Miracle Moments
A sermon preached at Myers Park Presbyterian Church
by Rev. Von Clemans
April 21, 2013
Psalm 23
Acts 9:36-43
36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. 37 At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay." 39 So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40 Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. 41 He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 42 This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.
Where are the miracles in our day? Where are the Peter’s who arrive, respond, and restore life in the midst of tragedy? Are there any miraculous moments that assure us that death and evil do not have the last word?
The fabric of our national life has once again been torn into shreds this week with the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Whatever sense of security that was slowly returning after the tragic events of 9/11 evaporated when we saw and heard the loud explosions and clouds of smoke rising from the streets lined with spectators at the marathon finish line. In just a few seconds, before our eyes, the happy event was transformed literally into the valley of the shadow of death.Innocent people died andothers were horribly maimed, all by a very real and unimaginable evil. Our hearts break as we see a father grieve over the loss of a son while he waits anxiously as his wife and daughter recover from their injuries. Other families grieve the death of their loved ones and countless families wait and hope and pray for relatives and friends healing from terrible injuries. Life was lost. Wholeness was lost. Innocence was lost. Fear bid us enter into the valley of darkness.
So it was that the psalmist wrote in Psalm 2, one of the most famous passages from holy Scripture. Responding to the awful realities of life that have affected human beings from the beginning of time, the Psalmist offered words of comfort, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
The psalmist recognizes the insecurity of life, the presence of dark valleys, and the reality of evil and the presence of enemies who stand against us. Yet, in the midst of the insecurity, we are offered the assurance that in God’s presence, symbolized by the rod and staff, we need not fear, in fact we can find comfort. God is with us. Therefore, we need not fear even in the valley of the shadow of death. This is a powerful affirmation. Yet, it is an act of faith to claim it in the face of tragedy, heartbreak, pain, and suffering.
Years ago I heard a wonderful story. I am not sure whether it actually happened or not. But I’m sure that the story is true. There was a little girl who woke up in the middle of the night terrified by the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning. She ran to her parent’s room where the mother comforted her and took her back to her room. The mother assured the little girl, “You don’t have to be afraid. God is with you.” A few minutes later another crash of thunder and flash of lightning sent the little girl once more to her mother’s side. The mother took the girl again back to her room and told her, “God is everywhere and God is with you here.” “I know God is everywhere and that God is with me,” said the little girl holding tightly to her mother. “But I need a God with skin on.”
Jesus was God with skin on. Jesus as God-in-the-flesh lived a human life with all of its tragic dimensions. He knew the oppression of poverty and the violence of military occupation. He lived through the death of loved ones and the betrayal of friends. And at the end of his life he knew full well the tragedy of innocent suffering. Maybe these life experiences were what made Jesus so compassionate. Surely Jesus was reflecting the character of God. Whatever the reason, Jesus entered into life’s tragedies and brought the presence of God through his words and his touch. God’s presence in Jesus brought about miraculous healings of life long illnesses and incurable diseases. He even brought his friend Lazarus back from the dead. If only Jesus could be with us as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, perhaps then we wouldn’t fear.
When Jesus was crucified even those closest to him thought the story had come to an end. God’s presence in the world seemed to be defeated by the evil actions of others and the powers of this world. But God resurrected Jesus from the dead. God said yes to Jesus and no to the evil of the world. Not even the darkest death could overcome the power of God’s love. Jesus appeared to the disciples and assured them of his continuing presence with them. They were encouraged, even emboldened. Until Jesus announced he was leaving them. So did the miracle moments of God’s healing and overcoming tragedy stop with Jesus?
Before he left them, Jesus made the disciples a promise we read in John’s Gospel (14:12) where he said, “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” When Jesus left this earth, God’s Holy Spirit filled the disciples with God’s presence and they did miraculous things. One example involved Peter.
Peter was the brash and bold one. Peter was the one who betrayed Jesus three times, only to be forgiven by Jesus and then sent out to care for Jesus’s flock. With Jesus’ forgiveness behind him, Peter grew closer and closer to the living Christ. He became God with skin on, the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise that the disciples would do greater works than even Jesus. The passage we read today in Acts tells of one such miraculous moment.
The early Christian community was coming to terms with Jesus’s death and resurrection. Part of that meant living more fully in a community of faith that supported each other and cared deeply for each other as Jesus had cared for them. One such community was found in a little town called Joppa on the Mediterranean coast not far from Jerusalem. Living there was a female disciple named Tabitha (in Hebrew) or Dorcas (in Greek). Tabitha was widely known in both the Hebrew and Greek communities as someone devoted to good works and acts of charity. She had a special concern for the widows of that community, women who were especially vulnerable and had few, if any, resources. In one of those tragic turns in life Tabitha became ill and died. Her body was prepared for burial. The other disciples with Tabithaknew that Peter was nearby and sent two of their number to get him. “Please come to us without delay,” they said to Peter, most likely hoping for a miracle moment when Peter arrived.
