A mother had taken her young toddler son to Acapulco. She and her son were having a great time playing on the beach, kicking around the sand, and just have a fun time exploring. The little boy was just poking around when we saw a quarter. As toddlers are wont to do, he went to the shiny object, picked up, and put it in his mouth, whereupon he promptly tried to swallow it. Now, you know that a quarter just won’t fit down an 18-month-old’s throat. So, of course, he began to choke. She, of course, began to panic. “Help me! Please somebody! Help my little boy,” she cried.
Just then, an American came over. He grabbed the little boy by the chest, wrapped his arms around him, and gave a quick thrust inwards. Out popped the quarter. Obviously she was grateful and relived. She thanked the man profusely, and then said, “It’s a miracle! God be praised. Wouldn’t you know he placed a doctor here just now so my little boy would be saved?”
“Oh, I’m not a doctor, ma’am,” he said. “I’m from the IRS. Getting people to cough up money is just what I do!”
In the gospel we just read, Peter had his own little run in with the IRS of his day. There was a tax, and he needed to pay. But Jesus used this very every-day occasion to make a point about who he was, and as a result, who we are. It’s a miracle, albeit one that you don’t tend to hear about much in Sunday School. But the story tells us something about miracles – both the ones we tend to think of, and a greater miracle that I think we too often take for granted. I want to look at this story and point out a few things that tend to get lost.
Basically, I want to look at three things:
1. What a miracle isn’t
2. What a miracle is
3. What the miracle of our adoption means.
Let’s start by looking at this text, and seeing some things about this miracle that stand out, I think, by their absence.
What a miracle isn’t
- It isn’t a fairy tale
First of all, miracles are not fairy tales. I know this here, because frankly, if this were a fairy tale, it could be a lot better. First of all, it wouldn’t be such a small amount. Second, you would have actually seen the miracle occur. And finally, at the end of the story, everyone would be living happily ever after.
Well, I can tell you, that at least for Peter, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. Peter, you see, saw this as evidence that Jesus – a real man that he knew – was in fact God. He was so convinced of this fact, that he willingly spent half his life in and out of prison, being chased from town to town, just so he could proclaim Christ. He returned to Rome to be crucified on a cross, upside-down. He certainly didn’t think this was a fairy tale. He was convinced.
So often, it is too easy to dismiss the miraculous things that happen in the Bible as mere stories for children. After all, fish don’t go around with coins in their gullets, dead men don’t live again. Or, if you really want to get to the heart of the matter, the most miraculous miracle of all – A powerful, omnipotent God doesn’t concern himself with mere mortals. After all, we’ve all seen the movies – he’s way too busy to worry about people like me. Right?
Well, if that’s so, I have to ask you a simple question. What are you doing here anyway? I assume you come to worship the living Christ. We all believe the miracle that he died and rose again. We believe an even greater miracle – that he condescended to become a simple man. If all this is mere “fairy tale,” then Paul is right. If there be no resurrection, than we are to be most pitied among men. The Gospel is truth. The Gospel states that Jesus:
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Fairy tales can’t be Lord. Only a real, live person can do that. It sounds too good to be true – it sounds like a fish story, but you know it isn’t. You need only look to other Christians to know this is a fact.
- It isn’t just some scientific coincidence
Let me tell you another way that people like to dismiss these miracles. They say “Oh well, there’s a perfectly valid scientific explanation for all this. I’m sure that this fish just happened to have swallowed a coin, and blah, blah, blah… Just remember a few things:
1. Metal coins sink really fast, and once they’re at the bottom of the water, they’re staying there.
2. If the story had said, there was a coin in its belly, I might have bought the scientific story. But, the coin was in its mouth. Fish with coins stuck in their mouths die. They die quickly.
3. And, as my mother used to remind me after spectacularly unsuccessful dates, they’re a whole of fish in the ocean.
As such, I’m suggesting this is not just some scientifically valid story.
I’m willing to bet that at least one point in your life someone will tell you that the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea is explainable by way of an earthquake and a heavy wind, and that it’s just a natural phenomenon.
You know, I once watched a Discovery Channel special, in which the authors tried to link all of the 10 plagues to a single eruption of a volcano in the Mediterranean. First the ash would cause greater rainfall, which then increases the supply of algae for the frogs, the causes certain bugs to hatch which bring foot and mouth disease, which transmits to the humans, etc… They even speculate that these famines would bring about a mold spore in the larders, which when inhaled would kill very quickly. If the food supply were low, only the first children would get the food, which explains why only they would be opening up the larders and hence dying.)
There is this tendency among modern man to understand or even force a scientific understanding of each of these miracles. I don’t have a problem with that, per se, but we lose something if we feel that every miracle must somehow have a “rational explanation.” God is a mystery, and he can choose to work how ever he wishes.
