Thorny problem of faith: why don’t we get what we pray for

SERMON ON JOHN 6:1-21: “One Little Word” July 27 & 30, 2006

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

I wonder if the 5000-plus people in that crowd with Jesus, in our Gospel reading, really realized how hungry they were before the bread and fish started to be passed around. I bet so. I bet there were husbands and children there, who just before the miracle started, were saying to their wives and mothers, “Did you bring anything to eat?” And the wives and mothers were just about to say, “Why do I always have to be the one…?” And, just then, lunch arrived.

It was apparently as simple as that. So, here’s my question: Why doesn’t God anticipate our needs and wants like that? Why don’t we get what we ask for?

When I asked that question in my sermon last Thursday evening, Cheryl Siegenthaler, a pastor-in-training who was in the congregation that night, actually gasped out loud. She was that shocked that someone would even ask the question in public. No wonder. That’s one of the most thorny problems of faith. Why don’t we receive the response from God that we would really like to see—the sudden, supernatural change of events that would solve all our problems?

The answer, I believe, lies in one little word that is repeated twice in our Gospel reading. Listen again to verses 2 and 14: “And a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. . . . After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did [in feeding the 5000], they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

What’s the word? “sign” or “signs” That word, or some form it, appears 17 times in the Gospel of John. What is a “sign” in this case? Jesus explained what a sign is by giving a common example of one. He said: “‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather [tomorrow], for the sky is red.” And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.” You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky . . . ’” (Matt 6: 1-3). You’ve heard that saying, haven’t you? “Red sails at night, a sailor’s delight; red sails in the morning, sailors take warning.” What do red sails have to do with tomorrow’s weather. As Jesus said, they’re a sign, and they function like a sign: A “sign” is something that points the way to something else. The sign isn’t the thing itself; the sign merely shows us where the thing is or how the thing operates. A sign doesn’t explain, it points.

What we have recorded of Jesus’ ministry is not entirely clear on whether looking or asking for a sign is a good or bad thing. At one point, Jesus said, “You have not because you ask not” (James 4:2). But, on the other hand, we know all too well that asking God for a miracle doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to get one. And Jesus didn’t always do a miracle just because someone asked. In fact, Jesus seems to have grown weary of people’s reliance on the supernatural actions he did. He criticized his enemies’ demands for signs, and at one point, even says to a believer, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe” (John 4:48). And he says to the doubting disciple Thomas, in one of his post-Resurrection appearances, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Jesus seems to be aggravated that even those who were with him in the flesh paid more attention to miraculous signs than they did to him.

And yet, to some extent, that’s understandable. Just think about the sign/the miracle Jesus did in today’s Gospel reading: five little biscuits and two small fish that feed more than 5000 people! Think how much time alone it would have been just to distribute that much food! John 6, verse 11 says it very simply: “Jesus then took the [bread that the boy had given], gave thanks, and distributed [it] to those who were seated[,] as much as they wanted.” So, not just servings but seconds! It sounds so simple, but the magnitude of that miracle must have been astounding! It’s no wonder that people are impressed when God shows himself to be supernatural! When God takes control over the laws of nature that he put in place, we sit up and take notice.

Is that why God does miracles—to impress us? Well, if that’s so why don’t we get miracles when we ask for them? Let’s go back to the definition of “sign.” A sign isn’t the thing itself. A sign merely points to what we’re really looking for. Remember, just because you see an interstate sign for a gas station doesn’t mean you can stop right there and fill up. Sometimes the sign is way up the road from the destination. So it is with the signs God performs.

When we ask for God to intervene in our lives—to give us a miracle—almost always our prayer is for an end in itself. And we have real trouble seeing how God can be glorified any other way. What could possibly be wrong with our loved one being healed or coming to faith? with us getting a new job? with that person falling in love with us? with our children being safe and healthy? with there being world peace? Those are the miracles we ask for. Those are the things we want, because, you see, we want the sign, not the Savior.

But Jesus did miracles as signs—not as ends in themselves—but rather to point to God himself.

Believe me, I know how hard it is to hear and receive this truth, but our lives are not about our pleasure or our pain. Our lives belong to God’s, and they are to focus on him. And, as we are God’s, our responses to life’s pains and pleasures either honor God or do not. The greatest commandments are not that we have a happy, healthy life, but that we love and trust God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus fed the 5000 fish & bread not simply because their stomachs were empty but because he wanted them to know and trust him as the “Bread of Life.”

Remember, Jesus went back to heaven and left countless people on earth, sick, suffering, poor, and hungry. Why didn’t he heal them all? Why didn’t he give them all food enough and plenty? Because the point is not what we want, what we think we need—healing—deliverance—a miracle—a prayer answered “yes.” The point—what all those signs point to—is the One Who heals, the One Who delivers, the One Who answers prayer when and how he sees best.

God wants us to come to him and lay our needs before him. But he also wants us to trust him. God does not owe you and me an explanation for his action or inaction. God wants our love, our trust, and our obedience—whether he leads us into joy or suffering.

A couple of weekends ago, when we were preparing for the youth catechism campout, rain was forecast and clouds were gathering. We kept listening to the weather and watching the skies because we had put a lot of time and effort in preparing for what we thought would be a significant event in our youth’s faith formation. In one of our “forecast” conversations that morning, one of the people helping to get ready for the event said, “Oh, God won’t let it rain, because he wants all those teenagers to come to the campout and learn about him.” But I said, “That may be just exactly why he would let it rain—to show us that he is God and he will do as it pleases him. And it did rain that evening—rained and stormed hard. God is in charge. In theological terms, God is Sovereign, which simply means that God is God and we are not. And that’s the answer. That’s why we don’t always get what we want.

So, why does God exercise his great, supernatural power—if not to make our lives happy and healthy? The writer of John, near the end of his book, says this about signs: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).