Isn’t it intriguing that Jesus did not replace the wine in the bottles – or jars – which were empty – or as the lectionary text says: “failed”. Jesus looks around and tells the servants to fill the huge stone ceremonial washing jars with water. These jars were not for drinking but were used to fulfil ceremonial or ritual washing, a social and religious requirement. The water is changed into wine in these same ceremonial washing
jars.
Were these just jars in the right place at the right time? Why did Jesus not replace the containers of the failed wine with good wine? We might well ponder this question. Might Jesus be repurposing these jars and, in so doing, saying that our religious actions should, first and foremost, lead us to be of service to others? We can so easily get caught up in making sure that we obey the letter of the law and perform the rituals required that it
becomes easy to forget that all we do should ultimately be at the service of relationships.
If you look carefully, you will notice a pattern in the Gospels. Jesus challenges or changes anything that has become a dead ritual or ceremonial action. It is dead when it is has become an end in itself. Jesus’ contemporaries fail to see that all they do should lead, ultimately, to a greater love of God and neighbour.
In our own religious traditions, we too can slip into thinking that the ceremonial or ritual is all we need, that somehow it is an end in itself. This is not true. Our ceremonials and rituals, our sacraments and sacred gatherings, should always point us to something more, something greater: an ever-growing love of God and neighbour. When we only adhere to the letter of the law and do all that it requires, we too could land up in a dead-end.
Too many believers live with the also notion that if they simply do the rituals or receive sacraments, then they have done all that is required – they “have made it”. This is far from the truth. This is to live with an immature faith in a space and place that is stagnant, where little growth takes place.
Our ceremonials and rituals should always stretch us, prompt us to reach out to those we don’t usually reach out to and love those we find difficult to love.
Are you caught up in making sure that you obey the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law? Do you simply adhere to and perform the ceremonials and rituals you learned rather than ask what they mean and what they demand of you?
In what ways are the ceremonials and rituals you perform helping you grow in love of God and neighbour?