In that Discovery Channel thing, I was really impressed at the end. The scientists were all debating the relative merits of this chain of events, but in end, one scientist made what I think is the best observation. He said, “Let’s assume this is all true for a minute. What does this tell us about God? It tells us that God could set about an amazing chain of coincidence that resulted in his purpose of his freedom for his people. No scientific explanation can ever account for that.”
The point of all these miracles is that God chose to be the liberator and to show his power here. A miracle is when God decides to temporarily alter the laws of science he established in order to remind people of that which he did.
Here, Peter had no need to pay this tax. This particular Temple tax was always voluntary. Still, Jesus wanted to make a point to Peter. He wanted to remind Peter that he could provide.
In that sense, Jesus is declaring and showing himself to be Power. Hence, even if there is a “scientific explanation,” it still is miraculous because it shows the power of God.
- It isn’t really even for our financial gain
Finally, the third point about what miracles are not, is that they aren’t necessary done just for our own gain. I said earlier that this is not a fairy tale. I know this, because if this were a fairy tale, Peter would have found a lot more than 4 drachmas. He found the equivalent of a buck.
Now, if I’m Peter at this moment, I’ve got to be thinking, “Hey Jesus – you know there’s a coin called a “denarius” that is a whole day’s wages. In fact, there are these coins called ’talents’ that represent many year’s wages. They’d fit in a fish’s mouth just as easily – right Jesus?”
Sadly, I have to tell you that in fact, this is so often how God works. He gives us what we need, and exactly what we need. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have seen God’s provision for my needs, met to the penny. If it was just about our comfort and well being, he could operate differently. But, I think he has a point. When he bends his own laws, he does it because he wants to tell something about himself.
What a miracle is
Here’s the point – Jesus isn’t doing a magic trick, he’s doing a miracle. He’s doing it because he wants to point us back to him. We sing that “I’d rather have Jesus than Silver or gold,” because in fact, he is worth more than anything the world affords today.
A miracle is a sign. It is evidence something deeper that was already done for us.
Elsewhere, there was a paralytic was brought before Jesus. His first reaction was to say, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ That’s when the Pharisees began to grumble – after all, they said, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus responds, “Which is easier? To say your sins are forgiven, or to say to this man ‘Rise, take up your mat, and walk?’ But in order that you might know that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins,” he heals him.
Here in this story, Jesus is illustrating that as a Son of God, he doesn’t need to pay some silly Temple Tax. But in order ‘not to provide offense’ he chooses to do so.
I can’t believe that I’m going to talk about Jim Carrey in a sermon. But, I had to watch a movie of his for a class (I know tough assignment.) I saw the movie “Bruce Almighty,” and even though it is a Jim Carrey movie, I think it’s actually worth watching.
There’s a key scene in the movie with Jim Carrey who is Bruce and Morgan Freeman who plays one of the most Biblically correct Gods I’ve ever seen in Hollywood. Morgan Freeman is trying to tell Jim Carrey about what a failure Bruce is as playing God. He says, “Parting your soup? That’s not a miracle, that’s a magic trick. A single mother working two jobs still finds time to bring her kids soccer practice. That’s a miracle. A teenager who says no to drugs, and yes to an education – that’s a miracle.” To that I add, Jim Carrey, without a hint of sarcasm declaring “I surrender all.” That’s a miracle.
Again, I still have a hard time thinking how close Hollywood got it. But the movie goes on to preach that we all “have the power.” And in sense they’re right. But do you want to know why we have the power? We have the power, Jesus tells us – right here – because we are Sons of God.
What this miracle signifies
This miracle is all about being a Son of God. You want to see a real miracle? Realize that you had no part in God’s plan until he adopted you. Realize that without him, you’re dead in your sin. But the truth is, you’ve been adopted into his kingdom.
Friday night, I watched Michael Reagan eulogize his dad. He spoke so eloquently about his faith, and how he loved his dad. I hadn’t known until just then that he was adopted. It was really beautiful. But you know, he is a model of what the Christian life is. Just imagine. You’re an unwanted child – an orphan, all alone, and who should adopt you but some Hollywood star? And, not just any Hollywood star – but Ronald Regan – the man who would become the 40th President of the United States.
In a way, that’s what we all are. We are born into a world that hates us, uses us, and just wants to be rid of us. But, through no merit of our own, he chose us. He asked us to be his children.
It’s not a fairy tale. It’s not some obvious thing that just is the way it happens. It’s not even about us. It’s about a God who is simply that great.
And it’s about a God who still performs that miracle every day for anyone who is willing to be his. If you want to see a miracle, you can. Please pray with me now.
