means to "Make
a Miracle Every Day," I came across this definition in one of our
Confirmation Class essays on their experience. They were not talking
about Making Miracles, but rather about their response to the question: SCRIPTURES: 1 Corinthians 13: 1-7 and 1 Corinthians 13:13.
What was the first thing that went through your mind when you read the title of the sermon: "Make a Miracle Every Day." Perhaps you started thinking about some of the miracles in the Bible:
Truly, each of these events and many more deserve the description of miraculous. However, thou we rightly honor these dramatic events and call them miracles and demonstrations of the power of God's grace and love, the reality is that if we only see these types of events as miracles, we are limiting God's ability to use our individual and collective lives as miraculous instruments of his grace.
As I was thinking
about all of this and how we might better understand what it means to "Make
a Miracle Every Day," I came across this definition in one of our
Confirmation Class essays on their experience. They were not talking
about Making Miracles, but rather about their response to the question:
What is our mission as Christians?
The response was: To figure out what Jesus would do in a given situation and try do the same.
Their response reminded me of the What Would Jesus Do? campaign of a few years ago, but it is also a response that I feel well summarizes our mission and our ability to "Make Miracles Every Day," because friends when we approach our daily life with a commitment to live with Christ-like priorities, we are going to be making a huge impact upon the lives of our loved ones and all who are impacted by our faithful witness.
Today, as we as a congregation reflect upon our effort to participate in a Miracle Making Process at the New Brooklyn Reformed Church, I would like to use that experience as an example of the wonderful potential each of us have to "Make a Miracle Every Day." To begin our reflection, let us consider the fact that we live in a world that is filled with needs for the miraculous experience of God's grace and love in our daily lives. It's true today, it was true in the context of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, and it will be true forever.
Think about
what was going on in the life of the early Church when Paul wrote
his first
letter to the Corinthians. Simply stated, they were under attack from
within and from the outside. Within their Church, their was an internal
struggle that created tension and even animosity among the Church family at
Corinth. And at this point, the Church was still under persecution from
those who viewed it as a cult or some sort of threat to the Roman
Empire. It would take a miracle for them to survive and an even greater
miracle for the Church to last the more than 2,000 years it has.
Within that type of understanding of the challenge facing the Churches of the past, present and future, we come to the particular challenges facing the New Brooklyn Reformed Church. Of all of the slides and information that our Mission Commissioner Doug B., Charlie C. and others have provided us, there was one slide that said it all. It was the slide that said three times in recent years the New Brooklyn Reformed Church has almost closed its doors. But they haven't. And our participation in this Summer's Mission Project there will be part of the reason why those doors stay open at New Brooklyn.
And as we celebrate that miracle, let us remember that it is only one example of the many miracles that we are privileged to be a part of. Think about this year's Confirmation Class, all of the members of our Sunday School and all those who will be celebrating graduations this year. Their achievements are possible because of the miraculous commitment of their families, friends and Church family to do everything that we can to help them grow in God's grace. Paul said that the greatest gift God gives us is the gift of love and every time we are giving that gift to another, we are helping to make a miracle.
But as we affirm the potential we have to make a miracle, we need to also
affirm the reality that we can't make a miracle without a willingness to 
make a sacrifice. Frankly, Paul was asking the members of the divided
Church family at Corinth to sacrifice their egos by focusing on their
unity in Christ. Right at the beginning of this letter, we see that Paul
identifies the divisions within this Church among those who want to follow
him, Appolos, Cephas or other leaders and tells them to put their
differences aside, and come together based on their common faith in
Christ. Divided, he said they would perish, but united they would
flourish!
To make a miracle, we always have to be willing to make a sacrifice. Yes, we are going to New Brooklyn to participate in a Miracle, but that is only possible because we as a Church family have been willing to offer our time, talents, treasures and prayers to provide the needed resources. I look out today and I see the beautiful faces of the young people in our Church. They look happy, they look healthy and I know that they have experienced that blessing from God because of parents, grandparents, family, friends, Sunday School teachers and others who have willingly and gladly made sacrifices for them.
Why? Well that's the final point I want to make in terms of our reflections upon "Making a Miracle Every Day." You see in a little while, you are going to enjoy a slide show about our previous Mission Trips, and I ask you to take a close look at the faces in the pictures you will see. You will notice a smile on every face. Yes, part of the reason is because probably someone said "OK, smile, say cheese," and then took the photo.
But the greater reason for those smiles is that there is no greater joy than sharing the gift of God's love with our loved ones and others. When we enjoy the privilege of making a miracle by fulfilling our calling to be an instrument of God's love and grace, it just brings a smile to our face and a warmth to our hearts that can't be beat. I see it right now as I look at your faces. I've seen it before and I know I will see it again. Whether it's at New Brooklyn, or Confirmation Sunday, or Children's Day or whenever, the smile on the outside will be a testimony to the reality that we have fulfilled our potential to "Make a Miracle Every Day."
Pastor Stephen Giordano — May 22, 2005