Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 01/20/19 Insufficient and Insignificant

Episode Date: January 21, 2019

Homily from the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. God uses what we have and gives us what we need. It is often very tempting to forget the heart of God. To forget that He notices us, delights in us, and rejoices in us. When the focus shifts from His love to our insufficiency and feelings of insignificance, He reminds us of the truth. Mass Readings from January 20, 2019: Isaiah 62:1-5 Psalms 96:1-3, 7-101 Corinthians 12:4-11 John 2:1-11

So as we begin like this new semester, there's, I've been really thinking about, like, how do we, how do we, how do we, how do we start? Like, what do we really need to begin this semester? And, um, get coming back to this truth, I think that one of the things I know I need to be reminded of, and maybe we all need to be reminded of is who it is that we're here for. Like, really, not just who, we're all here for God. Okay, yeah, we know that. But like, what's his heart like? Like, who, who is he really?

Because sometimes I know, again, if you're anything like me, we can sometimes approach God with these distorted versions. or the sort of kind of images of God that, like maybe God is like the cosmic traffic cop who's always listening to watch because he wants to bust you doing something. Or God is just, he's just the judge who just, again, he just wants to crack down. Of course, God is present, he's watching,

and yes, God is a judge. That's a good thing. But there's something about this very first Sunday back on campus that the church gives us this reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah at the very beginning, chapter 62, and it reveals something really important about God's heart.

and not just about how God's heart, but about how he sees you and how he sees, how he looks at us. And it says this, it says, the Lord delights in you. And it goes on, it says even more, he rejoices in you. Now, that's who we're worshipping. That's like who we're here to serve. That's where we're here to be loved by. Is the God who delights in you, the God who rejoices in you. In fact, he goes on to say, as a bride groom rejoices in his bride.

I mean, just, I don't know if you've been to any weddings recently or ever, but just that, That vision of, oh my gosh, what is that? That's how God looks at you. As the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, what does he do? He delights, he loves her. He notices her. He notices all the things.

In fact, a couple years ago, a bunch of years ago, I was invited, there was a friend of mine who was going to get married. And so a bunch of other married men, married men, not married men, like I was Robin Hood. But married men came to give him advice. We went down to Anchor over in Superior. and we sat around this table to give the new to be married man some advice, and the priest was there too. So as we went around the table, one of the men, his name is Tony,

he's married to a woman named Annette. He said, here's what you need to do. You need to notice your bride. Like you need to not just notice what she likes. You need to notice what she does so that you can anticipate what she needs. And he gave this example. He said, I noticed that Annette, same time every night. pretty much gets herself a glass of water.

And so I thought, well, pretty much every night she gets herself a glass of water. I should just get her a glass. She doesn't need to ask me to get her a glass of water. I should just get her a glass of water. So then he said, I just started, you know, I know she's going to be thirsty this time of night. I'm going to get her a glass of water. Just notice your bride and then act on it.

Notice what she wants, notice what she likes and act on it. Later on, I shared that story a bunch of years ago, and Annette heard about it. And she said, well, he used to get me a glass of water. And then Tony heard about it, and now he gets her glass of water again. But that whole, even that tense of, like, again, notice, and when you notice that thing, you move, that's what a lover does, and this is the Lord, he delights in you. I was thinking about this since last week, or not week, and over the break, because I got to spend a bunch of days at my parents' house, like where I grew up, and I just was struck by,

I don't know if you ever did this when you're a kid growing up, where you get up in the middle of the night, again, glass of water thing, and you're thirsty, and so here's what I would do. I would get up in the middle of the night, and I'd walk to my parents' room and go next to, you know, my parents bed and go, Mom, it's like, what, what, what? Now I am. What do you want?

It's just, it's almost like Mary in the gospel today. Where I didn't say, I need a glass of water. Like just Mary doesn't say, you should get them some more wine. She just says, announcement, Jesus, they have no more wine. Get some wine. And so I'd be like, Mom, I'm thirsty. And now she could have said, okay, you are 24 years old.

