2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 17, 2010

Omaha, NE

Rev. Steven W. Plank

“Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign”

Text:    John 2:11 – “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory…”

Scripture Lessons:       Psalm 36:5-10

John 2:1-11

Proposition:  In our society, we live by signs, telling us where to stand, where to drive, how fast to go, where to shop, what to buy, and on and on:  “Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign.”  Jesus performed “signs” as well.  What do they tell us?

Prayer for Illumination:  God, source of all light, by your Word you give light to the soul.  Pour out upon us the spirit of wisdom and understanding that, being taught by you in Holy Scripture, our hearts and minds may be opened to know the things that pertain to life and holiness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.

We are society surrounded by signs of all types, aren’t we?  There are speed limit signs, a necessary, even if seemingly often ignored, thing.  There are signs on buildings.  There are street signs so you can find your way to buildings you want.  There are advertising signs.  There are no parking signs.  There are billboard signs.  There are traffic signs.

There are funny signs, catchy signs, confusing signs.  Here are some I found when I looked up “funny signs” on the web…

• Pets:  New and Used
• Waitress Needed:  Must be 18 years old with 20 years experience.  Apply in person, Carnation Restaurant.
• 0% off select items today.  (The first number had blown off the sign)
• Warning:  Children left unattended will be sold to the circus.
• Unattended children will be given espresso and a free puppy.
• Please be safe.  Do not stand, sit, climb, or lean on zoo fences.  If you fall, animals could eat you and that might make them sick.  Thank you.
• Garbage only.  No trash.
• Soccer not allowed.  Soccer may only be played in archery range.
• On one of those electric road construction signs:  “You’ll never get to work on time!  Hahaha!”
• Win a FREE ride in a police car just by shoplifting from this store.
• And, one of my favorites:  From the Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia) Tramway Authority:  “Touching wires causes instant death.  $200 fine.”

We had not lived in Omaha for very long when David and I needed to stop by a piano store on Dodge Street to look at something.  I had picked him up from school, and we came back to church so that I could finish some things I was doing.  Then we left for the store.  I drove east on Leavenworth, turned left on 50^th, crossed Dodge Street, did a circle around the block preparing to get to the store’s parking lot.  I noticed that a police car was behind me, but that didn’t strike me as unusual… until, that is, the cruiser’s lights were turned on.  I got that feeling that I suppose everyone gets who ever has been pulled over by the police.  I was baffled as to the reason, since I’d been going the speed limit, stopping at lights and signs, and otherwise being a careful driver.  I pulled over and stopped, and the officer walked up to the car.  I rolled down my window and greeted him… very politely, of course.  He said, “You know you made an illegal left turn back there.”  I guessed that the poor man was confused; I knew that you couldn’t turn left from Dodge, and I figured he thought that’s what I had done.  I told him I hadn’t been on Dodge Street.  He said, “No, you made an illegal left turn off of Leavenworth.”  “You can’t turn left from Leavenworth,” I asked.  He shook his head, and talked about traffic flow on this busy street.  I confess now, brothers and sisters, that, in card playing parlance, I played the “I’m-new-in-town-and-the-pastor-at-Central-Presbyterian-Church” card.  It was the only card I had left in my hand, and, God help me, I played it!  It didn’t work.  I got my ticket, we went to the store, and, when coming back to church, I made sure to go through the intersection of 50^th and Leavenworth.  I looked, and, sure enough, there was a no-left-turn sign clearly visible.  In fact, there were two no left turn signs clearly visible!  Signs are important; you just have to look to see them!

You perhaps have seen the billboard signs from time to time around town.  In fact, I’ve seen them traveling in different cities.  These are those black signs with white letters, with a short saying on it, and signed simply, “God.”  Those signs were developed by the Smith Advertising Agency in Fort Lauderdale, Florida advertising agency, sponsored by an anonymous client.  There are seventeen different ones.  My favorites are these:

• You know that part about “love thy neighbor?”  I meant that.  – God
• Let’s meet at my house Sunday before the game.  – God
• What part of “Thou Shalt Not…” didn’t you understand?  – God
• My way is the highway.  – God
• Have you read my #1 Best Seller?  There will be a test.  – God
• Don’t make me come down there.  – God
• Tell the kids I love them.  – God

Signs.  They’re all around us.

