I had the privilege of being with God’s people gathered as Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday January 18 and Sunday January 19, 2025. Thank you to Pastor Lucy Wynard and Pastor Ashley Hall for the invitation and to the whole congregation for the warm welcome. I was invited to preach and assist in worship, and lead an adult forum time under a theme focus, “Nebraska Synod: In Mission Together.” It was a joy to be with the congregation all weekend, to say thank you for all the ministry that they make possible and that we share together, and to wonder about what God might be up to and inviting. What follows is the majority of the manuscript that I preached from, based especially on the Gospel of John 2:1-11, and 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, appointed readings for the Second Sunday after Epiphany (Year C).

Grace and peace from God in Christ, who is with you, for you, and who loves you. Amen.

So You’re Invited to a Wedding
Imagine with me. You have been invited to a wedding and your mom is your date. No, this isn’t the start of a punch line. No, this isn’t a what not to do example. But imagine it. Imagine you’re at a wedding and suddenly they run out of wine, or wedding cake, or some other essential. What would you do? Would you volunteer to run to the store? Would you quickly order pizza, Uber Eats or from some other store or service who delivers? And perhaps most of all, regardless of what you would be inclined to do, what would your mom expect you to do?

https://video.ibm.com/embed/recorded/134182003
The first portion of the 9:00am service as live-streamed and broadcasted by Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church can be watched at this link.

Imagine your mom telling you, “They have no wine.”[1] And then you have the audacity to say, “Woman, what concern is that to me and to you? My hour has not yet come.”[2] Not many children, nor adult children, would survive such a response unscathed. Mary may not know everything about Jesus yet. But she knows enough that God is definitely up to something with and through her son. So she tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you,” and forces the issue, and forces Jesus to act.[3] In someways it’s Mary’s faith that rests behind this famous story we all know so well. The story of when water turned to wine, the ordinary became extraordinary, and one which shows clearly that abundance truly is real with God.

https://video.ibm.com/embed/recorded/134182045
The majority of the 9:00am service as live-streamed and broadcasted by Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church. At this link you can follow along with the majority of the service, including listening to and/or watching the Children’s Blessing and Sermon message.

We know the rest of the story. The jars are filled to the brim with water as Jesus instructs. The servants know and see what is happening, but the steward isn’t present for the act itself. So they go to the unnamed groom, presumably with the unnamed bride celebrating their new marriage together, and say, “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.”[4] What a reaction. Perhaps you might hear it with awe and surprise. Perhaps with a sense of being dumbfounded at such a reversal of norms. Whatever the case may be, it’s all of this and more. Jesus is being revealed. In John’s gospel this is the first of his signs.[5] Jesus acts here because his mother forced his hand, but he acts too, because that’s what God in Christ is called to do. To show up. As one commentator describes, “what Jesus does is a matter of grace. The grace that Jesus shows in this scene is an act of overflowing abundance.”[6]

This overflowing abundance counters the world’s lies of scarcity. Where some might think there is only so little and not enough, Jesus here shows another way. Pointing us to grace. When we might be tempted to hoard what we have, for fear of losing or later not having enough, we forget whose we have to begin with. All that we have and all that we are, is God’s. Which God entrusts to us. The psalmist makes that clear in Psalm 24, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in, the world and those who live in it.”[7] So instead of hoarding, we’re called to steward and share what God entrusts and provides. We do so, not for our own sakes but for our neighbors. We do so, because that is part of what God invites us to be a part of. When we choose not to do this, and turn inward, we give into sin. We give into our brokenness. We give into the lies of the world and powers that be that there isn’t enough. That some will have to go hungry. That some don’t have a place at the table. That there isn’t enough wine for everyone.

Ordinary and Extraordinary
Jesus today shows another way. Abundance through grace. This abundance is made real through the ordinary, water. And is used, to become the extraordinary, the finest overflowing wine. It’s a first sign of the abundance that is possible and will be made real through God. An abundance we know in a story yet to come along Jesus’ journey of teaching the disciples and proclaiming God’s love, when Jesus will feed thousands with a few fish and a little bit of bread. The constant here is that through the ordinary, through the gifts and realities of daily life, the extraordinary can happen. Through your very day, of going about it in whatever might be normal, ordinary, or not, the extraordinary can and does happen.

