13 05 07 Encountering miracles? Acts 16: 9-15 Shannon Hurtado
In a film called Grand Canyon, a couple whose only child is preparing to go off to University find themselves struggling with mixed emotions. A series of unexpected events occurs starting with the wife's discovery of a baby abandoned in some shrubbery when she's out for a run. Enchanted by this discovery, she delays contacting the police and tries to persuade her husband that they should keep the child. Several other unusual things happen, leaving the couple uncertain and slightly at odds with each other. Trying to make sense of it all, the woman says to her husband, "maybe these are miracles but we're too inexperienced to recognise them."
1. The three bible readings for today present stories about the unexpected irruption of God into human experience. God never gives up trying to reach us. Through various means he reveals himself to us and guides our understanding. Acts chapter 16 tells how Paul, Silas and Timothy are diverted from the itinerary they had planned for Paul's second missionary journey through Asia Minor. They had set out to re-visit the churches that Paul had established a couple of years earlier. Their purpose was to encourage, instruct and proclaim the good news of God's redemption among them. This mission was endorsed by the Jerusalem council which had affirmed Paul's call to work among the Gentiles. On their journey, which took them along the Via Egnatia the major land route from Rome to the eastern regions of the empire, they expected to encounter a mixed population of Roman occupiers, Greeks, and members of the Jewish diaspora.
A couple of verses before our reading opens, we find that the Holy Spirit did not permit them to preach in the province of Asia and restrained them from crossing the border of Mysia into Bithynia. We aren't told what were the circumstances that convinced them to turn back from their intended path, nor are we given any insight into their feelings about these blocks to their progress. Its tempting to imagine them being repelled by an invisible force field, but it was probably something much more ordinary. All was not lost—Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man pleaded for them to come to Macedonia and help them. Paul and the others interpreted this vision as a directive from the Holy Spirit and they prepared to leave immediately. Remarkably, Paul and his companions appear not to have been surprised by these revelations of God's intentions through the Spirit. On they journeyed until they got to Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia where they stayed for several days.
The story in the Gospel of John is sandwiched between accounts of Jesus working signs and wonders. While in Jerusalem for a festival, Jesus visits the pool named either Bethesda (meaning house of mercy) or Bethzatha (house of outpouring), a part of town where he is sure to find a large number of people suffering from various infirmities. They are all waiting for a miracle. All eyes are watching for a sign in the water. It is rather surprising then that Jesus asks a long-time sufferer if he wants to get well. The man explains his plight, perhaps hoping that Jesus will help him through the stampeding crowd the next time the water stirs. Instead, Jesus cures him by a command, then slips away. The Son of God demonstrates his father's power but the man on the receiving end doesn't even know who he is.
Psalm 67 alludes to another encounter between God and a human being, this time Moses. In this song of harvest thanksgiving, the psalmist asks that God will continue to bless his people and make his face shine upon them. The singers would be reminded of the radiance of Moses's face when he came down from his encounter with God on Mt. Sinai (Gen. 34). God revealed himself to the Israelites through the Commandments he gave there and through the reflected glory on Moses's face. This was so intense that the Israelites were afraid to come near him at first.
2. God doesn't give up trying to reach us and his aim is to reach the whole world. The diversion that the Holy Spirit engineered brought Paul and company into Europe where they proclaimed the gospel for the first time. At Philippi they met Lydia, a cultured Greek woman who traded in purple cloth, a luxury good associated with the rich and powerful. Vaguely recalling a song about Lydia from the days of my youth, I did a google on her name. I found the song on a website which described it as a dire example of pop-sike. It seemed so much more profound when I was 16. Another site caught my attention, Custom Sewing by Lydia of Purple. Neither of these bears much resemblance to our subject. She is described as a 'God-fearer' (a convert to Judaism) who responded to Paul's message and became a follower of Jesus. She was baptised as were all in her household; as the first European member of the body of Christ, she opened her home to Paul and the others. From this beginning she went on to become an influential member of the Philippian church which may indeed have met in her home in the early days.
After Jesus healed him, the former invalid was challenged by the Jewish authorities for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. When they heard that this was Jesus' doing, they persecuted him. He replied that he, like his Father, was always about his redemptive work. A lame man had been released from a 38-year bondage.
In his harvest hymn, the psalmist recognises that God's goodness to the Israelites will not go unnoticed by the nations of the earth. As a result, they will turn to worship Him and receive blessings of justice, plenty and peace. God's relationship with the people of Israel is always meant to be a means of blessing for all the peoples of the earth.
God's love knows no boundaries: national, doctrinal, geographical. He is intent to reveal himself to those who think they know all about him, those who come from different religious and national backgrounds, those who are searching, and those who don't believe that he exists at all.
