October 17th

How God Works

            When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?”  He said, “Yes, he does.” And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?” When Peter said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the children are free.  However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.”

Matthew 17:24-27

             

                Jesus and Peter were having a conversation.  Peter had assumed some things and spoken out of turn and Jesus was correcting him and turning the mistake into a teachable moment.  Then the master turned to Peter and gave him some instructions: Go fishing and the first fish that you catch will have a coin in its mouth that you can use to pay the temple tax.  I assume that this is exactly what came to pass.

            Many people that I know will dive into the theological and social implications of Jesus’ stance on taxes and the temple and how Jesus did not need to pay the tax but did anyway so as not to make life harder for Peter.  They will go on and on and then be ready to proceed to the next passage.  Meanwhile, I am stuck on the fish and the coin.  Where did the coin come from?  How did it end up in the mouth of the very fish that Jesus knew that Peter was going to catch?  How did God orchestrate all this?  Most of those same people will shrug and say, “God just made it happen,” but I…I am fascinated by this fish.

            It could be that Peter set his hook and threw it into the water and God created a fish with a coin in its mouth.  It could be that He just made something appear where previously there was nothing.  It could be, but I don’t think that God usually works that way.  It tends to be much more intricate and complicated.

            In order for this to work, something like this needed to happen:  A man had a coin, a nice shiny coin.  Maybe he won it gambling.  Maybe he found it.  Maybe it was part of his wages from work. Maybe it was a gift.  Maybe it was one coin, maybe it was dozens.  So the man has his coin and decides to get into a boat with it.  While on the sea, he takes it out and is looking at it when a wave violently rocks the boat, sending the coin over the edge.  He reaches for it, maybe even dives after it, but it sinks too quickly for him to catch it and he loses the coin.  However there happens to be a fish swimming by that sees the shiny coin sinking to the bottom of the sea and the fish mistakes it for a smaller fish and eats it.  But the fish cannot swallow it as it gets lodged in the fish’s mouth.  The fish is annoyed, but in no mortal danger so it keeps swimming.  Still hungry, it finds something else that looks like a smaller fish.  It takes another bite only to discover that this smaller fish is actually a hook and it is hauled out of the water by our very own Peter.

            What are the odds of something like this actually happening?  A million to one?  More?  God had to get the coin to the right spot and Peter to the right spot and the fish to a couple of different right spots, all so that God could teach the disciple a small lesson. This is how God works.  Countless small moments for people and creatures that all come together for a life-changing moment for someone else.  The man who dropped his coin probably did not think that he was a part of a chain of events that would shape the faith of one of the church’s founding fathers; he did not imagine that his clumsiness would be a part of a story that was read thousands of years later.  But is was.

            There are times that I know that I am playing a large role in someone’s story.  I am a key player for my kids and my employees and my youth group.  However, I am convinced that there are many, many, many more times that I am a bit player in other people’s stories.  Perhaps writing something in this devotional that is just what God was preparing someone to hear.  Maybe a word of encouragement to a struggling parent.  Maybe washing the sparkly socks that my daughter wants to wear to school that happen to match the socks her friend was wearing that leads to her friend telling her parents that she wants to have a playdate which leads to her coming to church.  All because I washed some socks on the right day.

            God works in mysterious ways.  Intricate and complex and fascinating ways.  We have no idea how many stories we have been a part of.  I find that really cool.

A moment to reflect:

When has God spoken to you through something completely small and random?