The Rev. Frank Logue
King of Peace Episcopal Church
Kingsland, Georgia
August 31, 2003 

Remembering What Your Eyes Have Seen
Deuteronomy 4:1-9 

[Note: The sermon begins with a video clip from the movie Signs. In the clip a family watches UFOs hovering over Mexico City. Two brothers then discuss what it means. Mel Gibson’s character then tells how those who see the world and feel we are on our own see it as a 50/50 deal, it could be good or bad. Those who see the hand of God working in our world feel that no matter what it will work out for the best. He says one must decide whether they feel there are coincidences or not.] 

Are there any coincidences in life? Or is coincidence merely God working undercover? 

I feel that part of any miracle is recognizing the miracle. When you pray for healing and then get better, you have a decision to make, did God answer your prayers or would you have gotten better no matter what? 

When I was in third grade, I got Encephalitis following a bout with the mumps. I ended up with very high fevers and all sorts of complications. There was no treatment for the Encephalitis, only for the symptoms. While I was in the hospital, lots of folks joined in prayer for me. I got better. In getting better, I had a choice to make. So did the others who prayed for me. Was the restoration of my health a miracle or not? For me the answer is yes. It was and is a miracle. 

Of course, even that is not an easy answer. Prayers are not always answered so satisfactorily. So prayer does not get an automatic response. Prayer is a request and it may not get granted the way we want. But for me, I still see that prayers change things.  

How you see events in your life will depend on some assumptions that you make. The answer will depend, as Mel Gibson’s character put it in the movie Signs, on how you look at life. Do you think we are on our own? Or is God in involved in our lives? 

I think to answer that question properly takes us into the realm of experience. Sometimes you know a miracle when you experience because you know that you know that you know God was in it. You can’t prove it to someone else, but you don’t have to. You just know. 

The problem sometimes with sermons is that a sermon depends too much on the knowledge and experience of the preacher. I want to break out of that mold for just a little while this morning. I want to open the floor to other experiences. Now if this makes you nervous, relax, I won’t call on anyone. No one has to say anything. But if we are going to think together about real life miracles, I would like to rely on someone other than myself. Would anyone like to stand and briefly share a real life answer to prayer. It can be big or small. Recent or distant past. 

[Four persons from the congregation then told their own experiences
with prayer and miracles.] 

Our Old Testament reading for this morning tells what to do with the miracles in our lives. The section we read this morning comes as Moses reminds the people that they are to remember the way God has been with Israel in the desert. They are not to forget the miracles they saw and experienced on their journey.  

But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children. (Deuteronomy 4:9) 

The most natural way to share your faith is not to stand on a street corner and preach. Sharing your faith doesn’t best happen through knocking on a strangers door, or handing our tracts in front of a convenience store. The best and most natural way to share your faith is just to honestly tell your friends and family the miracles you experience in your life as they happen and even down the road.  

If you are a parent, do your children know of the answered prayers you have experienced? If you are in school, do your friends know the ways you have experienced God in your life? Know matter what age you are, if your faith gets down in your bones the way the Book of Deuteronomy hopes it will, you should find it natural to tell your own faith stories to the people in your lives. It’s not preaching or evangelizing, it’s just sharing your life with those around you. 

The message for this morning then is two fold: Recognize the miracles in your own life, then share them with others so that your faith will have children. Or as Deuteronomy puts it: 

Take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children. 

Amen.