Get yourself some water. She could have said, you know, you're five, you're sick, whatever old I was, get yourself some water. But what she would do is she would get out of bed and she'd walk me to the bathroom, get me a cup of water, and then bring me to bed. Why? Because that's what love, the one who looks at you with love, the one who delights in you, the one who rejoices in you, he notices you and he acts on that. The crazy thing is, what about that whole story? I kept thinking about is my parents' bedroom was past the bathroom. I had to walk by the bathroom and I already

get that. But what does my mom do? She's like, okay, I'll get it for you. Because that's this love. That's the kind of love that the father, that God himself has for you. he notices and he delights in you. It's so important for us to understand why. It's so important for us to begin this semester like this because in so many ways we can be starting this semester feeling insufficient and insignificant. We can begin the semester and we already,

I don't know if you feel like this, you begin the semester and you're like, I've already run out. Like I'm beginning, I'm just starting the semester and I'm already running on fumes and I feel so insufficient. I mean, it's one thing to get to the end of the semester. Be like, oh, man, I'm run down, I'm dragging out, but I only have a week left. on two weeks left, to begin, and some of you are like this right now, to begin this whole

semester and feel like, I have already run out. When it comes to my energy and my zeal and my joy and my love and my patience, I'm like, I'm out. And we look at just, we always see that we're insufficient. Or we can feel insignificant, you know, that you come back to this campus and you might be like, you know, it was really nice to be with my family. It was very nice to be with people who like really actually loved me. Hopefully that's what you're, you know. experience was maybe it's not everybody. But you come back to campus and you're like, you come find a place where like I don't feel like I really matter. And that could be you, walking the hallways, going back to your dorm or your apartment and be like, I'm now in a place

where I just feel like I don't really matter. That I'm not, I'm not one of the important people. And in those moments, it's really easy to also feel insignificant. Yeah, because my life doesn't matter. I don't matter. What I do doesn't matter. And so we can be beginning this semester feeling insufficient and insignificant. It's important we look at this because we have to ask the question today, on this Sunday, what does Jesus do with people who are insufficient and insignificant? What does Jesus do? The one we're here to worship.

Where is there a place in his heart for people who are insufficient or insignificant? We just have to look at the gospel because in the gospel, Mary comes to Jesus. They have no wine. They're out of it. They run out of wine. and Jesus' response, of course, you know, woman, what is this to do with you and me? Now, we can go into that whole thing. We're not going to go down that road.

Just suffice it to say, Jesus is not being rude to his mom. Just like, he is being even more polite. He's being profound. That's for another Sunday, not this Sunday. I want to focus on the next line. He says, woman, what does this have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come. We have to ask the question.

What do you mean your hour has not yet come? Jesus is our, right? It's the hour of redemption. The hour he's talking about is the hour that all of humanity has been waiting for from the beginning of time. Since the beginning of the fall in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, when God promises, listen, I know you've been broken. I know this place has been broken, but don't worry, I will not abandon you. I'm going to save you. Jesus says, that hour has not yet come.

The most important event in history is not right now, Mom, that hour has not yet come. But here's the important thing. We could think that, okay, your hour has not yet come. Why? Because my hour is not, I'm not going to reveal my glory at an insignificant wedding of an insignificant couple in some insignificant town. That's how we could interpret this. Now, Jesus is saying, no, no, no, no, no, this is not the hour because I am not about to reveal my glory. I'm not about to begin the redemption of the world in some insignificant wedding of an insignificant couple in an insignificant town. Because earlier on in this gospel, same gospel, John chapter 1,

He even says it. He says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. The glory of a father's only son. And you could imagine, we could imagine, with the wrong vision of Christ's heart, that he's like, I'm not going to do it here. Because none of this matters. These people don't matter. Because you think about, you think about, we don't even know their names. You ever paused to, they didn't say, like, here's the name of the bride, here's the name of the groom.

We have no idea who they are. They are insignificant to history. They might have even been insignificant to their neighbors. But here's the important thing. They are not insignificant to him. This is the most important part of this whole thing. This insignificant wedding of an insignificant couple and an insignificant town is not insignificant to Jesus.

Because what does he do? He notices. They've run out. He cares. And he moves. He acts. And what does it say at the end of this gospel? We have read it today.

Jesus did this as the first of his signs at Cana and Galilee, and so he revealed his glory. That it wasn't one of these, the backdrop is like, this is too insignificant of a place for me to reveal my glory. He's like, no, no, I can reveal my glory in this place. It's not too insignificant. This is not the hour, it's not that hour, and yet, this is an hour that that couple would never forget, and that he would never forget. So we have to realize this. If Jesus revealed his glory at some insignificant wedding of an insignificant couple in an insignificant town, why would we be so convinced that our insignificance would be an obstacle to him revealing his glory in your life or in my life?

