Episode 1508: What Concern is That?

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,508 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. Good day.

[00:00:07] Chad M. Mansbridge: I'm Chad Mansbridge. I'm gonna challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time. Your talent and your treasures to live out your calling, you know, having the ability to really understand the truth of your life is key.

[00:00:25] And one of the ways to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:41] Scott Maderer: To become the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, not out of judgment, not out of condemnation, not out of telling someone how badly they've screwed up, not because we're liberal, not because we're conservative, but because we're followers of Christ himself. [00:01:00] Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:06] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:36] In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about John chapter 2, verses 1 through 11. I share how the sign at Cana is about more than a miracle. And I also talk with you about how it shows us what a real calling is, even when we don't think it's our concern. John chapter 2, verses 1 through 11, the wedding at Cana.

[00:01:58] On the third day, there was a [00:02:00] wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what concern is that to me and to you? My hour has not yet come.

[00:02:18] His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. And Jesus said to them, Fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, Now draw some out, and take it to the person in charge of the banquet.

[00:02:38] So they took it. When the person in charge tasted the water, That had become wine, and did not know where it had came from, although the servants who had drawn the water knew, that person called the bridegroom, and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guest have become drunk, but you have kept the good wine until now.

[00:02:58] And Jesus did this, the first [00:03:00] of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. This is the second Sunday after Epiphany, and the sign that is being called forward is the miracle at the wedding of Cana. I've got to call it a sign as John calls them, but we also hear it called a miracle, and there's a point to that we'll talk about later, but these signs are appropriate for the season after Epiphany.

[00:03:28] This season is what we call in the church calendar ordinary time, and a lot of times people hear that and think it means not special or plain, ordinary in the sense of being a plain or not special time, but ordinary here means a time of counting. It tends to be the periods between events, but it's a period of anticipation when we're either looking back at something that's just happened or looking forward to something that is coming.

[00:03:55] It's meant to be a time of preparation, a time that sets things [00:04:00] apart in a way. And this passage that we're using is about Jesus. Everything in the passage seems to be happening in relation to him. The story is talking about his mission and his purpose. And it gives us some insight into the nature of this person, Jesus Christ.

[00:04:20] And that's what John tries to do above all else. He's trying to tell us about Jesus in his gospel story. So the true study of this passage, we need to focus on Jesus. What did he say? Why did he say it? And all of that. But I'm going to talk about something different here. Instead, I'm going to take a moment and look at Mary.

[00:04:43] Notice Mary here doesn't actually get a name. She gets a role, the mother of Jesus. John actually never calls Mary by name anywhere in his gospel. From beginning to end, she's always referred to as the mother of Jesus. And at first you [00:05:00] might think that's disrespectful to leave someone's name out of the story is a slight, it diminishes the person.

[00:05:07] But in John's point of view, he seems to be saying this is an honor because he's elevating Mary, the mother of Jesus to a very special level. Unique among all of Jesus followers. He calls her always the mother of Jesus. And since in John's theology, we should be defined in our relation to Jesus. It's an honor to be identified with Jesus so much that your name is no longer needed.

[00:05:37] Look at the relationship that the disciples have. They want to be recognized as the disciples of Jesus, but often they're recognized as obstacles. Sometimes they're reluctant. Sometimes they're just called by their name. Peter, James, Andrew. They're identified only in relation to themselves at times as an [00:06:00] indicator that they're missing something important in the relationship with Jesus.

[00:06:06] But Mary, At least in John's gospel is nothing but the mother of Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less. That role and that relationship to Jesus is core to Mary being special in a way. So what happens in this particular story? What's her role? What's her job in this particular story? Mary identifies the problem.

[00:06:31] In a way, she states the obvious. She As John writes it, when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. I don't know about you. That probably was already obvious. It seems to be a duh kind of statement. Maybe it's part of the idea that you see in the Bible, a lot of repeating something, no wine, but in a way, maybe there's something else going on.

[00:06:57] So let's look for a moment [00:07:00] at Jesus's response. And honestly, this part is probably difficult, and a lot of times we want to ignore it, but he says woman. Think about that. That seems offensive to modern ears, and yes, translators and biblical scholars say that the actual word he used is a respectful form of address, and that we shouldn't read into it that disrespect that we instinctively feel, that when he looks at his mom, his mother, he says woman.

[00:07:30] But, And that is a form of distancing. It is a form of kind of separating himself from her in a way. And then he goes on and says, what concern is that to you and me? My hour has not yet come. See, in John's gospel, Jesus was focused on one thing, one destination, one outcome over and over. Jesus says in John's gospel, it's not my hour.

[00:07:58] It's not my time. [00:08:00] It's not time yet. Not yet. Not this. Not that. All he does, and he does it a lot, a ton of things. John even goes on and says that all of the things couldn't possibly be written down. All of those things that he did do, but what does he say when he says, this is it, this is my final hour, this is the time that I've set forward?

[00:08:25] It's when he faces the cross. So the wine is a moment, but it's not that moment. But it is a moment that apparently is worth a hundred and eighty gallons of a miracle, of a sign. What concern? And then he goes on to actually solve the problem. See, this is another thing about the Gospel of John. It's really not about miracles.

[00:08:50] Even though we call this the miracle of turning water into wine, John always calls them signs. And what does a sign do? It points [00:09:00] to something else. Is it pointing to the party? Is it pointing to Jesus is reluctantly making the really good stuff? And then at the end, it actually has that little odd concluding verse.

[00:09:14] And his disciples believed in him. What, meaning that before that they didn't? Or they just sorta did, and now they really do? What is John's point in this, really? Is it about Mary? Is it about any of this? Is the point that our call, what we're called to do as followers of Jesus, is to actually say the obvious?

[00:09:37] They have no wine? Maybe is it to look in the face of need, a great need or a small need, and our task is not to ask who's to blame, or who might benefit from this, or who did it, or whose fault is it, or what's right or what's wrong, but rather to state the obvious and say, there is a need here, and then go about the business of meeting that [00:10:00] need.

[00:10:00] In this story, Mary simply says two things. They have no mind, and do whatever he tells you. And out of that, what we call a miracle, what John calls a sign, happened. Awareness, faith, and a commitment to seeing change happen. That's what Mary had, and maybe that came because she's simply the mother of Jesus.

[00:10:25] Maybe it came from the strength of her relationship to Jesus. What is our concern? That's the question when you think about us as Christians, discipleship. What is our concern? What are we supposed to be worried about? It's not really about what Jesus concern might have been in this text, but what our concern might be.

[00:10:49] What are we overlooking? What has become so normal that we can't even see it anymore? What obvious truth, obvious reality is [00:11:00] staring us in the face? And too often we believe even if there is need there, even if there is want there, even if there is injustice there, even if there is someone being mistreated there, whatever it is, it's not our concern.

[00:11:15] Someone else will have to take care of it. Someone else will have to meet this need. This other person will take care of things. It's too risky to wade into these waters. I'll be labeled too political, too woke, too right wing, too left wing, too whatever. It's not our concern. But the truth is, it is our job to point out they have no wine.

[00:11:41] and to call upon not just ourselves, but each other and Jesus himself to do what needs to be done to become the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, not out of judgment, not out of condemnation, not out of telling someone how badly they've [00:12:00] screwed up, not because we're liberal, not because we're conservative, but because we're followers of Christ himself.

[00:12:09] Thanks for listening.

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