Erin Mills United Church Sermons

One winter night in February, I was heading home from theological college in Toronto to my home in North Bay. The driving north on highway 11 was miserable. It was snowy and icy and suddenly the car I was driving started sliding across all of the lanes of the four-lane highway. (This was before the median barriers had been constructed). Had there been any oncoming traffic, I and my companion would certainly have been seriously injured, if not killed. As it was, there was no traffic; the car hit the snow bank on the other side of the highway, it spun around until it came to a stop facing south in the southbound lanes right against the snow bank. My companion and I got out of the car, a bit shaky, but none the worse for wear. Other than a broken side view mirror, the car was fine too, so we started up the car again, turned around and carried on without further incident. In retelling the story over the years, I have heard myself say that it was indeed a miracle that there was no other traffic and that when the car it something, it was a relatively soft snow bank.

Today, in the last of this sermon series on basic themes of the faith, we are trying to deepen our understanding of miracles. Today’s scripture readings are what we would call miracle stories, one from the gospel of Mark and the other from the second book of Kings.

A full one third of Mark’s gospel is made up of stories that describe what we would commonly refer to as a miracle. Today’s story of the feeding of the five thousand is one of those miracle stories that not only Mark, but all four gospel writers have included.

The other miracle story we heard today is from a collection of stories featuring two prophets of Israel – Elijah and Elisha.

In the Old Testament, the majority of miracle stories are to be found in the epic story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their subsequent journey to the promised land. Then for the most part the scriptures are silent about miracles, until the Second Book of Kings where we find the remarkable stories of Elijah and his successor, Elisha.

In the dictionary, a miracle is described as
an extraordinary event attributed to some supernatural being or any remarkable occurrence.

Here are some other definitions I came across in my readings:
A miracle is an event which happens in a manner contrary to the regularly observed processes of nature.

A miracle is an unexpected answer to a deep need or a fervent prayer that comes in humanly inexplicable fashion and strengthens faith. – Ross Bartlett (UCC minister)

Something we need to clarify right away is the difference between magic and miracles. Magic is the work of illusionists and tricksters. Magic is the manipulation of reality to make us believe something extraordinary has happened, when indeed, nothing actually has. Magicians are entertainers who like to dazzle and impress an audience; they like to draw attention to themselves.

Miracles are something quite different. Miracles, at least in the Bible are not about manipulation. Jesus didn’t perform miracles to impress or to dazzle people. In fact, he regularly told people not to say anything about what had happened.

Mark, the writer of today’s gospel reading, goes to great lengths to discourage us from seeing Jesus as a popular magician. He and the other gospel writers urge us to look for a deeper meaning in these miracle stories.

If you were to categorize the miracle stories they usually fall into 3 categories:
* miracles that feed and nourish people – stories like Jesus feeding the crowds, or God providing manna in the desert.
* miracles of healing – healing those with physical ailments, those crippled or weakened by disease, the blind and the deaf.
* miracles called exorcisms, the healing of those who were disturbed in spirit. And of course there are those dramatic healings in the stories of Jesus bringing people back to life.

The last group of miracles are those that have an impact on nature – the parting of the Red Sea permits the Israelites to escape Pharaoh’s army. Jesus calms the storm on the sea and saves the disciples from sinking and drowning.

Over the years, many have tried to explain miracles in the Bible from a scientific and rational perspective. The miraculous crossing of the Red Sea was really no miracle; the Israelites simply found a sandbar and walked across. And then a wind rose and covered the sandbar with water, making it impossible for Pharaoh’s soldiers to follow. And when Jesus calmed the storm, well, it was simply one of those summer storms that start quickly and die down quickly. Merely a coincidence that all this happened as Jesus spoke.

And the feeding of the crowds - these are actually stories about sharing. When the crowds saw that one or two people were willing to offer up their small lunch for a hungry neighbour, then others followed and shared their lunch until the baskets overflowed with the contributions from each person’s pocket.

As for the manna in the desert, it can actually be traced back to some excretion of an insect that can be eaten by starving people.

