Epiphany 2 & Life Sunday January 20, 2019 The Sunday of Water into Wine
Epiphany 2 / Life Sunday
John 2:1-11
January 20, 2019
“The Glorious Jesus Under the Inglorious Us”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A thirty-year-old man named Jesus, attending a wedding reception with His Mom and His friends, standing by six stone jars full of ordinary water – there’s more here than meets the eye. There’s something glorious to be found here under this Man and this water.
There’s more there than meets the eye. We know this to be true in many places in life, don’t we? How many of you would look at a 600 lb pig, covered in dirt and mud and its own feces, and would say, “Hmmm, that looks glorious to eat!” And yet we all know that under that inglorious ball of dirt and mud is glorious bacon. How many of you would look at a scrawny chicken covered in its own feces with feathers flying everywhere and say, “Hmm, hmm, I’d love to eat whatever glorious thing comes out of the back of that bird?” And yet we all know that under that inglorious hen comes a glorious egg. Eggs and Bacon, who knew? How about an inglorious potato covered in dirt and eyes? Throw that ugly thing in and with that we’ll have some glorious hash browns or French fries on the side.
As a Christian, you and I learn to see this truth at work in other places besides breakfast food. We learn to see that the glorious Jesus is found under the inglorious us. For instance, are you ashamed of yourself or have you recently been ashamed of yourself? Have you felt quite inglorious because you said or did an ignorant thing or because you feel you have utterly failed? Underneath your shame is the glory of Jesus. He would, in your sin and shame, show you the glory of His love and forgiveness. Behind that dirty pig of yours is something glorious called mercy.
For instance, are you suffering mentally or physically and you don’t know if you can handle it? Are you weak? Are you feeling forsaken? Underneath your inglorious weakness is the glory of Jesus and His strength. He would, in your weakness and suffering, make known to you the glory of His promises in Holy Baptism and in the Lord’s Supper. He would, in your pain, make known to you the glorious comfort and strength of His Word and Holy Spirit. Under you, a scrawny dirty chicken, is hatching something glorious called courage. A gift to you from Jesus.
You, dear Christian, are always more than meets the eye. Because under you, inglorious as you are, is the glorious Jesus Christ. He lives in you and He is mightier than the thunders of many waters, says Psalm 93. His power is made perfect in weakness, says 2 Corinthians 12.
So back to Cana. There stands the thirty-year-old Jesus with six jars of water. Nothing too glorious, right? And it’s hardly very climactic. Jesus doesn’t wave a wand or a curtain or shout something dramatic. He simply says, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” And the master of the feast doesn’t even realize what’s happened. He simply says, “Hey! That’s some fine wine!” But hidden under that water turned wine is the glory of God. Jesus changed water into wine with a word. And hidden under that man Jesus Christ is the glory of God Himself. It says, “This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory.” He showed us something glorious.
Now that’s the glory that is yours—hidden in you because you’re baptized into Jesus and because you believe in Him. Under the inglorious you and me is the glory of Jesus. But no—we’d rather have a cheap, fraudulent version of God’s glory called vainglory. Empty glory. We’d rather think that we’re great and glorious all by ourselves and we’d like others to only notice us and give us the glory we deserve. We wouldn’t like to see that all people are glorious because they’re created by God and redeemed by Jesus—no, we’d rather show how we’re more glorious than others because we’re smarter, wiser, wealthier, stronger, and we’re better informed.
Paul says in the Epistle today, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Seek to show hospitality. Live in harmony with one another. Don’t be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited!” Do you see what he’s urging us toward there? To see the glory of Jesus in others! To think on the glory of mercy and love and forgiveness and grace. But oh, that word conceited. In the Greek Paul says do not be thinking all about yourself! Don’t be thinking of your own glory. But see the glory of Jesus in others.
