On February 21, 2021, I preached a sermon from John 2 titled “Empty Water Jars.” It was my 2nd time preaching on this passage. I love that Maria inaugurates the kingdom and sets this miracle into motion. like the matriarch that she is, this Madre knows the contractions of the coming kingdom.
Pero. I also love this word: “There is no more wine.” No hay vino. Madres know. Women know when something runs out. And women know God can do something outta nothing.
Pero. Before the wine came the water. And before the water came the empty water jar. However, this time I said: “Maybe you don’t even have an empty water jar, maybe your jar is broken. It broke on the way here.” That line wasn’t on my notes.
Little did I know that on the other side of the Zoom screen was Nicola @nic.patton who took stencil in hand and began drawing that broken water jar. She posted about it. I DMed and asked if I could buy her drawing. I had always dreamed of an artist drawing one of my sermons. She, kindly, wouldn’t let me do so and gifted me her broken water jar. Selah.
I’ve wanted to write about it for months. I believe this is the time to let you hold the broken water jar. There in between your weary hands and fractured heart. The heart that has had trouble holding onto hope. Oh, but don’t we know that hope is a habit that grows in the dark.
During this time of Advent, may we let the light and the shadows co-exist without crippling us. Both carriers of the hard and the holy. We serve a Jesus who still welcomes brokenness and emptiness as sacred spaces for revelation.