In our scripture readings for this third Sunday after Epiphany, Jesus performs miracles for a Samaritan woman in Sychar, and a royal official in Cana. In both cases, Jesus does not perform the miracle precisely as requested. Instead, he performs the miracle in such a way as to fulfill HIS purpose – to bring people to faith in him as their Messiah....
Imagine a scenario like this: you've had three conversations with three different representatives of the Canada Revenue Agency, and they all insist incorrectly, that you owe them $50k. Or imagine a scenario like this: you dutifully applied for your passport six months before your trip overseas, but there was a mix-up, and now you have to reapply from scratch with two weeks before your flight. What on earth can you do in scenarios like these? You can call up your local Battle River-Crowfoot Member of Parliament, and say, “Honourable Mr. Poilievre, however it is you spell your name, I need a miracle.” Perhaps Pierre will ignore your request, there are more important miracles to be working on. Perhaps Pierre will hear your request, but the bureaucracy is too rigid for mere mortals to affect, and your miracle will not be forthcoming. Perhaps Pierre will make your miracle happen, and by my estimation, his chances are better than most. And by my estimation, the chances that his PRIMARY MOTIVATION for helping you is to minimize your suffering...is also better than most. But in the back of his mind there is another motivation: he wants to prove himself trustworthy to you...in the hopes of securing your next vote....for Damien Kurek as it turns out...
The Samaritan woman from Sychar did not expect to find anyone at Jacob's well at high noon, that's why she went during the heat of the day, to avoid people. She CERTAINTLY did not expect to find Jesus the Jew, and she ABSOLUTELY did not expect him to interact with her. But in the course of that interaction, the Samaritan woman heard about something miraculous – living water that eliminated thirst forever. Think of the convenience! She would never again have to come to the public well, and risk the stares and hostile body language of public shame. So she boldly asked Jesus for the miracle of this living water. But that's not the miracle Jesus provided for her.
The royal official from Capernaum DID expect to find Jesus in Cana – even at this early stage of his ministry, the news of his itinerary was spreading almost as if there was an internet. And the goal of the royal official was to beg and plead with Jesus to make the 38.4 km journey back to Capernaum quickly enough to heal his very ill son. Hopefully, Jesus would be compassionate enough to put in a near marathon to save a stranger's child. But what Jesus SAID wasn't about his son at all, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” And running to Capernaum was not the way Jesus provided the miracle for him.
Think about the miracles we want, and WHY we want them. Lord, I'm not asking to win a billion dollars in the lottery, ten million would be just fine! We would love a financial miracle, to erase our past mistakes, and make our lives less stressful. Lord, I'm not asking for the perfect partner in life, I would settle for top 1 percent. We would love a relationship miracle, to make our lives joyful and smooth. Lord, I'm not asking for a new car, just make it so my car stops making that noise. We would love an automotive miracle, or an appliance miracle, or a plumbing miracle, for the sake of our convenience.
Or maybe we think we're deeper than that, and we reserve our miracle requests for cases of human suffering. We would love a miracle of healing for our own aches and pains, the diseases of our friends and family, the mental health issues of our community, the pandemics of our world. We would love for the mourners to be comforted, the estranged to be reconciled, the anxious to be calmed. And we would love for these miracles to be provided in the manner and in the timing we choose.....