"Open to the Extraordinary" - Acts 19: 1-7, 11-12

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied— altogether there were about twelve of them.

Acts 19:11–12 ASV 1901

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.

INTRODUCTION

GRACE FISHER IS A FOUNDATION CREATOR AND FOUNDER, A YOUNG WOMAN WITH COURAGE AND DETERMINATION

AND A NEVER QUIT SPIRIT. In 2014 during her senior year of High School, Grace Fisher’s spine was ravaged by a

virus leaving her paralyzed from the neck down. In the days following, she was diagnosed with Acute Flaccid

Myelitis and sent to Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver, CO. GRACE FISHER BECAME A QUADRAPALYGIC AT AGE

17 AFTER LEADING A CHILDHOOD OF ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS THROUGH DANCE AND A WHOLE RANGE

OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES..... DID I MENTION GRACE IS ALSO A BLOGGER? IN A BLOG POST SHE CALLED, SMALL

MIRACLES SHE QUOTED MY UMC COLLEAGUE, THE REVEREND ADAM HAMILTON AS SHE REFLECTED ON ALL

THAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER IN HER LIFE, SO FAR.....REVEREND HAMILTON WAS ONCE HEARD TO SAY:

“God is not a divine vending machine- we slip in a prayer and out pops a miracle.”

IN HER BLOG POST, SMALL MIRACLES SHE WENT ON TO WRITE:

Pastor Alan, from our church, came every day and prayed over me and my family. Many cards and notices

came from across the country and from all over the world. When a prayer chain gets started, it travels fast

and far. People sent their support, love and showed that they truly cared about me

and my family. People even prayed for a miracle.

A miracle, I thought, would be my was out of this. As time wore on and the prayer chain extended I was

questioning if God was even listening. When I was in rehab some of my friends got some return of their

function. For some these developments were miraculous. For me, nothing much was

changing. How do I interpret the results of all these prayers?

The obvious miracle is when the severely injured are healed and can walk, or the blind are suddenly

granted the ability to see. These are grand miracles and obvious to everyone when they occur. Some

miracles, though, are less obvious and require you to look hard. Some miracles wouldn’t

make a great biblical story, or have a bankable Hollywood ending. Some miracles are deeply personal yet

universal truths, that when realized are liberating and reveal God’s eternal wisdom.

The quiet concern of a friend, the warm casserole dish of a neighbor, the caring touch of a nurse, the

sympathetic cries of an elderly man, the sarcastic laugh of a childhood friend, the encouragement of a

music teacher, the compassion of a loving family, the giving back to a community which

has given so much. I could go on and on… The miracle is that I have not given in and nobody has given up

on me. Everyday something miraculous can happen.

HERE’S THE PROBLEM: LIFE IN THIS TIME AND PLACE WE’RE LIVING THROUGH HAS UPS AND DOWNS, TRIUMPHS

AND DISAPPOINTMENTS, EXPECTATIONS AND PROMISES, HOPES AND DREAMS AND LET DOWNS...... AND WITH

EACH ONE WE’RE CLOSER TO OUR NEXT MIRACLE, BELOVEDS....OR NOT......

WE ALL LIVE OUT SOME VARIATION OF MY COLLEAGUES DILEMMAS......REVEREND BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR WAS

REFLECTING OVER HER LIFE AND COUNTING HER LOSSES FIRST......SHE WROTE:

IN MY LIFE, I HAVE LOST MY WAY MORE TIMES THAN I CAN COUNT. I HAVE SET OUT TO BE MARRIED AND

ENDED UP DIVORCED. I HAVE SET OUT TO BE HEALTHY AND ENDED UP SICK. I HAVE SET OUT TO LIVE IN NEW

ENGLAND AND ENDED UP IN GEORGIA. WHEN I WAS 30, I SET OUT TO BE A PARISH PRIEST, PLANNING TO

SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE CARING FOR SOULS IN ANY CONGREGATION THAT WOULD HAVE ME. ALMOST 30

YEARS LATER, I TEACH SCHOOL.

WHILE NONE OF THESE DISPLACEMENTS WAS PLEASANT AT FIRST, I WOULD NOT GIVE A SINGLE ONE OF

THEM BACK. I HAVE FOUND THINGS WHILE I WAS LOST THAT I MIGHT NEVER HAVE DISCOVERED IF I HAD

STAYED ON THE PATH. I HAVE LIVED THROUGH PARTS OF LIFE NO ONE IN HER RIGHT MIND WOULD HAVE

WILLINGLY CHOSEN.....

