As you may know, Ive just returned from a 72-hour visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, partly to make the initial arrangements for a diocesan pilgrimage which Bishop Donald has asked me to organize for him in a couple of years time.

While I was in Bethlehem, I was told a remarkable story a story which has been going round and round my mind since I looked at the readings for this mornings sermon. It was a story about a suburb of Bethlehem called Beit Sahour a district to the south of the little town, believed to have been the location where, some 2000 years ago, there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night

Now, back in 1989, the Palestinian people were in the midst of what is now known as the First Intifada the first uprising against the illegal occupation of their lands by Israel. And this occupation included a very punitive and unjust burden of taxation that Israel was demanding from the Palestinian people. And it was a taxation, of course, that came with no prospect of any sense of representation or participation in the regime that was dominating the lives of those it was penalizing. And the point came when, echoing words originally used in the build-up to the American Revolution, the people of Beith Sahour cried out, No taxation without representation and went on a district-wide tax strike. The military authorities do not represent us, they said, we did not invite them to come to our land. Must we pay for the bullets that kill our children or for the expenses of the occupying army?

And so, I was told, it came to pass that one day during this time...the Israeli military pushed their way into one of the houses close to the Shepherds Fields. They started to move everything out, loading the familys possessions onto a large truck. The family stood and watched as their furniture, acquired so painstakingly piece by piece whenever they could afford it, was being hauled away. Each piece of furniture called up stories, reminiscences, and the memory of the sweat it had cost them. After a few hours, the living room was totally empty. The soldiers, after having robbed her of all her possessions, turned to bid farewell to the elderly owner, a Christian. The old woman looked at the young soldier sadly. Her glance contained suffering, pain, and rage. Her lips moved, but not to curse, not to cry out, not even to scold. You forgot the curtains. Please do not forget to take them down too and remove them. An eerie silence descended on the room. Shamed and guilty, the soldiers left. They took everything except the curtains. At that moment the old woman had achieved dignity. At that moment the triumphant Israeli army had lost the battle. An old woman had defeated them. She gave her enemy, who wanted to sue her and take her dress, her coat also.

And Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Its not, of course, about money and possessions. Its not about washing machines and curtains. Its not even about guns and soldiers and defenceless little old ladies. Its about water, and about wine, and about what you do with them about what you make them do.

Todays gospel, that very well known story of the wedding feast at Cana, offers us a truly topsy-turvy world of water and wine. And it shows us some very important things about Jesus and about those who are Jesus disciples

Its a story which starts, curiously, on The Third Day. And its a story about discipleship and glory which is, perhaps, a little unexpected. On the first day and on the second day, if you go back and read the opening of the fourth gospel, youll discover that Jesus has been busy collecting disciples. But the Jesus of the fourth gospel collects his disciples rather differently to the Jesus about whom you can read in Matthew, Mark and Luke. In Luke, when Jesus encounters the fishermen who become his first disciples, it all happens in the context of a miraculous catch of fish an event so frightening in its power that Simon Peter initially tells Jesus to leave him alone because he is such a sinner. And in the other synoptic gospels, no sooner has Jesus got his first disciples than he performs a host of miraculous healings, which bring a huge crowd around him in Capernaum.

But the fourth gospel tells us a story that has a very different feel indeed. Jesus sort of inherits his first disciples from John the Baptist, and it happens with almost no fuss at all. John happens to mention that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and Andrew and Simon Peter start following, and all they ask of him is to find out where he is staying as if that really mattered two hoots. And the next day day two - Jesus encounters Philip and Nathanael, and Nathanael, as you may remember, becomes a disciple simply because Jesus saw him sitting under a fig tree. Day One and Day Two are hardly the stuff of epic drama the drama is on The Third Day.

And then, so the evangelist tells us, then, on the Third Day, there is this wedding at which the Mother of Jesus is present

And what is this Sign? Well, the easy answer the obvious answer is that it is simply turning water into wine. Well I say simply, but Id like to see you try it. You dont have to know me well to realize that Id love to be able to turn water into wine but, sadly, all I can manage to do is to turn wine into water.

But Jesus doesnt just turn water into wine he turns it into wine that is both qualitively and quantitively remarkable. The New Wine of a New Covenant has a taste and an abundance that is simply unnecessary. Its not hard to work out from the Stewards remarks that the guests are, not to put too fine a point on it, half-cut. Theyre at that point in the party (and bear in mind that in the Middle East a party of this kind literally lasts days, not hours) when theres no need for a first growth claret the guests wouldnt notice if you served the cheapest Asda plonk. And the quantity if you cant see that this is excessive stupidly excessive then go work out how many 75cl bottles you could get from a minimum of 120 gallons. Its not often that the King James Bible has language that can give us a more accurate clue than a modern translation, but when I tell you that it talks about how many firkins the water jars held, you can see it was a firkin lot of wine.

And the Sign? Whats the sign? The sign, frankly, is that the whole thing is ridiculous. Jesus has done something bizarre. Jesus has done something that is utterly needless. Jesus has done something that is utterly mad firkin mad, if you like. But do you know what.?

