Priceless Love

Epiphany 2 – January 19, 2025

Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11

Our psalm for today is a psalm that is asking God for help in the everyday struggles that come from those who are wicked and seek to do evil to God’s people. We, in part, did not see this in our reading of it today since we only read the middle of the psalm. I suppose we did so because it was chosen to go along with our gospel reading today. There, as you all know, Jesus turns water into wine. A prelude to his gift of life through his blood shed on the cross and given in the wine served at this table. The fountain of life that the psalmist proclaimed. The psalmist also reminds us of the source of the fountain of life – the steadfast and priceless love of God. 

The steadfastness of God’s love is proclaimed in the text from Isaiah. This is from third Isaiah and was written after the return from the Babylonian exile. As I have said before, life was hard after the return. All you need to do is think about the people in California returning after the fires. That was Jerusalem and the surrounding area. And for the Israelites it was 70 years later. Most of those returning had never been to the promised land. They had to build Jerusalem, the temple, and a community from scratch. As life got tough and plans were not achieved in a timely manner many of the returnees started to question their decision to return and even God. That’s where Isaiah’s message comes in: You who are known by others as desolated will soon become known as married. For you will be the bride and God your bridegroom. For it is from God that you will find help.

That is a difficult message to hear. Especially for us who live in a society that demands immediate gratification. We know what we want and we want it instantly. We know that because of all the offers – for a price – to deliver things to you on the same day you order it. It is our desire for instant service that brings us to be impatient with God. When God’s help does not come to us when we expect it to, we so often search for help somewhere else. You know the routine because, like me, you have run down that path before only to discover the promise is false. 

But that is where our gospel comes in. This is a very familiar story of Jesus turning water into wine. The story is fraught with many allusions to John’s theology. Wine and water, jars for purification, that now the good wine is being served, and calling his mother ‘woman’ all prefigure the coming story of how God has chosen to save God’s people. Here we are told that Jesus is our help both in times of trouble and in times of prosperity. (We may, in fact, need more help in prosperous times than in troubled times to save us from our mistakes.) Although, while God works to help us all, I would suggest that a little homework will help us to see and accept God’s help when it comes. That homework is to spend a little time each day with Jesus. There are two assignments. Begin your work by reading a bit of God’s word. It really does not matter how you do this. Read a chapter or just several verses, use a daily devotional, or use a lectionary such as the one that is printed in the bulletin. After a bit of reading then spend time in prayer. Again, there is no required formula for this. Although, I find my mother’s to be very helpful: First, pray in thanksgiving for what God has given you, second pray for the needs of others, and finally pray for what you desire. If you are like me, after following this formula, you may forgo the last because when you see what you have and what others need, you will be satisfied with what God has given you. Yes you have already been helped in so many different ways that you just may be unable to count all of your blessings.