Reflection
The harvest season is a great opportunity to reflect on God’s provision for us and God’s blessing for others. It can help us practice gratitude, even in difficult times, and connect us with the Lord who is here, whose Spirit is with us and works through us. It can also help us think about the treasures that are around us.
In this reading from John’s Gospel, Jesus, his mother Mary, and his disciples attend a wedding in the village of Cana. At this time, weddings lasted for days, and hospitality was a sacred duty. If you did not provide enough wine or food for your guests, you could be looked down on and shamed. So, when Mary notices that the wine has run out at this wedding, it poses a real problem.
The huge stone water jars nearby hold 20-30 gallons of water each, and Jesus asks the servants to fill them to the brim with water and then serve some to the person in charge of the banquet. The water had become wine and, as we read, the person was amazed at the quality of the wine: “But you have kept the good wine until now.”
The best wine was created from gifts that were already in the room but were initially overlooked
If we read the story carefully, we notice that Jesus did not perform this miracle alone. Mary identified that the wine had run out, “They have no wine.” And she put her trust and faith in Jesus: “Do whatever he tells you.” Then, the servants poured the new wine for others to enjoy – not just any wine, but the best wine.
This story is about transformation. It’s about living and thinking differently about the gifts God has given us and using them to make a difference. When we encounter problems to be fixed, can we see them instead as an opportunity for transformation, a calling to something new?
The best wine was created from gifts that were already in the room but were initially overlooked. It required looking around the environment, discerning what was useful, and using items for a purpose that was greater than the sum of their parts. What hidden treasures are in your community? Where can you identify need, and what will you use to fill it?
We can have a part to play in Jesus' transforming work too. Sometimes we need to step up like Mary and identify what has run dry – even if we don’t know how to fill it up. Sometimes we need to be servants to fill the jars and to carry and pour the new wine, sharing goodness and helping others to participate. Through all this, we need to put our trust and faith in Jesus, asking him to show us our jars of water, the gifts we might have overlooked.
This Harvest, we encourage you to reflect on the part Jesus is calling you to play in His transforming work. When has the wine run out for your community? The wine of justice and equality, hospitality and welcome? Where are our jars of water? The gifts that already exist; the potential for change that is already at hand but overlooked and unlikely?