LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com
Date: February 2, 2025
Scripture Lessons: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and John 2:1-11
Sermon: “Do Whatever He Tells You”Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
We begin with a poem from Walt Whitman, quintessential American poet of the 19th century:
. . . I know nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in bed at night
with anyone I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring.
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with miracles,
Every foot of the interior swarms with miracles.
This is the reality of Divine Love. Seeing the miracles of Divine Love in all of Creation and all of our human experience – exquisite and excruciating. Life is a sacred gift and we are here to relish it all!
This morning we heard the story of Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana. This is Jesus’ first splashy public act of ministry in the gospel of John. As we heard last week, in the gospel of Luke Jesus begins his ministry with a prophetic sermon that ends with the people trying to chase him over a cliff. (National Cathedral Bishop Budde is in good company.) But in the gospel of John, Jesus’ ministry begins with the wedding in Cana. A celebration of love that involves the whole community and goes on for up to 7 days. A scene where Jesus’ mother sees the need and encourages her son, as she has been doing, no doubt, for his whole life. A story that tells of wine flowing in abundance beyond all expectations. Wine that is finer than anyone has tasted in the past.
All of this points to the immeasurable love of God, which God is continuously trying to bestow upon us. This story shows us the intentions of God. God wants more for us than we could ask for or imagine. Our highest good. Our best interests. Fully experiencing the wonder, awe, intensity, inanity, richness, and delight of this life. And this all stems from the power of love that is at the heart of reality.
Have you seen the yard sign in the median between Publix and Walgreens here on 54th Avenue South? The yellow sign declares: Love is my main ingredient. God. The New Testament Bible. That says it all: Love is my main ingredient.
We are so loved, God wants more for us than we could ever conceive. And Jesus shows us how to tap into that love. Love that is more powerful than solar energy, or atomic energy, or wind energy. More powerful than the human intellect and the wisdom of animals and plants and Creation. More powerful certainly than hatred, apathy, or death. More powerful than all of that, is LOVE. Jesus shows us how to live from that love; how to unleash that power in our lives and the life of the world. He shows us how not only to see the miracle but to be the miracle. To live from that core of love, that image of Godness, that is within each of us.
The best wine fills the stone jars to overflowing.
Romano Guardini, 20th century priest and philosopher, says this about the imagery of wine: “The purpose of wine is not only to quench thirst, but also to give pleasure and satisfaction and exhilaration. . . . This wine bestows courage, joy out of all earthly measure, sweetness, beauty, limitless enlargement and perception. It brings life in intoxicating excess, both to possess and to impart.”
This is the life that is being offered to us. This morning we also heard the beautiful hymn to love from Corinthians. What love is and what love is not.
But let’s take a step back. This hymn of praise to love, this beautiful exposition on the nature of love – why is it included here in this letter to the faith community at Corinth? Well, because they are quarreling. They are divided and competing. They are trying to impose hierarchy in the community. They are giving more status to some rather than others. They are enmeshed in lust for power, egotism, and desire for dominance. This is undermining the beloved community that is to be realized by those who follow Jesus. So they are given careful instruction about the nature of love because they have lost their way.
Yes, love is this amazing gift, this power, that we are being given all the time, to help us navigate the twisted paths of life with joy and authenticity. But do we tap into this power? Do we partake of this wine freely given? Divine Love is showering us, drenching us, but do we avoid it, ignore it, suppress it? To tap into love involves choosing love. It involves intentionality and discipline.
Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke frankly about the rigors of love:
Then the Greek language has another word for love, and that is the word “agape.” Agape is more than romantic love, it is more than friendship. Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all men [sic]. Agape is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say that it is the love of God, operating in the human heart. When you rise to love on this level, you love all men [sic] not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but you love them because God loves them. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Love your enemies.” And I’m happy that he didn’t’ say, “Like your enemies,” because there are some people that I find it pretty difficult to like. Liking is an affectionate emotion, and I can’t like anybody who would bomb my home. I can’t like anybody who would exploit me. I can’t like anybody who would trample over me with injustices. I can’t like them. I can’t like anybody who threatens to kill me day in and day out. But Jesus reminds us that love is greater than liking. Love is understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill toward all men [sic]. . . .
Bomb our homes and threaten ourchildren, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country, and make it appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for integration, and we’ll still love you. But be assured that we’ll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.
[Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from “A Christmas Sermon on Peace” delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta.]
Yes, the power of love is available to us; it is being given to us. And we are given the church to help us appreciate the gift, celebrate the power, and cultivate the inclination to choose love, even for our enemies. We have each other for encouragement and support and celebration.
In the story of the wedding at Cana, Jesus’ mother tells the servants, Do whatever he tells you. We see Mary bestowing confidence and support upon Jesus so that he can share God’s expansive, abundant, profligate love with the world.
We are here to share that confidence and support and encouragement with one another. We are here to tell each other: Do whatever Jesus tells you to do. Choose love. Of yourself. Others. Neighbors near and far. And enemies. Love. In word and deed. Take extraordinary action. Defy expectations. For the good of the world and for our own good.
Frederick Buechner, 20th century theologian and writer has this to say about engaging with Divine Love:
Who knows how the awareness of God’s love first hits people? Every person has his own tale to tell, including the person who would not believe in God if you paid him. Some moment happens in your life that makes you say Yes right up to the roots of your hair, that makes it worth having been born just to have happen. Laughing with somebody till the tears run down your cheeks. Waking up to the first snow. Being in bed with somebody you love. Whether you thank God for such a moment or thank your lucky stars, it is a moment that is trying to open up your whole life. If you try to turn your back on such a moment and hurry along to Business as Usual, it may lose you the whole ball game. If you throw your arms around such a moment and hug it like crazy, it may save your soul. How about the person you know who as far as you can possibly tell has never had such a moment? Maybe for that person the moment that has to happen is you.
In a world beset with jealousy, greed, prejudice and hate. In a world that turns a blind eye to suffering, to injustice, to poverty, to climate change. In a world where leaders are more concerned with their own image than with the well being of the populace or the planet. In a world cultivating billionaires and seeding poverty – the power of Divine Love is desperately needed. Love is the source of our joy and wonder and delight in life. It is the source of our power for good and for healing. We know this love. This is what has drawn us to Jesus and to his church and to each other. This is the love we are to encourage in one another.
May we listen to Mary and do what Jesus tells us to do. Love! The results will astound.
Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 