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Posts Tagged ‘miracles’

Even Simon the Sorcerer

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 8:9-10a, 13a
Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great … Simon himself believed and was baptized [by Philip].

I believe there is power and magic outside the faithful in God, otherwise, why would it be included in scripture so casually? Simon did not just practice “magic tricks” but true sorcery. And yet, this very man, Simon, who already had a great following and could manipulate his environment with personal power, recognized truth in Philip’s message. He recognized power greater than his own.

I think Simon also recognized intent.

The apostles, now leaders in espousing the story of the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, had one goal: tell … and show… the power of Jesus. They lived Jesus through their love and actions.

Actions that manifest from trust are easy to do. And confidence in those actions comes from security in the knowledge of the source of power. (…Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Luke 8:46)

Simon had one up on me. Simon knew that miracles could happen every day. Simon knew the world around him was malleable. Simon knew people could be healed, situations transformed, and power tapped. Simon knew all of these things … he knew without doubt.

But still, after 30 years of faith, my doubt corrodes my courage.

It all goes back to intent. Why are we counted among the faithful to labor on His behalf?

Back then, everyone knew there was to be a savior … a messiah. The apostles’ primary message addressed it: the Messiah has come. The kingdom of God has touched the human race through this savior. We can be different.

But does our culture wait for a savior? No. If anything, we are waiting for a judge.

The message of Christ is not just about “eternal salvation.” It’s about change… changing ourselves… changing our world. Touching, healing, loving, speaking, and believing in the power of the Messiah, in the kingdom of God within and without.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” [John 14:12]

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Act of Kindness

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on October 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 4:9a
“…we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,…” [Peter]

I love this! Peter and John had just brokered a complete healing of a guy who was crippled from birth through faith and the name of Jesus. And how does he reference this miracle: an act of kindness!

It’s a moment of empathy and a desire to make things better. An act of kindness begins within one’s own heart and mind. But we have to “see” the need before we can act, kindly or otherwise.

Many years ago (back in 1993), the pop culture phenomenon spread faster than a virus: random acts of kindness. The simplicity of it made it easy to remember and even accomplish. People everywhere were stepping up to both small and large expressions of kindness. Everyone seemed to know, inherently, what kindness might look like.

The best part of it is the personal nature of those random acts. An act is particularly kind if it comes from a person’s heart. My daughter can ruin an act of kindness in one quick stroke. How? When she demands one of me: “Bring me a surprise from Chicago when you go,” or “Buy me this or that for my birthday,” or “Give me a surprise party.” An act of kindness cannot be demanded (or even suggested for that matter). It becomes something else. When I ask my kids to clean their rooms and they do it (on occasion), that’s not kindness, that’s just cooperation or obedience.

The healing of the crippled man by Peter and John was their first big act of kindness post-resurrection. Jesus didn’t tell them what to do, when to do it, or where. This act came from within. They just knew it was the right moment.

I think it’s time to resurrect conscious acts of kindness, meet a need, broker a healing, show love.

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Witnessing a Miracle

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 3:15
You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. [Peter to the crowd in Solomon’s Colonnade]

There is some responsibility that comes with witnessing a miracle. A miracle is not a particularly private matter. It is most powerful and amazing for the beneficiary of the miracle, of course, but there is also power in the story. The witness must tell what he/she saw, heard, or felt. This testimony spreads the wonder of that miracle.

Miracles are not accidental. They are intentionally divine.

How can we know why a miracle occurs one day and not the next? We cannot. It’s not our job to figure that out. It’s just our job to report.

When the disciples witnessed the living Christ after Calvary, they could not stop themselves from telling the story. They told everyone they encountered and eventually, those stories cost them their lives. After some years, all of those firsthand witnesses were gone and the next generation of followers were telling the story second and third hand and on into the hundreds of thousands of retellings. We will never know how embellished the stories have become … or worse, what fantastic elements of the story have been lost. In any case, the essence remains the same: Christ died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.

One of the reasons the Jews continued their traditions of feast days and holy days was to relive, retell, and remember the miraculous stories of their own captivity and salvation.

If we don’t speak the stories, they are lost. We forget. Even a great miracle, over time, can become lost.

In my own life I have survived automobile accidents inexplicably; I have seen dramatic healings; I have received money “in the nick of time” to meet a financial need; I have heard prophetic utterances that revealed truths out of my past that could not have been known otherwise. In most of these cases, I confess, I have stopped telling the stories.

Forgive me Lord. From this day forward, I accept the responsibility of the witness. And when the next miracle blazes across my path again, I will remember. I will tell the story. I will be faithful to your trust.

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Miracles Keep Coming

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on September 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 2:32
“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.” [Peter speaking]

If it wasn’t enough that Jesus healed hundreds of people throughout his ministry, fed thousands with very little food, raised people from the dead, and in general, transformed the lives of those who came into contact with him, then he died and rose from the dead himself. That’s a miracle and that’s the point.

Jesus fulfilled the Jewish prophecies about the Messiah throughout his life, from birth to death and resurrection, and yet, unbelief abounded. They had heard of the promised Messiah and how he would bring change and miracles, but when it actually started happening, they said, “not like that.” The miracles (and changes) were not the ones they expected or wanted. Miracles can shake up a person’s world.

