Water into Wine

This week we’ve been exploring the story of the miracle when Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. Yesterday, as we took a closer look at Jesus’ response to his mother’s grave concern that the wedding had run out of wine, we saw that Jesus, in fact, was not indifferent to what was happening, or uncaring about the shame that this fiasco would have brought. And with altogether surprising and quite spectacular grace, he responded in a way that meant that there was an abundance of the very finest wine!

So let me ask you, what are the concerns of your heart right now? For a child or grandchild perhaps, who is in need? For a spouse, who may be far from God? For a parent who is growing frail? For a friend or colleague in turmoil? For this nation in this challenging moment of our history? For the people of Haiti in the chaos and anguish that is theirs following the recent devastating earthquake that rocked that nation? For the earth as it groans under the burden of pollution? For yourself perhaps, feeling anxious or alone? What are the concerns of your heart right now?

Whatever they may be, do not think that God stands idly by, unmoved by the things that you carry as a weighty burden. As the mother of Jesus did, bring your concerns to him, and as you do you will discover that you are not alone. And as you trust the sufficiency of Christ’s grace to freely respond however he might choose, may your eyes be opened to see the ways in which he graciously turns water into wine still, enabling the wedding feast that is your life to continue with thanksgiving and joy.

In concluding these devotions for this week I’d like to tell you about a remarkable man by the name of Dr Paul Farmer. He qualified as a medical doctor from Harvard Medical School in the mid 1980’s, and had a promising and lucrative career in front of him as a physician in the USA. But Paul Farmer had a deep concern – a concern for the poor of the world, and their lack of access to quality medical care. It was a concern shared by God.

And so in 1987, at the age of 28, he co-founded an organization called Partners in Health. It began in Haiti, offering free treatment to the poor. Partners in Health uses a community based model of healthcare in which local people are hired as community health workers to monitor the needs of the community and to deliver health care and medication directly to patients. Significantly, it’s a model of healthcare that doesn’t rely on buildings to be effective.

With the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti earlier this month, much of the infrastructure of that nation was destroyed, including many hospitals and clinics. But Partners in Health is operating, utilizing the human resources it has developed over the years, and is at the forefront of the medical rescue efforts in that disaster area even now.

What a remarkable story of the surprising ways in which God works. It began with a concern of a young doctor. A concern that if fact was shared by God. And now, in Haiti’s hour of greatest anguish and need, there is a sign of hope as Partners in Health becomes a vessel in which water is indeed being turned into wine.

May that be true for us too, as our concerns move us closer to the God who holds the concerns of all in his heart. And may we come to see the altogether surprising ways in which God is able to respond, bringing fresh hope and life, like new wine, to us and to our world.

PRAYER

Thank you Lord God that you share the concerns of our hearts. Move us that we, more and more, may share the concerns of your heart too. And may we become a people who bring our concerns to you, and in so doing become part of the great miracle of grace in which you move and act in surprising ways to turn water into wine. Amen

SCRIPTURE

Ps 36:7-9

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings
They feast on the abundance of your house
and you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life.