleted, there’s always at least a little more available to us to save the day.

            This first miracle gives a big hint about what is to follow.  In the same way that Jesus provided the wine after the wedding feast ran out of it, at the cross he offers his own blood for all of us who really need help finding our way to God.  The cup we share this morning is a sign of Jesus’ trying to save our day, of his adding abundantly to whatever we lack.  When we share in the Lord’s Supper we try not to focus on our worthiness to receive, instead we think of how richly and abundantly Jesus aims to bless our lives.  The cup, the wine, is not offered to those who have worked hard to earn it; it is offered to any who need it. 

            Finally, there is this:  as surely as Jesus was able to change the water into wine, he can transform stubbornness and bad habits, he can change hatred and anger.  You name it … God can change it.  If Jesus can change water into wine, surely he can change your heart, surely he can change our world.  The story is an invitation to you, to name the thing that Jesus can change.  “That’s not water ... it’s wine!”   

John 1:1-18

The following sermon is an excerpt from the full-length sermon. 

The story of the coming of Jesus Christ is told by four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  An evangelist is someone who has a good news story to share.  Matthew, Mark, Luke were not historians or anthropologists, and their shared purpose was not to relay the facts like a scientist, but to tell a story that would move the hearts of people everywhere.  That’s why we keep remembering their stories, year after year, because they have such power to move our hearts. 

            John’s story is the most unexpected of the four evangelists.  He says nothing about Mary and Joseph, and the baby in the manger.  He says nothing about Bethlehem, angels, shepherds, wise men or a star in the sky.  But John is in awe of what God has done with Christ coming into the world.  Rather than a birth story he tells about the appearance of a single thought in the mind of God.  That single thought, what John calls “the Word”, begins like a spark of light in pitch darkness.  From that first thought God’s word is now fully in the world that surrounds us.  This word changes everything; it is the very heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ:  God with us, not apart from us, God with us, not far away, God with us on sunny days, God with us in the dark, God not just with some perfect people somewhere else, God with us who struggle to get through a single day, God with our friends, God with our enemies, God with everyone everywhere.   So the other three evangelists begin the story of Jesus Christ in a particular place with particular people, but John uses a much broader canvas to draw an amazing picture that is as big as the darkness of the entire universe, and as small as a spark of light that is coming your way.  

            The word was in the world, and John pictured that as a tiny spark of light in total darkness.  That Christmas is celebrated with lights is a reflection of John’s story of Good News.  In a way there are too many lights in this season, everywhere you turn, so many that it is hard to appreciate the power of a single candle in world of darkness.  In John’s testimony, you don’t need to know all of the details of the story of Jesus’ birth.  All you have to do is see that small spark of light coming into the world, and trust that God’s word is not just out there somewhere, but coming your way to touch your life. 

            “The word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”