On Cana and the Church
Sermon for Sunday, January 17, 2010 (Year C, Epiphany 2)
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. (Ps. 36:8-9)
Most of what the average Episcopalian hears about the miracle at Cana comes from the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, which begins, “Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in holy matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church….” (BCP p. 423, emphasis supplied)
Jewish marriage customs in biblical times included a betrothal ceremony prior to the marriage. It was then that the father of the bride gave his consent. A period of time would elapse between the betrothal and wedding ceremonies. As you know, it was during this period that the angel visited Mary. Then, on their wedding day the couple, dressed in their finest, would be married before ten witnesses. Afterward they would go in procession to the groom’s home. Here there would be dancing and a feast that often lasted seven to fourteen days.
I suspect there are fathers-of-the-brides sitting here today who found it challenging enough to finance just one evening of dancing and feasting. Fourteen days of merry-making could be ruinous!
Marriage and the duties of husbands and wives are mentioned in the New Testament, but there is no scriptural evidence of how Christians in the Apostolic Age celebrated their nuptials. We assume they followed the Jewish model, since Christianity at this time was a sect within Judaism. In the early liturgical books we can see this sacrament beginning to take a distinctive Christian shape — a prayer here, a blessing there, and most curiously, even a form for blessing the couple in bed!
Late in the middle ages the practice developed of posting the banns — a public announcement of a pending marriage. At about this same time it became customary to perform a kind of civil marriage on the church porch, after which the couple moved inside the church for the religious wedding. In our day, as views on marriage change, some feel that the distinction between a civil marriage ceremony and a religious wedding, which is common in Europe and clearly provided for in our Prayer Book, is an idea whose time may have come again.
However, it is not clear who actually got married in the middle ages. Some researchers believe that a formal “church wedding” was common only among the upper class, who had a strong incentive to know who was married to whom, and therefore whose children were entitled to inherit property. Peasants, on the other hand, may have contracted their marriages informally, by whatever means local custom might provide.
The first Anglican prayer book, published in 1549, said that a marriage should take place in church on Sunday morning, after Morning Prayer and the Litany, and before the Eucharist — hence our custom of celebrating Holy Communion at weddings. Later Prayer Books did not require Communion as part of the ceremony, but urged the couple to receive Communion as soon as possible after the marriage.
The Exhortation in the English Prayer Book — that statement beginning, “Dearly beloved…” — also listed three reasons for marriage: first, the procreation of children; second, “a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication”; and third, “mutual society, help, and comfort.” This idea that procreation of children is the primary justification for marriage has been disputed among Anglicans from the 16th century forward. Not only is it salt in the wound for those who cannot have children, and a non sequitur for those who marry late in life, but it also reflects a distorted reading of scripture. In chapter 2 of Genesis God declares, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” (Gen. 2:18) Clearly, the issue here is loneliness, not a lack of children. The man is without a helper, but more especially he is without a companion, and therefore incomplete. Therefore, God creates the woman to be the man’s partner. It’s worth noting that had the woman been created first, both the problem and the solution would have been the same.
For this reason the American Church has from the start maintained that the union of husband and wife “in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, [only then!] when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge of love of the Lord.” (BCP p. 423) Certainly in our day perpetuation of the human species is not a problem; indeed, quite the opposite. Marriage, then, is first and foremost a matter of companionship, while children are a gift of God for some, but not all, married couples.
The reference to Christ’s miracle at Cana has been part of the Exhortation since the first English Prayer Book. It isn’t there merely as a kind of proof text, an obligatory link between marriage now and marriage in Jesus’ time. Rather, in John’s gospel the miracles serve as signs which point to something else. In this case, as the Exhortation puts it, “[marriage] signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church….” (BCP p. 423) For our purposes today I would cite just three elements which characterize both marriage and the mysterious union of Christ and his people.
One involves this matter of companionship which I mentioned a moment ago. If marriage is first and foremost about the companionship of wife and husband, then I think we may also say that companionship lies at the heart of the Church’s relationship with our Lord. And in both cases that companionship is undergirded by the commitment of the parties. The partners in a marriage must be deeply committed to each other, and to the life they share, or the relationship will almost certainly break down sooner or later. As Christians you and I are beneficiaries of the covenant our Lord forged in his blood, but covenants are always two-way arrangements, requiring commitment by both parties. Christ’s commitment to us in beyond question. Our commitment to Christ is a daily, sometimes hourly challenge in a world where the ground under our feet is constantly shifting.
I say “shifting ground” not just as a metaphor for a world in permanent flux. It’s also the brutal reality faced by the people of Haiti this week, and by so many others around the globe who struggle from one day to the next. Only God’s companionship, and the loving-kindness of others, can help us deal with natural disaster, war, disease, accident, poverty, hunger, injustice, the death of loved ones, and so much else. As I said, Jesus is committed to being our companion. He asks only that we be committed to him and to our brothers and sisters.
The third element is abundance. At Cana Jesus could have made do changing just a cup or two or water into wine — that would have been just as much a miracle. But he changed several large storage containers of water into fine wine — enough, I suppose, to well supply all the guests for their several days of post-marriage feasting. In John’s gospel this is a sign pointing to the abundance of God’s love poured out upon his people. God gives us drink “from the river of [his] delights.” (Ps. 36:8) God gives… no, God squanders his grace upon those who really don’t deserve it. Yet we are the people God has chosen for his own, and therefore we are the beneficiaries of that overwhelming abundance. The question this poses is whether we are willing to share the abundance of God’s blessings with each other, with both friends and strangers. If you and I are fortunate enough to drink from “the well of life”, (Ps. 36:9) can we deny others, who are just as thirsty, the right to drink with us?
Marriage, then, is a sign which points to the commitment our Lord has made to be our companion in this life, and to the abundance of grace which comes with that companionship. These three — companionship, commitment, and abundance — do not fully unpack the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, but it’s a good start. Amen.
— The Rev. John E. Laycock, Interim Pastor
Readings for Year C, Epiphany 2: Lesson — Isaiah 62:1-5 • Gradual — Psalm 36:5-10 • Epistle — 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 • Gospel — John 1:1-11
Collect for Epiphany 2:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illuminated 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.