Our Gospel lesson this morning of the wedding in Cana is one of my favorite stories.  It is one of those unique stories that John alone includes in his gospel account.  This story fascinates me, intrigues me, and, in a positive way, challenges me.

We should begin by noting that John does not use the word “miracle” to describe what Jesus did here.  Rather, John chose to use the word “sign” throughout his Gospel, whenever he referred to something spectacular that Jesus accomplished.  Why?  I believe that John was afraid that, if he used the word “miracle,” it would be too easy for his readers to focus upon what was done.  John, however, wanted the focus to be on who was doing these amazing and powerful acts.  So he chose to use the word, “sign,” since a sign points beyond itself to something else, to some other meaning.  In this case, John wants his readers to know that Jesus did this act at Cana so that people would begin to get the message that he was someone special, the Christ, the Messiah.

The sign itself that Jesus performed, of course, was that of turning water into fine wine.  This wonder would cause problems for some of our more puritanical friends in the faith.  In fact, years ago I heard a television preacher comment that “Jesus turned that water at Cana into the very best unfermented grape juice that the world has ever known!”  It was, indeed, amazing to listen to a fundamentalist preacher, who would pride himself on taking the Bible literally, so bend this text to make it say what he thought it should!  Jesus turned the water into wine.  In this way he helped the hosts of the wedding reception, since they apparently had run out of wine.  You need to understand that wedding receptions, in those days, were large, gala events that went on for days.  In those days, as in ours, there were many social pressures to do things the right way so that guests did not get offended or feel somehow “slighted.”  Running out of wine was one of the big, social blunders of such an event – perhaps akin to how people would react if we were to seat the mother of the bride in the 3^rd row of guests at the wedding service instead of in the front!  So, Jesus helped out his host, and did so in a big way – changing vast quantities of water into wine.

It is significant to me that this first, recorded mighty act of Jesus did not take place at some somber, pompous religious ceremony.  It took place at a wedding and a reception, to which Jesus and his mother and disciples were invited.  This seems to show how much Jesus cared for his neighbors and friends, how much Jesus thought of the significance of weddings, and how much Jesus wanted to show us that life and all of our social relationships are meant to be filled with joy and laughter and wonder and excitement, with promise and hope about what the future holds in store!  This first sign of Jesus’ divinity, his first public act of ministry (according to St. John), took place at a party… at a party that was filled with all of the happiness and cheer, but also with all of the tension and fear, that often seem to be mixed together in large, family and social events such as weddings.  In the midst of this kind of occasion, Jesus comes, Jesus helps, Jesus provides bounty.  And he provided a sign to focus our attention on him and who he was and the kinds of ways he helped.

There are people who use signs in negative, twisted ways, assigning blame to people or to God for tragedies that happen.  The events of this past Tuesday’s devastating earthquake in Haiti provided only the latest example of one such twisted use of Scripture and theology.  You undoubtedly heard that televangelist Pat Robertson said that the earthquake was caused by the fact that “all the people of Haiti made a pact with the devil 200 years ago that they would serve him if he helped them rid their nation from the control of France, and the French finally left, and those people have been cursed ever since.”  What a cruel and heartless thing to say about tragedy!  What a warped view of God’s providential care for all the people of the world.  And what horrible theology he espoused!  Tragedies are not signs that somebody is to blame or that evil is afoot!  Tragedies sometimes do have causes, but Scripture affirms, in the strongest terms, that God stands with us in the midst of hard times, that God surrounds us with love and offers us peace and strength to get through the hard times, that Jesus came to be a sign of God’s love and presence precisely in such difficulties and brokenness in life!

In 1970, a musical group known as the Five Man Electrical Band, released a song entitled, “Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign.”  This was a late-60’s and early-70’s song typical of the age’s longing for freedom from repression, even if the so-called “repression” seems pretty silly to us now.  They talked about signs that were “blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.”  Well, there are signs all around us, that’s for sure.  But the most important signs are the ones that point us to Jesus Christ – to who he is, to the kinds of things he did and still does, to the qualities of compassion and love and justice and grace and peace that speak to our hearts and transform our lives when we stay focused on Jesus, the ultimate Sign for us of God’s presence with us and among us.

Thanks be to God!  AMEN!