So what do you make of today’s gospel (John 2:1-11)? 

Did Jesus really turn water into wine? If so, how did he do that? And what do we have to do to get a refill? I think those are the kind of questions we often bring to stories like this. But I wonder if they miss the point. 

I can’t tell you how Jesus turned water to wine. I don’t even know if that really happened. That doesn’t mean, however, that I don’t think today’s gospel is true. I think it is absolutely true and trustworthy. 

What if this story is less about refilling empty glasses and bottles and more about what that means for us and our lives? 

I’ve never seen water turned into wine and I’ve certainly never done it. You probably haven’t either. But I have experienced the miracle at Cana in my life and I’ve seen it in the lives of others. I bet you have too.

Last Monday a young woman came to my office needing assistance. I told her that she looked familiar but I didn’t recognize her and I couldn’t recall her name. She told me that I had helped her back in September when she was homeless, living in her car, and trying to get out of an abusive relationship.

She said, “I probably look very different today. I got out of jail on Friday. I’m out of that relationship and I’m safe. I’m getting my life turned around and I’m clean.” And she wasn’t talking about soap and water kind of clean, though this time she was that too. 

That’s a water to wine kind of story. 

After the shooting here in 2022, I felt empty and life was dry and bland. There was no color, fragrance, vibrancy, or vitality. I know others who felt the same way. Maybe you did too. A woman named Marion came to me with a vision for a counseling center for children. I loved her vision but wondered if it could really happen and how. 

She didn’t have any details, but dedication, enthusiasm, and passion poured out of her like water. Your vestry offered her our old building that had served as a classroom, a youth room, an outreach building, and most recently a big junk drawer. It wasn’t much but it was the water we had to offer. Today that building is The Children’s Bereavement Center in Uvalde, a winery of healing, new life, and hope for the future. 

That’s a water to wine kind of story.

So what’s your water to wine story? When have you experienced that kind of change in your life? When have you seen it happen in another’s life?

Think about the ways in which your life has been changed and transformed. Chances are it started on a day when “the wine gave out.” 

Maybe it was the death of loved one, a divorce, a diagnosis. Maybe it was a failure, disappointment, or regret. Maybe life was just too much and too big, and you felt small and powerless. Maybe it was just one thing after and another, and it left you overwhelmed and exhausted. Maybe your life was a mess and you felt lost, stuck, confused. Maybe life had become routine, boring, ho hum, and there was no sparkle, energy, or creativity. 

And then someone showed up and said or did something that made all the difference. Somehow what they said or did gave color to your life. There was new vibrancy and vitality. You could taste it and it tasted like good wine. They didn’t refill your glass with wine, they offered you their water. 

They offered you the water of faith, hope, love. They offered the water of their time, listening, and presence. They gave you the water of encouragement, compassion, assistance. They provided the water of wisdom and guidance. They prayed for you and stood by you. Maybe they even poured out a truth that was difficult or painful to hear. And the empty jar of your life was filled to the brim and everything changed. 

When has that happened to you? And when have you been the one pouring water into the empty jar of another’s life? 

That’s a water to wine kind of story.

I don’t know how to make water turn to wine and I suspect you don’t either. But we don’t have to. It’s not our work or responsibility to turn water into wine. There is a dynamism that is already and always at work in our lives. It’s life “lifing,” nature “naturing,” God “Godding.” 

You don’t have to understand it to know that it’s real. You don’t have to explain it to experience it. And you don’t have to make it happen. It’s enough to just participate in it. You offer water. You receive water. And you let the water do its “watering” thing. 

Isn’t that what the servants do in today’s gospel? They carry water. They offer water. They pour water. “Fill the jars with water.” That’s the only thing Jesus asked of them. 

Here’s what strikes me about the servants. They are the only ones who knew the water became wine. The bridegroom didn’t know. The steward didn’t know. The guests didn’t know. The water carriers knew. So did the woman in my office last week. So did Marion. If you know you know.

The best way I can put it is the way Estelle explained it to me. Some of you know Estelle. She is a faithful and long time parishioner of St. Philip’s. And some of you haven’t yet had the privilege and joy of meeting her. Years ago she said to me, “I don’t know how I know it. I just know that I know it. I know it in my knower.”

What about you and me? Do we know it? If you want to know it in your knower, start with the water. That’s where Jesus started. 

The question has never been, Is water being turned to wine? It is. It always has been. And it will be. The only question is this: Will we carry and offer water?

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Image Credit: By Rodrigo Fernández – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.