How fitting to hear these words on this Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. Where we remember Rev. Dr. King’s vision for what might be possible and could be, as part of the beloved community and the kin-dom of God. This is a community where all are seen, known, equipped, empowered, and included. This is a community where there is always enough, and room for one more. Regarding one’s place in such a community Dr. King once wrote:

“If you want to be important–wonderful. If you want to be recognized–wonderful. If you want to be great–wonderful. But recognize that they who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s your new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it…by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great. Because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve, you don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”[8]

The ordinary can and does do the extraordinary. And this is so, because God makes it so. This is so because when asked what the greatest commandments are, Jesus will say, “to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.”[9] From here everything else follows. From here, flow our lives and vocations of service which Dr. King so beautifully describes. From here, comes the recognition that the Apostle Paul explains regarding all of our unique gifts. Paul writes, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”[10]

The ordinary becomes the extraordinary when one’s neighbor is cared for and shown love. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary when the Spirit moves, and the community does what it is called to do for the sake of the common good. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary when death becomes life, and when we remember that the cross and tomb do not have the final say. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary, for with God all things are made new, and all things are indeed possible.

Abundance is Real!- The Nebraska Synod, in Mission Together
Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church, you make the ordinary extraordinary daily. You do this as the Nebraska Synod, in mission together. You do this by being the very congregation you are, as “A City-wide Church with a World-wide ministry.” There are far too many examples to name and there is far too little time to name them all. But to paint the picture, you make the ordinary extraordinary and show that abundance is real because of God’s love daily. You do this through the way you equip and empower all the disciples and stewards of God’s love. Through the way you raise up and support people for ministry in their discernment and calls to the ministry of being pastors, deacons, and parish ministry associates, including Joseph, James, and Giselle. Through the way you help youth and young adults know of God’s deep love for them through Sunday School and confirmation, Vacation Bible School, the Nebraska Synod’s Middle School Gathering and your congregation’s support and partnership with Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministry and Nebraska Lutheran Campus Ministry.

You live this mission out too, through walking with your Mission Field Nebraska partners in ministry, particularly at San Andres in South Omaha and Nile Lutheran Chapel in North Omaha. Through meeting your neighbors where they are at, through the various ministries of love provided here through Kountze Commons, Kountze Food Pantry, and through the many serving arm partners for ministry of the church like Table Grace Cafe, Lutheran Disaster Response, and Lutheran Family Services. And through all of the ministry that you are a part of through your congregation’s participation in mission share, through which you do ministry that spans the globe and changes lives as a part of the Nebraska Synod, the larger Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and also the Lutheran World Federation. God’s abundance is real, through you! Through the way you grow as disciples and respond generously as stewards of God’s love. So on behalf of your siblings in Christ near and far, thank you for all that you do and make possible by being a part of God’s work and mission in these and so many more ways that matter and make a difference.

The Trumpets Sound, the Angels Sing, the Feast is Ready to Begin [11]
There is so much that you do and are a part of, Kountze. By themselves, each action might seem ordinary or small. But when seen with a wider lens, you might just see the extraordinary happening. You might just see the love of Christ made real. You might just witness God’s work being done in real-time. Perhaps water might not turn into wine the same way it did at the wedding celebration in Cana so long ago. But with God and with each other, we too are being invited to take our place at the table. We too are being invited to serve and respond as part of this life of love and grace. We too might sense during this time of Epiphanies, that God is active and up to something, and God is inviting us to come and see and join in and be a part of it too.

For when we do, the ordinary might just become extraordinary. When we do, others might come, see, and wonder too. So join in. Take your place. Sing with thankfulness and praise. And witness God’s love, given for you. No questions asked. Through grace. And may we too share that same love and grace, no questions asked, with our neighbors near and far. Knowing that it is God in Christ who is with us, for us, and who loves us, always, who is at work and makes it possible. For this, and for everything else we can fully say, thanks be to God. Amen.

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Citations and References:
[1] John 2:3, NRSVue.
[2] John 2:4, NRSVue.
[3] John 2:5, NRSV.
[4] John 2:10, NRSVue.
[5] John 2:11.
[6] Brian Peterson, “Commentary on John 2:1-11,” for “Working Preacher,” https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-john-21-11-9.
[7] Psalm 24:1, NRSV.
[8] Martin Luther King Jr., “The Drum Major’s Instinct,” as quoted by Rev. Tim Brown 15 January 2025 on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/40802374/posts/10101928578615199/?rdid=2GxGsABBur7i0dHt#. See more too here: https://bethlehemfarm.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DrumMajorInstinct.pdf
[9] As in Luke 10:27, and many other places as Jesus quotes the Shema.
[10] 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, NRSV.
[11] Graham Kendrick, “The Trumpets Sound, the Angels Sing,” (c) 1989 Make Way Music, as found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), hymn #531. This hymn served as the hymn of the day for worship this weekend immediately following the sermon.