Miraculous expectation?!

Bishop Claude Payne serves the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. That segment of the Episcopal Church is growing rapidly. Partly, this is because they have worked hard to discern God’s vision for the parishes of the Diocese. But Bishop Payne also asserts that they are growing – even many congregations in poorer neighborhoods are flourishing – because they have adopted a spirit of miraculous expectation and spiritual transformation.

Miraculous expectation?! Are we to expect miracles? Lutheran Christians aren’t particularly big on miracles (we’re pretty rational, all in all), and you might think it almost sounds audacious to expect a miracle!

But the man quoted in Mark 9 believed Jesus could heal his son. The woman with gynecological problems knew that touching Jesus would heal her. And did Jesus himself ever doubt that God would raise him on the third day? They expected the miraculous … and God answered their bold prayers!

Imagine if we had a spirit of miraculous expectation here in the Northwestern Ohio Synod, in our churches. What if we expected that there wouldn’t be any hungry people in the synod? What if we expected our congregations to reach out to and welcome in the seeker, the lost sheep, and the unbeliever. What if we expected God to use our congregations and ourselves individually to change the world and make it reflect the glory of the Kingdom of God?

As you can guess, Jesus was able to heal the man’s son. We, too, believe; may God help our unbelief! My dear friends, may the power of the Holy Spirit make us audacious enough to have an attitude of miraculous expectation. There’s no telling what we could do if we believed – if we knew – that God can and will make miracles happen in our midst!