June 16, 2008 issue
Miraculous, uncertain faith
By Bradley SiebertPage:
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I not only saw Frank Lehman coming, I expected him. I saw him scanning the crowded foyer. So I waved discretely, and he marched over.
Bradley Siebert teaches English at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.
He got right to it: “That’s the kind of stuff that makes people worry every time you open your mouth.”
“I try not to disappoint. But could you be more specific?”
I’d just participated, during worship, in place of a sermon, in a panel of “elders” answering questions from the youth in our Baptism Exploration Class.
“Miracles don’t prove anything?” he chirped. “How can you say that?”
“Because it seems true. None I’ve heard of — or read about or wondered if I’ve been a part of — has proven anything to me,” I answered. “Didn’t you hear the rest of what I said?”
“I was pretty shocked and got distracted,” Frank admitted.
“When something mysterious or unusually fortunate happens, people typically respond according to how they tended to think about and see things up to that point,” I repeated.
“I remember you saying that,” Frank said. “Makes sense.”
“The example from 1 Kings 18 — about Elijah calling on God to best Baal by burning a butchered cow in a drenched barbecue pit — doesn’t prove anything particular,” I reiterated. “Everybody there had probably seen a good, hot fire before.
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