08-28-21

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
August 28, 2021
Scripture: Acts 19:11
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul…

Thought for the Day: The word “miracle” is one that causes modern people to raise a cautious or even skeptical eyebrow. We have read too many stories about con artists who claimed miracles, but were only taking advantage of the vulnerable. In the days of Jesus and Paul, there were plenty of miracle workers. It was not an uncommon thing at all. In fact, people sort of expected any great teacher or prophet to do some miracles. With that in mind, we always need to take a step back and ask what the Gospel Writers (the Book of Acts was written by the Gospel Writer, Luke) were attempting to communicate when they spoke of miracles. Jesus sure wasn’t attempting to convince anyone of his special role with the use of miracles. If anything, they appear to be more of a teaching tool, a window through which one is able to glimpse some important characteristic of the divine. I think both Jesus and Paul would have said, “Don’t simply be wowed by some act of healing. Instead, ask yourself, ‘What does it tell me about God, and thus, about what is expected of me?’”

In the movie, Bruce Almighty, Morgan Freeman plays God. There is scene toward the end where God helps Bruce rethink what a miracle really is. God says:

Parting your soup is not a miracle, Bruce. It’s a magic trick. A single mom who’s working two jobs and still finds time to take her kid to soccer practice, that’s a miracle. A teenager who says “no” to drugs and “yes” to an education, that’s a miracle. People want me to do everything for them. But what they don’t realize is ‘they’ have the power. You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle.

It is a lot easier to simply point back to miracle stories involving Jesus, Paul and others. It is much more challenging to ask, “How can I be a gift in the lives of others, a gift they will describe as a miracle?”

Prayer: Wherever my life can present your grace, O God, I pray it will be a gift to as many others as possible. Fill me and utilize me in the miraculous work of your transformative love. Amen.

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