God refuses to work alone. God insists on working through human beings. So often, I wish God would agree to our cartoon image and intervene with dramatic action, lightning bolts, booming voices from the sky… Instead, he wants us to be “the body of Christ,” the hands and feet and eyes and ears that communicate (through word and deed) the love and compassion of God.

This pattern goes back to Jesus. Sure, there were direct miracles, healings and walking on water and calming the storm. But there were others in which Jesus refused to be recognized. When he changed water into wine, for instance, it was the servants who poured the water. There was no “shazaam!” no calling attention to himself. When he fed the 5,000, he gave the bread to the disciples and told them to distribute it. When he raised Lazarus, he invited others to participate: roll away the stone, unbind him. Even after his resurrection, he committed the message to Mary–go and tell the disciples what you have seen.

So here we are, 2,000 years later. The world is still a mess most of the time. And I desperately want God to fix it all with a loud boom. But God says no. God says, “You do it. By my power. By my grace. By my love.” God promises to be with us. But God won’t do it alone.