TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Second Sunday After the Epiphany (Year C)

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. 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 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.’  Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

(John 2:1-11, NRSVA)

Timing is everything.

Timing can be critical to the success of a joke, or an actor’s performance. In the world of finance, timing is a serious matter. We don’t want to pay our bills late—or miss paying them altogether! When we make investments, we want to buy low and sell high. When we take out a mortgage or a car loan, we want a good interest rate with favourable terms.

Timing is vital to our health. We want to become aware of a disease early, before it gets out of hand. If we have to take medication, we need to do it as directed.

Certainly, timing is essential when dealing with people. You need to be careful when you ask your boss for a raise or a friend for a favour. Catching that other person at the wrong time—like … just after he’s gotten a speeding ticket or she’s just lost an important account to a competitor … That will probably scuttle your request.

Timing even comes into play in such ordinary activities as cooking. “Better late than never” just will not do when you’re grilling a steak on the barbecue.

Timing is everything.

In our gospel story about the wedding at Cana, the timing goes all wrong. Not because the bride or groom speaks out of turn. Not because the presider mispronounces names or fumbles the vows. No. It’s just that the wine ran out before the party was over.

Now if it were us, we might call a friend aside and ask him to make a run to the local wine shop and pick up some more. But Cana is in first-century Galilee, not 21st-century Alberta—and so there isn’t a liquor store on every block.

In this time and place, running out of wine too early is not merely embarrassing, it’s a disaster! Wine is more than a social lubricant; it’s a symbol of the harvest, of God’s abundance, of joy and gladness and hospitality. And so when they run short of wine … they run short of blessing.

Timing is everything. The wine has run out before the wedding reception is over. And this is a catastrophe.

To make matters worse, Jesus’ mother doesn’t appear to have much of a sense of timing, either. At least that’s what Jesus seems to think.

“They have no more wine,” she tells her son.

Now, we don’t know why Mary was so concerned. Perhaps she was close to the family of the bride or the family of the groom. Or maybe she just was particularly sensitive to this kind of social faux pas. In any case, she expected her son to do something about it.

Jesus, however, seems to regard this as another instance of bad timing: “Dear woman,” he responds, “why are you telling me about this? The time for me to show who I really am isn’t here yet” (John 2:4).

Or is it? Mary knows better. Rather than raise an eyebrow at his tone or make an argument, she turns to the servants and tells them simply: “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now it could be that Mary knew her son would come around. He might protest, but eventually he’ll do what his mother tells him. Or perhaps Mary knew how to tell time better than Jesus thought. She was, after all, the one who gave birth to him. She was the one who nursed him as a baby and watched him grow. She was the one who dried his tears as a child, and followed after him when he grew to be a man. Mary knew that whenever her son was present, it was no ordinary time.

We know the rest of the story. Jesus instructs the servants to fill six large stone jars with water. Then he tells them to draw some of that water—now turned into wine—and take it to the master of ceremonies.

And once again timing becomes an issue. Usually, a host would serve the best wine first, to make a good impression. The cheap wine would be served later, when the palettes of the guests had been sufficiently dulled to not notice the drop in quality. But this host has bucked the traditional timing and saved the best wine for last! At least, that’s what it looks like to the MC.

And suddenly this couple has 180 gallons of fantastic wine—more than enough for even the largest crowd. No one would leave this wedding thirsty, for blessings flowed abundantly. And they didn’t even have to worry about “check stops” on the way home!

Timing is everything—and not just in this story, but throughout John’s Gospel.

In fact, there are two kinds of time that figure into John’s narrative. One kind is the sort of time we use to mark the everyday events of our lives. It is the sort of time that is measured in minutes and seconds, hours and days. It’s the time we spend standing in line, or commuting to work, or waiting at the stoplight. It is mundane, ordinary time—and it ticks on relentlessly with a dull, predictable cadence.

But in the Fourth Gospel, there is another kind of time at play, as well: a supernatural kind of time, wherein predictability fades away—and what emerges in its place is sheer possibility. This is God’s time, and it punches through the ordinary timing of our lives to offer a glimpse of eternity.

So when Jesus speaks of “the time to show who he really is,” he doesn’t mean a time and date on his calendar. No. He means the time when God will reveal his glory through his cross, his resurrection, and his ascension. He means that time when God will be accessible to all, once and for all.

That time, that hour, Jesus says, has not yet come.

Or has it? Once again, consider Mary. She seems to know—better than anyone—what time it is. For Mary seems not only to believe that Jesus can do something about this loss of blessing; she expects him to!

She knows her son. And she knows that, whenever there is need and Jesus is on the scene, resurrection and abundance are close at hand. Knowing this makes all the difference. Through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and amongst us, Jesus is always on the scene.

As the apostle Paul once wrote, “The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way” (1 Cor. 12:7). Because of that—because Jesus lives in us and we live in him—every moment is filled with divine possibility. Food and drink upon the Lord’s Table make Jesus’ sacrifice real in our remembering. An ordinary hug conveys boundless love and blessing. The smallest donation of food or money can tip the balance between scarcity and abundance.

A simple act of kindness can make all the difference in the world. And a smile—shared at just the right time—can shine light into the darkest place.

This peculiarly timed sign, you see, revealed something about Jesus. When he is present, anything is possible. Because, as John testified in the first verses of his gospel, Jesus reveals God’s grace in his own person: “The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

When Jesus is on the scene, God is accessible and available to all.

Timing is everything. But do we really know how to tell time?

Maybe we think it’s nine ‘o clock on a Monday morning and all that’s in front of us is a pile of invoices. Or maybe it’s 6:30 on a Wednesday evening, and time to start the kids on homework. Or maybe it’s 7:30 on a Saturday morning and time—finally—to sleep in.

To be sure, that’s part of the story, but it’s not the whole story. The other part of the story is this: God is at work in our occupations, in our relationships, and in our family lives: working to care for and redeem the entire Creation. The question for all of us—and for each of us—is: are we aware of that? And what difference does it make?

The truth is, God is present with us in all of the ordinary, everyday experiences of our lives. Through those experiences, and through our whole lives, God is at work in the world. To us, it may seem like time is dragging on. Or it may seem like time is running out. But here’s the thing: because of Jesus, whatever time we think it is, it is also God’s time—and when God is around, all things are possible. That remains true even when the challenges ahead seem daunting.

That’s good news for us, as we embark on this new year, and contemplate the challenges and the opportunities being presented to us. It’s good news for us, because—and I hope you believe this, because it’s the truth—our Lord makes this journey with us.

What greater blessing could we possibly ask for?

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