Prayer on True Miracles

 

               Read John 6:1-15, 24-35.
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ² A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³ Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴ Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵ When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷ Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
¹⁵ When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

²⁴ So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

                From time to time, Lord, a longing rises in me for a private, special showing of your grace.  I do not want a big, spectacular miracle. However, I would like an occasional small-scale but unmistakable sign that you are around.  Occasionally, I would like one of those New Testament scenes replayed in my own life.  I tell myself that if that happened, the boundaries of the mystery would narrow a bit and doubt would retreat in the face of the statement of faith, "I told you so!" 

                Whenever that longing lays hold of me, I hope a wiser, deeper strand of the witness of the Bible and the church will lay hold of me with a grip that is stronger still.  That witness does not ask for special signs.  Rather, it trusts in the steady working of your grace within us and around us.

                Work in me, I pray, the miracle of becoming one who does not need miracles anymore.  After all, I know that the world and life are miracle enough.  I know that your presence and grace energizes everything I see, hear, or feel. They can be a reaching out of your hand to mine and of my hand to yours.

                Let me live my life today as one who understands that the raft in which I ride and the sea on which it floats are themselves the signs of your grace.  I do not need to wait until a bird comes fluttering out of the sky to land on my little vessel to experience your grace.

                Let me live my life today as one who understands that even in the most disquieting, most painful experiences that come to me, there will be something I can use to move me toward Christian maturity.  Every experience will have something that I can make dance to your tune, something that can be a bridge to you.  Amen.