Dr. Hugh Hamilton
Trinity Presbyterian Church – Pensacola, FL 
May 26, 2019   6th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C

UNEXPECTED ACTS OF GOD: 4. Coincidence or Providence?
Acts 16: 1-15 

A lady named Peggy Piland, had planned to make a brown-sugar pound cake, her specialty, for her Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Howell, who for some reason had been in her thoughts.  But then the idea to bake her a cheesecake popped into mind -- a lemon cheesecake.  The recipe called for fresh lemons. Peggy checked her pantry – she had no lemons, but plenty of brown sugar. A pound cake would be so much easier, but again came the strong nudge to bake a lemon cheesecake.  Peggy drove to the grocery store, bought lemons, came home, and make the cheesecake. 
	When she arrived at Mrs. Howell’s, Mrs. Howell’s husband let Peggy in. “She’ll be happy to see you,” he said, explaining that Mrs. Howell had broken her leg and was bedridden. “The doctor says she’ll be fine. But she’s frustrated because she can’t get around like she used too.”
	Peggy walked in the bedroom carrying her surprise. “I’m so sorry about your leg, Mrs. Howell,” she said. “Maybe this will make you feel better.” As she put the cake on the table the scent of fresh lemons wafted through the air. She looked at Mrs. Howell, who now was crying.
	“How did you know?” Mrs. Howell asked.
	“Know?” asked Peggy.
	“Today is our wedding anniversary,” she said. “For the past fifty-five years I’ve baked my husband his favorite thing.” She pointed at the cake. “How did you know it was lemon cheesecake?” (Piland)

Was it a coincidence? Perhaps. But isn’t it remarkable how many happy little coincidences occur when we yield ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit!  Why did Peggy feel the urge to bake something that day; why to bake for Mrs. Howell; and why to bake lemon cheesecake?

COINCIDENCE VS PROVIDENCE   
The dictionary defines coincidence as “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.”   Providence is defined as “divine guidance or care, God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.”  If you replace “coincidence” with “providence” in your conversation it changes how you view life; few things happen in your life simply by coincidence or chance, for God can work through anything – big, small, good, bad, or indifferent – to shape your character and guide you where God intends you to go.  You start to see that what you do right now has significance and purpose.   You may not understand it yet, but your steps now are part of the big picture.  

Dennis Rainey teaches sixth grade Sunday School class. One Sunday each year he divides the class into three groups who then compete in putting together a jigsaw puzzle. As these 12-year-olds scatter into three circles on the floor, he explains that there is only one rule in the competition: to put together the puzzle without talking.
	Dennis puts the contents of puzzle number one on the floor and Group 1 goes to work. The group sets up the box top that shows the picture of the puzzle they are completing.
	Then Dennis Rainey moves to Group 2, dumps the pieces of a second puzzle on the floor and gives the group a box top. What the group doesn’t know is that the box top is the picture for another puzzle!
	Denis gives Group 3 the same puzzle pieces, but no box top, no picture. Usually the kids in the group protest, but Rainey quickly reminds them there is to be no talking!
What follows is fascinating.
•	Group One is frustrated by not being allowed to talk, but it still makes steady progress. 
•	Group Two keeps trying to use the picture, but nothing seems to work. And since the kids in the group can’t say anything, their frustration level soars. The youth look at Dennis	with pleading eyes. Often, he sees that misleading box top go flying out of the group across the room!
•	Group Three is interesting. Because the kids have nothing to guide them, they do their own thing. The kids give up and just lie on the floor.
Dennis Rainey asks, “Am I a cruel teacher? No, there is a point that I make that day. Life, marriages and families are like the pieces of the puzzle. The pieces are all there for us, but something is needed to help us bring order out of chaos.”  We need guidance in our times of concern or confusion, or even chaos. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us though this chaotic world.  (Rainey)

Our challenge is to open our hearts and minds to the nudges and intuitions and thoughts and feelings and words through which God’s Holy Spirit guides us – and follow when we sense God’s leading us.  Miraculous things happen when we avail ourselves to the Holy Spirit!

Paul's vision at Troas explained in Acts 16 means a lot to me personally.  It has shaped my appreciation for God's providence in my life and what God can do for us when we yield our lives to Him.

My Senior year in seminary in Atlanta, GA, I began interviewing churches, seeking my first call to ministry.  I was sure that I would serve God as a solo pastor at a small church back in my beloved North or South Carolina.  I interviewed with several churches across the Carolinas, but no call came forward.  I flew to Memphis, TN to interview with a church and though it seemed perfect, something felt amiss. While wrestling with that prospect, I walked into the placement office at seminary to look at new listings of church opportunities, and Harry Barrow, the placement director, was talking on the telephone.  He looked up and said, "The man you need is standing right here in my office, hold on," and he handed me the telephone.  "It's Starkville, Mississippi; Associate Pastor, campus ministry."  I said, "Mississippi?  Harry, that's the foreign mission field!"  But that telephone introduction led to my first call to ministry, and it was wonderful!  I declined the call extended by the Memphis church, and lo and behold the pastor there resigned the following year and the church entered a huge conflict. I was spared that anguish and instead was blessed with a great pastorate with a beloved Senior Pastor!  Plus, I met and married Sandy Scholtes!  Chance encounter - or God's providence?  God called me exactly where I needed to be and to do what I needed to do!  I was "trying to go east to Bithynia, and the Spirit did not permit it. Instead I went west to Macedonia," and the rest is history.  

