In sports, we are used to talking about “miracles.”
When the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team beat the Russians and won olympic gold, it was termed the “Miracle on Ice.” When the Tennessee Titans ran a trick play on a kickoff return to score the go ahead touchdown with 3 seconds left against the Buffalo Bills in 2000, it was called “the Music City Miracle.” When Franco Harris grabbed a deflected pass in a 1972 NFL playoff game, running into the end zone for the game winning touchdown with 5 seconds left, we call it the “Immaculate Reception.” And when our hometown Sooners come charging back in the late seconds to win a game, we call it “Sooner Magic.”
Magic. Immaculate. Miracles. All on the field of play.
But are these events truly miracles? Yes, things have to bounce a certain way, but talent and execution also play a massive role.
Surprising? Fortuitous? Advantageous? Yes.
Miraculous? Magic? Not so much.
Certainly there ARE real miracles, but most of them happen in something other than big time athletics. If we want to see a real miracle, we need to look to the Savior more than to Sportscenter. God has been working miracles since the beginning of time.
One set of miracles the Lord worked was around a man named Abram. Later Abram (name meaning “honored Father”) became “Abraham” (name meaning “father of a multitude”). I say miracles happened around Abram because as he was an old man he had no land, no kids, and no awesome reputation. But Abraham did have something … he had a promise from God. God had promised Abraham that He would make him a mighty nation with land and prominence, and that Abraham would be a conduit through which blessing would flow to “all the families of the earth.” Yet on his 85th birthday, none of this seemed possible.
Even as he prepared to celebrate his 100th birthday (Abraham and his wife well past the natural ability to conceive and have children), Abraham’s arms will still empty and (as the book of Romans put it) his body was “as good as dead.”
On this stark black canvas of impossibility, however, God paints a masterpiece. In fact, He is still painting it. God was and is able to make good on His promises to Abraham NOT BECAUSE ABRAHAM WAS AWESOME, but because GOD IS ABLE.
Want to see a true miracle? Join us Sunday at Wildwood Community Church as we pull the “Scarlet Thread” through Genesis 12-18 in part 3 of our sermon series seeing shadows of the Savior in the Old Testament. This week, looking at Abraham. See you in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service for singing, study of God’s Word, and the Lord’s Supper … and bring friends!