"The Good News Is...So Good it Catches Us by Surprise" (February 22, 2026 Sermon)

Texts: John 2:1-11 & Matthew 13:31-32

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

What if Lent began with laughter, a full dance floor, and a secret only a few people notice? We kick off a different kind of season by walking through the wedding at Cana and the parable of the mustard seed to uncover a throughline of holy surprise: where the world sees not enough, grace keeps overflowing. Along the way, we share a family story about a five-year-old who switches languages mid-argument, and how that unexpected moment became a window into God’s delight, cultural breadth, and the everyday ways the Spirit interrupts our scarcity reflex.

We talk about why joy is not naive, not selfish, and definitely not a crumb. Joy can hold grief and still choose courage. It is a renewable resource that equips us to pursue justice without becoming brittle, to resist division without mirroring the contempt of our age. Cana reframes Jesus’ first public sign as a celebration that refuses to end, and the mustard seed reframes power as small, steady, and sheltering. Together they form a counter-story to fear, hoarding, and despair, inviting us to practice attention: to notice jars quietly filling and seeds quietly rooting.

You’ll hear reflections on humor in scripture, the danger of a Jesus confined to halls of power, and the freedom of a Savior revealed among ordinary people at an ordinary party. We offer simple, actionable practices for the week: fill the jars you already have, plant the seeds within reach, make room at the table, and stay for the celebration. If your days have felt heavy, this conversation is an open door to joy as resistance, rest as wisdom, and abundance as the truest word.

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Transcript

Opening Prayer And Intent

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Holy one, it is easy to see the mustard plant and forget to marvel at the seed. It is easy to taste good wine and not appreciate it. It is easy to miss the holy that is in our midst. So as we turn to your text today, we pray, surprise us, speak to us, move through us, draw us closer to your good news. We wait with bated breath. Amen. So our first scripture reading today will be done by one of our college students, Hannah Moore. So together let's listen to what God is saying to God's church with the words of John 2, 1 through 11, more commonly known as the wedding at Kana.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine came out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what concern is that to me and to you? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Jesus said to them, Fill the jars with water, and they filled them up to the ground. He said to them, Now draw some out and take it to the person in charge of the big water. So they took it. That person called the bright girl and said to him, Everyone serves the good one first, and then the inferior one after the guests had become drunk. We kept the good one until now. Jesus did this, the first suicides in Canaan of Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Holy wisdom, holy word. Thanks be to God.

