Note from the Pastor

The new year is upon us. If I’m honest, I must confess that I have my doubts about whether 2022 will bring much new or not. So far, it is bearing a rather strong resemblance to 2021.

If the new year is upon us, that means we are in the season of Epiphany in the church. Epiphany is the day that recalls the visit of the wise ones from the east to the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem. An epiphany can be thought of as a manifestation of the divine or as an encounter with God. The story of Jesus turning water into wine is one of the stories we read during the season of Epiphany to illustrate this idea.

While on a visit to the church in Israel that commemorates the water into wine miracle, Johnny Cash was inspired to write this song:

He turned the water into wine he turned the water into wine
In the little Cana town the word went all around that
He turned the water into wine

Well he walked upon the Sea of Galilee
He walked upon the Sea of Galilee
Shouted far and wide he calmed the raging tide and
Walked upon the Sea of Galilee

He turned the water into wine he did my lord now
He turned the water into wine
In the little Cana town, the word went all around that
He turned the water into wine

He fed the hungry multitude (didn’t he brother)
He fed the hungry multitude
With a little bit of fish and bread
They said everyone was fed (5000)
He fed the hungry multitude

He turned the water into wine
(Didn’t a carpenter from Nazareth)
He turned the water into wine
In the little Cana town, the word went all around that
He turned the water into wine
He turned the water into wine.

The simplicity of Cash’s poetry touches foundational elements of the human experience. Water, food, and storms are part of life for all of us. When Cash sings these words, there is a texture and depth that might be missed if one is only reading them.

This song really becomes an Epiphany song when we recall that one of the places where Cash sang this song was to inmates at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California. (Click here to watch that performance.) What do these words sound like to a roomful of men in need of a miracle? What message did they convey to folks for whom miracles had been few and far between? What motivated Cash to go to a prison to sing to inmates?

T. Graham Brown also wrote a song that referenced the story of Jesus turning water into wine. Brown’s song was born out of his struggle with alcohol. He needed Jesus to turn the wine into water.

You’ve heard a multitude of prayers on my behalf
I pray one more is not too much to ask
I’ve tried to fight this battle by myself
But it’s a war that I can’t win without Your help

Tonight, I’m as low as any man can go
I’m down and I can’t fall much farther
And once upon a time, You turned the water into wine
An’ now, on my knees, I’m turning to You, Father
Could You help me turn the wine back into water?

So many times I’ve hurt the ones I love
I pushed them to the edge of giving up
They’ve stood by me but how much can they stand
If I don’t put this bottle in Your hands?

I shook my fist at heaven for all the hell that I’ve been through
Now I’m begging for forgiveness and a miracle from You

Cause tonight, I’m as low as any man can go
I’m down and I can’t fall much farther
And once upon a time, You turned the water into wine
An’ now, on my knees, I’m turning to You, Father
Could You help me turn the wine back into water?

Could You help me turn this wine back into water?

If you’ve ever visited a prison, you might have thought that there were places on this earth that are beyond God, places abandoned by God, places God would never enter. Similarly, if you have ever struggled with addiction or known someone who has, you might have thought that there were situations and conditions that were beyond God, beyond God’s capacity or desire to act.

Epiphany is a season for us to remember that the God who shows up in the pages of scripture and who has shown up in countless lives throughout history, still shows up. In unexpected places, in unexpected ways at unexpected times, God still shows up to make the ordinary something more, and the impossible possible. God still shows up to make the undoable doable, the heartbreaking bearable, and the tragic, livable.

We all find our way into God’s story in our own way, and we each write or sing, speak or pray, live and learn our way through it. One day we’re the host in a bind for more wine. One day we’re the servants pouring water into jars just because someone told us to do it. Another time, we’re telling someone to do something.

Wherever we find ourselves in the story, or even if we can’t quite figure out where we fit in, we can know that whatever comes our way this year, God will show up – with us and beside us – never leaving us or forsaking us. For we are God’s beloved.