This is a talk I gave on February 13, 2022 at Unity Lincoln in Nebraska.
The Life of the Party
Today is Super Bowl Sunday. This is the first time it’s this late in the year, and that’s because the NFL added a 17th game to the season.
I’m reminded of an ESPN commercial where Chris Berman says, “Because too much is never enough.”
But I don’t mind the additional week. We could use a party in mid-February. The Christmas holidays were several weeks ago, and springtime and warm weather are several weeks away. Super Bowl Sunday is a perfect time to have fun just for fun’s sake. We don’t have special obligations of an additional church service. We don’t have to participate in a patriotic parade or civic ceremony. We don’t have to volunteer for anything. We’re not really adding anything to our busy schedule. We don’t have to travel to see family. We don’t have to put up special decorations. We don’t even have to dress up.
We don’t use it as a time for personal reflection and resolutions, as with birthdays and New Years. Some holidays like Christmas or tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day might trigger depression, but people who don’t like football don’t feel “left out” on Super Bowl Sunday, they just treat it like any other Sunday. It’s the most “come as you are” time of the year.
And unlike New Years, you can attend a party and get home and be in bed at your usual time.
And if, especially during the pandemic, you prefer to stay home and watch the game by yourself or with family, you’re still connected to the biggest party in America. During the Super Bowl, the most people are doing the exact same thing at the exact same time, and I love that connectedness.
We’re all just eating, drinking, and being merry.
We enjoy the funny commercials. We enjoy the halftime show, either because we like the performers or we’re laughing at its over-the-top gaudiness. We enjoy seeing the athleticism, skill, and strategy displayed in the football game itself.
The Super Bowl is now in the middle of February thanks to the avarice of the NFL owners, but all I will do is thank them. Sometimes, greed is good.
And whether or not the Super Bowl is for you — and about half of America doesn’t watch — I think it’s a fine day to express gratitude for the abundance and pleasures of the modern world. Because, more than anything, life is to be enjoyed. That’s why we’re here.
And that’s also why I thought today would be a good time to talk about a party that Jesus attended. It’s the wedding at Cana, where he turns water into wine.
It happened just a couple of days after Jesus began attracting disciples. John the Baptist was talking to his own disciples and Jesus was walking by. John the Baptist pointed at him and said, “THAT’S the guy I’m talking about!”
And one of John’s disciples named Andrew says, “Thanks, John! Been good to know ya. See you later” and he and another unnamed disciple of John begin following Jesus instead. Then Andrew gets his brother Simon to join them, and in the Gospel of John that’s when Jesus starts calling Simon, Peter. Then the next day Philip and Nathaniel join the group. So there are only four of the 12 disciples at this point, plus at least one and maybe a few others following Jesus.
And then on the following day there’s a wedding in a town named Cana and they’re all invited.
The mother of Jesus was there. And the mother of Jesus seems to have influence on the festivities, indicating that she’s close to the families getting married.
So they’re all at the wedding, and here I’m reading from the Gospel of John, Chapter 2, verse 3:
3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
So, this was the first miracle of Jesus reported in the Gospels, and after this, his disciples believed in him, and also the mother of Jesus and his brothers joined the group as they started traveling around and the ministry began.
I have three takeaways from this story. The first might be called metaphysical, the second spiritual, and the third literal.
Beginning with the metaphysical. First, I want you to keep quiet and raise your hand to answer a trivia question. How many in this room can name the mother of Jesus? Raise your hand.
How many don’t know? Raise your hand.
For those watching on video, I’ll report that it’s unanimous. Everyone knows the name of the mother of Jesus.
But for those watching who don’t know. Mary. Her name is Mary.
The Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke know her name, and the Gospel of John is purportedly written after they were, so the writer must have known. But in John, she’s just mentioned as the mother of Jesus. And, Jesus doesn’t even call her Mother, he says “woman.”
I think the writer is saying something, not about Mary the biological mother, but the spiritual mother of Jesus, his mother in divine consciousness. In divine consciousness we all have masculine and feminine aspects. The masculine is associated with thinking and acting, with taking charge, while the feminine implies feeling, caring, and protectiveness.
None of this has much to do with human men and women. The active aspect of masculinity and passive aspect of femininity might be demonstrated in the sexual union of man and woman, but men shouldn’t try to be “masculine” and women shouldn’t be expected to be “feminine” by made-up social standards. Let everyone be free in their own body. When we don’t allow that, we see toxic results.
We all have masculine and feminine energy because we are children of the Mother/Father God. I think the feminine instincts of Jesus, or the Mother-God inside him, made him concerned that they had run out of wine, and he was having a conversation with himself. By saying “Woman,” he was talking to that feminine side. “Woman, what am I to do? This isn’t my responsibility, and besides, I’m not ready to demonstrate my power.” But the Mother-God says to him, “It is your responsibility and it IS time to demonstrate your power.”
Jesus the human man didn’t want to take charge, didn’t want to make a show of himself quite yet, but the Mother God says, “Yes it’s time. If you don’t feel you’re ready now, you’ll never be ready.”
I think we all have this back and forth in our conversations with God, with our higher consciousness. Should I defer to others? Should I take charge? Should I patiently wait? Should I take action? Am I doing this for my own ego? Am I doing this in service to others? Am I ready?
Jesus the man didn’t want to act, but he yielded to the will of the Mother-God and only then did he take charge.
It’s a reminder that none of us should ever feel compelled to act, to “do something” until we feel genuinely called to do so, when we hear that voice, that intuition, from the God within us.
My spiritual takeaway from the Wedding at Cana comes from Jesus requesting that the stone jars be filled with water. The jars and the water were for Jewish purification, but this might also just be an explanation to Gentile readers that the Jews washed hands before and after meals.
Yeah, I know. Weird.
But by having the jars filled with water, then changing the water into wine, the Gospel of John is telling us that the external demonstration of washing is no longer important, it’s the spirit within that counts.
After all, there’s a reason alcoholic beverages are called “spirits.” Wine is a symbol, and an earthly imitation, of the divine connection, of the spirit that connects body and soul.
Now, just as with masculinity and femininity, wine can be toxic in every sense. Many people are better off without wine or any alcoholic drink. But one thing people rely on alcohol for, is actually a very good thing. They won’t take to the dance floor unless they’ve had a few drinks. They won’t belt out “Don’t Stop Believin” on the karaoke unless they’ve had a few drinks. They won’t tell their friends or strangers, “I love you, man” unless they’ve had a few drinks.
In other words, they won’t remove their inhibitions, their insecurities, their ego, unless they’ve had a few drinks.
But the wine that Jesus brought to Cana is better. This spiritual wine allows the joy bottled up inside to flow outside of you, whether or not you’ve been drinking real wine. You may enjoy alcoholic beverages responsibly, but you don’t need them. You don’t need alcohol to let go of your ego and have a good time.
And this brings us to the literal interpretation of the wedding at Cana.
Most of us are aware of the miracles of Jesus. Feeding the five thousand. Healing lepers. Bringing sight to the blind. Raising the dead. Many others.
Whether or not any of them actually happened, or happened the way the Gospels say they did, it seems to be the clear intention of the writers to tell us something about God. God is a God of compassion. Of healing.
But at Cana, we see that God, through Jesus, is a God of joy. Jesus made sure the party could go on, and brought new life to it.
As we say every week in this service, the first command of Jesus is that we love God and love one another. What is to love others, but to desire that they’re enjoying life?
So, whether or not you’re watching the Super Bowl, I pray that you have an enjoyable day.
Because…
I love you!
James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase, Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, and JL Cells. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!