Weekly Readings Reflections: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

While in Boy Scouts, my father & I went on a lot of hikes in the local mountains. Our scout master, a devout Lutheran and student of ecology, would take time to point out to us the interconnected nature of nature, and marvel at God's creativity and our place in that ecology.
What would you say is our responsibility as God's stewards of the planet?
Does that necessarily mean that we leave behind manufacturing, farming, dense population centers in order to be more sustainable?
Where can we as individuals make a difference in our world?
Is that enough?

We believe that God is ultimately in charge, that all rightful authority derives from Him and His will for His children. But sometimes, connecting the dots between that concept and day to day living can be a little tough.
Is God's kingdom strictly something that is revealed at the end of time, or is that revelation a process, one that it going on right now?
God's kingdom is not like an earthly kingdom in many ways. What are some of those differences?
What are our responsibilities regarding bringing about God's kingdom in the meanwhile?
Where can we start?

All and each of us are gifted in God. Sadly, it's all too easy to think of that giftedness as though it is something that we need to publish on some sort of resume, some way that we have to sell ourselves in the Kingdom. The good news is that God is totally sold on us from before we were ever born.
What are some things that make you feel good about yourself?
Do you think that God is proud of you, of the way that you have turned out (fact is, that process never ceases)?
Can you imagine God pointing to you and saying "this is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased".
Why do you think that is the case?

I am always struck by the ways that God involves us in His movements. The servers were probably grumbling to themselves at having to draw all of that water, one bucketful at a time, to uselessly fill the stone jars. But if they had not done so, this lavish miracle would not have happened.
What are some miracles that you have participated in?
Why do you think that God asked you to get involved in the first place?
How did that experience change you?
Do you think that you are more or less likely to be trusting the next time God leads you?

Where might God be calling me to be a better steward of His blessings?
In this era of contentious politics, where might God be calling me to bring peace?
Is God calling me to make different/more use of the gifts that He has given me?
When I pray, do I look for ways that God might be calling me to be part of His answer to my prayer?

Do We Need to Fill All Six of Them?

Drawing water was no picnic in first century Palestine.

Most often, the wells were deep,

Each bucket of water slowly emerging from the cool depths of the earth,

Heavy and dripping at the end of a rope wound on a balky crank.

You have to wonder why Jesus chose to to gladden the feast at Cana this way.

He could have had them fill just one jar, and make it so that jar never ran empty.

That would have been just like the jug of oil that fed Elijah the prophet for three years.

But instead, Jesus asked for six jars to be filled, one after the other.

I'm glad that I wasn't there to present that water turned to wine to the steward.

Because I'd be wondering what it was going to taste like.

I'd wonder if I was going to look the fool for presenting common well water.

And then trying to explain why I had bothered the steward in the first place.

Maybe that's the whole point.

In order to receive a miracle, we have to be the miracle.

We are more than onlookers in this life,

More than merely passing through.

Instead, we are called, like Jesus,

To become immersed in the miracle,

Put some skin in the game,

And trust Him just enough to let His Kingdom come to earth.

Lord teach me to learn to trust You enough,

To do what you ask of me, no matter how small.

Knowing that is all that it takes

To usher in the miracle of your Presnce in our lives.

Shalom!

Weekly Readings Reflections