Signs

Two of my biggest pet peeves are being late and being lost. I think the first is pretty straight forward. If I have some place I am supposed to be, then that means someone or many someone’s are waiting on me. I hate to keep people waiting. I feel like it’s a subconscious way of saying “hey, my time is more important than yours” therefore meaning I am more important than you. And I try to avoid anything that makes my head bloated . . . because I have found that what gets in my head lead to my heart. Being lost is also frustrating because it is directly linked with being late. For example if Devin is lost (which has been known to happen from time to time) then Devin is naturally late. These two annoyances in my life always seem to go hand in hand. I think out of the two of these the worst is being lost. I hate the moment when the directions I have written down get thrown on the floor or worse out the window (literally) and at that point I am just winging it. I try to make for myself a mental overhead picture of the streets I pass . . . but inevitably I spend time with my face up against the steering wheel squinting at those itsy bitsy street signs . . . wondering to myself “why in the world are all these street named after trees, when I am looking for one of those ‘presidents’ streets?”

When I am lost I freak out ! My blood pressure rises, I start sweating, I start blocking everything else out in the moment except those reflective green pieces of metal.

But everything changes when it finally happens. When I finally know where I am and I see the street sign for my destination, and I know that I am on the right path. In that moment everything changes. Everything works out and somehow life seems ok again.

There are signs everywhere. I think it’s something we take for granted. If you ever go out of the country you realize how much you appreciate signs. I have some friends who recently spent almost a month outside of the country and it was amazing to see pictures of many of the signs that they saw. As I was looking through the pictures I thought . . . how does that sign help me? I can’t read Arabic. I have no idea what “spiting will be femed” means. Even sign in the most important of places . . . where communication is key were confusing . . . for example bathrooms and airports.

Signs are important. They are informative. They are reassuring. Ultimately they keep us from getting lost. And that is something I am all about. I am a fan of signs; especially when I am in that moment gripping the wheel asking God to please just help me get there on time.
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I think there are times when we are dealing with our lives (that don’t have to do with driving) that we are desperate for a sign. You know what I am talking about. Sometimes it a huge moment, sometimes it’s something little . . . but I think we all know what it is like to desperately want a sign to help us know we are on the right track.

Have you ever asked for one of those formulas signs? You know the ones where you say God please let A happen so that I know B is true. Or how about this one: “God if you want A to happen than please give me a sign . . . any sign will do but just provide a sign. “? Have you ever gotten into that mode when you are so desperate for validation that everything looks like a sign? You find messages from God in your cereal. You open a fortune cookie while you are dealing with a serious issue and the answer is right before your eyes (and as a bonus you learned a new Chinese word). What about asking for God to give you signs in your relationships? For example, God please show me in she is the right one for me. Or God just show me what to do with this friendship because I have no clue. I think the most telling of these scenarios is when we are faced with two decisions, that we know will have very different outcomes and we are just torn. We say God, here is this decision . . . I don’t know what to do . . . please tell me, or show me, please just give me a sign anything.

I know I have probably asked for a sign in each of those scenarios at some point in my life . . . and I don’t know why but I look back on them and those moments seem kind of empty to me; not that God wasn’t there or that he didn’t hear me. But I feel like they lack a certain divine quality and smell more like psychic reading room than something God was a part of.
I think there is something inside of us all that wants to know we are on the right track. Something the pushes us to have someone or something bigger behind the choices we make in life. We look for signs because we are desperate for something bigger than ourselves to validate our lives.

So in the times when we feel lost we cry out to God for a sign . . . any sign.
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If you have ever read anything in the Gospels then you know that often Jesus would get into their religious discussions or debates. Most of the time we find Jesus trying to teach about the kingdom of God and then there is some sort of interruption from some of the religious teachers of the day.

Many times the motives of the religious leaders are suspect at best. They seem to always be trying to “trick” Jesus into contradicting the law. But somehow Jesus would always manage to answer their questions with more questions and then get them so confused they forgot what they were trying to do.

