“When the door swings open” (Full Service)
Sermon begins at 29:03
"When the door swings open"
Glory is a word we’ve already heard more than a few times this morning. It’s also a word that gets used in a lot of different ways. For instance, although it wasn’t the case this year, our Men’s Junior Hockey Team has often given Canadians the chance to use that word “glory” at this time of year. Many of us still remember their “drive for five” – a fifth straight championship – back in 2009.
But back in 1989, that same word, glory, became the title of a movie about one of the first units in the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African-American volunteers. Formed during the Civil War, the 54th faced enormous hurdles, but came to fame, ultimately, not because of the colour of their skin but because of the bravery they displayed. For the makers of the movie, glory was synonymous with courage...
But that same word, glory, also appears here in our reading from John’s gospel: “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory.”
Now, you read that line and you have to think that, as miraculous as Jesus’ wine-making was, and however good the vintage may have been, it’s hard to compare the rescue of a wedding reception to a world gold medal, or to the bravery of soldiers that inspired so many others. On the surface, there’s just no comparison between what some might call a neat party-trick and events where people were facing the greatest challenges of their lives. Other things that Jesus did in the years that followed might be the kind of thing that would bring the word “glory” to mind, but it’s hard to see how “glory” would be something that applies here...
Yet glory is the word that John insists on using to describe what he saw at that wedding feast. How come?
Well, I think we get some hint about John’s understanding of “glory” in the opening chapter of his gospel where he says that he, and those others who followed Jesus, were eye-witnesses of “his glory – the glory as of a father’s only son”.
Now the implication of that verse is subtle, but crucial – and that’s that, for John, real glory doesn’t come from what you do, but from who you are – and that’s something that is especially true of Jesus. Glory was not something that Jesus earned or received. It was something that he carried around with him as a part of who he was. It wasn’t a gold medal that someone hung around his neck, or a fame that grew with each telling of the story. It was something that was always there, often hidden just beneath the surface, but occasionally peeking through so that people could see it. Every so often during Jesus’ ministry, it was as though a door would swing open, sometimes gaping wide, and sometimes opening just a crack, allowing people to see inside.
And, when that happened, what they saw was glory.
Again, John calls it the glory as of a father’s only son – or, in Jesus’ case, the glory of the Father’s only son. And when that door swung open during Jesus’ ministry, that’s what people saw. They saw who Jesus was. They saw the Father’s only son. They saw glory.
John’s gospel actually includes seven “signs” that Jesus gave to show people who he was. Monica and I preached through all seven of them several years ago in the lead-up to Easter. Seven times in John’s gospel, the door swings open just enough to allow people to peek inside. Jesus heals with a word. He cures the lame. He gives sight to the blind. He feeds the hungry. He shows himself to be Lord over the forces of creation. He shows himself to be Lord over the powers of death. And, here, at the very beginning of his ministry, he pushes the door open for the very first time -- just a hint, just a fraction, just a crack -- by changing water into wine. And what the disciples see when they look through that door is glory. They see who Jesus really is.
And, John tells us, they believed!
Which really begs the question, have you seen Jesus’ glory? Have you ever been able to see through that door yourself? Some of you, I know, can point to many times in your life – and maybe even to one crucial time – when you’ve stood before that door and been able to see inside. And whether it was pushed wide suddenly in one dramatic moment -- or was swung open in a more gradual way, with one discovery slowly preparing you for the next -- you did indeed catch a glimpse of who Jesus really is. Like the disciples at the wedding, you saw his glory. And your life has never been the same...
And it’s not that things are now necessarily all that different for you on the outside. After all, there’s a lot of life that is just the way it is whether you’re a believer or not. There’s still a job to go to, and a home to come home to. There are still kids to raise, and bills to pay, and garbage to put out. There are still aches and pains to be dealt with, and I know that, for lots of you, not all of those aches and pains are just physical ones…
But if you’ve seen through that door even once – if you’ve seen Jesus’ glory – you’re aware that, in the midst of all of those very normal things – and, indeed, in the midst of anything else that life may ever throw at you, the other side of that door is always there. You’re aware that there’s more to life than what’s always visible. You’re aware that beneath every conflict in this world, there is in fact a greater conflict. You’re aware that above every kingdom of this world, there is a greater kingdom. You’re aware that you have a Saviour whose power trumps every other power, and who cares enough about you that he was here once, is still here by the Holy Spirit, and one day is going to come again. You’re aware that glory exists. And you know that Jesus is where glory can be found...
