14. A Sign

"The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.' And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, 'Watch out--beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.' They said to one another, 'It is because we have no bread.' And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?' And they said to him, 'Seven.' Then he said to them, 'Do you not yet understand?'" Mark 8: 11-21

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You fed thousands, healed hundreds,

raised the dead--

yet you said that no sign would be given

to that generation.

Your whole life

was a sign to that generation.

What more could they possibly have needed?

No wonder you sighed

deep in your spirit.

And here we are thinking

today

that if only we'd lived back then,

had gotten to know you, see you, touch you and

hear you speak, then

surely we'd believe.

That if only it was our sight you restored or

our boat you walked out to or

our hands in your side then

surely we'd trust in you.

But then again,

here were your closest friends

sitting in a boat fretting about how to make do

with one loaf of bread--

and you were sitting right there in the boat with them

when, at the very last place you were together,

the very last place

you fed, not 12, but 5,000 people

with not-enough bread.

Yet still

they didn't trust you

to provide for them.

Is that your point?

Everything's a sign

if we trust you,

and nothing's a sign

if we don't.

Here I am fretting because I can't find my wallet

again

and I've just remembered that the last time this happened,

the very last time

I sent up a prayer and found it

under the seat in the car

(a place that I'd already checked

three times)

and here I am fretting

when I should be sending up a prayer

and checking under the seat in the car

again.

Maybe,

just maybe,

it's a sign.