That our smallness doesn't stop him. If he can reveal his glory there, he can't truly reveal his glory anywhere. And he can also reveal his glory even after we've run out, even after we've run out, even after we have nothing left, even when we're insufficient. Again, I love this, Mary, they've run out of wine. And Mary could come to Jesus about the same kind of things with us. Like, oh, man, look at them. They've run out of energy.

They've run out of hope. They've run out of trust. What have you run out of? Would you look at your life and say, I'm insufficient? Realize this is what Mary looks at you and goes to Jesus and says, listen, Jesus, you're my son, you're my God, you're my Savior. She's run out. He's run out.

How does Jesus respond? This is so cool I love how this rest of the story plays out because Mary goes to the servers and says do whatever he tells you and then Jesus tells them he says what does he say fill the jars with water the very next line is one of my favorite lines

in this whole section Jesus says fill the jars with water the next line is they fill the jars to the brim what the thing I love about this is that exactly what Jesus tells them to do they do that exact thing that Jesus says fill the jars of water So it's not like they're like, oh, splash some water in there.

He says, fill them. And they filled them to the room. John was there, right? John was at the wedding. He saw it, and he saw it, Jesus say, fill those jars with water. And then he saw these servants go and actually do this. Now, what's really important about this is that they simply did what they were asked to do. They simply did, again, insufficient.

We don't have any wine. So it just filled the jars with water. They simply did what they were asked to do. And what they were asked to do was what they could do. This is, again, just highlight this. What they were asked to do was exactly what they could do. They weren't asked to do something they couldn't do. They weren't asked.

Jesus didn't say, he filled those jars with wine. Because why? Because they've run out. They're insufficient. So we asked them to fill the jars with something they actually had. Here's what Jesus does. He says, do what you can. Give me what you have, and I'll give you what you need.

This is how Jesus works. Give me what you have. I know you feeling significant. I know you're insufficient. I know you don't have that. So give me what you have, and I'll turn it into what you need. He does not ask them to give him something impossible

or to do something impossible. He just says, give me what you have, and I'll give you what you need. And they do exactly that. That's why, you know, the secret of holiness, if you really want to know, what, like, if you boil it down, the secret of holiness is nothing more

than to do what God asks as he asks and because he asks. That's it, that's it. Done. To do what God asks as he asks because he asks. They did what Jesus asked. As he asked, fill it.

They filled it. Why did they do it? Because he asked. And they gave him what they had, so he gave them what they needed. So here's how do we do. We come into this semester, coming into this week, insignificant and insufficient. So what does he ask us to do?

Well, in his letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul says this. He says, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you. So what's God's will for you? Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you.

Say, but I feel so insufficient. I don't have hope, and don't have trust, I don't have all these things. But here's the deal. Thanksgiving is like water. You always have it. You might have to dig to get it, but it's always there.

Thanksgiving is like water. You might have to fight for it, you might have to dig for it, but it is always there. And St. Paul says, give thanks in all circumstances because this is what God has asked of you. So just simply to do what God asks, as he asks, because he asks, is what is giving him what we have. And he turns it into what we need. This is the last thing. My invitation for all of us is especially if we feel insignificant to give thanks. Why?

because the things we give thanks about reminds us, wait a second, I'm not forgotten by God. If we recognize how many gifts you and I have in the course of our daily lives, we'd realize, wait, he's been taking care of me this whole time. I might not have what I think I need, but he's been caring for me. I am not insignificant to him. If you cultivate Thanksgiving, you recognize that he has not forgotten you, and you're not insignificant to him. And we cultivate Thanksgiving.

We thank him for the small things, and he responds. with an abundance. So the invitation, maybe challenge this week, again, especially if you're feeling insignificant, especially if you're feeling like you don't have, you've run out, is tonight to thank God for three things that are in your life. Yep, there are some insufficiency. But what are three things you can thank God for tonight? And all week, my invitation, it gets kind of challenging, is every morning, write down three things,

down three things you're thankful for to God. And every night write down three things you're thankful to God. Now you could think of those things. I'm just going to think of the thankful things. That's fine, but you're going to forget them because that's how brains work. So how pens work is that if you write them down, your paper doesn't forget. So my invitation is just this week, starting tonight, to write down these, God, these are three things that I'm thankful for because I know that I'm not insignificant to you and I might have some insufficions, but you provide abundance. And we'll fill up that tank. It will fill up those jars. And when we fill up those jars with Thanksgiving, when we give him what we have, he responds.

And he transforms them into what we need.