It revealed his gloryand his disciples believed in him. Thats why it was a Sign, and such an important one.

I dont know if you were moved by the story of the old woman in Beit Sahour and her curtains. Its a story I was told by the Lutheran minister in Bethlehem, whom I have had the privilege of getting to know in recent years. Hes the oldest child of a prominent Bethlehem family, hes a scholar and a writer, and hes been Pastor of the Christmas Lutheran Church a church about 400 metres from the birthplace of Jesus Christ for about fifteen years, I think. And, as you can imagine, hes a well-connected man. Given the importance of Lutheranism in Germany and Scandinavia, this scholar-pastor of Bethlehem could get European passports for himself and his family, and he could flee the ever-worsening state of affairs in Bethlehem and live in the relative luxury and calm of Europe at the drop of a hat. But, to my surprise, he doesnt Despite the fact that his children could live in a normal environment, and could travel throughout the world with ease, and despite the fact that he could earn a stipend which, I suspect, far outweighs what any minister might earn in Palestine despite all that, he stays put. And he stays put in ever-worsening circumstances for, Im afraid, life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is getting worse and worse and worse each month.

And that, also, that is crazy. Most Palestinians would be unable to get the right to emigrate to the west. Most Palestinians have no choice but to live with the ever more fierce restrictions of the Israeli occupation. But this man is one who could get a western passport and the western lifestyle, and be out of there tomorrow. And yet he doesnt

And one day I asked him why he didnt. I could see he was ground down by the realities of everyday life in Bethlehem. And I asked him if he was even a little bit optimistic by the talk of peace plans and international help and the like. And he told me that, frankly, he was utterly pessimistic. He reminded me that Jesus had once, memorably, said Blessed were the peace-makers. But that all anyone in Palestine encountered were peace-talkers and that, frankly, he was totally pessimistic. He thought things would get worse much worse before they got better. So much worse that he doesnt think he will live to see any serious improvement. And, do you know, I think hes right

So, I asked, why do you stay???

Because, he told me, because I have hope. And do you know, despite three fairly intense years of theological training. Despite a good number of years of ordained ministry. Despite being a fairly well-read and articulate person, I just didnt get it and I pretty much cried out, How can you have hope you just told me you were 100% pessimistic about the situation How on earth can you have any hope at all.? To be honest, Id never heard anything so crazy so foolish. How can you have hope in such a genuinely pessimistic situation.

And so he explained to me about hope, and he did so with words from Martin Luther, the founder of his church. Apparently Luther once said that if he knew that he was going to die tomorrow, today he would go out and plant an apple tree. Well, Pastor Mitri explained to me that in his part of the world they were more interested in olive trees, and that hope was about the fact that he was interested in planting an olive tree today, despite how gloomy the current situation was...

"For," he said, "if I don't plant an olive tree today, tomorrow there will be no leaves to give shelter for our children to rest under when they are playing in the midday sun. If I don't plant an olive tree today, tomorrow there will be no oil to bind up the wounds of those who are broken and in pain. And today, if I don't plant an olive tree, then if the Prince of Peace finally rides back to the city of his birth, there will be no palms to wave to welcome him."

For, so he reminded me, even in a city where an old woman is left only with her curtains, for Christians, there is only one type of news, and that is Good News. And if there is Good News, then there is hope for hope is not optimism. One is a human outlook and the other is a gift of God a gift of God that is a Sign to this world.

And it isnt just the Lutheran Pastor of Bethlehem who understands this. And it wasnt just Martin Luther planting an apple tree in the Reformation. It was there in our first reading, when Paul talks about how God chose what is foolish to shame the wise and what is weak to shame the strong and what is low and despised to reduce to nothing the things that are of human strength and creation and, so Paul tells us, it is all to ensure that our boast will only our boast can only be in the Lord. Because you and I can boast in our relative wealth, or our education and knowledge; we can boast about our jobs or our cars or our houses. If we were fat-cat bankers, we could boast about our bonuses, and if we were left-wing politicians we could boast about how we attack the bonus culture. But that boasting doesnt get anywhere. Its not a Sign of any value to the world, and I dont think it makes anyone believe anything worthwhile.

But that woman who was left with her curtains. She knew in what she could boast, and look what she did to a room full of brash, strong, armed soldiers. That was a Sign. That was the kind of remarkable thing that can happen on a Third Day.

And it happens all too rarely. People with the dignity of that old woman, and people with the steadfastness of that Lutheran Pastor are all too rare in the world in which we live. And they are people who show the world something crazy, something topsy-turvy, something of the kind about which Paul was writing in that reading, something so ridiculous it could only happen on the Third Day.

But when it does happen, then it becomes a Sign that can change my life, and perhaps change your life. For then, in the heart of something that is so firkin ridiculous as that vast quantity of wine that appeared on the Third Day, we can see the true glory of God revealed in our midst and then people start to believe and to become disciples.

And the only thing left to work out then, is how I and perhaps you as well might do something on the Third Day ourselves that could be half as convincing. Amen.

Dominic Barrington, 30 January 2011.