God in Man made Manifest II

During this season of Epiphany I’m offering meditations based on the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth’s hymn “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise”. Wordsworth (1807-1885) was related to William, John & Charles Wordsworth, all famous themselves. He wrote many other scholarly works and hymns, but this is one of my favorites.

Last week we considered how maintaining a positive attitude can help ‘manifest’ Christ to our section of the world. This week, the second stanza of the hymn focuses on Christ’s own early ministry-his baptism and the changing water to wine at the wedding in Cana.

Manifest at Jordan’s stream,

Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;

And at Cana, wedding guest,

In Thy Godhead manifest;

Manifest in power divine,

Changing water into wine;

Anthems be to Thee addressed,

God in man made manifest.

Last Sunday, in many churches, we heard the Gospel reading of the Baptism of our Lord. “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” (Mark 1:9-11) This is one of the events that is recorded in all 4 Gospels (Luke 3:21-22, Matthew 3:13-17, John 1:29-34).

We all long to hear someone say “You are my Beloved.” Many of us doubt our right to that title, though. The Epistle to the Galatians offers a great promise, “…in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ…for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-27) Each one of us can hear God say to us “You are my Beloved Child!”

Did Jesus sit around after His baptism? No, he began his ministry, first by withdrawing to the wilderness, then by calling his first disciples. The hymn refers to the first, and one of the most famous of Christ’s miracles: changing water into wine at the wedding. It is a reading many will hear in church this week of Epiphany II. This icon shows all the players in the scene.

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:1-11)

Have you ever noticed that often a different phrase will leap out of the scriptures each time you read them? The line that surprised me with this reading is the parenthetical note “… the servants who had drawn the water knew.” It was the servants who received Mary’s order, “Do whatever he tells you,” as well as Jesus’ command, “Fill the jars with water.” Can you imagine them shaking their heads over the mother-son discussion and frowning when Jesus “said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’”? The servants knew that they had just filled six big stone containers with 120 gallons of water and certainly had no expectation of anything except water coming out of them when they filled their pitchers. Imagine the shocked looks when they filled the serving jugs and realized it was not water!

I wonder if there are some places in my life where God is “Manifest in power divine, changing water into wine.” Like the servants I do my daily round of chores-home, work, family, etc. Sometimes, though, God is manifest in those tasks and what I expected to be water, satisfying but uninspiring, turns out to be wine. At times I'm aware of this happening-when the right words flow onto a page and tell a story. Most of the time, though, it's only in looking at the results that I become aware that water turned to wine.

Christopher Wordsworth took ordinary words and offered them as a hymn which still inspires our worship almost 200 years later. The water of baptism makes ordinary folk into Children of God, as Galatians affirms. Our willingness to be obedient servants can transform the ordinary water of daily life into wine of holy service.

Are there times in your life when you thought you offered just water, but it turned out to be rich, satisfying wine? Are you as surprised as the steward who told the bridegroom, “You have kept the good wine until now!”?

I pray you find ways to offer water changed to wine in your life this week. Perhaps it is just a kind word or a smile for someone. Maybe it is something much more. Listen to the One who calls you Beloved, for then your water will be transformed into holy wine. Most of us have hearts that are aching this week for the families grieving and healing in Tucson. It is in these times that the holy wine of obedient, self-giving service and prayer are most valuable and necessary. See you next week when verse three talks about healing and 'quelling all the devil's might'!