3. God can use us to reveal himself to others if we are willing to reach out across boundaries, live exemplary lives, and rely upon his strength and guidance through the power of his Holy Spirit. (PHIL. 2: 12-16)
How will we be able to tell if we are encountering miracles? We must be prepared to meet the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary. After all, God revealed himself to us in the stable at Bethlehem. If we have been praying for something to happen and an opportunity presents itself, we might interpret that as an answer. If we have a persistent thought about a course of action or someone comes to mind, we might take that as a prompting. If another person offers an insight into our own experience or action, that also could be guidance. God can reveal himself and his purposes to us in mundane ways.
In a film called Grand Canyon, a couple whose only child is preparing to go off to University find themselves struggling with mixed emotions. A series of unexpected events occurs starting with the wife's discovery of a baby abandoned in some shrubbery when she's out for a run. Enchanted by this discovery, she delays contacting the police and tries to persuade her husband that they should keep the child. Several other unusual things happen, leaving the couple uncertain and slightly at odds with each other. Trying to make sense of it all, the woman says to her husband, "maybe these are miracles but we're too inexperienced to recognise them."
1. The three bible readings for today present stories about the unexpected irruption of God into human experience. God never gives up trying to reach us. Through various means he reveals himself to us and guides our understanding. Acts chapter 16 tells how Paul, Silas and Timothy are diverted from the itinerary they had planned for Paul's second missionary journey through Asia Minor. They had set out to re-
A couple of verses before our reading opens, we find that the Holy Spirit did not permit them to preach in the province of Asia and restrained them from crossing the border of Mysia into Bithynia. We aren't told what were the circumstances that convinced them to turn back from their intended path, nor are we given any insight into their feelings about these blocks to their progress. Its tempting to imagine them being repelled by an invisible force field, but it was probably something much more ordinary. All was not lost—Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man pleaded for them to come to Macedonia and help them. Paul and the others interpreted this vision as a directive from the Holy Spirit and they prepared to leave immediately. Remarkably, Paul and his companions appear not to have been surprised by these revelations of God's intentions through the Spirit. On they journeyed until they got to Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia where they stayed for several days.
The story in the Gospel of John is sandwiched between accounts of Jesus working signs and wonders. While in Jerusalem for a festival, Jesus visits the pool named either Bethesda (meaning house of mercy) or Bethzatha (house of outpouring), a part of town where he is sure to find a large number of people suffering from various infirmities. They are all waiting for a miracle. All eyes are watching for a sign in the water. It is rather surprising then that Jesus asks a long-
Psalm 67 alludes to another encounter between God and a human being, this time Moses. In this song of harvest thanksgiving, the psalmist asks that God will continue to bless his people and make his face shine upon them. The singers would be reminded of the radiance of Moses's face when he came down from his encounter with God on Mt. Sinai (Gen. 34). God revealed himself to the Israelites through the Commandments he gave there and through the reflected glory on Moses's face. This was so intense that the Israelites were afraid to come near him at first.
2. God doesn't give up trying to reach us and his aim is to reach the whole world. The diversion that the Holy Spirit engineered brought Paul and company into Europe where they proclaimed the gospel for the first time. At Philippi they met Lydia, a cultured Greek woman who traded in purple cloth, a luxury good associated with the rich and powerful. Vaguely recalling a song about Lydia from the days of my youth, I did a google on her name. I found the song on a website which described it as a dire example of pop-
After Jesus healed him, the former invalid was challenged by the Jewish authorities for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. When they heard that this was Jesus' doing, they persecuted him. He replied that he, like his Father, was always about his redemptive work. A lame man had been released from a 38-
In his harvest hymn, the psalmist recognises that God's goodness to the Israelites will not go unnoticed by the nations of the earth. As a result, they will turn to worship Him and receive blessings of justice, plenty and peace. God's relationship with the people of Israel is always meant to be a means of blessing for all the peoples of the earth.
God's love knows no boundaries: national, doctrinal, geographical. He is intent to reveal himself to those who think they know all about him, those who come from different religious and national backgrounds, those who are searching, and those who don't believe that he exists at all.
3. God can use us to reveal himself to others if we are willing to reach out across boundaries, live exemplary lives, and rely upon his strength and guidance through the power of his Holy Spirit. (PHIL. 2: 12-
How will we be able to tell if we are encountering miracles? We must be prepared to meet the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary. After all, God revealed himself to us in the stable at Bethlehem. If we have been praying for something to happen and an opportunity presents itself, we might interpret that as an answer. If we have a persistent thought about a course of action or someone comes to mind, we might take that as a prompting. If another person offers an insight into our own experience or action, that also could be guidance. God can reveal himself and his purposes to us in mundane ways.