“Life Epiphanies: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary” ~ Isaiah 62: 1-5 & John 2: 1-11
Jan 19, 2025 ~ Northwood United ~ Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook
Have you ever noticed how certain professions tend to attract funny questions from others you meet at a party? Police officers tend to get the question ‘can you help get me out of a ticket?’ The medical profession receives inquiries about their aches and pains. And clergy, we regularly get the question ‘so did they teach you how to turn water into wine in seminary?’
This innocent (possibly irreverent) question reveals more than just a good-natured ribbing from friends. The question about water into wine reveals a spiritual curiosity about what this text means. What does the first miracle story of Jesus recorded in John’s gospel reveal? Did Jesus really turn water into wine? Or does the text tell a bigger message? What was this text really all about? And how does it inform our faith? Our living? How might we have an Epiphany about this powerful reading? What I am going to suggest is that this text reveals how God has a way of making the ordinary ~ extraordinary; of making the mundane ~ sublime; of allowing life to overflow with the rich depth of meaning and joy.
Today, as we celebrate Epiphany, we are reminded of the ways God reveals Himself to us—through signs, wonders, and, sometimes, the simplest of actions. Our text for reflection is John 2:1-11, the story of Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Alongside it, we will touch on Isaiah 62:1-5, a passage that proclaims God's delight in His people. These scriptures reveal a profound truth: God takes what is ordinary and makes it extraordinary, both in the world and in our lives.
Our gospel text contains a very relatable event: a wedding. A wedding is a joyful, yet ordinary, human celebration. It’s a place where family and friends gather, where laughter and love abound. But in this wedding…in Cana, something goes wrong. The wine runs out. For the hosts, this (of course) is a crisis—a source of embarrassment and shame. It is into this seemingly mundane situation that Jesus performs His first sign.
Let us pause here. Isn’t it remarkable that Jesus chooses to begin His ministry not in a grand temple or on a mountaintop, but at a wedding? This tells us something about the heart of God. God is not distant from our everyday lives. God, in fact, enters into our celebrations, into our struggles, and even into our mistakes. God’s transformative work often begins in the ordinary. An ordinary wedding that is in jeopardy with poor planning.
In the second reading, in Isaiah 62:1-5, we hear the prophet’s declaration of God’s commitment to God’s people. "You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord," Isaiah proclaims. He goes on to say, "You shall no longer be termed Forsaken... but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her." Here, we see a new vision of God’s transformative love. The people of Israel, who felt abandoned and desolate, are given new names: “my delight”, “a crown of beauty”. Names that reflect their restored identity and purpose. This passage reminds us that God’s work is not just about fixing problems but about renewing and redefining. God doesn’t see us as we are but as we can become through God’s grace. God takes our brokenness, our ordinariness, and makes it beautiful.
Returning back to the wedding miracle, we see this transformative power in action. Jesus instructs the servants to fill six stone jars with water. These jars, used for ceremonial washing, symbolize ritual and tradition. But when the water is drawn out, it has become wine—and not just any wine, but the finest wine.
This miracle is more than an act of kindness; it is a sign of God’s abundant grace. Wine, in the Bible, usually symbolizes joy, celebration, and the fullness of life. Wine will be in the cup that Jesus passes I the Upper Room. By turning water into wine, Jesus reveals that in Him, the ordinary is transformed into the extraordinary. Where there is lack, He brings abundance. Where there is shame, He brings honor. Where there is emptiness, He brings fullness of life.
I wonder what this means for us today? It means that no part of our lives is too ordinary or too small for God’s touch. Just as Jesus transformed water into wine, He can transform our daily lives into something extraordinary. Do you ever feel stuck in the mundane routines of life? Perhaps you’re a student, a parent, or a worker, wondering if your efforts matter. We are assured in this passage that God delights in using the ordinary. The love you show to a child, the kindness you offer to a stranger, the diligence in your work—all these can be transformed into acts of divine significance.
Are you facing a crisis, like the wedding hosts in Cana? The message offered is for us to bring it to Jesus. The servants at the wedding simply obeyed His instructions “do what he tells you”, even though they might not have understood His plan. In the same way, when we trust God with our struggles, He can turn them into opportunities for His glory to be revealed.
One scholar makes the point that being in Jesus’ presence makes the ordinary extraordinary. That simple water tasted like the finest wine because they were in the presence of God; that water became wine because they were in the presence of God’s full revelation; that water became wine because they followed Jesus’ instructions and the one who can bring life and hope and grace was there! We have all had those moments when we are in the presence of grace and hope and love and everything is simply…magic…perfect…divine. Perhaps it is that last meal with a loved one; that first meal with a beloved; that gathering made perfect by those present. This was THAT moment! The moment the people were beginning to realize WHO Jesus is!
We are in the season of Epiphany. And Epiphany is all about revelation. Through some of the weeks ahead, I want to explore how God is revealed more fully in the simple (yet profound) things around us. In some of the weeks ahead, we will touch on love revealing God’s presence. We will explore God’s calling as a revelation in our lives. In the ordinary God’s extraordinary nature is revealed!
In Cana, Jesus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. The miracle was not just about wine; it was about showing the world who Jesus is. He is the One who brings joy out of sorrow, abundance out of scarcity, and life out of death. Isaiah’s prophecy and Jesus’ miracle both point to the same truth: God’s kingdom is a kingdom of transformation. This is the heart of the gospel. Through Jesus, we are invited to become new creations. God’s glory will never be confined to grand miracles or dramatic events. The beauty of life will be revealed in the simple, everyday moments whenever we allow God to work in and through us. Our ordinary lives will never be limited or held back by God. Our lives will be made extraordinary through His grace.
Amen.