Who Gets the Credit?

The lady minister preached about one of Jesus' most well-known miracles, the conversion of water to wine:

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 gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.---John 2:1-11

The lady minister said that Jesus did not perform this and other miracles to "dazzle" or prove that Jesus is the Son of God but "to show forth the light and the love of God."

We are now in that period in late January when football players who perform spectacularly sometimes give thanks to God or Jesus first, then talk about the details of the game. Most viewers initially listen through secular filters and think that real credit should be given to thousands of hours of practice and coaching, but a game "hero" has traditionally earned the right to say what he really feels, as long as he's not too preachy. The interview quickly moves on to football.

If one thinks about how to apply today's Gospel, the teaching is not really about the football player's talent, the game's outcome, the players and coaches who contributed, or even his gratitude to God for the above, although that was undoubtedly his intent.

The real story is about how God's glory is revealed in the events that have just occurred, a philosophical attitude that is often derided in fiction ("The surgeons saved his life." It's a miracle! Thank the Lord!)