Everyday Faith - Week 2 Day 8

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READING
"The mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' … Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water' … When the steward tasted the water that had become wine … he called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves the good wine first … But you have kept the good wine until now.'"
John 2.3, 7, 9–10

REFLECTION
Hope in the Bible isn’t wishful thinking. It’s the certainty both that there is a new heaven and a new earth to look forward to, and that all that happens to us now will, by God’s grace, be turned to good. The certainty of a glorious future puts the present in perspective.

But there’s more.

Jesus’ kingdom has broken in and so new possibilities abound now, foretastes of what is to come: divine interventions, providential “coincidences”, messages from above, prayers answered.

Jesus’ first miracle is both a generous gift of 900 bottles of wine and a foretaste of the great wedding banquet of Christ and his bride, the Church. The wine Jesus made was better than what had been served before, just as our life in him in eternity will be better than anything we have yet tasted.

A day of rest is similar. A Sabbath rest – Sunday or not – is intended to be a reminder and a foretaste of that greater rest to come. A sign to the world of a different possibility. And our everyday lives among our friends, our families, our colleagues are also intended to be a sign: with Christ, there is a different way. The hope alive in us is a pointer to the hope for them.

RESPONSE
Sabbath is about looking back as well as looking forward. Think about the past week: where have you seen God at work in your life? Or the lives of others? What tokens of his love have you noticed? What are you grateful for?

Visit the Church of England website to find #EverydayFaith prayers to start and end your day and short prayers in midst of everyday life.

Bible readings are taken from The New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Taken from Everyday Faith: Reflections and prayers to help you find and follow God in everyday life by Nick Shepherd, Mark Greene and Rachel Treweek, published by Church House Publishing and copyright © 2019 The Church of England. Includes stories kindly provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). All rights reserved.

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