[Propertalk] Fwd: 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany Sermon - Part 1 of 2

[Joe Parrish]

Part 1 of 2





Forwarded:
 
2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

John 2:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Acres of Diamonds




1 Corinthians 12:1-11

12:1 ¶ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed.

2 You know that when you were heathen, you were led astray to dumb idols, however you may have been moved.

3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

6 and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

11 All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

John 2:1-11

2:1 ¶ On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

2 Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.

3 When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."

4 And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."

5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.

8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it.

9 When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom

10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. RSV

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

Russell H. Conwell wrote a speech many years ago entitled "Acres of Diamonds" where he laid out that there were acres of diamonds of opportunities for people who were searching for jobs. He said there were acres of diamonds all around us for the grabbing if we would just open our eyes and see those opportunities.

I would like to use his analogy to say that there are indeed Acres of Diamonds all around us, not the diamonds of the earth, but sparkling stones, brilliant in color and radiance all around us. These stones light up the lives of people they come in contact with, they light up the lives of people.

For the Acres of Diamonds all around us are the opportunities for us to reach out a helping hand to others. We have acres of opportunity of service all round us. We have acres of diamonds, acres of service in our back yards, in our neighborhoods, in our churches, town and communities. For when a person helps another it is like lightening up a diamond in their lives. Our touch, our kindness lights up a life just as sparkling as a diamond lights up a hand or necklace.

Our gospel lesson this morning is about Jesus reaching out at a wedding to do a kind deed and our second lesson from 1 Corinthians speaks about the gifts of the Spirit which is used to help others.

Our gospel lesson speaks about Jesus reaching out to help at the request of his mother. Mary comes to Jesus and says, "They have no wine." A simple statement and in that statement is a request, "Do something" Jesus answers, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." In other words, Jesus is saying this is something he cannot be bothered with and that his mother does not really understand what Jesus is all about.

And then Mary says to the servants "Do whatever he tells you."

Mary believes that Jesus will do something.

It was something simple, they ran out of wine and Mary asks her son to do something about it.

But then notice what Jesus does. He tells the servants to fill the six stone jars with water and then tells the servants to draw some out and take it to the steward of the feast to taste. And the steward cannot believe what good tasting wine it is.

In the grand scheme of things this was just a little something that Jesus did for his mother, gave the wedding feast some more wine. But it was the first sign Jesus did that his disciples could tell that he was someone special.

Jesus responded to a simple need, the acres of diamonds, the water into wine was a sign for those to believe in him.

Our simple deeds, the acres of diamonds, are all around us. Some simple as in the following:

A little girl who was late coming home for supper. Her mother made the expected irate parent's demand to know where she had been.

The little girl replied that she had stopped to help Janie, whose bicycle was broken in a fall.

"But you don't know anything about fixing bicycles," her mother responded.

"I know that," the girl said. "I just stopped to help her cry."(1)

I just stopped to help her cry. What a statement! This gal saw an Acre of Diamonds in the fall of her friend and though she could not do anything to help fix the bike, she stayed and cried with her.

Are acts of kindness do not have to be grand expensive things, they can be as simple as being with one as they cry.

Paul says in our second lesson that each of us have gifts of the spirit.

He says: "

and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

6 and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

 

Paul begins by saying that one cannot even say Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit. We are filled with the Holy Spirit at our Baptism and that Spirit then works in us to allow us to use our gift in the Acres of Diamonds all around us.

We all have different gifts to be used, we all have a variety of service that can be done and it is God who inspires all these good works in us.

Our gifts maybe be as simple as that little crying with another, or they may be as grand as giving a large sum of money to help a person in need.

Our gifts vary, but the Acres of Diamonds around us need to be filled with our light of service responding to the needs of others.

But do we see the needs of others around us? Do we see those Acres of Diamonds that can be affected by our caring light?

Nearly 30 years a study was conducted at Princeton University, USA, designed to figure out the conditions under which good people would act for good, or at least be helpful.

Two psychologists asked a group of theology students to walk to another building on campus to give a short speech, either about their motives for studying theology or about the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. Meanwhile, the psychologists had arranged for an actor to be stationed on the path between the two buildings, slumped over, coughing and obviously in bad shape. The two experimenters had also led half the students to believe they were late for their speaking appointment, and half that they had ample time.

So, what do you think the responses were? Who was most likely to help: those with the story of the Good Samaritan uppermost in their mind or those thinking about the motives for studying theology?

There was a significance difference between groups, but it was not along the lines of speech content. Contrary to what we might expect, the content of the speech made no difference. About the same number of Good Samaritan speakers and theology motivation students stopped. What did mid make a difference was how rushed the students thought themselves to be. Only 10 percent of those led to believe they were running late stopped to help. Of those told that they had plenty of time, 60 percent stopped to help.(2)

Time or lack of time is a contributing factor as we judge whether we can be involved in the Acres of Diamonds all around us.

Do you take the time to see the needs of others?

Paul says we are inspired by the Holy Spirit to see the needs of those around us and respond to them with the gifts God has given us.

We are to use our gifts to the common good. Jesus did a good deed at the wedding, a simple act of kindness which was for the common good.

We need to stop and smell the roses so to speak, so we can see those around us who are in need. We need to use our gifts to help others.

Our gifts are to be used for others, not ourselves.

The man in the following used his gift for the common good.

(Continued in Part 2 of 2)

Written by Pastor Tim Zingale 

You may freely use this as is or in parts, but please somehow give credit Thanks! Not for commercial use.


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