St Clement Church Community Third Sunday of Epiphany Service

 

 

Good morning

The third Sunday of Epiphany introduces us to the first of Jesus’ miracles – the wedding at Cana. Miracles, just like parables, shouldn’t just be taken at face value. It’s a good story, but there is so much more to it than immediately appears.

Jesus’ miracles and parables challenge me – do they you?

With love to you all

Liz

 

Let us pray

 

Heavenly Father, we gather in your presence today with open hearts and minds, ready to worship and praise your holy name. We ask that you bless this time of worship so that we may be uplifted and inspired by your presence. Fill us with your love and grace and help us to honour you in all that we do. Amen

                                                                                                                              

We say together: 

 

Father God, we gather here today under your care and protection. Thank you for your loving kindness that never fails us.                                   We thank you for those with us, that you will guide our thoughts and actions to bring you glory.                                                                                  Strengthen us and fill us with your peace. May we love and serve each other as Jesus has shown us. Fill us with the Holy Spirit to do your good work on earth. Amen

                                                                                      Hymn: 451 Songs of praise the angels sang

 

Prayer of Penitence

 

The Gospel calls us to turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.                                  As we offer ourselves to him in penitence and faith, we renew our confidence and trust in his mercy.

 

Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed.                                                        We have not loved you with our whole heart.                                                    We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.                                          In your mercy, forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God.   Amen

 

Collect for Third Sunday of Epiphany

 

Almighty God, whose Son revealed in signs and miracles the wonder of your saving presence: renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness sustain us by your mighty power; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

 

Readings:                                                                                                                              

 

Genesis 14. 17 - 20

Revelation 19. 6 - 10

 

Hymn: 366 God of mercy, God of grace

 

Gospel: John 2. 1 - 11

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’

 

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 (thought 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 in Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

(This is the Gospel of the Lord.    Praise to you, O Christ.)

 

Reflection

 

Weddings – I don’t know about your wedding, but when I married in 1970, the only say I had in the whole thing was the hymns (one of which my mother objected to strongly … I won,) the music and the colour of the bridesmaids’ dresses – that literally was all … and a few battles ensued to get those!

When Martin and I married – we organised everything ourselves, only to find, three days before, that the reception had been moved from our home (and me doing it) to the Brookdale Hotel - mother had organised it and my father was paying for it – bless him. The guests were informed at the ceremony!

I wonder how a wedding was organised back in Jesus’ time - who organised it, who paid for it and who had the final say?

 

“They have no wine.”

This is a very simple statement that tells us a lot about weddings then. The wine is very, very, important. To run out would bring shame, dishonour, and full disgrace on the whole family.

 

“They have no wine.”

 

With these words Mary speaks a truth not just about the wedding but about our lives, a truth that at some point we all experience. There comes a day when the wine runs out. The glass is empty. The party is over. It is then that life seems empty and dry. There is no vibrancy or vitality. Nothing is growing or fermenting within us. Our world is colourless and tasteless. The bouquet of life is absent and we are living less than fully alive.

Mary’s words present some serious questions and wonderings for us. Where has the wine of our life given out? What relationships have run dry? What parts of us remain empty?

Each of us, if we thought about it and was willing to share, could tell a story about the day the wine gave out. It might be about the death of a loved one, or the loss of friendship or marriage. Some will speak about their search for love and acceptance. Some will describe their thirst for meaning and significance. Others will tell of their guilt, disappointments, or regrets. Many of the stories will be about fear of what is or what might be. Stories of failure and self-doubt abound. Some will describe a longing and desire for something they cannot name or describe. The storyline of unanswered prayer, doubts, or questions is known by most. They are not all stories from the past, however. Some of us are living these stories today.

Behind each of our stories is the hope and desire for a wedding of our life. We come to the wedding at Cana not simply as guests and spectators, but as participants seeking union, intimacy, and wholeness.

Despite our best efforts, good intentions, and hard work, it seems that the wine of life is always running out. No matter how often we refill it our glass remains empty. There is never enough wine. As the day wears on we become increasingly aware that we cannot replenish the wine from our own resources. That day seems like a disaster, an embarrassment, a failure. That must have been what it was like for the bride and groom at the wedding at Cana. “They have no wine,” Mary tells Jesus. That is not a condemnation or judgement but simply an observation.

Let’s be honest – this is not about the wine … it is about the people. It is a statement about the human condition. It is about you and me as much as it is about the wedding at Cana of Galilee. It is about our inner life, our way of being, more than the circumstances outside us.

Too often we live with the illusion of our own self-sufficiency. That illusion is shattered on the day the wine runs out and the jars of our life stand empty and dry. That day confronts us with a new truth as old as creation itself. We are the recipients, not the creators of our life. We were never intended nor expected to live by the sufficiency of our own resources. Christ is the true vintner and chief steward of our lives.

Regardless of how it feels or what we think about it, the day the wine runs out is the beginning of the miracle. Christ does not simply refill our glasses. He transforms our lives, turning water into wine.

