OUR MIRACLE IS AROUND YOU! (On the Theology of our Contribution)
YOUR MIRACLE IS AROUND YOU! (On the Theology of our Contribution)
Dear friend, what miracle are you waiting for? Are you able to read this message? Then, you must know that your miracle is already with you; stop looking for it in far away places.
You see! You need to redefine your idea of a miracle before you can begin to appreciate better the place of Jesus in your life. A friend of mine drew my attention to his opinion on my reflection this morning on The Theology of our Contribution. He was worried that the path we threaded in the reflection might water down the importance of Jesus as the bread of life, which is actually the major theme of John chapter 6.
Did you think that way too? Maybe you didn’t, but he was not entirely wrong. Don’t be surprised that I said that; I’m only reasoning with my generation.
My generation is a generation that seek signs and wonders before they will believe. They need to see the pastor wave his handkerchief in the air before they believe in divine manifestation. They want to be anointed with the ‘Back to sender oil’ before they believe in divine protection. They need to hear the pastor blow air deeply in the microphone before they can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.
You can see that it will be difficult for this generation of mine to believe ordinary miracles like waking soundly from sleep or eating food or drinking water without getting choked. My generation won’t understand that Jesus was an ordinary carpenter in a small Galilean town of Nazareth.
Please don’t get scandalized that I called Jesus an ordinary man. But there was really nothing extraordinary about him other than the fact that he was moving against the tide; people were seriously moving away from God, and he was redirecting people back to God. It is in that light that we talked of the Theology of our Contribution.
Can you not see that? In the beginning, God said that it is not good for man to be alone, and he set out to give man a helper (cf. Gen 2:18ff). That means that God wants us to live as a community who help one another to live better in a situation of difficulty. Unfortunately, from the construction of the Tower of Babel (cf. Gen 11:1ff), that original intention of God for unity and community living began to be watered down. Thenceforth, selfishness began to be the rule of life. So, it will not be weird to think that among the people who were listening to Jesus, there were those who had so much to eat whereas many had nothing.
Now, understand this! Jesus was the reason for their gathering that day. That is a miracle! This same Jesus has been speaking to their hearts, and as usual, their hearts were filled with ardent yearning for more and the disposition for change. That also is a miracle! Then, a young boy was inspired to take a decisive step to give – another miracle! Then, the multitude began to share among themselves – awesome miracle; a return to the original plan of God!
You see! It didn’t actually water down the importance of Jesus. It teaches us to begin to see Jesus in the ordinary events of our lives. Otherwise, we shall remain like the Jews who still await the coming of the saviour just because Jesus did not appear as they thought and taught.
PLEASE DON’T MISS YOUR MIRACLE JUST BECAUSE IT HAS NOT COME AS YOU THOUGHT!
Have a good night rest my dear. Peace be with you.
Jesus the way, truth and life…please show me thy way…don’t allow me to go to the wrong direction…Amen!