Miracles are not always tidy. Miracles challenge the norm. Miracles defy expectations. Miracles are outside of our control.

Of course, not every miracle is the parting of the waters or a blind man being able to see. Some miracles are very basic: people forgiving other people, marriages remade, illness overcome, families restored, addicts staying clean, babies born. Are these anything less than miraculous?

Today I acknowledge and give thanks for the everyday miracles in my life: abundant food to eat, my house and working vehicles, a stable job, a marriage still together despite the odds, my adopted children, my rescued pets, my good health, my faith, my family’s wealth compared to most of the world, my citizenship in a free and prosperous country (as an immigrant family, we could have ended up anywhere), my natural gifts and talents…. all miracles.

Tomorrow will bring something new. Anything can happen. Teach me Lord, to face each and every day with an expectation of your presence: the greatest miracle of all.

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Intimidating

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 12, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 9:28a; 34a
Then they [the chief priests] hurled insults at him [the formerly blind man] and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple!” … Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple!…”

I confess, I love to be around people who are really smart. I am intrigued by their knowledge and enjoy learning something new each and every day. It’s one of the reasons I read so much.

But the way in which someone hurls his/her knowledge around can be intimidating. In fact, there are folks who use knowledge as a sledge hammer. Little do they know that knowledge flung about like that becomes diffused, unfocused and useless. People stop listening.

In one of the books I’m reading, “Why We Make Mistakes” by Joseph Hallinan, the author maintains that as people (particularly men) collect information, the more confident they become to the point of actually becoming over confident. And in that over confidence, they begin to make mistakes.

The chief priests were over confident. They thought they knew the whole story. They could not integrate anything new. They could not integrate the miracle. They began making unfounded accusations. They were grasping at straws.

There is usually a moment when I go from appreciation of a person’s knowledge and intelligence to total intimidation. I think that moment happens when I hear or see or sense the other person is espousing his/her views with such certainty that there is no room for other possibilities. It’s a lack of humility.

Lord, don’t let me become this kind of person. Keep my heart and mind open to the miraculous. Keep my mind and heart open to the evolution of your spirit in our world. Keep me humble.

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I am still blind

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on July 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 9:25
He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

The man who had been born blind was healed by Jesus. Apparently, the man didn’t even know who Jesus was that day nor did he ask Jesus to heal him or give him sight. He was content. He had adapted to his circumstances.

It was Jesus who chose the man and the moment. And just like that, he stepped into a new world.

Afterward, he and his parents were all dragged into a trial of sorts before the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees tried to intimidate the man into admitting or accusing Jesus of sin. Instead, the man took a very pragmatic view. He had been born blind and now he could see. How could that miracle be classified as anything but good? (Of course, there was the additional controversy of Jesus having healed this man on the Sabbath.) In any event, the man was changed and he would not deny it. He knew he would never be the same.

Scientifically, anyone who gains any of the senses back goes through a very difficult time of integration. To suddenly see or hear is overwhelming to the brain. It must learn how to interpret all the new messages. This story implies that no such integration period was necessary. The miracle was complete. The man was not just healed physically but in totality. He was blind and then he could see (and understand).

The metaphor is simple. This verse is used often to describe a person’s transformation from unbelief to belief, from darkness to light.

For me, it is also about the “Aha” moment. The light bulb goes off and finally, I understand. I get it.

But I wonder in what areas I am still blind. Am I walking around, blind to the world around me? I live in a very insulated environment. I don’t see much suffering. I don’t see many who are hungry or dying. I don’t see bombs going off or guns pointed at me. I don’t see animals cruelly slaughtered for my food. I don’t see people who have lost their way.

Yes, I am still blind. It’s time for a miracle.

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What is Sin?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 5:14
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

So, here was this man who had a fantastic miracle happen! After years and year on a mat, waiting for the waters to stir at the Pool of Bethsaida, Jesus came and healed him. Later, the man sees Jesus again. Was he astonished that Jesus admonished him? And what was his sin? We are not told what it was in this story.

But this story made me think about sin. Do we assume that because he was an invalid that he no longer sinned? Or was there a greater sin earlier in his life before he became bed-ridden? The implication here is that sin brings disasters into our lives.

For me, sin is a conscious act that I know is wrong or hurtful or law-breaking (either legal or divine). Sin begins in the mind and then is acted upon. There must be a decision or choice to sin. The problem comes when we know longer realize the acts are sinful. If we keep on sinning in a particular way, it becomes the norm. But there was a moment, a day, a time when the choice was new. It is important to find that kernel in our past.

There are always consequences to our thoughts and actions, whether good or bad. The consequences may not be immediate, but we are kidding ourselves if we don’t think they will happen. It’s the law of sowing and reaping. There is only one way to break this law and that is by grace that comes through the cross of Christ.

But before I can call on the work of Christ to block the reaping of my sins, I must face the reality of my sins. I must identify the sin. I must call it for what it is. And then I can I ask for the power of the cross to stand between me and those consequences.

Make me conscious today, O Lord my God, that I might lay the truth at your feet.

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