Miraculous?

While watching the film King of Kings with the children last week, one of the kids kept whispering, “How did he do that?” each time Jesus would perform a miracle. I’d love to tell you I had a great response in my hip pocket to whisper back, but I am also the pastor who told the same child on Sunday morning that glittery purple floam slime is unicorn poop (I stand by my claim).

The truth is, I don’t know exactly how it all worked for Jesus.  I don’t know how he gave sight to the blind, or walked on water, or fed five thousand plus people on a hillside. But I do believe it had something to do with the Holy Spirit alighting on him like a dove at his baptism.  Here’s the crazy thing—he said we would do even greater things than he did because he was sending us the Holy Spirit in his place when he went to sit with God the Father. 

We were commissioned to continue in Jesus’ stead.  We are the body of Christ now; we are the hands and feet.  The Holy Spirit gives us a variety of gifts to be used to continue Jesus’ mission on earth.  Can we restore sight to the blind? Well, maybe not literally but certainly figuratively as we share the good news that there is another way to walk through life beside Jesus.  Can we calm storms and walk on water? I’d love to see us try…but perhaps its those hands and feet that bring the calm and the compassion to our neighbors after the horrific natural disasters we experience.  Can we feed five thousand people at once? Our fellowship meals are bountiful, but I don’t know that we could fill quite that much. However, our mindfulness of human deprivation and our awareness of how we support societal structures that keep some people having plenty while others struggle is an important part of fighting hunger.  If everyone, every Christian did their part in their corner of the world, I bet we could move the needle for the benefit of all people.  If we used our God given grace-gifts for the benefit of all, the world would indeed be a better place.