117. Rock Goes The Gospel - Mike and The Mechanics - "All I Need Is A Miracle"

"All I Need Is a Miracle" by Mike + The Mechanics was written by guitarist Mike Rutherford and producer Christopher Neil, it was first included on their 1985 self-titled debut album, and later released as a single in early 1986 in the USA, where it reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song, demanding vocal high notes up to C5, was sung by Paul Young on both the original recording and the 1996 re-recording for the band's Hits compilation album. In an interview prior to the song's release as a single, Rutherford commented, "The thing that makes 'Miracle' different, to me, is that it's a happy song – or it's primarily a happy song. It's 'up'. And I don't do that very often. ...It may not be optimistic, but it's a positive attitude to life."

I said "Go if you wanna go
Stay if you wanna stay"
I didn't care if you hung around me
I didn't care if you went away
And I know you were never right
I'll admit I was never wrong
I could never make up my mind
I made it up as I went along

And though I treated you like a child
I'm gonna miss you for the rest of my life

All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you

I never had any time
And I never had any call
But I went out of my way just to hurt you
The one I shouldn't hurt at all
I thought I was being cool
Yeah, I thought I was being strong
But it's always the same old story
You never know what you've got 'til it's gone

If I ever catch up with you
I'm gonna love you for the rest of your life

All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle)
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle)
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you

And if I ever catch up with you
I'm gonna love you for the rest of your life

All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle)
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle)
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle)
All I need is a, all I need is a,
All I need is you (all I need is a miracle)

Rock and Roll is littered with songs that are about lost love and this one is no exception. Mike Rutherford does it again come up with a winning combination in the lyrics and the music. Making this track an unforgettable Mike and the Mechanics track. Just because there are many songs written about lost love does not minimise the pain that is felt in this one. The song is remorseful and full of longing. Song track takes us through some self reflection and points us to hope. "All I need is a Miracle" is not a melancholic song in the least, it's upbeat and catchy. 

This song is essentially about a missed opportunity which comes home in the lines "And If I ever catch up with you" In the song the one who has lost love realises the mistake that has been made and wants to put it right. The bible is full of moments for quite a few people who show remorse and who have had the ability to self reflect. this morning I want to focus our attention on one who finds himself in a moment of self reflection and longs to put something right. 

The story of Zacchaeus is a great story. Here is a man who is hated by all around him. He is a Jewish man doing the dirty work of the Romans. He is a tax collector, but not just any tax collector, but the chief, the one in charge. It isn’t that he is just doing his job. It is known that tax collectors collected more than was necessary, skimming money for themselves. They are wealthy in a land of great poverty. They are wealthy on the backs of their own countrymen. They are instruments of oppression to their own people in a land of great oppression. They are also hated by the Romans because they are mere nuisances in the long chain that led back to Rome. They are not friends with anyone. Most likely no one comes to their house for dinner. Then Zacchaeus heard about Jesus, this man who is going around the countryside and villages preaching the good news of God’s kingdom. Maybe Zacchaeus thinks Jesus would want to meet him since he is a person of prominence in Jericho, or so he thinks. Maybe Zacchaeus wants to engage Jesus in theological discussion as a teacher. Maybe Zacchaeus is remorseful and thinks he needs some forgiveness from this man who has been known to give it.

We don’t know why Zacchaeus goes to see Jesus that day, but he does. When he gets to the streets of Jericho, the crowd is big and Zacchaeus cannot see Jesus. In order to get a glimpse at this man who draws such crowds, Zacchaeus climbs a sycamore tree to get a look. As he is walking by, this man hanging in a tree must catch Jesus’ eye and he stops and speaks to Zacchaeus. Now perhaps Jesus has been looking for Zacchaeus all along knowing he has something to give this man who seemingly had much in the way of material goods. Jesus calls Zacchaeus down and announces in front of the crowd that he is going to Zacchaeus’ house that very day. “Why the house of such an unscrupulous man!” “Why not me?” Shock, surprise, outrage, jealously . . . these must be the reactions of those in the crowd. Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus with joy. We don’t know if Jesus and Zacchaeus have a long conversation, if Zacchaeus asks questions or asks for forgiveness, or if just the mere presence of Jesus makes Zacchaeus reconsider.

But we do know that something happens to him, not only a change of heart but a change of behaviour as well. He pledges to give half of his belongings to the poor and repay anyone he has cheated four times as much (four times restitution was what the Torah laws required). Almost like an assurance of pardon follows a confession of sin, Jesus declares that salvation has come to Zacchaeus and his house. And perhaps this is why Jesus walked down that Jericho road after all–he came to seek and save the lost.

The Mike and Mechanic's song "All I need Is a Miracle" is about the same remorse as in the story of Zacchaeus, Remorse leads us all to do things differently, for some it leads to real repentance and from there it leads to life.