It's a Miracle!
John 20:1-18
Jim from B.C.

It's a miracle that author Sylvia Fraser survived to tell about her experience in the water off the south tip of India, in her latest book called "Rope in the Water". At one point in her pilgrimage around India, Sylvia Fraser was swimming in the ocean, having been uninformed about the strong currents. She was being carried helplessly away, further and further from the shore, and would have drowned, had not a rope bumped up against her in the water, a gift by which she was able, miraculously, to pull herself towards shore.

It's a miracle that a young man on Vancouver Island, who was in a depressed state, searching for God, was suddenly handed a large pectoral cross by a complete stranger, who left without comment, and whom he never saw again.

It's a miracle that a Finnish lady, whom I got to know in Victoria, woke up in the middle of the night one night, bolt upright, and was aware that something was wrong with her son. So she quickly phoned his home back in Finland and discovered that at that very moment, he was seriously considering committing suicide.

It's a miracle when some people have out-of-body experiences, or see visions, or have presentiments of specific future events.

It's a miracle when an alcoholic comes to his senses and admits that he cannot stop drinking by his own will-power. And it's a miracle if that person seeks outside help.

It's a miracle when a person who is unspiritual by every normal criterion comes to faith in God, and believes in the gift of Jesus. It's a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit!

It's a miracle that Byron and Amanda made it through two years of my Confirmation classes, and are here today to affirm their Baptismal Covenant!

It's a miracle, for some of us, that our marriages have survived, that our children have survived, and that we have survived! It's certainly a miracle of God that some of you are sitting here today, considering how close you've come to death in the past.

It's a miracle that the church survived the first three hundred years of its existence, considering the relentless persecution and genocide of Christians during that time. It's a miracle that the church survived the corrupt popes of the early Middle Ages, and survived the religious wars of the late Middle Ages. Historians used to call that period the Dark Ages.

It's a miracle that so many of us still have faith, considering how wayward we've been. It's a miracle that so many of us still have faith in spite of horrible and senseless misfortunes we've had, and Job-like experiences that have tested our faith. Someone once said: "Every believer is God's miracle."

Also, I believe that every act of unselfish love is a miracle, because almost all love that people give nowadays is conditional. There's always something expected when it's offered. Grace, which is unconditional love, is not only a surprise when it happens; it's a miracle.

So I believe in miracles.

It's not surprising to me that 97% of the population still believe in God, because there are so many miracles happening all the time, which could not have happened without the power and presence of Almighty God.

There are so many miracles that have happened all through history, and in the history of your life and mine, that the miracle of God's raising Jesus from the dead is just another in a very, very long list. So I believe also in that miracle, of Jesus' resurrection.

My belief is a miracle, too, because I'm even more skeptical, by nature, than the early witnesses were, who had very great difficulty believing what they saw with their own eyes! I'm sure NONE of us would be able to believe anything, without the miracle of the Holy Spirit enlightening our minds and opening our hearts and creating faith within us.

Isn't it great that that Easter occurs in springtime, because spring is the season of miracles. Resurrection is all around us! Martin Luther once said: "Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime."

So today is a day to celebrate miracles, especially God's resurrection of his Son from the dead.

Yes, folks, it's a miracle. Amen.