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When we were thinking about concepts for this year’s spring children’s musical, The Kids’ Table, we wanted to write a story that the kids would have fun with, but would also resonate with adults; a parable that would serve as a reminder of our calling to see the world through the eyes of a child who loved unconditionally – that is, with joy, gratitude, and hope. Our original plan was to tell a story bookended by two kids’ tables, unreferenced by Scripture but not out of historical possibility – the first being the wedding feast at Cana, and the second being the Last Supper. But as we began the process of collaborating with FPC’s amazing young people, the wedding feast began to loom so large in our collective imaginations that our story’s center of gravity began to shift, until the entire play was finally set beginning to end at the site of Jesus’s first miracle of turning water into wine.
During his ministry Jesus performed dozens of miracles, from multiplying the loaves and fishes and casting out demons, to healing the sick and even raising the dead. These miracles are a testament to God’s power, and a demonstration that through faith, mountains can be moved, and history can be made. It’s remarkable, though, that according to John, the first reported miracle from the Son of God wasn’t accompanied by a thundering voice from the heavens or to save a life, but rather was just an act of simple kindness, granted for no greater purpose than that a joyful celebration among friends wouldn’t end too soon. It’s even more incredible that Jesus initially resists the plea to perform this miracle, but relents and agrees because his mother asks him to.
As Christians, we are part of an incredible story – we do indeed each play a small if precious role in saving the world and bringing about the kingdom of God. But for most of us, the smaller moments of kindness, compassion, loyalty, and love far outnumber any opportunities for grand, history-making gestures. The story of turning water into wine is about the centrality of joy, family, friendship, and community in the smaller moments – this is where we are each guaranteed to find God. When Mary tells the wineservants to “Do whatever He tells you”, and Jesus instructs them to fill the jars of water all the way up to the brim, she and He are speaking to us – they are telling us to leave no space in our own jars for resentment, despair, and contempt. Filling our jars to the brim prepares our hearts and our minds as the vessels from which the wine of God’s love for the world can be shared with the whole feast.
The wine produced for the wedding at Cana flows without limits, because simple love and loyalty flow without limits. Compassion breeds compassion, and friendship breeds friendship. We don’t make the wine ourselves; we merely fill the jars. But if we “do whatever He tells us”, we get the chance to replicate Jesus’s first miracle every day.
Dear Heavenly Father, this Advent season please help us to remember that we are wineservants, that we are called to be the vessels through which Your love and Your peace are shared with the world. Help us to take comfort in the smallest acts of kindness and mercy, and to celebrate our salvation with gratitude, joy, and hope for Your kingdom. In Your Son’s most holy name, Amen.