Season 5 - Episode 19
To listen to an audio version of this post, visit www.covenantchurch.ca/podcasts/covenant-weekly.
On Sunday we reflected how Jesus, the exact representation of God in the world, responded to an interruption - a seemingly insignificant one in the grand scheme of his timeline and purpose - and he did a sign that led his disciples to believe. Today, we’re going to look at the stuff of that miracle. This is the Covenant Weekly for January 13, 2026.
Six stone jars.
Regular H20.
Some servants.
Nothing seemingly sacred. Nothing fancy.
In fact, in many ways, the most banal of stuff. Keep in mind that this is at a wedding celebration. While a wedding was special, especially to the families involved, it wasn’t unique. There were many more significant holy days where divine intervention and miraculous acts may have had more of an impact. And yet on this Tuesday (or whatever day it was), with stone jars, water, and servants, Jesus did his first miracle.
Like Naaman in 2 Kings 5, we often want or expect to work in big dramatic ways. Millions of people stream into mega-churches or stadium events with anticipation that God will “show up” and do something special in their lives. People will travel around the world to visit the place where they’ve been told God is working. Some have given away all they have in pursuit of a miracle. Many expect that the professional holy person’s prayer will be the key to seeing the divine break into the world.
That is not God’s way in the world.
I love music, but God doesn’t need a great band in a fancy building on a big stage with lights and projectors in order to show up and do divine work. I humbly suggest that more often than not, pursuing those things gets in the way of the genuine work of the Spirit.
This miracle (like so many that follow) reminds us that God shows up in the ordinary. Ordinary servants participate by putting ordinary water into ordinary stone jars at an ordinary wedding. And through these ordinary things Jesus works a miracle. It was so miraculous that almost no one saw it!
When looking for a miracle, let’s stop chasing the opulent and wait with God in the ordinary. I’m convinced more genuine kingdom work has been accomplished through the prayers of the godly women who sit in the back pew of every church I’ve ever been in than through the combined public ministry of all the pastors who have gone through those buildings. And I say that not to demean the work of many of us pastors, but as an invitation to partner with God in the quiet, unseen places where God most often works…through beautiful, regular people.
One of the most dramatic miracles in my life happened about fifteen years ago. My family was going through a very difficult experience and needed to sell our house, uncertain as to where we would go. Desperate and on the verge of a breakdown, God showed up. God showed up through a house painter we didn’t know who travelled a couple of hours to come and paint our kitchen. God showed up through an electrician and his wife giving us peace of mind that work would be done if needed. God showed up through someone we didn’t know letting us stay in their basement apartment rent free (complete with the use of their pool!) for as long as we needed. Many unseen people were praying on our behalf. Unknown people doing ordinary work in ordinary ways produced an extraordinary miracle in my life and in the life of our family. Water turned to wine in a largely unseen way.
Be open to our unordinary God working through the most ordinary things. That seems to be how God most often works in the world. And, this week, is there an ordinary miracle you are being invited to partner in with God? Don’t minimize it or underestimate the significance of your ordinary impact.