“Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by.” —Acts 5: 14-15 (NRSV)

Sometimes when I read from The Acts of the Apostles I am envious. I read about the extraordinary signs and wonders the Apostles accomplished in Jesus’ name, the great crowds they brought into the church, and the numerous people they healed.

The mainline church, in whose rocky vineyards I long labored, had already been in numerical decline for over a decade before I began my ministry. And every congregation I ever served struggled to attract new members and maintain adequate budgets for its ministries and mission.

The Apostles, on the other hand, seemed to have had the superpowers of Marvel Comic superheroes. People held Peter in such awe and esteem that they brought their sick from miles around just in case his shadow might fall on them and heal them. That never happened to me.

Still, I did experience “signs and wonders.” They weren’t as dramatic as the ones described in Acts, but were wondrous nonetheless. They took place quietly in Bible studies, in hospital rooms, at gravesides, sometimes in worship, when lives were shaped and changed by the good news about Jesus.

The Book of Acts, according to the commentators, is “highly idealized.” I sure hope so! Otherwise their ministries and ours would bear so little resemblance as to invite fatigue if not despair. I suspect it was otherwise. Like us, they didn’t have superpowers, just faith, and that was enough. It has never been easy to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It was never meant to be.

Prayer: Grant us what we need, O Lord, to be your faithful servants, that others may experience your signs and wonders.

(This is my United Church of Christ Daily Devotion for April 26, 2019. To see the original go here. To subscribe to the UCC Daily Devotional and receive it every day by e-mail go here.)