Are we reading the signs of our times?

It has now been five years since I retired from preaching with regularity on Sundays. I am now one of those ordinary people sitting in the pew, singing the hymns and listening to a sermon that is hopefully informative and compelling. I miss preaching. I listen to the Bible readings on Sunday morning and my mind immediately starts thinking of the sermon that I would create out of the Bible lessons for the day.

As I prepared to write this weekly column, it was not unusual for me to turn to the common lectionary and take a look at what the lessons might be for Jan. 20. The Gospel of John, chapter 2, verses 1 through 11 — the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. People who are somewhat Bible literate know the story. A wedding celebration was several days long. The supply of wine was running out. Jesus created great wine out of water in abundance. Jesus saved the day. At the end of the story, it is called Jesus’ first sign.

In most seminaries, students learn that this story is pure fiction. It never happened. The story was written at least three generations after the death of Jesus. It is fiction that was written for a particular purpose. It was written to elevate Jesus to a position of power and importance. Over the centuries, reference has been made to his “first miracle that he worked in Cana of Galilee” at a few million weddings. In some ways the story and weddings are good partners. A wedding marks a new beginning for the bride and groom. According to the John Gospel, the water to wine story marks the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.

Whether history or fiction, this is a great story. To John the writer, the incident was a signal, a sign that a new day had arrived and that Jesus, the miracle worker, was about to take charge. We all need to be reminded that Jesus was a nobody, born to humble parents, who lived in a village of no importance and who had no political, economic or religious base from which to launch a campaign to change the world.

The people gathered at the wedding saw a sign of things to come. A new leader had arrived and change lay in the future. Changing water to wine was the signal of things to come.

It is a story line that is repeated in the Bible narrative. The great persons of the Bible were people who brought about change. Joseph, Moses, David and Jesus were all unlikely change figures. The Israelite faith was born in this tradition. To this day, faithful Jews have little intent to leave things the way they are found. A message of change is the heritage that Christians inherited from their Jewish forbearers. It is my contention that Christian faith that is not initiating change has lost its bearings. A conservative Christian is an oxymoron.

There are signs that some very dramatic changes are taking place in the world of Christian faith. Today we can be quite scientific about the signs that changes are taking place. Researchers armed with scientific methods are telling us all a blunt message. Old Christian structures are shrinking and something different is emerging. Presbyterians, Methodists and Episcopalians are disappearing. American Roman Catholics would have similar shrinking numbers but for the large Hispanic migration into the United States. Even Mormons would be losing big time, but are propped up with incredible birth rates.

Something is happening that is as dramatic as water being changed to wine.

Our researchers are telling us a story. The Christian faithful are not disappearing. They are simply changing locations, and apparently they are a new breed. They are leaving the brick and stone edifices with the tall steeple. They are leaving the guilt structure of sins that demand forgiveness from an angry God. Hell no longer intimidates them. They are becoming more interested in a faith that focuses on this world, not the next.

For authority for their lives, they are looking to Jesus rather than the Bible. They are no longer reading about Jesus through the eyes of Paul. They are reading Paul through the eyes of Jesus and marking out the words of Paul that fail the Jesus test. They are discovering that some of Jesus’ most important words were “the kingdom of God is at hand.”

I have taken note of a great change in the names of the religious leaders in America. The old are passing away and new names are popping up rapidly. It is another sign.

I have no power to predict what the future holds. I do believe the signs are abundant that the old is passing away rapidly and something entirely new is emerging. I am excited about new generations of Christians, who are willing to take Jesus seriously. Change is taking place and that is what vital Christian faith is about.

If Jesus is followed, grace, peace and love will abound. Vital Christianity is about change.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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