Falling in Love with God

 Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Of Weddings and Marriages

Above, Wedding in Cana by Hi Qi, 2013

A wedding is for a day; a marriage for a lifetime. A decision to follow Jesus takes a moment, becoming his disciple is forever thereafter.

In Christian Marriage we stand before God and among our family and friends, we declare our love for each other and then we exchange our vows. A snapshot of that day is forever etched in my heart. Not only did we become one with each other but so did our families, sort of, and our friends, kinda. That wedding day was an unforgettable celebration. All our days hence have been interesting. We haven’t had a dull day yet!

So it is with Jesus. In our Baptism we make a decision to follow him. Then comes the rest of our lives. In our prayer and service to him we become disciples. Week by week we are nourished by the Eucharist. There comes a time when the word disciple changes for many of us. We become his apostles. 

A disciple follows. An apostle is sent.

How do I know if I am one of his?

Look at the collect of the day. We pray that if Jesus is the light of the world, then may we be illumined by his Word and Sacraments and thus let our light shine. Notice that all Jesus asks of you is to let your light shine!

Look at the Lesson from Isaiah if you wonder where you stand with God. The prophet says; “I will not keep silent, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.”  Again the theme of God’s radiant light emerges. It is no wonder that Christians and many other people of faith orient our gathering places toward the rising sun. 

Then toward that radiance we lift our spirits with the Psalmist; “God’s love, reaches to the heavens, How priceless is your love, O God!”

A mark of our discipleship is the presence of the Spirit. Paul reminds us that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.” Like the folks in that factious church in Corinth you and I may look different, act different and think different but it is the same spirit that unites us as one. This is the most challenging of all the mysteries of weddings, marriages and human relationships. 

Not all marriages make it. I can remember one couple that didn’t make it two weeks. When I saw the bride, she told me; “He changed!” I thought to myself, “How much can one person change in two weeks?” I have found myself in the middle of some dicey situations as a parish priest. Especially when confronting physical abuse. I have been a party to finding safe housing for battered women and their families. In one especially memorable situation a woman came to my office in tears because her husband was engaged in an extra marital relationship. He was a postal employee, and disregarding the potential dangers, I confronted him and warned him that if he did not cease and desist from his behavior, I would advertise him as a sinner and deny him communion until he repented and returned to his wife. You can imagine how he felt about me after that. But, to my amazement, he did return to his wife and they are still married to this day! 

As Meryl Streep says of the whole business of love; “Its complicated!”

Some marriages end in divorce. My mom tried three times that we know of until she finally got it right.

As for us, we have fallen in love with God. We decided to follow Jesus. Then Jesus sent us out to do the work to the Holy Spirit. There is much to be forgiven, much to be reconciled, so very much to be loved. We are wed to the Risen Christ. Now  the rest of life is a marriage of service to the Living God!

Forge on then as Martin Luther King might urge us on. Janet King and I decided that we few could not do justice to what many call the Negro National Anthem. But when I think of our Marriage to God, I think of our struggles to make God’s will known. Let me read the lyrics of this stirring hymn;

Lift every voice and sing

Till earth and heaven ring

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun

Let us march on till victory is won

Stony the road we trod

Bitter the chastening rod

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died

Yet with a steady beat

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered

Out from the gloomy past

Till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast

God of our weary years

God of our silent tears

Thou who has brought us thus far on the way

Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light

Keep us forever in the path, we pray

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee

Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee

Shadowed beneath Thy hand

May we forever stand

True to our God

True to our native land

Our native land.

May we so live our lives that our Love of God shines in every dark and discouraging moment. May our love for one another lift our spirits that life itself becomes a torch of freedom. Moses freed us from slavery. Jesus freed us from the power of sin and death. Now be radiant in God’s Word and Sacrament! Amen.

In the Name of God; the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

Fr Paul

Below are today’s assigned readings with words, phrases and thoughts highlighted that resonated within my heart.

The Collect:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Isaiah 62:1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Psalm: Psalm 36:5–10

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *
       and your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
   your justice like the great deep; *
      you save both man and beast, O Lord.
How priceless is your love, O God! *
      your people take refuge under the
                              shadow of your wings.
They feast upon the abundance of your house; *
      you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the well of life, *
      and in your light we see light.
Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, *
       and your favor to those who are true of heart.

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:1–11

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Gospel: John 2:1–11

On the third day there was a 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 you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 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 twenty or thirty gallons. 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 chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.