Miracles

I keep a notebook in Evernote called "Blog Ideas." In it are little kernels of thought that may or may not become actual posts.  I was looking through them today and found this:

Buechner: Faith in God is less apt to proceed from miracles than miracles from faith in God.

I'm assuming that is a quote from Frederick Buechner.  What do you think about it?

As I consider how I see the acts of God, I think it all begins with the faith that God can act.  When I think about that, then the idea that miracles can be seen when we have faith in God makes sense.  I contrast that with what Jesus said - that certain things happened so that others would have faith.

Maybe it all comes down to prevenient grace. We can see a miracle - an act of God - because grace has opened our hearts to the belief that God does act.  We can have faith when we see God at act because grace has opened our hearts to the belief that God does act. 

It is all from grace - we see God at work because God is at work.

 

Logos Luke 19:1-10

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." (Luke 19:8-10)

So what happened here? Zaccheaus, a tax collector, wanted to see Jesus, but he was too short to see, so he climbed a tree. Jesus found him there, asked him to come down, and told him he would stay at his house (Can you follow all of those pronouns?).

Tax collectors were no one's favorite people.  Not only did they collect taxes for Rome, but they made their living by collecting more than what was owned in taxes. I imagine no one loved Zaccheaus, and yet Jesus did, and Jesus went to his home, and treated Zaccheaus like a child of God.

Zaccheaus vows to give the poor half of his possessions and pay back anyone he has defrauded times four.  Jesus proclaims that salvation has come to the house. So what happened? Did salvation come to the house because of Zaccheaus's actions? I don't think so. I think salvation came into the house with the love of Jesus, and what we are seeing in Zaccheaus's action is the result of the salvation - not the ticket to receive it.

It's grace.

What difference does it make?

What difference does prevenient grace make in our lives?  What difference does it make that God pursues us - that God prepares the way for us?

In our lives we are used to the idea that we make our own way.  We might prepare ourselves for a task by doing some research or even seeking training to be more prepared.  We make reservations at hotels before we travel and sometimes before we go out to eat, all in preparation for our arrival.

What does it mean that God prepares us and prepares the way?

God knows us before we know God.  We don't have to find God; God finds us.  We come to know God because God opens the eyes of our lives and builds our faith.  Without prevenient grace, we would not have faith in God.

The Mayor of Huntington has asked community churches to join together in prayer next Sunday, seeking solutions from God for our city's drug problems.  I went to the early service at a different church this past Sunday, and the pastor preached about prayer - what it is and what we are doing when we pray.  And then he asked the congregation to be in prayer during the week in preparation for worship and and prayer next Sunday.  God will prepare the members of the congregation so that they are ready to pray.

That's grace, and it makes a world of difference.

Hide and Seek

Do  you pay attention to the Children's Moment in worship?  It's always more interesting when the children have a conversation with the person who is leading worship.  Sometimes, it's fun to watch the worship leader struggle to keep on topic while the kids tell him their stories.  Other times, what the kids say is incredibly theologically wonderful, and in it is the gem of the lesson.
 
I was listening to the Children's moment in worship the other day. The lesson was about Psalm 139.

Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.

(vs 7-12)

Can we play hide and seek with God?  One little girl said that if we try, we will find that God always knows where we are.  In fact, she said, God is there before us.

That's a great definition of prevenient grace from a 9 year old.   We should all remember her wisdom.

Tapestry

I have heard more than one person - especially those in ordained ministry - speak about their calls to ministry.  Often they regret that they waited so long to act on the call.  This always disturbs me.

There is a scene in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Picard explains that life is a tapestry.  Pull at one thread and the entire picture is changed.

It could be that I am wrong, but I want to say the following to these who voice regrets concerning the timing of answering God's call.  Nothing is wasted.  God has been involved in your life from the beginning.  A call is not like a telephone ringing that you have refused to answer.  A call is a transformative action in your life.  God has been at work, preparing you for when you were ready to say yes.  Don't be so arrogant as to assume that if you had said yes when you first started hearing the call that you would have ready.  How has God used your life to equip you for where you are now?  Could it be that part of that was the work of your call?  Could it be that your "no" was indicative of the state of your readiness to answer?  Be grateful that God has brought you to where you are, and don't regret the time of preparation.

Don't pull at the threads with regret.  The picture in the tapestry will change, and probably not how you would predict.

And most importantly, you cannot change the past.  It's done.  So be in the now and be grateful.