In one case it’s hard to tell what their motives truly were but it is possible that when the encountered Jesus they were lost in their own faith, because he challenged much of what they practiced. And so like us we see them calling out for a sign.

“Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” He (Jesus) answered “a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given to it except the sign of Jonah”

I’m not sure how that strikes you, but I feel some serious push back coming from Jesus. Is it wrong for me to somewhat identify with the Pharisees and religious leaders who may have been lost and just wanted a sign to know they were on the right path?

Was it wrong of them? And is it wrong of me to ask God for a sign?

It would seem that Jesus is saying it is.

Let’s take a step back a moment.

I think to put this in context we need to remember what Jesus’ ministry was like. His ministry involved many different aspects. One of the most significant aspects was the aspect of working miracles. In the same chapter in Matthew we see Jesus healing a man with a shriveled hand (12:10), healed the sick (12:15), and healed a demon-possessed blind mute (12:22). Not to mention all of the other miracles that he performed during his ministry.

It’s not like these religious teachers hadn’t heard about this miraculous works. The reality was that they had heard, and did know about these things and were coming to Jesus instructing him to perform another miracle.

Jesus’ response seems more appropriate now doesn’t it? He essentially tells them “I’m not your trained monkey”. If through his previous signs you didn’t know who he was then the only sign left was his death/burial/resurrection (the sign of Jonah)

The Pharisees just didn’t get it.

They didn’t want to accept Jesus because he wasn’t validating the choices they were making, and the way that they were interpreting the complex mix of faith and life.

They were asking for a sign, so that they could be proved to be on the right path, so that their beliefs would be backed by “Jesus the Rabbi” and would gain more clout.

It wasn’t about what God was really doing through Jesus’ ministry. It was about what they thought God should be all about.

It wasn’t about the gospel, it was about them.
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There is another really interesting encounter with Jesus where someone asks for a sign. In this case it is one of his disciples. The encounter happens after Jesus has appeared to many following his death/burial/resurrection.

The man who needed a sign was named Thomas.

“Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:24-25)

Thomas wanted a very specific sign from Jesus in order to believe he was on the right track. We call him doubting Thomas, but really he was lost. He didn’t know where he was and what was happening and he just wanted to know he was going in the right direction. So he asked for a sign.
We have all been there . . . we have all asked for a sign.

What is interesting is the contrast between how Jesus responds to the Pharisees and how he responds to Thomas.

“A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Here Jesus delivers the sign to Thomas, and while he deals gently with him Jesus still reminds him that those who have faith without the signs will be blessed.
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Signs are not bad things. In many situations signs are very helpful. I am just afraid that while we go about our lives, trying to live out our faith we spend a lot of time looking for signs.
We spend so much of our time trying to figure out if we are on the right path, and if God is behind us. Sometimes I think we are like the Pharisees who are essentially asking God to do a dog and pony show for them. And yet sometimes I think we are like Thomas and all we can do is shout that we are lost and we need to see the sign.

I know that both happen, but I think Jesus wants something different FOR us.

Just like most things with Jesus he takes something that is ordinary and everyday and he twists it into something very powerful and very important for the kingdom.

Jesus knows we will deal with this desire or need for signs. It’s part of our being human. And so I think we see his solution through one of his teachings . . .

“a new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

I really think this is key! This is our (huge) chunk of the kingdom. It’s our job to love each other.
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All the time we are looking for signs and guess what we aren’t the only ones. So what Jesus is essentially saying is that when people are feeling lost and they don’t know what to think or believe I want to give them a sign. Here is their sign: how you love the people around you. If you will do that, if you will love the people around you then everyone will get a sign.

It’s like you will become a walking billboard, you will become a sign to the world and a reminder of who Jesus is and what his kingdom is all about.

It’s my prayer that you may find freedom and stop looking for signs from God, and instead live a life of love that becomes a sign to everyone around you, proclaiming the good news of Gods kingdom!