WHAT ARE YOU LIVING THROUGH, RIGHT NOW? DOES YOUR NEXT MIRACLE FEEL CLOSER TO YOU OR FARTHER

AWAY FROM YOU? TAKE HEART BELOVED, WE HAVE COME TO WORSHIP TODAY TO BE INSPIRED BY WHAT

HAPPENED TO THE APOSTLE PAUL.......

PAUL’S MIRACLES FROM OUT OF NOWHERE

OUR TEXT THIS MORNING FROM ACTS PICKS UP WITH A RATHER ORDINARY CONVERSATION WITH SOME

EXTRAORDINARY EDGES TO IT.......IT’S PAUL, IN EPHESUS AGAIN......A PLACE WHERE PAUL ESTABLISHED A CHURCH

Paul’s first question to the believers is not “how were you baptized?” (although he DID get around to that). His first

question is whether they have received the Holy Spirit (19:2). Do they live their lives aware of, open to, filled with,

and guided by the Spirit of God?

And, the key question does not find its final answer in the fact that after Paul laid his hands on the believers they

spoke in tongues and prophesied

IT IS MY DISTINCT IMPRESSION HERE, BELOVEDS, THAT THESE 12 BELIEVERS SHOW US SOMETHING IMPORTANT,

SOMETHING VITAL, SOMETHING FOR US TO SEE AND HEAR AND HOLD ONTO. THEY SHOW US THEY WERE OPEN TO

WHAT PAUL WOULD DO.....OPEN TO THAT EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT WHEN PAUL WOULD LAY HANDS ON THEM.....

OPEN TO THAT EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT WHEN THE MIRACLE WOULD HAPPEN....OPEN TO THE BAPTISM BY PAUL

AND THEIR OWN TRANSFORMATION.....OPEN BELOVEDS, AND THAT OPENNESS IS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT

BELIEF.....AMEN?

THESE BELIEVERS PROPHESIED AND SPOKE IN TOUNGES......

THIS DOESN’T MEAN EVERYBODY HAS TO DO IT THEIR WAY.......BUT WHAT IT DOES MEAN, BELOVEDS, IS THAT YOUR

OPENNESS TO THE EXTRAORDINARY COMES BEFORE YOUR NEXT MIRACLE, AMEN?

CRAFTY WAYS TO BE OPEN TO THE EXTRAORDINARY NEXT MIRACLE GOD HAS FOR YOU

ONE OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE LIVING PREACHERS AND PROLIFIC SPIRITUAL WRITERS, MAX LUCADO, REMINDS US:

WE NEED TO COME TO GOD HUMBLY. NO SWAGGER, NO BOASTS, NO “ALL BY MYSELF DECLARATIONS.” WE

FLEX NO MUSCLES AND CLAIM NO ACHIEVEMENTS. WE CUP SULLIED HEARTS IN HANDS AND OFFER THEM TO

GOD AS WE WOULD A CRUSHED, SCENTLESS FLOWER, ASKING: ‘CAN YOU BRING LIFE TO THIS?’

AND GOD DOES. GOD DOES. WE DON’T. GOD WORKS THE MIRACLE OF SALVATION. GOD IMMERSES US IN

MERCY. GOD STITCHES TOGETHER OUR SHREDDED SOULS. GOD DEPOSITS THE HOLY SPIRIT AND IMPLANTS

HEAVENLY GIFTS. OUR BIG GOD BLESSES OUR SMALL FAITH. FEAR, MAX GOES ON TO WRITE, CREATES A

FORM OF SPIRITUAL AMNESIA. IT DULLS OUR MIRACLE MEMORY. IT MAKES US FORGET WHAT JESUS HAS

DONE AND HOW GOOD GOD IS.