As to the miracle healings and exorcisms, and bringing people back to life – well, in those biblical times, people weren’t very sophisticated and were ignorant of how the body worked and had no understanding of mental health issues. Many of the illnesses Jesus dealt with were caused by some psychosomatic or mental health problem and Jesus merely acted as any good counselor or therapist would today, and helped the person discover their own inner health. As to those who were dead, well, they were simply in a coma and Jesus gave them artificial respiration and they were restored to life, in the same way any good emergency attendant would today.

Now, I’m not going to argue with anyone who wants to see the miracles of the Bible in this way, but I do think that trying to explain them in this way misses the point.

We need to remember that the Bible was not written as a book of science, it does not and never has tried to offer a scientific understanding of life. The writings that make up our Bible were written by people of faith who were giving voice to their experience of God; their experience of the sacred in life. More than anything else, the Bible is a love story, telling the epic story of a complex relationship between God and a certain people.

And just like other stories in the Bible, the miracle stories have much to say about this relationship with God.

For the majority of people in biblical times, poverty, scarcity and oppression were a constant threat. And illness and disability were an inseparable part of the cycle of poverty for the poor, as they still are today.

The miracles of Jesus and the miracles of the Old Testament are posted as signs for the faithful to wake up and pay attention.

They are signs addressed to anyone who thinks that that the final word is that there will never be enough to go around. They are signs to those who live with the constant threat of grinding hunger and poverty. They are signs addressed to those who live in fear and with suffering. They are signs for those who have been excluded and vilified because they live with a dreaded disease – like HIV-AIDS. These are the signs of what the world looks like under new management – they are signs of what we often call the Kingdom or the realm of God.

Jesus is quite clear about his work and ministry; he has come to announce, and to bring into being God’s realm, God’s kingdom. And so in the gospel accounts, everywhere Jesus goes, the world is rearranged according to God’s priorities:

To be a companion of Jesus Christ is to live trusting in a God who continues to pour out such grace upon us and this world. It is to live trusting in a miraculous love that is committed to the health, and healing, peace and nourishment of all God’s children. It is to live in ways that are open to that miraculous love as we hope for, pray for and work for God’s kingdom or God’s realm.

Frederick Buechner, a contemporary Christian writer says,"We have within us, each one of us, so much more power than we ever spend, such misers of miracles are we, such pinch-penny guardians of grace."

And Wendell Berry has suggested that "to treat life as less than a miracle is to give up on it."

Did I come out of a car accident unscathed because of a miracle? I really don’t know, but I do know that I was deeply grateful to be alive and keenly aware of how precious life was, and surely that is a celebration of the miracle of life.

So do miracles happen anymore today? I think that whenever and wherever people get caught up in the graciousness of God, that is a miracle. Whenever people embrace God’s peace, that is a miracle; whenever people find hope in the most hopeless of circumstances, that is a miracle; and wherever even in the midst of death, a life is treasured and love is poured out, that is a miracle.

I don’t have all or even any of the answers of why many still suffer, and many still die in spite of many fervent prayers. That is a mystery that remains unsolved for me, but it won’t stop me praying and hoping for the gifts of God’s miracles of grace.

For I believe that God works in partnership with us, and the more that we do to stay in relationship with God, the more we are capable of opening doors for God’s love to enter our lives and to enter the world. And the more we keep hoping and praying and working for the miracles of God’s grace, the more committed and the more deeply involved we will be in creating with God, a new day, a new order, a world that reflects God’s miracles of love. So be it. Amen. Miracles - Do Miracles Still Happen Today?
Handout/Worksheet to accompany the sermon of February 5, 2006.
Prepared by Kathy Toivanen

"Homework"
Bono, (of the musical group U2), spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington last week. Here is a quote from his speech:

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it… I have a family, please look after them… I have this crazy idea… And this wise man said: stop. He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing. Get involved in what God is doing- because it's already blessed. Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing. And that is what He's calling us to do. Reflect on what you are asking God to bless in your "doing", and reflect on how you are involved in what God is doing.

Choose one of the signs that point to God's kingdom/realm (e.g. everyone God's realm is fed, those tossed by the storms of life are given peace) and make it a priority in your prayers and in your actions to pay attention to these signs and to partner with God to make these signs a reality.