HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-01-17, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019. PAGE 17.
By Brian Hymers
Knox United Church, Belgrave
This upcoming Sunday is the
Second Sunday after Epiphany, the
season for recognition of Christ to
the gentiles of the world.
This was achieved by God through
the delivery of the Magi and the
great distance they travelled to
spread this Good News upon their
return to the lands far away.
God has a special way of letting
people know of His presence. Most
of us fail to recognize these events
and that of God’s presence.
This week’s common lectionary
lesson leads us to a story I am sure
you have all heard before and
possibly read a few times.
It is found in the book of John,
Chapter 2 verses 1-12. It’s a small
story, but one of great importance
and fun to investigate: Jesus turns
the water into wine.
Now, who doesn’t like the thought
of this story? Even upon answering
my call to ministry, a few of my
close friends made reference to this
story and thought that possibly now
I could do this trick, and maybe I
could, but in a totally different way
than they were thinking.
The scene of this parable is Cana
at the celebration of a marriage. The
families of both bride and groom had
gathered many guests to the event
that would last for days.
We are not told exactly why, but
possibly because of bad planning or
the amount of unexpected guests
arriving or financial restraints, but
the guests drank all the wine.
What is the family to do? They do
not wish to disappoint their guests
or, worse yet, embarrass them and
humiliate the big celebration.
This is where the story takes an
interesting turn. Jesus’ mother Mary
is present and takes control of the
situation. We are unsure if she is
related to the family or not, but Mary
turns to her son.
Jesus, being a typical son, snaps
back, “but it is not my time yet, what
am I to do?”
Mary, being the persuasive and
confident mother that she is, tells the
servants and his buddies to do
whatever he says.
Jesus seizes the opportunity to not
only perform his first miracle, but
also alter the old Jewish order of
doing things by telling the servants
to fill up the six Jewish ceremonial
hand-washing vessels or jars, each
one about 20 to 30 gallons in size,
with fresh water and deliver it to the
master of ceremonies.
It is here where the little details in
scripture need to be explored and
evaluated.
We have all heard of this story, and
the main subject matter is the water
changing into wine.
The real story, however, is that of
Jesus’ mother Mary having
confidence in her beloved Son, the
gift from God, to take control of this
special opportunity, to take on his
role as the Son of God by
performing His first miraculous sign
of glory in front of His disciples and
followers.
It was not God that promoted him
to this position but his mother Mary.
Jesus then take the traditional
methods of the old Jewish way
of life and faith and turns them on
their ear, and hereby lies the case
of the hand-washing vessels there.
Could you just imagine drinking
wine from the baptismal font in the
front of your church? Unheard of for
sure! Later in scripture passages, we
will read of Jesus eating with others
(the gentiles and the sick) without
ceremonially washing his hands.
Totally taboo at the time.
Thirdly, we hear of this amazing
water being served to the guests and
that it is the finest of wine they have
ever tasted. Or was it just the finest
of water they had ever tasted?
We are not quite sure what the
water was like back in the first
century, nor the wine for that matter,
quite possibly this fresh water served
in the hand washing vessels was
merely the cleanest and finest of
water they had ever tasted and was
said to be like wine?
I am sure we have all traveled to
other places and drank water that
was not exactly like our water at
home. Some people have stated that
water from this town will taste
different than water from another
town, or even different from farm to
farm on the same county line.
The one thing that we do
remember is that Jesus did amazing
things during his lifetime as a way to
open our eyes to God’s wish for all
of mankind to realize is that we are
all the children of God.
Jesus’ life’s work was to spread
the understanding that through
believing in Him and God anything
is possible and that through prayer
we can instantly be connected
directly to the creator of all things.
I hope this exploration into this
very familiar story will help you in
igniting your spiritual curiosity and
allow for you to look deeper into not
only this story, but also everyday
events and circumstances and see if
you can identify God’s presence.
Reading between the lines of
scripture sometimes allows for the
story to impact you directly. It
allows you to draw your own
personal perspective and come to the
realization that God wants you to be
a part of his life as much as you are
a part of God’s creation.
Remember those friends of mine
who joked about me now being able
to change water into wine? Well, if
only one of them realizes Jesus to be
a part of their life, then a change far
greater than water into wine has
occurred. A change from a person of
doubt to the new person of belief, a
belief that allows for the realization
of God, is waiting to be discovered
by you. Now, that would be a
celebration just like the wedding in
Cana.
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph’s
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com
519-526-1131 ~ 119 John’s Ave., Auburn
Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. HEIRBORN (JK-Gr. 6), Jr. & Sr. YOUTH (Gr. 7-12)
Follow our PNG Missions Team BLOG! “Missions” button on our website
Thurs. Jan. 24, 6:00-8:00 p.m. - Seniors /55+ Fellowship Potluck
Sun. Jan. 20
9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 10:30 a.m. Worship
Pastor Phil Delsaut
“A Listening Posture”
(James 5:13-20)
OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday ~ 9:30 am - 2:00 pm
blythunited@tcc.on.ca
Special Speaker: Sandra Cable
Accessible
Sunday, January 20
Worship Service at 11:00 am
Blyth United Church
Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, January 20
at 10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.
650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School)
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Everyone Welcome!
The Regional Ministry of Hope
BLYTH BRUSSELS
Trinity Anglican Church St. John’s Anglican Church
9:15 am 11:15 am
MINISTRY OFFICE
519-357-4883
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector
email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca
The Regional Ministry of Hope
St. Paul’s Trinity Anglican Church
WINGHAM 11:15 am
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 20
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Worship & Sunday School - 9:30 am (*New time)
Coffee & Snacks following the service
We invite you to join our church family in:
BRUSSELS
United Church
Worship and Sunday School
Mary Ross is back with the children
Sunday, January 20 at 9:30 am
Worship leader, Sandra Cable
Brunch immediately after worship
followed by B.U.C. Annual Meeting
All are Welcome
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
From the Minister’s Study
Turning water into wine – in a way: Hymers
Get information
on Huron County attractions at
www.stopsalongtheway.ca