IS THERE AN AMEN IN THE HOUSE TODAY? AND AS YOU ARE OPEN TO RECEIVING YOUR NEXT MIRACLE BELOVED, BE

OPEN TO THE BLESSINGS THAT COME YOUR WAY BY AND THROUGH GIVING FIRST......THERE ARE VERSES IN

CHAPTER 11 IN THE BOOK OF ECC. & THE PSMS. THAT HELP US SEE THE GREAT VALUE IN GIVING BELOVEDS.....AND

THIS IS GIVING FROM THE HEART....PERHAPS WITH MONEY, BUT IT CAN BE GIVING THE GIFT OF YOUR SPIRIT, GIVING

THE GIFT OF YOUR FRIENDSHIP, GIVING THE GIFT OF YOUR CONCERN, GIVING THE GIFT OF YOUR LOVE......GIVING

BEFORE YOUR NEXT MIRACLE COMES FOR YOU TO RECEIVE.........THIS IS A LIST OF 6 WAYS GIVING BLESSES

#1 GIVERS GO FIRST ECCLESIASTES 11:1

Ecclesiastes 11:1 KJV 1900

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

#2 GIVERS RECEIVE A RETURN ECCLESIASTES 11: 1

Ecclesiastes 11:1 KJV 1900

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

#3 THE RETURN MAY NOT BE IMMEDIATE ECCLESIASTES 11:1

Ecclesiastes 11:1 KJV 1900

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

#4 GIVING DOES NOT KEEP US FROM MISFORTUNE ECCLESIASTES 11:2-3

Ecclesiastes 11:2–3 NRSV

Divide your means seven ways, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may happen on earth. When clouds are full, they empty rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

#5 WHEN YOU GIVE DO NOT EXPECT A RETURN ECCLESIASTES 11:4

Ecclesiastes 11:4 NRSV

Whoever observes the wind will not sow; and whoever regards the clouds will not reap.

#6 THE MOTIVE FOR GIVING IS LOVE FOR GOD PSALM 31: 23

Psalm 31:23 (ESV)

Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful

but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

YOUR GIVING WILL BLESS YOU WITH NEW SIGHT AND NEW OPENNESS, YES, EVEN TO THE EXTRAORDINARY IN YOUR

LIFE......

THE APOSTLE PAUL WAS OPEN TO THE EXTRAORDINARY IN OUR TEXT, THIS MORNING, ACTS 19: 11-12

Acts 19:11–12 ESV

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

AND AS I PREPARE TO CLOSE THIS MORNING, PLEASE KNOW THE HANDKERCHIEFS AND APRONS THAT TOUCHED

THE SICK AND RELIEVED DISEASES AND THE EVIL SPIRITS THAT CAME OUT OF FOLKS NOT TO RETURN.....I THANK

GOD TODAY FOR THE RECORD OF PAUL IN THE BOOK OF ACTS...AND PUT NOTHING PAST GOD’S ABILITY, BELOVEDS

BUT THIS MORNING, AS WE PREPARE TO GO FORTH FAITHFULLY, INTO EVERYTHING GOD HAS AHEAD FOR US, LET’S

KEEP IN MIND THE WISDOM WE RECEIVED EARLY ON FROM REVEREND ADAM HAMILTON;

“God is not a divine vending machine- we slip in a prayer and out pops a miracle.”

MIRACLES COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES, MIRACLES SHOW THEMSELVES AND THE ORDINARY BECOMES THE

EXTRAORDINARY BECAUSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD.........AND HERE’S THE VITAL COMBINATION THAT BRINGS YOUR

NEXT MIRACLE INTO FOCUS, BELOVEDS, “WHEN WE AS GOD’S PARTNERS IN MISSION, ADD OUR HUMAN INITIATIVE

TO DIVINE INTERVENTION, WE ARE POSITIONED AND CALLED TO BRING ABOUT MIRACLES OF HEALING AND HOPE

FOR GOD’S PEOPLE.....”

CONCLUSION

I JOIN WITH REVEREND MICHAEL SLAUGHTER IN LIFTING UP OUR HUMAN INITIATIVE, OUR HUMAN INVOLVEMENT

PAIRED WITH DIVINE INTERVENTION.....AMEN? THIS IS TRULY WHAT A MIRACLE REALLY IS......

WHITNEY HOUSTON &

MARIAH CAREY SANG IT BEST FOR THE MOVIE, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT....DISNEY’S TAKE ON THE STORY OF

MOSES.....THEIR LOVELY LYRICS REMIND THE FAITHFUL:

There can be miracles When you believe (When you believe) Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill (Mmm) Who knows what miracles you can achieve? (You can achieve) When you believe, somehow you will You will when you believe

They don't always happen when you ask And it's easy to give in to your fears But when you're blinded by your pain Can't see your way clear through the rain A small but still, resilient voice Says, "Help is very near", oh (Oh)