The Miracle of Gathering Together
Sometimes miracles have layers of surprising power. When we think of the feeding of the five thousand, we automatically think about the miraculous multiplying of food. Five loaves and two fish became enough to feed thousands of people with numerous baskets of leftovers. But we might not think as much about the miraculous faith and generosity of a child sharing his lunch with thousands, giving up all that he had to eat to redistribute it among the multitude. Furthermore, we don’t think of the logistical miracle in a few disciples getting thousands of hungry people to sit down and wait for food, and then distributing it in an efficient manner. Though we may not think about these, for someone who works with children or works in supply distribution, these things seem to be nothing short of miraculous. Miracles come in packages.
Of course, in this example, only one miracle couldn’t be explained away as good human behavior; however, sometimes good human behavior itself can appear miraculous. We’ve all probably heard stories of daring heroes who jump into a river to save a drowning child, not even thinking to put their cellphone and wallet in a safe place before they irreparably harm anything electronic they were carrying. This sort of behavior isn’t impossible for humans, but you don’t see everyone doing it. When disaster strikes we get scared. Sometimes, when people are in danger, we doubt our own qualifications to save them and wait for someone else to help. This phenomenon is common enough to earn its own name: the bystander effect. It is remarkable, when someone puts themselves at risk to save a stranger. Even making the choice to help in the first place is rare and difficult.
Not everyone who risks their lives to help others would consider their behavior miraculous. In fact, most people would probably reject that classification. There are at least two reasons for this. One, someone who doesn’t believe in God, doesn’t want to imagine God somehow being involved in their heroic action. Two, if someone does believe in God, they might be resistant to calling their actions miraculous. That almost seems disrespectful. I’m not a miracle worker for simply helping someone. To think that would be tremendously arrogant.
While I don’t want to go attributing every heroic action to God’s miraculous power, I think we can still witness a powerful and often surprising influence of God in human actions. The boy who shared his lunch to feed the multitudes didn’t work a miracle himself, but God was involved. God commands that we share with those who are in need. Jesus called for food to feed the hungry masses. The boy simply listened to God, and did what he expected God wanted. Here is the miracle of the Law. God provides us with the instructions to live a life that serves others and makes the world a better place. When the Law comes into conflict with the expectations and values of the world, God’s influence is seen in human behavior. The greater power of influence the world has on a decision, the more miraculous it appears when the Law wins. This is all to say that miracles sometimes are actions that are completely impossible from a human perspective, but sometimes miracles are events against which there is no physical barrier, but they simply are unlikely to the point of impossible, like a young boy giving up all he has to eat, suspecting that his meal will be enough to feed thousands.
When we think of the day of Pentecost, we think of the miracle of communication. This was the moment when the Tower of Babel story was reversed. The breaks in language that humankind has suffered for all our history are suddenly healed. The Gospel is proclaimed and understood in every language. Every tongue under heaven is worthy of bearing the good news because the Gospel itself makes it so. This is remarkable. Being able to speak in one language and having someone understand it in their own language is not something that can be done by human effort, though I’m sure the folks at Google are trying to figure it out. However, there are other miraculous things at play here.
“They were all together in one place.”
Imagine that. Just two weeks ago, we had our Memorial Day weekend potluck at Grace. I talked to one man whose family had founded the church. He comes back to visit once in a while, but he lives in Kansas, so he isn’t here every Sunday. We had people who come every week and people who come less frequently all gathered together, and yet our full membership wasn’t present. Some people were unable to travel. Others doubtless had family plans for the weekend and weren’t able to be present. I certainly don’t mean to make anyone feel guilty for not coming. I fully understand why not everyone can come every week, but that is exactly my point. With all the reasons why people may be unable to gather together at any given time, being told, “They were all together in one place,” certainly sounds miraculous.
As the world grows more technologically advanced but more socially fractured, I wonder if the communication miracle will become recreatable by technology sooner than the gathering of people in one place. Sure, Zoom puts us all in the same digital space while we are miles apart, but I’ve been taking classes on Zoom for two years now, and I can say with certainty that it isn’t the same. Digital space and physical space aren’t equal. Perhaps with more work they can become effectively similar, but for now we can feel overwhelmed by pseudo-socialization while simultaneously being starved of real contact. Being gathered together in one place is a miracle we need now more than ever.
With regard to the miracle of language, there are ways in which the Bible itself can still serve this purpose. The musical Come From Away is based on the real events in the town of Gander, Newfoundland during Operation Yellow Ribbon following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Though the musical surely takes some creative liberties, there is one brief narrative in particular that I hope is true. After finally being allowed to get off the airplanes landed at the airport, a diverse group of travelers from around the world board buses to be transported to shelters. They drive through a dark forest at night in a strange land. Many of them didn’t speak the same language. In this musical, as one bus arrives at a Salvation Army camp, one family from Africa is afraid to leave the bus, uncertain of what to do and unable to speak the language of anyone around them. The bus driver, though still unable to communicate, sees that one family member is holding a Bible. He asks her if he can borrow it. Though he can’t read it, he uses the number system to find the verse he is looking for, Philippians 4:6, pointing to the beginning of the verse.
“Be anxious for nothing…”
They couldn’t have a conversation. They couldn’t help each other understand what was happening, but they could share the reassuring promise of God. People gathered from all around the world in one place could speak the language of love and compassion.
