Have You Seen the Miracle of Our Living God?

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace from God our Creator and the Savior of the world Jesus the Christ. Amen.

On Friday, in between finishing up pies for Union Prairie’s church dinner to be held later today (yes, this is a shameless plug!) and cleaning up the mess of flour and dough scraps that seemed to have exploded everywhere in the kitchen, I got a message from Pastor Emmanuel Kigolumbe in the Central Diocese of Tanzania. We had been talking about our weeks and what we were doing in our congregations when he was sharing with me that he was on what he called a “crusade”. He explained that his congregation was gathered for several days of worship, prayer, singing and conversation, and he sent along several photos of crowds of children gathered to listen to the congregational choir. His comment to me was, “Have you seen the miracle of our living God? He continues to save people in our crusade. Continue praying for us!” That phrase and question – “Have you seen the miracle of our living God?” is something that I keep returning to in these days, because sometimes, to be honest, I lose sight of this part of God. I know why – oftentimes life is busy, full of demands and expectations and being pulled in 50 different directions. How many of you know that feeling? In the midst of that, it can be difficult to focus on God things, or seeing God’s presence. I ask myself, how can it be possible to see miracles when many of us are barely keeping up with the day to day? In the seasons of life when we are experiencing the multifaceted manifestations of complicated emotions such as grief, frustration, or uncertainty, and in periods of life that are transitional, I would love to witness a concrete resurrection. I would love for God to show up in a Bible-sized way – like, show up in the form of a burning bush – and meet our needs. Yet, I also believe that that is not the only understanding of miracle – maybe God, in our moments of need, meets us in other ways, as well. And this is something that I am learning to be content with. Let me share a story:

On Wednesday afternoon, I had a visit with Kari Schultz. Many of you are aware of her journey over the last few months fighting brain cancer. Now, on hospice, the road looks different – she is quieter, more still, and more intentional with her time and her words. I entered the house between the rains that seemed like it would never end, and was greeted by Kari’s mother. Ada was on her lap, and she was coloring a worksheet of the letter “A”. We went to talk with Kari, who, from the couch where she was laying, has a beautiful view: a tall tree showing the signs of fall, with bright tinges of yellow on its edges. Between the rain, the sounds of Ada’s footsteps, and our hushed conversations, I knew that this also was a miracle of God. In this journey, while there probably will not be physical, earthly healing, there is another miracle at work: in a moment where the weight of present reality feels so present and insurmountable and uncertain, we gathered together in the corner of a living room and listed the things of life: about how much Alexa is enjoying school. Ada wanted to dye eggs, and later make hot chocolate. Alexa had handwritten a note about heaven, and Kari had seen it. I told her again of our community’s prayers, and how deeply and profoundly she is loved in this life and how she is loved into the arms of God. In those moments made of stillness, hushed voices, Ada’s laughter, and rain, there was a miracle: the miracle of connection, the miracle of intense love and care, the miracle of having faith even the size of a mustard seed to envision that life, eternal life, will defeat and end the powers of earthly loss. Not many words were needed to convey that on Wednesday afternoon. God showed up in that moment and said, “I am here” – God is here through Kari, God is here through Adam, God is here through Alexa and Ada. God is here through all of you – who have prayed, who have delivered meals, who have spent time, who have made known their love and care. God is here in this congregation, stirring us to dare to have faith – even if it is small, even if it feels insignificant, even if it feels like we can’t do enough. It is this faith, begun and lived in us all, that will reorient our understanding of miracles and of God’s presence.

Our Gospel text for today encounters Jesus talking with his disciples and they are also concerned with their faith. The context of this passage is describing some of the teachings of Jesus around the dynamics of repentance and forgiveness so that we might live lives of faith that are honest and truthful. The disciples are worried about not getting it right, or making mistakes, or being unable to offer forgiveness of sins or repentance and so they say, “Increase our faith!” To this Jesus responds, “If you had faith the size of the mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea” and it would obey you.” (vs. 6).

The disciples think that it takes an enormous amount of faith to live lives that are in accordance with God’s plans of salvation, love, and justice, but Jesus tells them in a moment all they need to know. To experience God’s miracles, to experience God’s presence, it doesn’t take much. Even a faith the size of a mustard seed; even faith that is searching, doubting, or questioning, is more than enough to be received into the arms of a God who preforms miraculous things. God shows up in our scripture texts in big ways: cleansing lepers, healing hurt and embattled women, restoring Lazarus. God also shows up in plain ways: through crusades, through hot chocolate, through the change of seasons, through the touch of a hand, through a hug. All of these ways that we experience God are urgently, defiantly saying that we have trust in what we cannot yet see, that there is something more yet to be revealed in the fullness of time, and that there is something that is drawing us together, through a connection that is beyond human doing.

My friends, I want you to try something this week, if you’re not doing it already. I want you to expect that God will show up. It may not be as you assume it will be – because I believe that God has a tendency to meet us when we aren’t looking or necessarily ready. I want you to notice where God is present – it can be something of biblical proportions, or it can be in a conversation. Where is the Holy Spirit guiding you to see? As my friend and partner in ministry Pastor Emmanuel made reference to, by faith we can see what God is doing. I recall his words, “Have you seen the miracle of our living God?” And so my friends, I ask you: have you seen the miracle of our living God? As the Spirit guides our life in our Church, might we be ever mindful of where God will be found: always drawing us together, always calling us forward, always widening the circle of belonging. It takes all of our stories, all of our hopes, and all of our bodies to witness to this thing called faith, in the extraordinary and the mundane. I will begin: have I seen the miracle of the living God? Yes – I have – in each and every one of you, in the stories that we share, and in all that we are doing and will become in anticipation of God’s new heaven and new earth where we will see the great reconciliation. Let us continue this work of love and hope. Let us open our eyes and let us see the miracles of our God. Thanks be to God. Amen.