Peter arrived at the home where the widows showed off the clothes that Tabitha had made for them. Peter went into where the body laid and prayed. He reached out and took Tabitha’s hand. Mirroring Jesus command to the dead Lazarus, Peter said to Tabitha, “Tabitha, get up.” Miracle of miracles, she did just that. Peter brought her out and restored her to her friends and community that cared so much about her. This miracle became known throughout the city and many believed in Jesus because of what Peter had done. Peter was not a magician doing miraculous tricks. Because of his close relationship with Jesus, he was a channel for the ongoing presence of Jesus who was the source of his miraculous power.
Tabitha’s life was a witness to the core of the gospel – to show compassion to the widows and orphans, to lift up the oppressed, and to bring hope to those in need. Tabitha’s life and work needed to be resuscitated, to be brought back to life. It was too important to die. And by the power of God’s presence through Peter, it was.
It is natural to expect miracles from Jesus. It is not so natural to expect miracles from everyday disciples, like Peter. Jesus promised that when he went away God’s Holy Spirit would still be present with disciples from then on. God’s miraculous power to transform death into life did not stop with Jesus’s resurrection. God was still loose in the world, still active, still accompanying people through the valley of the shadow of death, still saying, “fear not.” That Holy Spirit continues to empower disciples to do miraculous things in God’s name. God is still working in the lives of people and human society to repair the brokenness of the world and to weave out of tragic happenings wonders of goodness and grace.
Where are the miracles of God’s presence in today’s world? Where is the evidence that death and evil and fear do not have the last word? I believe there are miracles all around us, if we have eyes to see. Sometimes they are dramatic. Sometimes only a few know of them.
It’s a miracle of God’s presence when a parent holds a child’s hand in the darkness of night and calms the child’s fears enough for sleep.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when we notice, at the moment the bombs explode on the finish line in Boston, when the stunned crowds began to move away, that hundreds of people — firefighters, police officers, race officials, bystanders —intentionally enter the valley of the shadow of death by moving toward the injured, offering life-saving comfort and aid.
We see a miracle of God’s presence in the female doctor who, even though she had just ran 26 miles, rushed through broken barriers to offer her skills to save lives.
Were all these people Christians, intentionally bearing God’s presence? No. But if God’s presence is lose in the world, maybe God doesn’t wait until Christians decide to act. Maybe God works through the hands and feet that are available.
Yet, God surely works through Christians, like Peter, who live close enough to God in Jesus that God’s presence shines through to others.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when a retired person sits with a young student at Billingsville Elementary explaining for the eighth time why it is important to learn to read and patiently listens as the student practices reading.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when a life-long member of this church takes food to a Friendship Tray recipient and stays for a few extra minutes to really listens to the person’s answer to “How are you?”
We see a miracle of God’s presence when middle-aged adults give their time and energy to prepare a Sunday school lesson for middle schoolers not knowing that one of the youth really needed a positive experience to make up for a horrible week.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when a friend of the family goes to the hospital in the middle of the night to hold a hand and offer comfort to a dying soul.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when, after an extended time of no response, the family gathers to sing hymns at the bedside of a critically ill patient and are surprised when the patient begins to sing along.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when a friend of many years, out of the blue, asks you why you are a Christian, and surprising yourself, you tell from your heart how God has accepted and loved you and that you are just trying to return some of that love.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when Christians work alongside Muslims and Mormons and Jew and Hindus to build a Habitat home for a Vietnamese family.
We see a miracle of God’s presence when someone, in the heat of a violent disagreement, is able to choose words that reduce the heat of the moment enough for reason to prevail.
Are all of these people aware they are participating in a miracle moment, bearing God’s presence to others? Probably not. But God works through them anyway. The power of God’s Spirit flows through people and circumstance to make the miracle of God’s presence real.
Whoare the Peter’s in today’s world? Who are the ones God uses to let the world know that God is with us? Who are the ones who fashion life out of death, hope out of despair, and confidence out of fear? You and I are Peter. We are the onesGod uses, like Peter, to bring the power of God’s presence into a needy world. Sometimes with our knowledge. Sometimes without.
Today, the dead are resuscitated, the injured are given aid, the fearful are comforted, the anxious are calmed, the outcasts are welcomed, the discouraged are encouraged, and despairing are given hope, all because God works through people like you and me. You are Peter. I am Peter —bearer of God’s power and presence.
Who is calling to you, “Please come to us without delay”? Who needs you to be a miracle of God? How will you respond?
May the God of miracle moments empower us, like Peter, to be bearers of God’s life-giving Spirit to everyone we know, everyone we meet, and everyone that needs a miracle today.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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