The other day, I had an interesting conversation with another pastor. In delving into what a "miracle" consists of and in relation to the feeding of the 5000, I mentioned how a miracle isn't like magic: you don't just wish for something and it appears (an approach that was taken during particular scenes in the Son of God movie). His point was that the miracle in that particular story was in how everyone shared something with their neighbor (with the assumption that everyone brought a lunch with them). I argued with him about his view of "miracle". Upon clarification, he later changed his mind to suggest that the sharing was "a" miracle, given the fact that humans don't naturally share; "miracle" in this sense would be overcoming natural selfish inclinations. Still, I must argue with the premise; for me, a miracle is an event in which God intercedes or interjects God's ability into the situation. Thus, us sharing without God's intervention is more of a moral issue than a theological stance. In like matter, one might offer this argument: if you can do miracles without God, like becoming a morally good person, what's the point of faith? Maybe I am taking this pastor's point a little far, but needless to say, faith is not the same as a moral issue. It's not about we ourselves overcoming human inclinations; that is, unless God intervenes. The miracle for me in the feeding of the 5000 is that God provided for our every need--in the Gospel of John, Jesus healed those who were sick, gave good news to those in bad situations, and fed those who were hungry. The miracle, and theological statement, is that God provides in ways that we can't do ourselves, given our selfish ways.
Now, this isn't to say that miracles don't happen on a regular basis; they do. But they must point to God first as the source of the miracle. There is a big difference between God as the source and people making good moral decisions. And, sometimes the miracle leads us to good moral decisions, but God must again be the source.
To come next: Miracles and the Supernatural
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ReplyDeleteMy understanding of the loaves and fishes story has always been that God intervenes and takes our offering, no matter how small, and multiplies it. He turns what little we have into enough to bless us and many others with what we need (and more than we could have imagined).
ReplyDeleteThe disciples are concerned about the great crowds that are lingering, perhaps even pressing, around them. They want to send them away, so that they might head toward villages to find food that is scarce among the many gathered there. I see this as a concern for the multitudes, as well as a concern for their own circumstances (once the crowd grows more uncomfortable). They are focused on a human problem that is present and, in their minds, threatens to grow into a much less manageable situation as the crowds begin complaining.
I have an image of Jesus' response: "Don't you get it yet?...Haven't we been through this?... Do I have too keep showing you the way?" He sends them out into the crowd to collect what food they can find and they gather what is clearly insufficient to feed the masses. Then Jesus instructs them to distribute the food among the crowd. Everyone is fed and there are leftovers!
Jesus wants us to give our worry to God. We are great at focusing on a problem, rolling that problem around in our minds, growing it into most certain disaster. The takeaway, for me, is to worry less about human problems and not to doubt what God can do in our lives when we put our trust in Him. We are to offer what we have and trust that God will make it work.
Jesus doesn't wave his hand and erase the hunger from their stomachs. He doesn't multiply the fish in front of the crowd like a magic trick that results in baskets overflowing with food. He asks the disciples to trust God and go out with what little they have. He asks us to trust GOD'S WORK while being willing to use OUR HANDS and whatever resources we may have.