Sign as Seeing with Eyes of Faith

2 Epiphany c          January 17, 2016 

Isaiah 62:1-5         Psalm 36:5-10       
1 Cor. 12:1-11      John 2:1-11       

Lectionary Link

Can you ever look at this picture and see a duck?  And then you look at the same picture and then you see a rabbit?  Of course you can.  I have given you a copy of the famous duck/rabbit picture.  How many you can see the duck?  How many of you can see the rabbit?  The picture is one of a duck and a rabbit at the same time, but you only see either one at a time.  What is the switch in our brain which tells us that it is a rabbit?  What is the switch in our brain which tells us it is a duck?

I have provided you with another picture.  It is a picture of a glass of water.  And we can see the glass of water in two different ways.  If a person is very optimistic and positive what kind of glass of water does a person see?  A person sees a glass of water as half full.  And if a person is pessimistic and negative, then a person might see the glass of water as half empty.  So people might see the very same thing but describe the same in completely different ways.  If I see the glass as half empty, how can I switch to see the glass as half full?  How can I have a switch inside of me which will allow me to see the glass as half full?  Because if I can see the glass as half full then I will act differently than if I see the glass as half empty.  If I can only see things as being bad or lacking in my life I act differently than if I can see things as being good and hopeful?  How can I make a switch in how I see the world so I can live and act with hope?

Today I would like to speak about a faith switch that all of us can have which allows us to see what happens in our lives in different ways.  In the Gospel of John, the writer calls this faith switch the Sign of Christ.

Today, we have read a story about Jesus when he went to a wedding.  His mother Mary must of been helping to serve at the wedding of one of her friends because when the host told her that they were running out of wine, she went to her son Jesus and asked him to solve the problem.

For Mary the glass was half empty.  "Oh no, it is so embarrassing for my friend's family because we are running out of wine at the wedding."  Well, we know what happened.  Mary and the disciples of Jesus knew that with the presence of Christ, the glass was half full.  And they were happy when they turned their problem over to Christ.  The presence of Christ created a sign and the sign was an intervention inside of their hearts which turned on their faith switch and allowed them to see their situation differently.

The writers of the Gospel of John used what is called the Book of Signs in the Gospel.  There are at least seven signs listed in this book of Signs.  And each Sign is a teaching about how knowing the presence of Christ is an intervention in our lives which can help us turn on the faith switch in our hearts and mind.  And when this faith switch is turned on, we can see our lives in a hopeful way and we can act differently

In the book of Signs of the Gospel of John we are shown the situations in life which can make us think that life is bad and threatening.  In the book of Signs we are shown the things in life which can really put us in a bad mood.  What are those things?  Running out of wine at the wedding.  That seems trivial but it is very embarrassing.  The illness of one's child.  That is very frightening for a parent.  The loss of the ability to walk.  That is a great loss.  The loss of one's eyesight.  A really bad tornado on the lake.  A crowd of people caught out in the wilderness without enough food.   And the death of one's brother and friend.  These are the seven situations listed in the book of Signs of the Gospel of John.  And in each of these situations Jesus is seen as one who was able to be an intervening presence.  And the result is that people saw the situation differently.  His disciples and others came to have faith.  They came to have this faith switch turned on in their hearts and mind.  And this faith switch being turned on is the Sign of Christ.

Some people think the Gospels are really about the miracles of Jesus.  But the Gospel of John does not use the word miracle.  The Gospel of John uses the word signs of Christ.  Why is it important to understand the difference between sign and miracle?  For me the true miracle would be a world where we did not run out of wine at a wedding, where children never got sick, where everyone always had strong legs to walk, where everyone could always see, where all of the people of the world always had enough to eat, where storms and earthquakes would not frighten and harm people, and the true miracle would be if our friends and family member would never die.  Why aren't the Gospels about the miracles of Jesus completely changing the world to be a perfect place?

Why?  because the world is already perfect.  How is this world perfect?  It is perfect in freedom.  Freedom means that almost anything can happen and that is what is perfect about this world.  But it also means that because of freedom, some bad things can happen and so that means that this life is a test for us to learn how to live with all of the conditions of freedom.  And what is the best way to live in the midst of all of the conditions of freedom?  The best way to live in a world of freedom is by faith.  And we do this when we can have the Sign of the Presence of Christ to intervene within our minds and hearts and make this switch of faith to see the possibility of hopeful actions within all of the free conditions which happen in our world.

Lots of people believe religion is about trying to get rid of bad and unpleasant things in this world or to just see good things in this world and avoid the unpleasant things in this world.  The Gospel book of Signs within the Gospel of John is not about wishing we lived in a different world.  It is about learning to accept the conditions of freedom in this world and knowing the presence of Christ within our lives to be an intervention to make a switch within our minds and hearts and see hopeful possibilities.  What does a chef do with some really stinky fish heads?  A chef makes some delightfully tasteful soup.

So if life gives you lots of lemons what do you do?  Do you sit around and suck on the lemons and pout about how sour the lemons are?  No, you get water and sugar and you make lemonade.

What is perfect about his world is the condition of freedom.  And learning how to live within the awesome conditions of freedom is the everyday work of our lives.  And to do this best, we need the Signs of Christ.  We need to sense the intervening presence of Christ which allows us to make that switch inside of our hearts and mind and see this world differently and then act in hopeful ways.

This is the dynamic of faith which I find in the story of the water made wine.  It is the dynamic of faith which can happen in you and me as we know the presence of Christ and as we share the presence of Christ to others who need to have a Sign in their lives to help them live within the awesome conditions of freedom in this world.  Let us be thankful for the Sign of Christ to us.  Let us go forth and live as signs of Christ in our world.   St. Paul wrote, that  the way in which we live as signs of Christ is to find and develop and share the gifts of God that we have been given in our lives.  May God give us grace to develop our gifts and becomes Signs of Christ in this world, inspiring people come to faith which will enable them to see and choose toward hopeful possibilities.   Amen.