Question: Surprised By The Holy

The Hazel Grace Story

Lent Theme: Tell Me Something Good

Joy At The Heart Of The Gospel

Humor, Art, And The Secret Of Cana

Abundance Against Scarcity

Evil’s Predictability, Grace’s Surprise

Joy As Resistance To The Status Quo

Practicing Joy Is Not Selfish

Joy Refuses The Final Word Of Evil

Pay Attention To Jars And Seeds

Closing Charge: Do Whatever He Tells You

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Our next scripture reading today comes from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 31 through 32. Let us listen again for what God is saying to God's church. He put before them another parable. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is the greatest of shrubs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. Friends, holy wisdom, holy word. Thanks be to God. Let us pray. Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer. Amen. Alright, friends, I ask you, when was the last time you were surprised by something holy? When was the last time you were surprised by something holy? For me, it was about a week or two ago during an argument with our five-year-old. And before sharing the story, I must clarify two things. First, Hazel Grace, as many of you know, is in kindergarten in the Spanish immersion program at Jones Elementary. And the second thing that you need to know is that I asked for her permission to tell this story, and she kindly agreed. So a week or two ago, Trisha, Hazel Grace, and I had an argument. I don't remember exactly what it was about. I'm sure it was something life and death, like shoes or snacks or something like that. All I remember is that that kid was throwing down. Man, whatever boundary Trisha and I had imposed in that moment was not to her liking. Voices were raised, blood pressure was going through the roof, our four-year-old Winnie was watching Bluey in the other room and had no idea what was happening. But the other three of us were having it out. And then suddenly, something changed. All at once, Tristan and I realized that Hazel Grace was no longer speaking English. Almost imperceptibly, Hazel Grace had switched from yelling at us in English to yelling at us in Spanish. And Tristan and I stood stunned before our bilingual kindergarten. She was on a roll. Trisha and I could not could not understand much, but we did catch Mamá y papá no son buenos. And you know, as a parent, you really want to be angry at your kid in that moment, but we couldn't help ourselves. We were impractic. So Trisha and I stifled a laugh. We didn't want to think Hazel Grace that we didn't want her to think that we were laughing at her. So yesterday, when I asked Hazel Grace if it would be okay if I shared that story with you all, she kind of chuckled and said, Yeah, that was pretty funny, wasn't it? Little things like that. When the world seems so heavy, little things like that bring us back to where the light is. When was the last time you were surprised by something holy? Because I believed in that moment, well, maybe not in that moment, but later on reflecting on it, that it's a holy thing that Hazel Grace is learning a language spoken by 50 million of her neighbors in this country, and she's getting a chance to learn it far earlier than Trisha and I ever did. I believe it's a holy thing that Hazel Grace is learning at such an early age that English is not the official language of the kingdom of God. It's a holy thing that she's growing up in a learning environment much more diverse than the one that I grew up in. It's a holy thing that God has given us such a wonderful child and a public school system that is teaching her to be creative and kind and bilingual. Now, I'm sure there will come a time when I am less thrilled about the fact that my child can argue with me in Spanish. But for now, Trisha and I were surprised and delighted and yes, grateful. When was the last time you were surprised by something holy? We start the season of Lent with that question to shake things up a little bit. Usually we begin Lent with stories from either Matthew, Mark, or Luke about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan, but we're not doing that this year. Those stories, of course, have their place. But we're doing something a little bit different this year. Our Lenton theme is tell me something good. So we're kicking off Lent with a party and a mustard seed. That sounds like a fun time, doesn't it? The Wedding at Cana, which one of our college students, uh Hannah Moore, read for us, is how John thinks Jesus needs to be introduced to us. The Reverend Lizzie McManus Dale introduces this passage perfectly in her commentary on it. She said, people didn't think Jesus could boogie like that. It took them by surprise. His dance moves, undoubtedly, but also how much Jesus, Prince of Peace, wonderful counselor, mighty God, loves a good old-fashioned electric slide. I love how John introduces us to Jesus through the most ordinary events, a normal wedding. A wedding with ordinary people, just like you and me, celebrating love in a way that really probably hasn't changed that much over the last 2,000 years. So I want us to pause today and acknowledge that the good news of the gospel is above all about joy. The joy that God finds in you, the joy that God finds in me, the joy that God finds in our neighbor. The joy that surprises us when the wine runs out, when the party suddenly comes to a halt, when the myth of scarcity rears its ugly head. I, for one, am grateful for this different perspective on Lentz this year, because honestly, there's enough heavy in the world right now without Lentz piling on. So together, you and I will spend this Lent following Mary Oliver's advice in her poem that we read a few weeks ago, Instructions for Living a Life. Pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it. And so this joy reminds us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a joyful and perhaps even playful thing. In her artist statement for the liturgical art that we'll go over if you want to join me after worship in the Westminster Room, the Reverend Tanya Denise Anderson says, The wedding at Cana is my favorite text because there's a lot of humor in it. There's humor in a mother approaching her son and telling him to do something without ever actually telling him to do it. There's his pouty resistance to his mother's non-demand while she completely ignores him and paints him into a corner. There's humor in