Miracles

In the Bible
miracles are the bona fides
of the miracle worker
the resume
the business card
the job reference
all saying
yep, he’s the guy you need

But is that all they are?

So some would have it
that the time of miracles
has gone away
disappeared like sand castles
the sand is still there
but the shape of them erased
no longer visible

Some say
there are no miracles
because they haven’t seen one
which seems a bit silly to me

I haven’t seen lots of things
that I’m pretty sure exist
Atoms - never seen them -
Black holes - me & everybody else in the dark on that one
A soul - can’t describe what one looks like to save mine
Met any Angels? - nope - can’t say as I have

Others say there are no more miracles
because Jesus was the miracle
and after Jesus
we just didn’t need
any other miracles
they just wouldn’t stand
the comparison
to the miracle

Maybe
but don’t we need a refresher course from time to time?
I know I do

So here’s where I land on miracles . . .

they happen

the inexplicable

the surprising

right in the middle of the ordinary

they come when they’re needed

and not a moment sooner

sometimes God heals by a touch
sometimes with a CT scan & surgeon’s scalpel

sometimes we understand them later
sometimes we never do

sometimes you get your miracle
and that’s great
but I’m left wondering
where my miracle is

sometimes there’s healing
sometimes there’s rescuing
it’s always dramatic, this miracle business

sometimes they come from the untrustworthy looking guy
who’s dressed funny and smells even funnier
sometimes they come with the gentle touch of a friend

sometimes it’s like a Hallmark card from God saying simply good job
sometimes the meaning and even the miracle are obscure

whenever a miracle comes to town
the thing that happens before – right before
is the tearing open of heaven
like a rainbow pointing up instead of down
like an arrow pointing, shouting
Look this way!  Here!  Up here!  Now do you see?


Now do you see?
The miracle isn’t in knowing Jesus
even demons know Jesus
the miracle is in the following
the living
the loving
the doing

did it ever occur to the ones
who say that miracles are no more
 that we are Jesus’ miracle
today?

Miracles are a kind of spring cleaning
when things not needed
things that clutter
things that get in the way
things like demons
are simply thrown away

Miracle work is always unfinished
there are always more miracles in the making
to be performed
more need
more desire
more hunger
to be met
when the miracle worker is off to the next town
Does he leave the ones unhealed behind?
Or does he invite them to follow him
to seek out their miracles?

And have you noticed?
A miracle is never the end of the story
it’s always, always the beginning of the beginning
Miracles are the once-upon-a-time in the life of the follower
they set the stage
but they aren’t the story
the life lived after the miracle
is the story

Simon’s mother is healed
and then
and then she got up off her sickbed and served lunch
so what was the miracle?  The healing?  Or lunch?

In the grammar of life, miracles are the conjunctions
and . . . then . . . so that . . . because . . . since . . . in order to . . .
linking events
tying one thing to another and then another
in the life of the one
who got his miracle

It is as if all of heaven is watching. . . waiting. . . asking

now you are free - what will you do with it?
Now you are healed - how will you live it?
Now your eyes are opened - what will you see?
Now your tongue is untied - what will you speak?
Now you can hear - what will you believe?
Now your legs are mended - where will you go?

All of heaven holds its breath for the answer -
told in the life of the one who got their miracle
now you’ve got it, what will you do with it?

The ones who say the age of miracles
is past aren’t entirely wrong
We did get our miracle -
all of us . . . got. . . our . . . miracle
Jesus is our miracle
what will we do with it?
What will we do with him?
Inquiring minds are asking
God wants to know