We are conceited people. Vainglorious. But what are we so proud of? Do we really want everyone to know the real us? Do we really want everyone to see us for the scrawny chickens and dirty pigs that we truly are? We’re inglorious. We’re full of sin and shame. Covered in our own feces. There’s no hiding it. Never be conceited, Paul says. Thinking only of yourself. But be Christian. Thinking of the glory of Jesus that lives in us. Thinking of the glory of His love and forgiveness and mercy that is ours in Jesus. Don’t be vainglorious. But be filled with the glory of God.
Now maybe you and I, like Moses in the reading from Exodus today, want to see God’s glory. Maybe we’re tired of this hiddenness. It’s enough, Lord, show us Your glory! But God knew Moses couldn’t handle the glory. It would’ve destroyed him. So God would only let Moses look from the back after God had passed him by. You can’t stare at the glory of the sun. It’s too bright. When there’s all this snow on the ground, my eyes can hardly take the brightness of it. Even when it’s cloudy, the glory of the sun reflects off all this snow and it hurts the eyes. How much more can’t we handle the glory of God?
So God hides His glory for us in His Word and in the Sacraments. God hides His glory under words, spoken and written. God hides His glory under water, sprinkled in His name. God hides His glory under bread and wine, the very body and blood of Jesus Christ. And through these Word and Sacraments, Jesus hides His glory in you. The glorious Jesus under the inglorious you.
So we Christians learn to know there’s more than meets the eye all over the place. Six stone water jars become the best wine ever poured. One man Jesus ingloriously dying on a cross becomes the salvation of the entire world and God’s greatest glory in the history of the world. Bread and wine become the very bread of life and forgiveness.
Now we must learn to know there’s more than meets the eye under many other inglorious things in this world. A baby conceived from an irresponsible, sinful young man and woman. A baby that neither father or mother is equipped to take care of. Is this something inglorious that we should end with abortion as soon as possible? Should we try to forget that the whole thing happened and put this mistake to death right away?
Or should we see, under this mother and father and baby, the glory of Jesus’ forgiveness and mercy? Should we look for the glory of a life that God has knit together? The glory of a life that Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross for? Should we look for Jesus to make glorious wine from this inglorious water?
What about a baby born with down syndrome or born with severe physical impairments? Is this something inglorious that we should try to detect early so that we can end this life? Is this something shameful for which we should hang our heads? Or should we see in this inglorious life, just like our own inglorious life, the glory of God’s handiwork? Should we not see one more soul for whom Jesus Christ said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly”? Isn’t this one that Jesus meant when He said, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me?” Do we see the glory of Jesus hidden in them?
And what about the person nearing the end of their life who’s in pain and can’t enjoy all the things of life they used to? Do we say, “There’s no glory here! Better off dead”? Do we say, “Well, there’s no more wine! Nothing more to see here. Better call this party off”? Assisted suicide is vainglorious. It’s conceited. It only thinks of itself and doesn’t see the glory of Jesus hidden under suffering. The most glorious hour of Jesus was His suffering, death, and resurrection. Will we have eyes to see underneath the ingloriousness of death and see the glory of Jesus’ resurrection? Will we see underneath our weakness and see the glory of Christ’s strength?
What about a boy or girl whose emotions don’t always match their biology? A boy who has the feelings he should be a girl or a girl whose feelings tell her she should be a boy? Is his or her body something inglorious that we should promptly start destroying with hormone treatments and surgery? Should we start hiding their shameful bodies behind clothes that match their feelings? Or might we rather see under their inglorious feelings—the glory of their bodies as God made them? Might we rather help them to see the glorious Jesus who redeemed their bodies and souls and lives in them just as they are? Can we see the glorious Jesus hidden under our inglorious bodies?
Every single human life—whether young or old, healthy or unhealthy, male or female, rich or poor—is a glorious creation of Him who turned water into wine. Every human life is glorious because we are all fashioned by God and redeemed on the cross by Jesus Christ. Don’t be conceited. Don’t think only of yourself and don’t see only with your eyes. Look for the glory of God. Look for the wine under the water. Look for the strength under the weakness. Look for the glorious under the inglorious. Look for Jesus—living in you and hidden in every single one of your neighbors. Never be conceited.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.