The story of the wedding feast at Cana is one I’ve heard a thousand times. I prayed my way through it recently, Lectio Divina style, expecting a real good, feel good, prayer time. I wasn’t looking for anything fresh, nor expecting new insight. The story in sum: six large stone jars held dirty wash water, and, in response to Mary’s request, Jesus tells the servants to top the pots off, to scoop some of the liquid, and bring it to the head waiter. Usually, I soak up the deep theology in the passage of Jesus’ hour. Or I smile at Mary’s words, “Do whatever he tells you,” and marvel at the obedience of a son and the love of a mother. But on this morning, the capacious crocks caught my focus. The earthen jar. That was me. A vessel of clay, filled with inadequacy, impurity and imperfections. Jesus sees potential and pours pure grace in. “Draw some out now,” he says.
“Huh? Now? You mean… me?”
I wasn’t perfect when raising my kids. (Just ask them.) Nor was I perfect when we adopted two more. (Not even close.) Nor was my world well-ordered while I pursued online degrees or picked up pen and paper to write and illustrate my homespun stories. But, he asked me, “Will you? Without knowing why? For me?”
Liz Kelly’s latest book, Jesus Approaches, tells the stories of women, muddling in the middle of a million things. In spite of — and because of — our broken, disordered, discolored days and ways, he draws us to him. His love promises transformation. From murkiness to transparency. From the dull opaque sheen to translucent, transpiring, transcending joy. “Jesus is not waiting for you to be perfect,” Liz says, “he is waiting for you to say yes.”
We are earthen vessels and our lives are filled to the brim, clouded with so much stuff that we can’t see our way through it all. Filled with flaws, but called to be poured out, to make a splash, to be spilled for others. The Miracle at Cana, the first of his signs, showed his glory. People began to believe in him. Lives were challenged and changed. One scoop. One miraculous scoop was the start of it.
Ladle up, ladies! Are you ready? Are you willing to be made ready? Are you willing to be made willing? Ready or not, RSVP.