a raucous wedding reception where the people are so lit that the wine has run out. And for me, it's particularly humorous, she says, that there's this huge, beautiful secret of which only a few people are aware. You and I are in on the secret. You and I are stewards, midwives of this huge, beautiful secret. A secret, admittedly, that we don't, or at least shouldn't, hide. This secret is summarized in two stories, one about a wedding, another brief one about a mustard seed. I trust that most of y'all are familiar with them both. It's a secret that makes us laugh, brings some lightness and relief in a world that feels so sometimes less like a dance at a wedding and more like a dirge at a funeral. That huge, beautiful secret in both Cana and the mustard seed is this: wherever you and I see not enough or too little, Jesus sees the possibility and indeed the promise of joy and abundance. Because I did some thinking this week, and I think that evil is ultimately rather predictable. We have become quite accustomed to the voices in our culture that do their best to drive a wedge between us. Evil's predictability, I think, is actually its greatest weakness. The gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is filled with nothing but surprises, upended expectations, and disturbed status quo. In a world that says there's not enough, Jesus says, here's more joy. In a world that tells us that might makes right, Jesus says, here's a mustard seed. It's enough. In a world that teaches us to fear the stranger, to hoard what we have, and brace for the worst, Jesus says, come to the table. There's room for all. Stay for the celebration. And that is why the gospel remains forever holy and forever surprising. Because evil may be predictable, but grace almost never is. Again, the Reverend Lizzie McManusdale put it this way: Because this is who Jesus is. Jesus doesn't have to begin with defeating evil, because he knows ultimately evil doesn't stand a chance against a God who loves disco and his mother. Evil doesn't stand a chance against a God who is not only not afraid of scarcity, but laughs in the face of it. Evil doesn't stand a chance against a God who will never let an empty cistern or a full tomb have the final word. Evil is predictable, she says. But our God loves a surprise because God knows the plot twist is the same every time. God's goodness will overflow every single time. So this Lent, I hope that we can begin by laughing together, as we already have in this worship service, because you and I are midwives of a story of salvation by a Prince of Peace who isn't afraid to make his debut in a lively wedding celebration. Such a story is subversive and dangerous to those who benefit from the current status quo. You see, a Jesus who stays in the halls of privilege and power can be twisted to justify any form of state-sponsored violence or terror. But a Jesus who is revealed to us in an ordinary wedding, that's dangerous. That's a disturbing truth for those who want to keep us divided from each other. Because a joy like that is nothing less than a nonviolent act of resistance in a callous culture. And I want to be clear. I want to be clear, friends, practicing joy is not a selfish act. In fact, repeat after me, practicing joy is not a selfish act. Say that. Practicing joy is not a selfish act. Our consumerist culture has taught us that joy and its close cousin rest is a luxury reserved only for those who can afford it, or who have earned it, or who deserve it. Joy is a renewable resource that surprises us and reorients us towards new possibilities when the voices around us say that all is lost or at least all is not new. And yet, there yes, there is suffering in the world. Yes, our neighbors are being terrorized in the streets. Yes, there is much that needs our faithful work, but taking joy out of that recipe makes for a bad dish. It doesn't help any of us or our neighbors. Mary Oliver once famously said, Joy is not meant to be a crumb. Say that with me. Joy is not meant to be a crumb. And thanks be to God for that. Because at Cana, Jesus did not hand out crumbs. He fills jars to the brim. In the parable, God does not despise small things. God grows a mustard seed into some shelter for some birds who need it. And in our own lives, the Holy Spirit keeps interrupting our fear, our frustration, and our scarcity with flashes of grace that we did not see coming. So, no, joy is not denial. Joy does not pretend that suffering is not real. Joy does not erase grief. Joy does not ignore injustice, but joy does refuse to let evil have the final word. Joy refuses to surrender our imaginations to fear. Joy refuses to believe that scarcity is the truest thing in our world. So this lint let us practice joy as a form of discipleship. Let us pay attention to those jars being filled, pay attention to those tiny seeds in the soil. Pay attention to the moments when laughter breaks through in the middle of a hard day, reminding us that grace is still alive. And maybe that is one answer to the question we began with. When was the last time you were surprised by something holy? Maybe you was not in the sanctuary at all. Maybe it was in your kitchen, maybe in the middle of a family argument, when the blood pressure rising, Bluey playing in the next room, and a five-year-old switching to Spanish, let them know that mama y papa no son buenos. I don't know. But somehow, right there, in the frustration, in the laughter, in the love, in the tears, Grace found a way to break in. And that's the kind of thing that Cana teaches us to look for. That kind of thing, the mustard seed trains us to trust. The holy does not always arrive in places we expect, and it rarely arrives on our schedule, but it does arrive in ordinary rooms and ordinary people like you and me in moments that seem too small to matter until suddenly they're filled to the brim. And when the world tells us to hoard, to harden, to despair, may we hear Mary's words at Cana. Do whatever he tells you. Fill the jars, make room at the table, plant the seed, stay for the celebration. Because the huge, beautiful secret is still true. Wherever we see not enough or too little, Jesus sees the possibility of joy and abundance. So when was the last time you were surprised by something holy? At this lent, pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it. In the name of God, the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, may all of us, God's beloved children, say.