Welcome to a time of Reflective Worship
We are here in the presence of God, who knows our needs, hears our cries, feels our pain, and heals our wounds.
Opening Prayer - one of today's Collects
God of all mercy, Your Son proclaimed good news to the poor, release to the captives, and freedom to the oppressed: anoint us with Your Holy Spirit and set all Your people free to praise You in Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let's sing or say...
1. Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
great David's greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
to set the captive free,
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.
2. He comes, with succour speedy,
to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing,
their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying,
were precious in His sight.
3. He shall come down like showers
upon the fruitful earth;
that love, joy, hope, like flowers,
spring in His path to birth;
before Him, on the mountains,
shall peace the herald go;
and righteousness, in fountains,
from hill to valley flow.
4. Kings shall bow down before Him,
and gold and incense bring;
all nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing;
to Him shall prayer unceasing
and daily vows ascend,
His kingdom still increasing,
a kingdom without end.
5. O'er every foe victorious,
He on his throne shall rest;
from age to age more glorious,
all-blessing and all-blest.
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove;
His name shall stand for ever,
His changeless name of Love.
James Montgomery (1771-1854)
Hail to the Lord’s Anointed - sung by St Martin’s Voices
Bible reading
In preparation for reading today's Gospel extract, we pray:
Lord, help us to receive Your word into our hearts so that Your power may be manifest in our lives, for Your glory. Amen.
John 2: 1 - 11
On the third day 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 (though 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 of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
For the word of the Lord: thanks be to God.
Reflection
Revelation and Transformation - two words that sum up the meaning of this, the church’s season of Epiphany.
Revelation - the revealing of the glory of Jesus Christ, the making known of His true identity.
Transformation - the transforming power of Christ on those who respond to His presence.
In previous weeks, we considered how a star guided wise seekers to worship the child with the hidden kingship hanging over Him. Then we recalled how, several years later, the adult Jesus was baptised and God’s voice declared Him to be the beloved Son while the divine Spirit hovered over Him in the form of a dove. Last week, we reflected on the way in which people like Nathanael came to realise that Jesus was the One to whom the Law and the Prophets of ancient Judaism looked forward with prayerful longing, the king who would be David’s true heir. Today, we hear how, while His mother hangs around Him at a wedding reception, Jesus is prompted to reveal His glory through the first of His signs.
Our Gospel reading finished with the words: “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee …â€.
John’s Gospel deliberately avoids the word ‘miracle’ - perhaps because John didn’t want his readers to mistake the clue for the treasure. Instead John chose the term ‘sign’. A sign is real but it is not an end in itself; rather it points to something beyond itself. And the whole point of the signs that John records is that they are moments when heaven and earth intersect, to reveal who Jesus truly is. John wants us to see that in such events as the transformation of water into wine at a wedding, the life of heaven came down to earth; God was revealed at work in human form.
John chapter 2 verse 11 continues by saying that “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, … and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in himâ€.
The Greek word that John chose here to say that Jesus ‘manifested’ or revealed’ His glory, is the word from which we get the term ‘Epiphany’. During these weeks of the Epiphany season, the Collects and Bible readings encourage us to consider what it might mean to see Jesus for who He really is and to share that insight with others.
The transformation of water into wine signifies the effect Jesus had, and still has today, on human lives. The wine at the wedding is the sign of a renewed relationship between God and His people. But such transformation and renewal cannot happen without our co-operation, for God does not bulldoze His way into our lives. God-in-Christ stands at the door and knocks. He waits for us to open the door of our lives to Him and affirm that we are ready to ‘do whatever He tells us’.
In what ways might you and I 'open the door' this week?
Let's pray...
Lord God, through Your grace we are Your Church, Your people. In these times of change and challenge, help us not to forget that we are called to be the temple of Your Holy Spirit. May we show the fruit of Your Spirit in all our dealings with one another and the wider community. Guide our Bishops, Archdeacons and other Church leaders as we seek to discern how to be more fully Shaped by God Together in the coming months. Living Lord, reveal Your glory: and bring transformation through Your presence.
Lord God, we pray for this world that You have created and entrusted to our care. May we be better stewards of our wonderful but wounded environment, doing all we can - individually and together - to protect the earth from the ravages of pollution, deforestation and climate change. In negotiations about trade and fair distribution of vaccines, we pray that greed or economic gain may never override considerations of human health, animal welfare, and a fairer sharing of resources. Particularly we pray for President Biden and the new administration in the USA, and for our own government and the leaders of other nations in the continuing battles against the evils of racism, terrorism and COVID-19… and we seek Your comfort and renewed hope for those whose lives have been devastated by prejudice, violence or disease. Living Lord, reveal Your glory: and bring transformation through Your presence.
Lord God, as You provide for our needs You also call us to provide and care for one another, especially for those who are suffering in body, mind or spirit. In the silence of our hearts we name before You now those known to us who are unwell, anxious and fearful, struggling with problems of money, work or relationships….
and those who are mourning the loss of loved ones and friends at this time…
May they find support and strength in Your holy Word, and know themselves to be held in Your loving presence - today, tomorrow, always. Living Lord, reveal Your glory: and bring transformation through Your presence.
Let us commend ourselves and all for whom we pray, to the mercy and protection of God, as we say the Lord’s Prayer….
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen.
We sing or say...
1. Songs of thankfulness and praise,
Jesu, Lord, to Thee we raise,
manifested by the star,
to the sages from afar;
branch of royal David's stem
in Thy birth at Bethlehem:
anthems be to Thee addressed
God in Man made manifest.
2. Manifest at Jordan's stream,
Prophet, Priest and King supreme;
and at Cana wedding-guest
in Thy Godhead manifest;
manifest in power divine,
changing water into wine:
anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in Man made manifest.
3. Manifest in making whole
palsied limbs and fainting soul;
manifest in valiant fight,
quelling all the devil's might;
manifest in gracious will,
ever bringing good from ill:
anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in Man made manifest.
4. Grant us grace to see Thee, Lord,
mirrored in Thy holy word;
may we imitate Thee now,
and be pure, as pure art Thou;
that we like to Thee may be
at Thy great Epiphany;
and may praise Thee, ever blest,
God in Man made manifest.
Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885), and Compilers of ‘Rejoice and Sing’
Songs of thankfulness and praise - sung by St Martin’s Voices
Closing prayer - another Epiphany-season Collect
Almighty God, Your 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 might 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.
Conclusion
We go from this time to walk in God's light, to rejoice in God's love, and to reflect God's glory. Amen.
The Revd Dr Mary Barr Melton Mowbray Team Vicar