Paul and Silas were denied Bithynia and detoured to Macedonia. In God's plan, their defeat became victory!  By the change of direction, Paul and Silas introduced Christianity to the western world and the gospel spread to Europe!  If you avail yourselves to God’s providence, God will use your everyday chance encounters in marvelous ways. Don’t underestimate the power of God’s providence in your life and influence!

Pastor Jessica LaGrone tells the story of Michael Billester who visited a small town in Poland in the late 1930s shortly before World War II began.  He met a man in the village and gave him a bible. The man read it and was converted to faith in Christ.  He then passed the bible on to others who were also converted, until two hundred people had become believers through that one bible. 
	When Billester returned to the town in 1940, this group of Christians met for a worship service in which he was to preach. He thought about asking them to share testimonies, but instead he asked several people in the audience to recite verses of scripture.  One man stood and asked, “Do you mean verses or chapters?” 
	These villagers had not memorized a few select verses but whole chapters of the Bible.  Thirteen people could recite Matthew, Luke, and half of Genesis. Another person had memorized the Psalms. That one copy of the bible Billester gave them had sunk deeply into the community and the hearts of those who received it.  The surprising results of that one Bible had born fruit of hundreds of lives changed! (Lagrone, 211) 

Dr. Steve Land tells about a seminary student during World War II who was preparing himself to enter the war as a military chaplain. One day this student found a used book at a bookstore on the subject of “How to Speak Russian.” This student was somewhat of an introvert. He preferred to remain in his room reading rather than going out to socialize with his friends. He decided that this little book on how to speak Russian would be a nice, quiet way to spend his evenings. He studied that Russian language book whenever he had a chance. 

After graduation the young man was inducted into the Army as a chaplain. He was sent to Europe where his battalion was involved in heavy fighting. One night as he lay on his bedroll, staring up at the stars, he became depressed. Every day and every night he was constantly giving comfort to wounded and dying soldiers. He wondered if he was effective.  Just then, while those thoughts were troubling him, a medic came running up to him. “Chaplain,” he said, “we have a man who is seriously wounded, he is scared and panicking but we can’t understand what he is saying to us. Can you come help us?”

Upon arriving at the scene, he realized that it was a Russian soldier who had evidently gotten separated from his company. As he knelt beside the man, he realized that he could understand much of what the soldier was saying. For the rest of the night he stayed by the soldier’s side speaking words of comfort to him in broken Russian and praying with him the best he could until the man died from his wounds.

As he returned to his bedroll and lay down under the stars once again, the young chaplain felt that somehow the stars were brighter and the load he was carrying was a little lighter. He now knew that God was at work even in this awful war. This little Russian language book had fallen into his hands and God used it to comfort a dying soldier through him. (2)

Was this a coincidence or was it providence?  Did God lead this young soldier to study Russian just for this moment in his life? Or was it just coincidental?  I guess it depends on what you believe about God. (Land, 1). 

Michael Billester’s story of the little town in Poland… 
   Steve Land’ story of a young man who just happened to learn Russian to pass his time… 
     Peggy Piland responding to the sudden urge to make a lemon cheesecake…
        such stories remind me that one person’s life changed, one little Bible shared, 
	one visit to a neighbor in need, one faithful risk taken for God’s kingdom, 
	     can be the tiny act that shakes the foundation of a community. 

As we continue to explore God’s unexpected acts and surprises in the book of Acts, 
   in our own lives, and in our world today, 
      remember that God changes the world one person at a time! 
          You may be one through whom God reaches the next Lydia waiting for you to   
               reach out with the love of Jesus Christ. 
You can be a tool of God’s providence and grace if you yield yourself to be used by God 
   to make a difference in someone’s life. 

I think that there are very few real coincidences in life. 
    Most so-called coincidences are acts of providence in disguise.  
       And you go nowhere by accident.  Amen

Sources

Land, Steve, as shared by Mark Beard, http://markbeaird.org/steph/pdf/sermons/mark_beaird /nothing_will_be_wasted.pdf.
LaGrone, Jessica. “Easter Series; Surprise! The Unexpected Acts of God” in A Preacher’s Guide 	to Lectionary Sermon Series. Compiled by Jessica Miller Kelley. Louisville: 	Westminster/John Knox Press, 2016.
Piland, Peggy. “His Mysterious Ways,” Guideposts, July 1997, 33.
Rainey, Dennis and Barbara, Moments Together for Couples. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1995.

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