Do You Believe In Miracles?
“What did
you learn in Sunday School today?”
“We learnt
all about how the Israelites escaped from Egypt! Dad, it was great! Pharaoh wanted to kill all the Hebrews, but there
was a huge airplane that came down and picked them all up, just as the Egyptians
were coming to get them. Then the
Egyptians got in their planes to chase them but just as they were catching up,
there was a big storm and all their planes crashed in the ocean and they
drowned. And the Israelites escaped to
the desert!”
“Wow! Did your Sunday School teacher really say
that?”
“Well, not
exactly. But you’d never believe me if I
told you what she really said!”
How well we
know the stories of the Bible told to us in Sunday School classes, illustrated
in children’s Bible versions, and shared at family devotion times when we were
young. But stories of incredible
miracles can sometimes become a little common place over the years, and we can
forget the amazing and incredulous aspects of God at work!
Perhaps,
this is where we can learn a little from the Jewish tradition of Feasts and
celebrations. In the biblical account of
the Exodus, God instructed the people to recount this miraculous event each
year with special traditions and the Feast of Passover. It was a principle learned well, evidenced by
the Jewish people instituting similar instructions for annual celebrations, reminding
them of other ‘nation saving’ events each year like Purim (the story of Esther)
and Hanukah, when the Maccabees defeated the Greek-Syrian army and rededicated
the temple.
Hanukah is
an 8 day celebration, this year starting on the evening of 8th Dec,
and concluding on the 16th. There
are several miracles remembered: The miracle of a small band of Jewish men
defeating an army; the miracle of courage, of those who dared to stand for their
beliefs against the flow of society; the miracle of a little cruse of oil
burning for eight days, when it should have lasted for only one. Jewish people around the world will light
candles on the ‘hanukiah’ each night: on the first night, one candle; on the
second night, two candles; and so forth, until the eighth night when the whole
hanukiah is ablaze! They are proclaiming
the miracle from centuries ago and praising God for all the miracles He has
done. Games are played with a dreidel (spinning
top), carrying the phrase ‘A Great Miracle happened There’. Traditional songs are sung recounting Israel’s
victories from her ancient enemies. And
of course, as with most Jewish Feasts, there is special food to eat, this time
cooked in oil, like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (donuts).
Miracles
are to be celebrated! In a few weeks, millions
around the world will celebrate Christmas, the miracle of Immanuel, God coming
to be with us. Some of us have experienced
various miracles in our lives, big ones and small ones, happenings in our
history that have paved the way for us to be here in this moment of time, without
which we may not have been here at all.
Life itself is a wondrous miracle, a gift from God. Hanukah, the Feast of Dedication, is a wonderful
opportunity to remember and recount the miracles in your life, to publicise and proclaim what God has done. You could light a candle, share some special
food with friends, tell your miracle stories to your children and grandchildren,
or create a song about some of the amazing things God has done. However you like to express yourself, take
the opportunity this Hanukah, to celebrate the God of the miraculous!