Think of the resurrection, the new life. On that third day our lives are filled to the brim with the good wine, intoxicating us with the life of God, filling us with the blood of Christ, and leaving us under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That’s the miracle at Cana and it’s never ceased happening. Every moment of every day Christ pours himself into the empty jars of our life. He is the good wine; extravagant, abundant, endless.

Every time the good wine is poured our lives are changed and transformed. We are brought “out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.” We don’t know how it happens. We only know that it does happen. We have tasted the good wine. We have experienced the miracle at Cana in our lives and seen it in the lives of others.

Let’s be honest, if we really think about it, we have all experienced moments when death is turned to life, sorrow into joy, despair into hope. We have all been surprised by fear that is transformed into courage and seen ourselves, and other people, do things that we, and they, never thought possible.

Those and a thousand others like them are the miracles of Cana. Those are moments Christ’s glory is revealed and we are illumined, shining with the radiancy of his glory. His glory becomes ours, two lives one glory.

 

“They have no wine,” Mary said. But they will. The miracle always begins when the wine runs out.

 

Amen

 

Let us declare our faith

 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.                                                                                                               We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.                                                                                                       We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high.                                                                                                                                        We believe in one God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen

 

Hymn:  360 Firmly I believe and truly

 

Intercessions by Helen Dunbar

 

Dear Lord, we bring before you on this third Sunday of Epiphany our prayers for the Church and the world, knowing that you are always there to hear us and help us.

 

We pray that the light of God will shine in all the dark corners of the Church, and set us free from prejudice, small-mindedness and hypocrisy; that as members of the Body of Christ we can move freely through the power of God wherever we are called to go, available and active in God’s service.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for peace in the world; for countries where there is war, for places where there is hatred between races. May bitterness and hatred be cast aside and may goodwill, peace and love abide in the hearts of all people.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer.

 

Dear Lord, we ask your blessing on our church family here at St Clement. We ask for your guidance in all that we do, and that we are able to go forward in unity and faith.

 

We ask your blessing on all clergy, Archbishop Justin, Bishop Hugh and our own much-loved Revd. Diane and also our Reader Liz, who is taking the service this morning.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for all who live in the local community and for our neighbours and friends and all people we come into contact with in our daily lives. We ask god’s blessing on all people in our country fighting for justice.

 

We remember all those suffering from natural disasters, especially the flooding here and the volcanic eruption in Iceland. We pray for all those struggling for survival, the refugees, the poor, the hungry and the homeless and those who are working to bring relief and hope to the oppressed. We remember the continued struggle of the people of Ukraine, Israel and Palestine.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Bless and guide Charles our King and all members of the royal family as they go about their duties.

 

Dear Lord, we ask your reassurance and comfort wherever people are hurting or crying, for those who are ill, for the lonely or disillusioned and the disheartened, for the refugees and the homeless, for the hungry and the poor. Lord, pour out your love to all who are suffering, whether physically or emotionally and may your comfort and strength give them hope in their troubles and may they also receive the peace they seek. God of mercy comfort all that are troubled, may they know peace, comfort and courage.  Grant your protection to those in need; comfort them, so that they may know your presence in their affliction.  Surround them with your tenderness and support them in your ever-loving arms. We pray especially for those in hospital, care homes, and those waiting for medical treatment. Be with those unable to join us in worship today because they are in poor health; assure them of our prayers and your tender mercy.

 We pray for all the people known to us – for Ken and Revd Diane, May, Angela, Terry and Dot, Margaret, Maureen, Alison and Rob, Rupert and Linda, Barrie and Sandra, Pam and David, Diana, Jan, Anita and Stephen, Michael and Patricia, Stella, Alison, Linda, Callum, Jay and Andy.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We remember the recently departed and also those whose anniversary falls at this time.                                                                                                                                           

 

Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement and St Andrew and all the saints.

Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen

 

Gathering our prayers and praise into one, let us pray with confidence as our risen Lord has taught us.

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen

 

Miracles by Walt Whitman 1819 – 1892

 

Why, who makes much of a miracle?

As to me I know nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses towards the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,

Or stand under trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with anyone I love, or sleep in the bed at night with anyone I love,

Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,

Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,

Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,

Or animals feeding in the fields,

Or birds, of the wonderfulness of insects in the air,

Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,

Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;

These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,

The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

 

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,

Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,

Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,

Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

 

To mew the sea is a continual miracle,

The fishes that swim – the rocks – the motion of the waves – the ships with men in them,

What stranger miracles are there?

 

The Peace

 

God will speak peace to his people, to those who turn to him in their hearts.

 

The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

 

Hymn: 235 Forth in thy name O Lord I go

 

Blessing

 

May the love of Jesus Christ bring us wholeness,

The grace of God the Father grant us peace,

The breath of the Holy Spirit instil passion,                                                                     and the unity between them                                                                                               give us strength, for this and every day.

Amen