There is a small Catholic chapel in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico, called Chapel of Our Lady of Light. It has a fascinating story attached to the early days when there was a convent school run by the Sisters of Loretto. Apparently, the only way for the sisters to get into the loft where they slept was to climb up a ladder. This was not a major problem for the younger nuns, but it was difficult and dangerous for the older nuns to be climbing up and down the shaky ladder.

They were unable to install a staircase because it would take up too much room in the chapel. Five master carpenters tried to come up with a solution, and there was none. The Sisters would simply have to use the shaky ladder.

The Sisters of Loretto faced this problem the way they faced all of their problems. They simply began to pray in the firm belief that God would provide an answer to their prayers. And God did!

A few weeks before Christmas, a stranger showed up at the convent and said that he had heard about the problem which the sisters were facing. He stated very simply that he was the best carpenter in all of New Mexico and he would build a staircase which would meet their needs.

“I appreciate your offer,” the Mother Superior said, “but there just isn’t any room in the chapel floor for the supports which a staircase needs.”

The carpenter just smiled and said he would think about the problem. The Mother Superior left for two weeks to tend the sick in another village. When she returned on Christmas Eve, there was a light snow falling and she sensed an air of excitement as the sisters welcomed her back to the convent.

Then she saw it! A spiral staircase rising up like a curl of smoke. Its base was on the chapel floor. Its top rested against the choir loft. Nothing else supported it. It seemed to float on air as it made two complete spirals.

One of the sisters said, “There are 33 steps. One for each year of our Lord’s life.”

“But, who did it?” the Mother Superior asked.

“We don’t know his name,” the sister said. “But, he said that he spoke with you about it before you left on the trip.”

The Mother Superior’s eyes widened as she asked, “Do you mean that carpenter who claimed to be the best carpenter in all of New Mexico -- the carpenter named Joseph?”

How much legend has been mixed with that story of the miraculous staircase is anyone’s guess. But, you can see the chapel for yourself in Santa Fe today. It stands just as it stood on that Christmas Eve over a century ago. Tourists stare and marvel. Architects shake their heads and murmur, “Impossible.” And the Sisters of Loretto smile and say, “God moves in mysterious ways.”

And this is the way we feel when we read the story in our Scripture lesson for today. You cannot read the story of Elijah and the widow’s son without being intrigued with the idea of God moving in mysterious ways. In the story, tragedy strikes the household of his hostess. According to the story, her son is dead and she takes him to Elijah. Elijah intercedes on the boy’s behalf and stretches himself out over the boy.

The story indicated that Elijah literally breathed life back into the boy. Then he returns the boy back to the mother alive.

Whenever we confront stories of miracles in the Bible, we have a tendency to wonder and question what actually happened. Was the child really dead? Did Elijah practice an early day method of CPR? What really happened?

Who can say what really happened almost 2,700 years ago? The woman accepted it as a miracle that her son was well again. However, it does need to be said that even in events which seem miraculous, God does not suspend the rules and laws of the universe.

Ralph Sockman, a Methodist minister of another generation said, “A miracle is an event with which human comprehension has not yet caught up. It is not the interruption of law, but the working of a law which human reason does not yet comprehend.”

We may not understand the precise methods of God’s dealing with Elijah, but that should not deter us from standing open-eyed and open-minded before a miraculous story. William Cowper said it best in his poem: “God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform.”

Today, as we look at this story in Elijah, I want to mention three things which I believe are important when we consider the idea of God moving in mysterious ways.

I. We Must Remember That The Unexpected Happens.

When the widow carried her son to Elijah, she was grieving because she thought her son was dead. The story doesn’t indicate what happened to the boy except to say that he had an illness. However, when he dies, the woman blames herself. She says: “What have you against me, 0 man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!”

She was grieving and hurting. She did not expect the boy to live again. But that’s what happened according to the story.

Sometimes, the unexpected happens in life. The unexpected may be pleasurable and delightful, it may hurt and be disappointing, it may be that there is no explanation for what happens. There are just some things which happen unexpectedly.

A little more than 100 years ago, the Methodists of Swan Quarter, North Carolina, had no church. The people had been frugal in their personal expenses so that they could give generously to build a small white frame church with a steeple on top.

There was a vacant lot in the center of town. It was the ideal location for the new church, but the shrewd, prosperous landowner who owned this property refused to sell it to the Methodists. However, there was another piece of property on Oyster Creek Road. It was far from the ideal location for the new church, but it would have to do.

The Methodists and other volunteers joined together in building the new church. It was a small, but sturdy, white frame church propped up on brick pilings. Finally, after several weeks of work, the little church was completed. On Sunday, September 16, according to the records and sworn statements, there was a joyous dedication service for the new church.

Three days later, on Wednesday, a terrible storm hit that small community. The wind howled, the rains came down, the creeks and rivers came out of their banks and flooded much of the town. Finally, by Thursday afternoon, the storm passed and the skies cleared. One by one, the citizens of Swan Quarter began to venture out of the shelter and safety of their homes. Mostly, they saw only the desolate waterscape of a town which had been ravaged by a flood.

However, those within sight of Oyster Creek Road beheld the most incredible sight they had ever seen. The new Methodist Church had been gently lifted from its brick pilings by the flood waters and it was floating down the street!

Several concerned townspeople sloshed out into the waist-deep water and fastened ropes onto the church. But, their efforts were in vain because there were no stable structures secure enough to restrain the floating chapel. The church moved on.

By now, the building had made its way to the center of the town. As dozens of amazed and helpless townspeople waited, the church veered off the road, headed for the center of a vacant lot, and there it stopped, and there it is to this very day, more than 100 years later.

The shrewd, prosperous businessman who had refused to sell this choice vacant lot to the Methodists, sloshed his way through the water and went to the Methodist minister and presented him with the deed to this property. The minister thanked him.

The unexpected and unusual happen in life. Sometimes, there is no explanation for it and the only thing we can say is what William Cowper said: “God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform.”

II. We Must Remember That People Matter.

Elijah was touched by the grieving of the mother. I would expect that there were sympathetic tears in his eyes because of the grieving of the mother. He took the child from the mother and the Scripture says, “… he stretched himself upon the child…” An old translation says that Elijah “breathed life into the child.” Whatever it was and whatever he did, it is clear that Elijah was doing what he could because people matter.

And this is something we must remember when we think of God working in and through this world. People matter and that is why Jesus, when he was talking about things which really mattered in life, spoke of practical things like giving a cup of water to someone who is thirsty, of clothing someone who is naked, or giving food to someone who is hungry. The things that matter to God are people and you are becoming a part of God’s mysterious ways when you have a concern for people.

I took a confirmation class to Camp Egan one spring. We were staying in the cabins and at the same time, there was a travel trailer club that was in the camp. When I discovered that Jim Egan was the man who had given the campgrounds and many of its buildings to the church, I asked him if he would come and talk to my confirmation class.

He was a delightful man and he spoke of the history of that land where the camp was situated. He told about constructing the various buildings. He spoke about how the concept of camping has changed across the years. When he finished, I asked him if he had received any kind of satisfaction in giving the camp site and buildings to the church.

He got a little misty-eyed and said, “My satisfaction comes from knowing that there are young boys and girls who attend this camp in the summer and go home with their lives more committed to Jesus Christ and the church.”

What is miraculous in that? There is no miracle there! If you have the money, you can write a check and touch the lives of others. But, once in a while, you ought to realize the awe, the mystery, the movement of God moving through your life when you care about people. After all, that is how God works! God moves in mysterious ways when you care about people!

III. We Must Remember That God Seeks To Make His Presence Known.

Once, when I was teaching a Sunday school class on the miracles, someone asked me, “Robert, with your theology, do you believe that any of the miracles in the Bible really took place?”

Yes, of course I do! I just think that sometimes we get so caught up in the hows of the miracle that we miss the most important aspect of the miracle story which is that God is trying to make himself known. The main point of any miracle is not that something magical took place, but that the presence of God is revealed.

Al Lingren, a professor at Garrett Theological Seminary, tells of taking his teenage son fishing years ago. As they were sitting in the boat and talking, his son suddenly asked, “Dad, what is the toughest thing God ever tried to do?”

The professor said the question caught him off guard. He didn’t know what to say, so he answered with a question, “What do you think it was son?” he asked.

The boy proceeded to answer his own question. “Since taking science in school, I thought the creation of the world might be the hardest thing God ever tried to do, and in Sunday school we got to talking about some of the miracles and I thought the resurrection might be the toughest thing God ever tried to do. But, after thinking about it some more, I decided that the toughest thing God ever had to do is to get us to understand who he is and that he loves us.”

And so it is! God is moving in mysterious ways. God is moving through events. He is moving through history. He is moving through people. He is moving through a variety of ways to make himself known to you.

Have you experienced God moving in your life through Jesus Christ?

Prayer: O God, we give thanks for the way you have made yourself known in our lives through Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.