You all know that I make wine, and many of you know that my wine is good. My wine is so good that even former Baptists like it. Given that, I don’t mind telling you a couple of short wine jokes.
It’s funny how eight glasses of water a day seems impossible, but eight glasses of wine is a sign of a good meal.
I’ve trained my dog to bring me a glass of red wine. It’s a Bordeaux collie.
I was having wine with my wife when she said, ‘I love you so much, you know. I don’t know how I could ever live without you.’ I said, ‘Is that you or the wine talking?’ She said, ‘It’s me talking to the wine.’
One of the funniest water-into-wine skits I’ve seen has Jesus and the disciples going to a fancy restaurant. The waitress comes up to the table and asks them what they’d like to drink, at which point they all start to giggle. Jesus elbows Peter to get him to stop, then says to the waitress, “We’ll just have water.” And then they all fall out.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus performs many “signs” and turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana is the first. In looking at it more deeply, we can see that this one event defines Jesus’ mission and purpose—transforming the lesser into something greater—the fulfillment of its higher purpose.
This week, during our Wednesday night study of the Pivotal Players of the Church, we learned about the life and teachings of the Venerable Fulton Sheen, and this idea of the lesser being transformed into the greater came up. It was summarized in the video, so I went looking for Sheen’s actual words, and I found them. Sheen writes, “The sunshine, the carbons, and the rain could never share the life of the plant unless they died to their lower existence and were assumed or taken up into plant life. Plants could never share the sensitive and locomotive power of animals, unless they died to their lower existence and were taken up by the animal. None of the things in lower creation could live in man, and share his arts, his sciences, his thinking and his loves unless they ceased to be what they were, submitting to the death of knife and fire.” (These are the Sacraments, 1962)
If the sunlight, elements, and rain are to fulfill their higher purpose, they must give themselves up and be absorbed into the vine and the grapes. If the grapes want to ascend into and fulfill their higher purpose, they must be picked and crushed. If the wine wants to achieve its higher purpose, it must be consumed by a person.
So that the lesser can become greater, the lesser must die to itself and become a part of something else. So, then, how can we become greater and fulfill our higher purpose? St. Paul tells us, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) I have been crucified with Christ—I have died to myself—and have become a part of Christ Jesus.
We fulfill our higher purpose not by living our best life but by giving up our life, participating in Jesus’s life, and serving His purposes. How do we do this?
These days, it’s a hard thing to “sell.” We have so many other options of things to do and see—books, movies, internet, sports, hobbies etc., etc., etc. All of these are our attempts to find true fulfillment in our lives. However, to fulfill our higher purpose, we must die to self and participate in the life of Christ. We do this by being filled with God’s Holy Spirit and then—and this is the hard sell—participating in the life and ministry of the Church, for the Church is Christ’s Mystical Body.
In his book, The Mystical Body of Christ, Fulton Sheen says, “What now is this new Body which Christ assumed after He had ascended into His glory, to which He sent His heavenly Spirit, and through which He continues to exercise His office as Teacher, King, and Priest? If I said it was the Church, I would not be believed. I will therefore let St. Paul say it clearly and unmistakably: ‘Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His Body, which is the Church.’ (Col 1:24)” (p.37) Paul rejoices in his suffering for he knows it is serving God’s purposes and Christ’s Body—the Church. To achieve his higher purpose, Paul knows that he must be caught up in the Body of Christ, the Church.
Remember when John was baptizing on the banks of the Jordan River? Following Jesus’ baptism, Jesus’ “popularity” began to eclipse John’s. Some came to John and asked him what he thought about this, to which John responded that he had told them all along that he was not the Christ, and there was another coming. His conclusion, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) To fulfill our purpose, those words must become ours. “Jesus must increase, but I must decrease.” The Mystical Body of Christ—His Church—must, through our participation, increase, and for this to happen, we must decrease.
Today is our Annual Meeting. There’ll be good food, vestry elections, reports given, budget shared, all sorts of fun stuff. However, the meeting is ultimately about us and how we, as the Body of Christ in this place, are dying to self and fulfilling our purpose in God’s Kingdom on Earth. God will not force us. We are quite free to choose. Jesus turned water into wine, and the water had no say in the matter, but we do. Jesus could say He chooses to transform us into the very best, and we could respond, “Ya know… thanks, but I’m happy being water.” However, if we say, “We will die to self and decrease, so that You may increase in us,” we will become something extraordinary.
I believe we have already begun that transformational process—you’re already a pretty tasty Bourdeaux Collie—but there is always more “dying” that must occur. Therefore, as individuals, we must ask, “How might I decrease so that Christ Jesus can increase in me?” and, as the Body of Christ, we must ask the same.
We generally begin the Annual Meeting in the Parish Hall, but today, I would like to start it now so that our first action together is receiving the Body and Blood of our Savior in the Eucharist. This will nourish our spirits and help us continue on the path to achieving God’s higher purpose for our lives and His Church.
Let us pray: Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in this Annual Meeting of St. Matthew’s for the renewal and mission of your Mystical Body, the Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Candle in a Cave 