My Watching for Signs

When driving between our home in Florida and cabin (Quiet Rest) in North Carolina, we try and pull away from the driveway at 2 am.  At the beginning of one of these early trips, eight or nine years ago, I discovered a program: Coast to Coast, hosted by George Noory.  Bettyann, to this day, remains perplexed why it must be this radio show. But after sixty miles down the road, places her ear plugs, adjusts her seat back, her pillow and falls asleep.  Last spring, on one of those trips, I became so spellbound by listening to a guest on Coast to Coast that I literally passed the service station where I always get my first tank of gas and came close to running out.  This guest was declaring that the world would end in the very near future.  If I remember right, October, which later I wrote off after my friends recommendations.  I also remembered Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, declared that the world would end on May 21, 2011. For Camping, this was not the first time that he had made this kind of prediction.  On September 6, 1994, dozens of Camping's followers gathered in Alameda, California to await the return of Christ, an event Camping had been preaching about for two years.  Despite Camping's careful calculations and reading of the signs that pointed to his return, Jesus did not return.  It’s a no brainer that Camping conceded that he miscalculated the date. 

I was reminded a week or so ago that Camping is not alone in his seeking after signs for Christ's return.  Searching for the signs of the end times seem to be back in vogue. Be they mathematical formulae or codes contained in Scripture, as in Camping's case, or watching after political maneuvers, leaders, and geo-political reorganization, some Christians are keenly aware and watchful for signs that signal Christ's imminent return.  But there are other signs some seek as well.  For a very close friend of mine, it is an all consuming struggle, in every way, trying to see the sign of a surefire certainty or the answer to his role to be played in an important relationship. Then there is me, searching and examining the newest nutritional products, seeking signs of a new supplement which perhaps may be more like a magic trick than miracle.

Interestingly enough, according to the February Christian calendar, Epiphany is also a season of signs.  But the signs of Epiphany are not for calculating the end of the world, nor are they the signs seemingly marked out in geo-political happenings.  Instead, Epiphany's signposts reveal the identity of Jesus as God's chosen Messiah.  I have been reminded by a recent film entitled; "The Star of Bethlehem," that the beginning was with a visit of the foreign magi. Further with the baptism of Jesus by his cousin John, as well as various miracles in the earthly ministry of Jesus, this season of Epiphany is engaging me in the work of seeking the signs of Jesus's unique identity and purpose.  

For this reason, I am finding out, the text of John's Gospel is often read during Epiphany.  For in John's Gospel, seven signs are recorded by the evangelist: the miracle at the wedding of Cana, the healing of the nobleman's son, the healing of the paralytic, the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus's walking on water, the healing of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus.  All reveal something unique about this man from Galilee. 

In John chapter 6, a poignant and theologically rich section of the evangelist's narrative, the multitudes come seeking a sign from Jesus.  Many of these seekers have just been fed by Jesus in the feeding of the five thousand. John 6:1-14  Still, they ask him, "What then do you do for a sign that we may see and believe you?" John 6:20  Jesus answers them by saying that he is the bread of heaven.  That is, in his very person life and sustenance reside!  He is the sign from God!  And yet the people do not believe him.  They continue to seek for other signs and wonders.  Even the religious leaders, themselves specialists in the interpretation of signs, grumble that Jesus claims to be the bread of heaven.  Jesus rightly proclaims, "But I said to you, you have seen me, and yet do not believe." John 6:36

Bill, what are the signs that you looking for?  I think I am asking rightly this season of Epiphany and in light of John's sign-filled narrative: What is the point of a sign if it does not inspire belief?  Or better; what is the point of a sign if it does not instill faith as opposed to fear, belief and hope rather than dread or simple wonder?  I’m thinking in this sense, that the signs of Christ himself are intended to bring me further into the unique life of Christ.  Therefore, for me, I need not become fixated with the signs themselves, failing to see the forest through the trees.  Seeking after the signs of God's presence in and around me and God's purpose for my life, I must not miss Jesus in the process.  I pray that the The Holy Spirit will continue to help me find Him as both sign and sustenance, wonder and life itself.  Father, God may I continue to be open!