This morning, we begin a new sermon series on Does God still Move Today? Miracles in the Bible and Miracles today. We have sometimes imagined that God’s primary work was done between the borders of Genesis and Revelation. That God did incredible and miraculous acts contained in the Bible, but is no longer in that business anymore. For the next month, we will take a look at a few miracles and how God is still moving today.
First, let us take a look at a few miracle stories in our scripture lessons today. In Luke, the word of Jesus’ healing has gotten out. Somewhere along the line, the whisperings of the Jewish community about Jesus spilled into the larger community. Wonderings about healing and teaching, whisperings about is this magic or is it God? One thing was clear, lives were changed. And this is what the Roman centurion was looking for – changed life for a slave whom he cared for. A Roman centurion is willing to take a risk on a Jewish healer. You can imagine that he has tried other methods and this slave is important to him. He does not merely go knock on Jesus’ door. He works through the Jewish elders to entreat Jesus.
The centurion, a man of purpose and order, sends an unusual message. Instead of calling for Jesus to come and heal the slave, he believes that Jesus’ authority and power in miraculous healing lies in his saying the word. He believes in the power of Jesus to perform miracles. Jesus responds: “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” It is the incredible, miraculous the faith of the centurion, the cooperation of the elders, and the power of Jesus. Miracle of health and healing, community and cooperation, power and authority.
Now, I imagine some of us may be wondering about magic versus miracle. Magic is a series of illusions, slights of hand. Miracles are gifts from God. Magic is accompanied by, ‘How Cool’, and ‘I wonder if I can figure out how the magician did that?’ Miracle is a happening that takes you out of the ordinary and points to God and the kingdom of God. Magic is for entertainment and amazement. Miracles always point beyond themselves to God.
Let us look further at magic and miracles. Our passage from 1st Kings sounds like an act in a magic show! Elijah and the prophets of Ba’al find themselves face to face with an opportunity to show the people of Israel who God is. The people have struggled between two gods. They have heard and known the stories of Ba’al. Many have benefitted, they might imagine, from Ba’al. Ba’al, meaning lord, is often depicted as a fertility god. The god you sought favor from as you were planting the harvest and then reaping it. The god you sought favor from when you were seeking children, particularly male children and then offering sacrifices at the birth of your children. The people of Israel had walked between Ba’al and YHWH. They were hedging their bets, keeping their options open.
Lest, we imagine that this is an ancient challenge, a problem of the past. I wonder how often we hedge our bets, instead of relying solely on God. How often have we placed our idols in the place of God? How often have we valued money over God? We imagined that if we had the magical number in our back accounts, we could solve all of the challenges of life ourselves. How often have we valued youth and vitality over God? We imagined that if we could merely feel physically strong and vital, we would not age or have the concerns of aging bodies and minds. How often have we valued security over God? We have imagined that if we can anticipate and address all of our security needs as individuals and as a country, we would not need to deal with people unlike us or actively wonder how we will make it.
The miracle of Elijah’s battle with the prophets of Ba’al is not about fire. It is about will God who promised to be present with us, keep the promise? The prophets of Ba’al seek the same answer. All 450 of the prophets call out. If there was ever power in numbers, this should have been it. These prophets have Elijah outnumbered 450 to 1. They call out the name of Ba’al and even seek to injure themselves in order to get attention. There is no response. Elijah, as the prophet of YHWH, calls on the name of God. God responses with the fire on the pit prepared and confirms that God lives among God’s people. God has been present, is present, and will be present, transforming the lives of God’s people.
How often have we felt like Elijah as we face the odds 450 to 1. When we make choices for God, we feel as though we are walking it alone. On this Memorial Day weekend, I want to share the story of some young men who experience the miraculous presence of God during the Civil War. There was a young man named David Early from Michigan, youngest of 6 children, and off to fight in the Civil War. In 1862, he enlisted as a 19 year old infantry private, even though he was only 15. He served bravely with his regiment and was captured two years later in Petersburg, Virginia as a prisoner of War. He was marched miles and miles to the Andersonville Confederate prison in Georgia.
Andersonville was a horror to behold. The story goes that there were nearly 30,000 people present on this 26 acre site. Food and water were scarce. The only water source flowed into the site upstream and was polluted. Dysentery and scurvy were as common as war stories. Both affected young David. The steam often ran dry in the hot Georgia summers. However, the water was so needed that the solders of all stripes prayed for rain. Often prayer was met with raindrops.
In August of 1864, prisoners gathered to pray and committed to keep praying until the rain began. The conditions had gotten so horrific that 100 prisoners were dying daily. Later in the day, clouds formed and lightening flashed. It stuck the earth close to the spot where the stream entered the prison compound. Fresh water erupted and washed out the polluted stream! It cleaned out the water completely. Diaries from the prison record a prison writing, “When the almighty cleans house, he puts the housekeepers to shame. The spring remained active for the length of the war and was named, Providence Spring. Many prisoners credit their ability to survive such horrific prison conditions with the introduction of clean water. David was one of them. At the end of the war, he weighed a mere 63 pounds, 5 ‘ 3’’ and looked like walking skeleton. After the war, he recovered and grew and additional 4 inches!1
Miracles in our midst! Water flowing unpolluted and saving lives in the midst of war. Miracles in our midst where a young 15 year old boy lives through the life of war and can even continue growing after. We live in a world where miracles happen. This is a world were God shows up in mighty and incredible ways. The prophet, Elijah said, “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back .”2
Miracles in our midst when we hear of cancer not reappearing on repeat scans. Miracles in our midst when God shows up when we need God the most. Miracles in our midst when God is present at the birth of a little one, providing blessing and naming the little one as a child of God. Miracles in our midst when we no longer hedge our bets, but rely fully on God. Miracles in our midst, when we experience the presence of God and are transformed!
Over the next four weeks, I am going to invite you to open your eyes and your hearts to miracles. Miracles are one of the languages that God has to care well for us. Let us learn God’s language! This is the Gospel of Lord Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.
1http://storiesoffaithandcourage.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-miracle-in-andersonville-prison-saved.html
21 Kings 18:37
Old Testament Lesson: 1 Kings 18:20-39
So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!”
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lordcame, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water.
At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”
Gospel Lesson: Luke 7:1-10
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.
A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death.
When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”
When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Sunday, May 29~ Saturday, June 4
Sunday: “Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.’” 1 Kings 18:24. God is ready to be called on. Where do you need to call on the name of God?
Monday: “Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come closer to me’; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.” 1 Kings 18: 30. Elijah seeks the connection with God’s people as he seeks God’s presence. Are you seeking God’s people?
Tuesday: “At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, ‘O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding.” 1 Kings 18:36. Elijah wants all to know that he is listening to God. Prayerfully listen to how God is calling you today.
Wednesday: “When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.’” 1 Kings 18:39. Miracles are that which we know that God is God. Have you ever seen a miracle?
Thursday: “When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.” Luke 7:3. The power of Jesus is known beyond those who have committed their lives to Jesus. Prayerfully consider the power and healing of Jesus.
Friday: “For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’” Luke 7:8. The centurion believes in the power of Jesus, even before knowing him as Savior. How have you experienced the power of Jesus?
Saturday: “When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’” Luke 7:9. Miracles feeds faith. Where is your faith being fed?
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