Keep the Party Going!

The snows and bluster of January make a wonderful backdrop to our tribal tendencies to hunker down around a jolly fire with friends and family!   It may not show signs of stopping, but I’ve brought some corn for popping…and if we merrily love one another, we can let it snow (let it snow, let it snow).  Parties in the Dark of the Year invite us to hear family stories, old and new, and to toast the mellow friendship of those who travel with us on this strange planet…

Readings for the upcoming weekend involve family stories, important for the community of faith to re-explore as we try to find our way together.  We begin with an oracle of  “Third Isaiah”, that collection of spiritual wisdom gathered as the People of Israel trudged back from their Exile in Babylon.  “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,”  says the Lord, “and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.” (62:1)  Look, world!  An Important People is being recast, despite the perils and frustrations of rebuilding.  As in days of old, is a People of Faith being built up again…and again?

The spiritual gifts so often referred to by St. Paul are not necessarily for our individual perfection as much as to develop the Body of Christ into a vital group!  “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit FOR THE COMMON GOOD.” (I Corinthians 12: 7)  There are varieties of gifts and services, and all who confess that “Jesus is Lord” inherit an infilling of this sustaining and imaginative Spirit.  Raewynne J. Whitely avers that “because the gifts have a single source, they are meant to be things that unite the community of faith.”  (FEASTING ON THE WORD, C 1:259)

The Gospel story is found only in John’s narrative, that of “The Wedding in Cana”. (2:1 ff)  Early in Jesus’ public career, he turned water into wine to keep the party going.  Nice of him–or is there more?  We’ve often preached that life before Jesus was, well, watery:  and after his miraculous transformation, sparkling with flavor and richness!   Far from subtle, the transformation was typical Johanine hyperbole:  not one, but SIX jars!  Each holding 20-30 gallons!  Not a mere trickle of water, but filled TO THE BRIM!  And the whole gathering had some, because there’s always plenty with God…

Despite our sentimental and often blasphemous hymns, the Spirit of God seems to prefer a good party!   Jesus spoke of the mutuality of “two or three gathered together”, and Pentecost happened in a crowd during a great festival.   Just as the Lord appeared after the resurrection to the Mary’s, the couple from Emmaus, and the Upper Room club, so the Movement continues as Believers cling together for strength, courage and the warmth of kindred souls.   Hunker down together against the Dark Night, and claim the mutual experiences of the Body of Christ.  Keep the party going!

God Bless Us, Every One                            Horace Brown King

My thoughts about lectionary passages for the coming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking