In modern day life the Bible continues to make an essential contribution to our thinking. The Christian culture of this country and across most of the World is driven and under-pinned by the basic moral and ethical thought of the Jewish and Christian tradition found in the Bible.

This morning we hear from three writers:

- Isaiah, who expressed community relationships in terms of a marriage with God.

- St Paul, who expressed personal relationships in terms of gifts of life shared by God’s Spirit.

- St John, who expressed the process of coming to faith in the risen Christ in terms of a marriage feast.

These days marriage is understood to be a relationship between equal partners. But this is not what Isaiah had in mind when he expressed the relationship with God as a marriage. In Isaiah’s day, in a marriage the lady became the property of the gentleman; as can be understood from the tenth commandment, where the lady is counted amongst a list of possessions which includes: wife, slave, ox, and donkey. In this understanding, being married to God means an acceptance that, man or woman, we belong to God. Living in a marriage with God presents us with a real challenge to our behaviour patterns.

St Paul builds on this idea as he considers the practicalities for living a life of faith, where we are bound to God by a marriage contract, and where our God given gifts equip us for faithful living. Such a life of faith requires us to tread carefully; recognising what we are good at, being aware of our limitations, and valuing the contribution made by the people around us; people who may have different but complimentary life skills. This insight from St Paul provides an essential guide as we seek to share and contribute fully in community, living the new life of the risen Christ.

St John envisages that as we seek to fulfil our marriage vows to God the ensuing feast is one of great generosity.

Most of us will have experienced a wedding feast, if not as a bride or groom, then certainly as a guest.

Looking back at my own wedding it was not so much a feast as a buffet. But God has been generous to us, and there have been many feasts of life to enjoy over the past 54 years.

And this is the point St John emphasis as he depicts the resurrection story in terms of a wedding feast. The clue is in the introduction, with the words “On the third day…” It was on the third day that Jesus was raised to new life by God. Without these words – On the third day – the story of the wedding at Cana in Gallilee is about a magician who turned 30 gallons of water into 30 gallons of wine. With those words – on the third day – the message is one of a Saviour who is Christ the Lord, where our wedding vows to God are renewed, where generously our failures are forgiven, and where there is a promise that the quality of our ordinary mundane life will be transformed, in the same way as water was transformed into wine.

In Christ’s resurrection we are wedded to God, for better or worse. In Christ’s resurrection we have access to the gifts of God’s Spirit. In Christ’s resurrection our life is transformed as we make the attempt to live a life of faith.

The Revd Malcolm France