Where Grace Breaks Through...

I've always been puzzled by the miracle of turning water into wine in Cana.

The gospel writer John tells us that this was the first of Jesus miracles and signs of the kingdom of God.

Why was this the first miracle?

Why was this the first sign of the breaking in of the kingdom?

The whole thing seems so trivial really.

I mean, even during the days of Jesus, there were issues of hunger and extreme poverty. There were people suffering the plight of terrible and horrible diseases. There were people struggling with the injustice of political and racial domination and discrimination. There was so much that Jesus could have done to show that the kingdom of God was at hand.

But, the first sign of the kingdom of God is Jesus making sure that the wedding guests have enough wine???

Perhaps, for the first time, I think I’m beginning to understand why this was the first sign.

Whenever we look for a miracle, a place where God’s grace breaks into our mundane everyday world, we typically look for something that is out of the ordinary.

That's why we call them miracles.

But the reason why I think God starts the breaking in of the kingdom of God through something as ordinary as a wedding, something everyday as meeting people’s needs right where they are, and something as mundane as turning water into wine is because that's exactly how God's grace happens.

God's grace and power doesn't shine through only the extraordinary.

It's through the everyday, mundane, ordinary events of life that God's grace and power shines through.

When grace breaks through water is turned into wine, meals into the sacrament of holy communion, gatherings of people into the church of Jesus Christ.

God's grace is all around us.

It's just that, too often, we're so busy looking for the extraordinary that we miss out on the myriad of ways the power and the grace of God shines through in every day life.

So, open your eyes to the miracle of grace in your life.

God is present.

God is here.