Jan. 19, 2025: Celebrating Unions

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 62: 1-5
The Gospel: John 2: 1-11               

Both our Isaiah and John scriptures today focus on wedding celebrations - the beauty of people coming together. In the case of Isaiah it is a metaphor with the exiled Jewish people as the bride being restored to God the groom. The people go from being called forsaken or forgotten to “My Delight is in her”. They are restored not only to God but to their land as well; the spouse is God, the builder of this new community. 

Oddly enough, we have no idea whose wedding Jesus, his mother, and all the disciples are at in Cana. There are guesses, but no real evidence. Cana is just eight miles north of Nazareth so it was not a huge journey but we can infer that since Jesus and his disciples were invited, the wedding is of a relative, follower or at least a close friend of Jesus’. At first it might seem frivolous that this first miracle of Jesus’ is at a wedding, and that it involves making wine rather than curing someone or saving someone’s life, but let’s think about what it does say:

1. Mary, Jesus’ mother, is still guiding him; it is she who lets him know they have run out of wine.
2. Even after Jesus essentially refuses her saying,”Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come” she still knows that he will do what she is inferring needs to be done as she tells the servants. “Do whatever he tells you” : another example of mother knows best. This time, it seems clear that the Holy Spirit is guiding Mary. Note that calling her Woman seems a bit rude, however, it is more John’s way in his Gospel since he never calls Mary by her name.
3. A wedding is a happy occasion and it would have been embarrassing to run out of wine. Jesus lets the host, presumably the father of the bride and possibly the groom’s parents as well, not only save face but gain status by the quality of the wine. 
4. The last line of John’s scripture for today says, “and his disciples believed in him.” All of his disciples were there to witness this miracle. It was probably rare, at this stage, for them all to be together out in public, so this was a time when they could all get confirmation of Jesus’ power and more easily be able to believe in him, setting the foundation both for his later work and their work as disciples. Belief is the first step and this first miracle assured that. 
5. Finally, and I think just as importantly, this first miracle shows that our God is a joyful God who celebrates our unions just as God celebrates God’s people turning back to God and forgives and restores them exuberantly. 

Take a moment, if you will, and close your eyes. I want you to picture the happiest, most beautiful wedding you have ever been to or watched whether it was your own or someone else’s… Picture the couple dressed in their finery…see the smiles that almost make them glow… look at the family and friends around them beaming as they gaze upon them…see them dancing and being toasted. Feel the joy… feel the love.


This is what God wants for us. God wants us to be united, to be hopeful and to celebrate that. There is much more power and joy in unions than in divisions. 

Sheryl Olitzky learned this after a visit to Poland in 2010 when she saw what hatred had done to her Jewish community during the Holocaust. She came back to New Jersey determined to do something to combat hatred in the world. According to an article from the Center for Action and Contemplation, “She contacted an imam she knew who introduced her to Atiya Aftab, and the two women invited an additional five Jewish and five Muslim women to meet monthly. They are now a national organization with local chapters all over the country. While they talk about ending hatred one Muslim and one Jewish woman at a time, they actually recognize the power of community in affecting change. “ She says,” We influence family, friends and the general public about our strength in coming together to build bridges and fight hate, negative stereotyping and prejudice. We are changing the world, one Muslim and one Jewish woman at a time!”

Their organization is called the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom. Salaam is the term for a Muslim greeting of respect involving bowing the body with hands or fingers touching the forehead. Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace that is used as a greeting by Jewish people. They are reaching across their differences with a welcome which invites the opportunity for understanding and healing. They are creating a supportive union.

“The local Kansas City chapter’s social action was to step in and provide meals at a local cancer treatment center during Christmas so that the Christian volunteers could spend the holiday with their families, creating another relational bridge in the process. [SOSS board member Amber Khan] also said there was something really powerful in the fact that in order to deal with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, the women needed to confront the “isms” they had internalized about each other in order to be in true relationship with each other, and that has been some of the most powerful work she has witnessed. ”

We  pray that the spirit of Salaam Shalom will descend upon the Israelis and Palestinians and that the ceasefire that began today reunites families, brings help and hope and begins to plant the foundation for a bridge of lasting peace. 

Tomorrow we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr day and, with him, all who fought and fight for the end of oppression and seek justice and equity for all, just as Jesus did.


That first miracle at the Wedding of Cana celebrated a union because God created us as interdependent beings; we need relationships in our lives. We need unions. In seeking common ground, we find ways to invite, connect and support one another as fellow creations of God. While a marriage is a union of partners who will support each other and their families through their lives, we need lots of other kinds of unions to sustain life on earth as our creator intended. 

As the Isaiah scripture showed us, we first need a union with God - a God who welcomes us back even after we make mistakes, even after we feel lost. And God does not just say begrudgingly, “Ok, you have served your penance, I guess I will let you back in” but instead welcomes God’s people back exuberantly as a bride or groom joyfully unites with their new spouse. 

Unions and community matter. 

Today I will baptize Scotlyn Anderson bringing her into our community of faith: uniting her with our church community here in the United Church of Ludlow but also with the greater community of faith that is all Christians and all who believe in God. By baptizing her, I will be giving her the mark of her acceptance into the care of Christ’s church, the fellowship of the community of faith and the gift of God’s forgiveness to help her grow in her own path of discipleship. We will all be welcoming her into this community of love and support and we will celebrate that. 

Our faith is constructive. Rather than wallowing in fear at the challenges in the world, we work to bring about positive change. Rather than standing by when people are in need, we take action to help. Rather than focusing on what we don’t have, we focus on what we do have.

Our God celebrates with us when we reach out the hand of welcome, when we build bridges rather than walls, when we invite rather than ignore, when we accept despite our differences, when we confess our failures and seek reconciliation. We do all of this when we follow the model of Jesus Christ who loved, welcomed, healed, helped and celebrated with all abundantly. 

Pastor Michelle Fountain

---