Do Whatever He Tells You (February 23, 2015)

Do Whatever He Tells You

John 2:1-12

February 23, 2015

You probably have heard and read many times the story of the Wedding at Cana.  It might be good to refresh your memory and turn to that story again to see what fresh insights God has for you on this first Monday in the Season of Lent.

Some words jumped off the page at me.  In verse 5, Jesus' mother says to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."  

It seems so obvious.  "Do whatever he tells you."  Yet how many times do we struggle with this simple suggestion.  Why is this so difficult for us?  I can think of a few reasons.

First, we struggle to hear what Jesus is telling us to do.  We like to look for certainty; but in the world of the spirit, instruction is given to us more subtly.  Jesus is not with us physically; but He has sent another "Comforter," the "Spirit of Truth," who speaks to our spirits.  In order to hear for the whisperings of the Spirit, we need to be able to let go of our own agendas and expectations and listen for the interior promptings nudging us, urging us, calling us to God's plan for us.

Second, we need to let go of the baggage that weighs us down.  One reason for the Lenten discipline of sacrifice is to enable us to let go of things that get in our way and distract us from hearing the voice of God.  

Third, we need to remember who is in charge.  As long as our own ego is driving our behavior, we will struggle against direction coming from Someone else.  Using a very different metaphor, one hymn writer described the process of yielding to God's will in this way:

Have thine own way, Lord!  Have thine own way!

Thou art the potter; I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after thy will,

while I am waiting, yielded and still.

[Adelaide A. Pollard, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord," in The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 382.]

Let's also remember who spoke these words at the wedding at Cana.  John's Gospel never mentions her name, but identifies her as the "mother of Jesus" (verse 2, 5).  In Luke's Gospel, we find the mother of Jesus demonstrating in her own life what it means to submit to God's will when she tells the angel, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." (Luke 1:38).

In this Season of Lent, I am being challenged to listen even more closely to what Jesus tells me to do, and then to do it.  I hope you will join me!

A Prayer:  "Here am I, the servant of the Lord.  Let it be with me according to your word. "  Amen.