Good Shepherd United Church of Christ

Irregular Weddings                             Gos. of John 2:1-11
Jan. 17, 2010
Metairie, LA.

Not according to mundane plans, this wedding at Cana.  Then, as now, there were certain pro forma expectations of a wedding celebration, even in a little backwater, peasant community like Cana.

The guests had arrived, the arrangements were presumably set, well ahead of time, including the provision of wine for the special occasion.  Except- WHOOPS! the wine ran out!  Somebody, maybe the steward, maybe the host, somebody dropped the ball.

From that irregularity comes an even more dramatic irregularity- one young guest, one who evidently was tagging along with his mother, the youthful Jesus, is sent on an errand to address the irregularity.  Normally the guest does NOT provide the wine, normally the host scurries off to assure sufficient libations.  But in this scenario the routine is reversed.

And then there is the next irregularity, proclaimed rather stupidly by an observer, who has just seen water turned into wine, after all.  Does he say:  "Wow!  Water to wine- now that's amazing!"  No, he doesn't.  Does he say:  "Who is this man, Jesus...who is this youthful guest who takes upon himself the gracious duty of the host?"  No, he does not.  In a Nicodemus moment, the steward (who had evidently failed in his responsibilities, given that the wine had run out), the steward goes all in a dither about the good wine being served in the reverse order.  "Usually!", proclaims the steward, "Usually, according to prudential management, usually...harrumph!..we serve the good wine first, when the sober guests will appreciate the flavor, the aroma..."

Notice the critique here - Jesus has just turned water to wine and all the steward can do is point out the petty irregularity- good wine should be served first.

In the first revelation of Jesus' divine errand and his personal holiness, the steward blabbers about conventional ordering.  Jesus has ushered in the new order, but the steward is too entangled in the mundane to get it.  Nor will he be the last.

Water to wine.  Mundane right alongside the marvelous.  Everyday minutes transformed into momentous.  Sensible and spectacular, twins.

Throughout John's gospel he offers stories that illustrate the effect of the presence of Jesus, the present of Jesus, as a liminal moment when those around him see through the veil that separates earthly activities from Heavenly.

In another story, also a sign story, the woman at the well is transformed when Jesus offers her "living water".  Unlike the steward, she gets it.  Jesus offers her a brand new way of living that crosses the boundary which separates the mundane and the marvelous.

Water- an everyday commodity, is essential to life, of course.  So to say water is mundane is not to denigrate it.  Symbolically water is a reference to freedom: crossing the Red Sea, crossing the Jordan River.  And water is a good gift of a loving God, for example, when Moses strikes a rock in the dusty desert and a fountain gushes forth.  Waters of baptism bring transformation of Jesus and all who are baptized in his name.

Water is not an unadulterated good, however- remember that God separates out the waters of chaos so that there will be dry land for God's creatures to stroll.  The floods of Noah's era bring destruction along with cleansing.

A powerful symbol, a life giving commodity.  We think of the value of a bottle of water in Haiti right now.

Jesus changes water to wine, transforming mundane to marvelous.  Perhaps, better said: revealing the mundane as marvelous.

John wants us to know that with the presence of Jesus, with Jesus as guest and host, the mundane and the marvelous are recognized for what they are: parallel times, parallel realities, separated by only a tiny threshold.  As Christians we are residents of both worlds, if only we are a wee bit more perceptive than was the steward.

As I mentioned last week, our Council authorized me to officiate at an "irregular wedding" just before Christmas.  Tommy and Terry, their real names, were referred to me by a clergy friend in Colorado.  Tommy's sister asked my friend, Hal, if he would perform a church wedding, legitimate a Christian marriage, for a couple who did not plan to get a state license.  Hal referred them to me, since Tommy and Terry are living with Tommy's mom in Franklin, Louisiana, a backwater Cana if ever there was one.

Tommy and Terry are devout Christians, regular attenders at a community church.  Their own pastor would not marry them (for political reasons) nor would he permit them to use the sanctuary of their home church.  The Pastor was afraid (he told me so) that if he granted Tommy and Terry permission for a Christian wedding without state license, that all the young people who are shacking up would want the same privilege.

But the pastor supported me to perform the wedding because he found their request reasonable and found them to be deeply committed to a Christian marriage (as did I).  The pastor even volunteered to offer a blessing prayer at the ceremony.

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last I expect, that I have been asked to officiate at an "irregular wedding".  People have their reasons.  In this case Tommy is stricken with cerebral palsy, a condition necessitating certain frequent medical interventions.  Were he to marry Terry (since Terry works) Tommy would lose his medical benefits and he would be insurable.

Tommy and Terry were stuck between a rock and a hard place.  So was their pastor.  But Good Shepherd's pastor was authorized by Good Shepherd's Council to provide an "irregular wedding" for a couple who wanted nothing more than a true Christian marriage.

