It’s a Miracle
Acts 4: 32-37
A man who has never walked is carried around by his friends from place to place. No one knows why he cannot walk. He has been this way ever since he was born. He lives in a time before wheelchairs. His only means of getting around is a group of friends. Because of his disability, he has no way to earn a living. His friends bring him to the gates of the city every day so that he may beg and collect alms to support himself. This was his life until the apostles encounter him. Having no silver or gold to share, Peter offers him Jesus and tells him to get up and walk, which the man does. It’s a miracle!
This account appears in the Book of Acts in the chapter before today’s reading (see Acts 3: 1-10). It is indeed a miracle. A miracle is an event that defies logical or scientific explanation and whose existence is attributed to a supernatural force. Healing of an incurable condition or disease is an example. Exorcism of a demon is an example. We see both of these miracles happening in the Book of Acts as the early church forms. I don’t know if you can rank miracles. After all, extraordinary is always extraordinary, but are there situations that seem more intractable or more impossible than others? Do some things require bigger miracles?
If you can rank miracles, what happens in today’s scripture from Acts 4 may rank as a bigger miracle simply because of the unlikeliness of such a thing happening. The early church community is forming in Jerusalem. Verse 32 tells us, “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” (NRSVUE Acts 4: 32). I’m not sure what the bigger miracle is – that these early followers of the Way of Christ gave up their possessions or that they were all of one heart and soul.
How is this even possible? It’s verse 33 that tells us how this is possible, “…and great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4: 33b, CEB)
Great grace was upon them.
Christian community happens because of the power of the Holy Spirit, pouring out God’s great grace upon them, enabling them to do what was previously thought impossible or hindered because of our brokenness as individuals and as a society. It’s a miracle!
The Christian life of agape love, of healing and restoration, of forgiveness and reconciliation, of generosity and sharing, and of proclaiming and living out resurrection feels hard, maybe even impossible, in this world. We can live out this beloved community as modeled in Acts with the Holy Spirit. But only if we, like the early followers of the Way of Christ, allow ourselves to be open, to be moved, and to be transformed by the work of the Spirit to live this life. May we always remain open to God’s great grace. It’s how miracles happen.
Rev. Dana Ezell
