Three words today. In our three lessons. These words are: Unloved, Uninformed, Unready.

She had been so lovely when she was young. Who would she marry? One potential suitor stood out. Wealthy, the highest of the high, the most honorable of the honored. Who could say no? She didn’t. She said yes. And so she was married. And she was greatly loved.

But she began to feel unloved. Her Beloved was busy. In charge of such a great business. Always called on to help somewhere, to save someone. So she began to associate herself with others who did not have her best interests at heart. She trusted those who were untrustworthy.

Before she knew it, she had become entrapped. They had no love for her. She was carried off to become enslaved and trafficked. She was watched at all times. Never left alone. No one heard her cries or saw her tears. Years passed.

Her Beloved had seen her growing colder. Grieved at her wandering heart. Knew there was no argument that could stop her. Her Beloved never forgot her and longed for her return. The way back was through forgiveness. She would have to believe that she was worthy of forgiveness.

But her Beloved had to wait until the time was right. One day the captors did not show up and she discovered that the house was left unlocked. All she had to do was walk away.

The Beloved rejoiced and quickly sent word that all was forgiven, that she had more than paid for her wandering ways. Come home my loved one, said the Beloved. We married for better or for worse, we married for richer or for poorer. I can never, ever, not love you. And so Israel returned to God who was delighted.

So eager, but so uninformed. Paul had to remind himself of this constantly. They were children. Not literally, but figuratively. This new community, growing rapidly in the gritty urban port of Corinth. Followers of Jesus and beginners in faith. God knows they needed to hear a good word in the midst of the trash talk around them.

They were eager to hear about the new life that Jesus brought, and happy to begin living it. They were quick to share their food, and offer hospitality to strangers, refugees, and foreigners. Of which there many coming off the ships, both as paid passengers and as ragged stowaways.

They’d all been baptized, individuals and entire households. They’d prepared with fasting, study, and prayer. They’d been moved to tears as the water was poured over them; the holy power and gifts of God’s Spirit invoked.

How could such a good thing be such a source of trouble? Arguments over which gifts were higher, which were lower. Unfortunate demonstrations that while some were filled with the Holy Spirit, others were just channeling their inner demons.

Paul realized that the people needed more instruction. It’s time to mature in your faith, wrote Paul. Get informed. Learn good spiritual boundaries. Respect them and each other.

Listen up! God’s Spirit doesn’t speak against God. Everyone is gifted. All gifts are given for the common good. A gift to a particular role or a certain kind of work, or to a form of service. Every gift God gives has a purpose. You don’t choose your gift. The Spirit will figure it out for you.

Having written these things, Paul turned to his next topic. You are all different, but all one body. He sighed. This was going to be a long letter.

They called him unready. Aethelred the Unready to be exact. He was only ten years old when he took the throne of England in 978 AD.

But youthfulness was not the reason for his nickname. Unready meant ill-advised, and the name was bestowed upon him because his executive functions were weak – he tended to follow bad advice and make unpopular decisions. He was a cruel and impatient man. According to a history of famous people of Headington, Oxford, he was “guided by motives of temporary expediency.”

Jesus, on the other hand, called himself unready on that third day at the wedding in Cana. Not my hour yet, he said when his mother appealed to him to help with the socially embarrassing situation of a wine fail. It was not their problem, he said.

But mothers know their children. And in this gospel, she is always known as “the mother of Jesus”, never called by her given name. It’s not clear why. Perhaps to say that her role was not as just another follower. As the one who bore Jesus, graciously and courageously consenting to serve God’s purposes, body and soul, she would always stand out among God’s servants.

Was Jesus pushing back when he addressed his mother as “Woman”? For the record, Jesus used the same term when he spoke to the woman at the well. And he was very gracious to her.

In the end, it turned out that the timing was right for the first sign of Jesus to be revealed. His mother knew it in her heart. Mothers (and fathers) can be like that.

There would be more signs. And each one was a building block to the big reveal. Many small revelations before Jesus’s death (guided by a motive of temporary expediency). Signs given all the way to the final revelation at the empty tomb. On the third day.

Signs, not miracles. It was never about the water turned to wine, really. But of all the honored and invited guests at the wedding, not one of them saw the sign that day. Who did see? Just the servants. And who cares about them, you know?

Except, it was to them that Jesus decided to first reveal himself. As if somehow, they were more ready than all the others when Jesus was ready. The lowest and the least – the first to witness the mighty presence of God at work in the world through Jesus. What a way for the Savior to begin!