<html><body>I'm still working this over, but here's the first part of the first draft.<div><br></div><div>Bob</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST.
ALBAN, ALBANY 2 EPIPHANY C<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">ISAIAH 62:1-5 17<sup>th</sup> JANUARY, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-11 PSALM 36:5-10<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">JOHN 2:1-11<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> “They
have no wine.”<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Probably
Mary was stating the obvious, but it must have been serious enough for her to
draw it to her Son’s attention, and to that of the friends He’d brought with
Him.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> “They
have no wine.” They </span><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">HAD</span></u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> some, that much
is obvious. Now they didn’t. It was gone. Finished. The celebration was
jeopardised.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Just
about every time I’ve read this story, or heard it read, or heard sermons on
it, there’s been some sort of a criticism of the host inferred. The person
assigned to procure the refreshments must have misjudged the number of guests;
or the happiness of those at the reception so that they stayed far longer than
anticipated. Just about every time, there’s some criticism wrapped up in this.
You can see and hear Mary, clicking her tongue, shaking her head, rolling her
eyes as she moved towards her Son. You can hear exasperation in her Son’s
voice, as if to say, “Don’t look at Me. I’m a guest.”<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> But
how much of that is accurate? How much of that is our mental attitude, always
trying to pin the blame on someone else; always trying to duck out from under
any responsibility ourselves – even Mary’s Son? There’s nothing in the story to
suggest that they didn’t start with wine. The steward, in fact, says that the
best wine is laid out first, then the Mad Dog, when people won’t be able to tell
the difference. There </span><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">WAS</span></u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> wine to start
with. But nothing is said about too many guests, about too long a reception
after the wedding, about too greedy consumption at the bar. Nothing. Just,
“They have no wine.” A simple statement of fact.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> “There
is no wine”.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Sometimes,
we forget imagination and slip into literalism. Not that face-value should be
discounted, but God lays layer upon layer in every communicative effort in an
attempt to fill us with joy, and hope, and trust. Long before Christian
symbolism was seen in these stories and events, the ancient searching for truth
and metaphor had fired up people’s minds as they sought to touch the Face of
God or, at least, the hem of God’s garment.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Throughout
the books and stories of the First Covenant runs the metaphor of marriage, of
the commitment of two people to one another, as symbolic of the passion of God
for human beings. God is always trying to delight us with surprises, with
little gifts, with words of endearment and encouragement, with little signs left
where we can see and hear them, especially for those times when we feel that we
can’t touch or be touched by God.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Like
a lover never tiring of thinking of the beloved, God offers smiles of comfort
and assurance to remind us of the relationship we’ve entered.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Does
this mean that there won’t be misunderstandings or disagreements, even severe
arguments? Of course not! There are challenges and mistakes even in the best
relationships. That’s one of the reasons why John’s Gospel writer places this
story at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, so close, in fact, that Jesus
turn to His mother and says, very curtly, “Give Me a break! I haven’t had time
to sort out what I’m going to do and when I’m going to do it.”<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Mary,
as the quintessential Jewish mother, however, gently sets Jesus up, reminds Him
that He has to be ready for anything, at any time. And when Jesus </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: red; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">was healing</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">, when we’re
dealing with a celebration of how we’re living into the commitment of life with
God which we renewed last week, then we </span><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">HAVE</span></u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> to be prepared. As long as the
banquet lasts, we </span><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">HAVE</span></u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> to be able and willing to participate.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> That’s
one of the things about Marriage. It’s like our lives with God. We don’t change
things or set them aside as we may do dirty clothes. We’re called to work on as
best as we possibly can. But we know also that we fall short. As humans, we
have difficulty living up to the promises. Sometimes we feel that things become
so very dry, even threateningly dry, that we wonder whether we’ll survive.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> But
here’s where a second metaphor from the story comes in. Just as marriage is a
recurring symbol of our life with God and our commitment to God, so wine is the
symbol of the richness of God’s blessing. Wine is itself a symbol of vitality,
of pleasure, of God’s provision for our needs.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> I
know that this creates a difficulty for many who’re allergic to wine or some of
the chemicals in it. If the metaphor creates problems, then, think of the
grapes from which wine is derived – grapes being an interchangeable metaphor
for God’s sweetness and love.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> When
people run out of wine, then, especially at a marriage, things are in crisis
mode. As I said at the start, the lack of wine is never laid at anyone’s feet
in blame. It’s simply stated.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> Sometimes
our relationships become lifeless. We commit with the best of intentions. Last
week, for instance, we talked about the devotion we’ll give to the breaking of
bread, to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to prayer. That’s a not so
subtle reference to the expectation that new and established followers of Jesus
will work on maintaining an active spiritual life in private, but especially in
public worship. It’s also a reminder that we all need the nourishment of Jesus’
Presence in the Sacrament, given into our own hands and taken within our bodies
and souls.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> It’s
when we forget that promise to God, to our friends, to ourselves, that we begin
to run the risk of becoming dry.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> “They
have no wine,” said Mary. Something’s missing in their lives. They know about
the relationships, the commitments, but, somehow, they can’t quite piece
everything together. The people have lost their contact with God. Something has
broken the ability to communicate. People aren’t able to have the joyful,
celebratory ministry which God wishes for them.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> </span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>