It was not a fancy wedding.  It was held in a V.F.W. hall in a backwater little town.  No fancy caterers, just a potluck.  One sister of the groom supplied 2 fancy cakes, one dressed in camouflage.  The bride's 2 children, from her previous marriage, came over from Mississippi.  The daughter did the bride's hair right there in the Ladies Room of the V.F.W.

I wish you could have seen Tommy and Terry's faces as they took their vows.  Tommy, in his wheelchair, wept and grinned simultaneously.  Terry was a mirror of his emotions.  The mundane and the marvelous, where Christ is the guest and the host.

We know that gay marriage, irregular by any measure, is a current controversy, both in civil law and in church deliberations.  There are cogent arguments by serious and thoughtful people, Biblical and Constitutional.  Of course there are also dishonorable and pernicious proponents on each side of the controversy as well.

I do not believe that this pulpit is a helpful place to review all the arguments.  That kind of discussion belongs in an extended study and reflective conversation, which I have led in different places.  But not in this pulpit.

What I do want to say is that this controversy, like controversies in the past, ought to be engaged as Christians in our era.  To set the landscape, I will say that I have concluded that ministers have no business performing as functionaries of the state and I fervently wish that the state would stop authorizing ministers to sign state papers.  "Render unto Caesar", Jesus says on another occasion.  If I were the Queen of the World, I'd only provide church weddings, only officiate for couples who desire a Christian marriage.

Again, there is nothing wrong with a state marriage- let the legal contractual pledges be done according to the constitution and state laws.  But, not my bailey wick- I'm a minister, not a lawyer or judge or state functionary.  But that's an aside and I am not the Queen of the World.  Let's return to the gospel story where the mundane and the marvelous intersect.

I heard a story this week that illustrates and I have been given permission to share it with you.  One of our fabulous Women's Guild members came by to set up for a luncheon on Monday.  She'd brought all the trimmings to make for a special occasion:  tablecloths, table settings, even a couple of Saints' fan toy characters to sit with us.  We have these luncheons once a month and they are fun celebrations of thriving women's friendships.  Women take turns hosting and make efforts so that the lunch is special in one way or another.  One time Miss Thais taught me to crack crabs.

When our hostess arrived at fellowship hall, it was somewhat in shambles- evidence of campers, college kids from Virginia- who had recently gone from their work at Habitat...and evidence of the new group moving in...Someone had neglected to turn out the lights in the t.v. room  Someone left bags of trash, neglected to get them out to the curb on trash day.  Someone really needed to clean the kitchen floor, which was, well...positively sticky from meals past.

In the middle of the room she set up her tables for the luncheon- and if you had seen it, as did I, it looked like a party oasis in the midst of the mundane.  We were surrounded by books set up to be moved along to school children...sleeping bags scattered about and blow up beds plopped around the edges...you get the picture.

Not surprisingly, the luncheon hostess was irritated that her party plans were significantly intruded upon by the work campers, coming and going...There she was, just like the host at the wedding, all prepared for the celebration, but the circumstances threw her a curve.

Unlike the steward, she eventually recognized that Jesus was present in the events.  Jesus came through the mundane to introduce the marvelous.  She recovered from her irritation when the thought entered her mind that the campers, who did indeed leave some messes in their wake, were here at Good Shepherd on a marvelous mission, a Christlike mission to restore our city.  The Women's Guild hostess at that moment welcomed the presence of Jesus, who was present all the time.

One more story of similar revelation, also just this week.  My son Alec called to say, "Mom, you want the good news or the bad news first?"  "Good news", I said.

Alec had just signed on to a new job, for which he had been recruited and will have almost a doubled salary and opportunities to travel to Europe.  Good news, indeed.

The the bad news-  his friend, Andy, had called to say this his sister and her husband and their two small children were in Haiti, as all was collapsing.  They had gone from their home in Germany to adopt two Haitian children.  They were thought to be in that hotel that had been destroyed in the quake.  Everyone was frantic to find them.

Two days later, Alec called to say the family had been located.  "Oh," I said, "Will they be able to leave Haiti and go home?"

"Mom," Alec replied, "They're not going anywhere for awhile.  They are both doctors and they will stay in Haiti to help with the medical needs."

A not uncommon trip- to adopt a baby- turns out to be a marvelous moment- a time of marvelous mission.  The Christian life affords so many of these opportunities to recognise that we are simultaneously citizens of two worlds- the earthly and the heavenly.  And these two good worlds exist side by side and the threshold between them is very thin.

"Water to wine" when you recognize that Jesus is the guest and the host.  "Water to wine" when a couple persists in their Christian marriage vows, despite state law stupidities.  "Water to wine" when our irritations are transformed to appreciation.  "Water to wine" when God provides with an unexpected mission - right when we have a totally different agenda on our minds.

"Water to wine".  Thank you, Jesus, our guest and our host.