Or maybe you’re more like the steward at that wedding in Cana. You’ve been able to get a taste of that wine – wine that’s unlike anything you’ve ever tasted. And you’re aware that there’s definitely something deeper going on. You sense the undercurrents. But you’re not exactly sure what it is. You’re looking one way, but the people around you seem to be looking somewhere else altogether…
Maybe it’s time you did the same. It may be that the door is standing ajar for you right now. It may be that this year – or even this morning -- is your opportunity to see, to look, to ask, to find. It may be that although Jesus’ glory has been right there all along, now is your moment to see it. It may be that this is your moment of revelation. It may be that this is your Epiphany... That’s what we call this season after Christmas: Epiphany. Now, at its root, Epiphany means something like “appearing”. It’s as though, in Jesus, God was saying “Tada!” But, for us, epiphany has come to mean something more like a discovery, a realization, a “eureka” moment. And maybe that’s what God is offering you this morning.
Now, if this is your Epiphany, what is it that you should expect to see?
That’s a good question, but it’s also a rather tricky one to answer. And that’s because, if the gospels themselves are any indication, the answer can have as much to do with you as it does with Jesus. You see, Jesus didn’t always reveal himself in the same way or by the same means to everyone. Some found healing. Some found hope. Some found that a physical need had been satisfied. For others, the need was entirely spiritual. The things that Jesus did, and the needs he met, and the lessons he taught, and the prayers he answered, and the doors he used were often as diverse as the people he encountered. No two precisely the same. No seeker quite like any other... Not that Jesus himself was any different, but the means he used varied incredibly.
And yet, if there’s one thing that anyone should expect to see as the door to glory swings open, no matter who they are, that one thing would have to be the cross...
And I know this may seem like a strange time of year to be talking about this. Christmas is just behind us, and Easter is still a long way away. But the cross is precisely where this passage in John is pointing – because, for John, if Jesus’ glory was something that people caught a first glimpse of that day at the wedding feast, it was also something that would ultimately stand fully revealed only as Jesus went to the cross...
That is the hour that Jesus is speaking of here when he says “My hour has not yet come.” That hour is the hour of his glorification. The hour of his crucifixion. The hour when the door would be thrown wide open. The hour when his glory would be fully revealed. In John, chapter twelve, Jesus announces “The hour has [now] come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
That was the night before Jesus died. The night before the cross. And Jesus himself was that grain of wheat. He himself was the one who was to fall into the earth and die. And you and I – and all those who would behold his glory and believe – are the fruit that he would bear. And that’s why he came. That’s what he says: “It is for this reason that I have come to this hour.” Whatever else he may have done... Whatever other ways he may have pushed the door open so that people could see his glory, it was all leading up to that moment, that hour, when he would give himself for us...
That’s why I’m convinced that, whatever else Jesus may show you as he opens that door, the one thing he is guaranteed to reveal is the cross – because that’s where his glory is most truly shown. That’s where we see most clearly who he truly is. That’s where we come to understand best why he came. And that’s where he meets the need that lies at the heart of every human life, no matter who we are...
Because, regardless of whatever else we may need, we all need grace. We all need the forgiveness that is only extended to us through the cross. Without the cross, you see, we’re on our own. Without the gift of the cross, we pay our own way. Without it, we can only ever hope for that which we can earn, or merit, or accomplish by ourselves – which, as Paul pointedly reminds us, leaves all of us falling short. Short of what? Short of the glory of God!
And that’s one of the confounding things about seeing Jesus’ glory. That’s one of the confounding things about having an epiphany – that when you’re finally able to see through that door, you realize that you simply can’t get there on your own. You may be able to look through, but you are powerless, on your own, to step through. And, in that moment, you realize that all the things you’ve been counting on, all the things that you’ve been working for, all the steps you may have taken, all the work you may have done, all the things that may seem to have contributed to your glory, have, in fact, left you farther and farther away from his...
That’s precisely the conclusion that Paul came to himself when he saw Jesus’ glory: “whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ...”
In one of my favourite movies, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indy gets asked a very pointed question: “Why do you seek the cup of Christ? Is it for your glory or for his?” And, really, that’s a question that could be asked about anything we do in life: is it for our glory or for his? It’s a question that could be asked about anything we’re seeking in life: is it for our glory or for his? And it’s a question that could be asked about anything we’re basing our hope on – does it depend on our glory, or on his?
One of the things that those who’ve see Jesus’ glory know is that the only way to step through that door that lies before them is for them to let go of everything else they may have been holding on to, and take the hand of Jesus. The only way is to see his glory and believe, just as those first disciples did...
Today, you and I are being offered the cup of Christ. Today, we are being invited to share the wine that only he can provide. Today, we are being invited to look through the door, to see the glory he has to show us – the glory of who he is, and the glory of the cross he bore. Today, we are being offered the chance of an epiphany. Let’s not hesitate to respond, and believe. Amen.