Enough________

Enough _____

We always thank God for making us “living members” of the Body of Christ, as in the old

meaning of “member,” an arm, leg, hand, finger, organ. If we each become limbs and organs of

Christ’s Body in this world, we are also limbs and organs of each other in this “Holy

Communion,” as much communion with each other in Christ as communion with Christ: Which

makes every Holy Eucharist a kind of marriage renewal with Jesus and each other, bread and

wine, limbs and organs. And that communion of food and drink, limbs and organs, continues in

our Fellowship Hall named for Frances Perkins with “fellowship” being a frequent translation of

the Greek koinonia the root of “communion.” Our fellowship in Perkins Hall is a celebration of

the communion and wedding renewal we celebrate in this church.

In the life of this one body called St. Monica and St. James, there are not infrequent

concerns about having enough of _____, in the case of the wedding in today’s Gospel, wine,

which wasn’t a luxury or intoxicant in that world; it was how you preserved the fruit of the vine, it

was food (1). And like the mother of Jesus, we all sometimes want to say to him: They (or we or

I) have no _____. The question that this Gospel leaves us with is whether we can hear his

response and still respond as his mother did.

There were no honeymoon trips in Jesus’ little corner of the world. Weddings were a

weeklong celebration in which the new married couple’s neighbors would pop in and out to eat

and drink, yes, wine. It would be important for this new family unit to show that they could

support themselves as an independent family, but some scholars have also wisely surmised

that to sustain a weeklong supply of food and drink, those invited to the wedding would have

been expected to bring some with them. The author of the Gospel attributed to John the Apostle

is quite precise about who and how many disciples Jesus’s had: Andrew and an unnamed

disciple who later becomes known as the Disciple whom Jesus loved; Andrew’s bother, Simon

Peter; Philip and Nathanael. That’s five disciples who’ve just started following this itinerant

preacher. And perhaps, it is surmised, they had not the means with which to bring wine.

Perhaps this explains Mary going to Jesus and saying, “They have no wine,” hint. Of

course, she might also be implying, and you can do something about it. Jesus’s reply does

sound harsh, but this is not the last time that Jesus will call her, “Woman.” But what is his “hour”

that has not yet come? “Now the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified…And when I

am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all people to myself.” For the Beloved Disciple who

wrote this Gospel, that glorification and lifting up took place on the Cross. In this Gospel,

Jesus’s miracles are called “signs,” or “clues.” Is this the right time for Jesus to begin leaving

clues to who he is and what he has come to do?

But rather than bristle at this seeming rebuke, the Mother of Jesus responds with the only

conversational words of hers that are recorded in the New Testament, the only teaching we

have of Mary’s, “Do whatever he tells you,” a combination of argument and acceptance. Down

through the millennia, all right devotion to Mary should have at its core her pointing to her Son

and teaching us to “do whatever he tells you.” And so does she, following her Son all the way to

the Cross where, at his hour, he will again call her, “Woman,” and say to her, “Here is your son,”

and to the Beloved Disciple, “Here is your mother.”

And so, here we all are, all disciples, all children of the same mother, all limbs and organs

of Christ and each other, and all occasionally saying to Jesus: They, we, I, have no _____. Of

course, if we are limbs and organs of Jesus’ body, then when we say that to each other, we’re

saying it to Jesus. Now we know what Jesus did. He made about 700 bottles of wine. I honestly

wonder if trying to find enough wineskins for all that wine created more problems than it solved:

Be careful what you complain about not having enough of, Jesus might also have been saying.

But he certainly provided enough. And if we are honest and faithful with each other, then we are

bing honest and faithful with Jesus. And from his truth and faithfulness with us, the Lord will

provide enough.

In this holy communion, we share each other’s joys, needs, and sorrows with Jesus, as his

mother shared the need and potential sorrow of the wedding couple — and still shares her

children’s joys, needs, and sorrows with her Son — and points us to her Son. And if we hear

Jesus say, “my hour has not yet come,” let us follow his mother’s advice — Do whatever he tells

you — and keep following him to his cross, where he will say to us — Woman, here is your

child…here is your mother.

(1) Andrew McGowan, “The Wine at Cana, https://abmcg.substack.com/p/the-wine-at-cana

The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Rev. David Kendrick

Jan 19th 2025