Reflection - Proficiency

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021218.cfm
James 1:1-11
Mark 8:11-13

The request for a sign comes up frequently in the Gospels. We heard it in this morning’s text when the Pharisees sought a “sign from heaven to test him.” This incident is just one of many. When Jesus drove the moneychangers from the Temple, the Jews began asking "What sign have you to show us for doing this?" (John 12:18) Even when Jesus was simply speaking to the crowds, we hear the Scribes and Pharisees saying "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." (Matthew 12:38)

Signs can’t just be discounted. Jesus himself spoke of the value and importance of reading the signs. "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, 'A shower is coming'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens.” (Luke 12:54-55) He concludes his words in this passage by pressing the people to read the signs of what God is doing as competently as they read the signs of natural events.

Sometimes God offers a sign as when He placed the rainbow in the sky after the flood as a sign to Noah that he would never again destroy the earth by water, or when he sent Moses with multiple signs for the purpose of convincing Pharaoh. But most of the time we read about people requesting a sign. Sometimes the request is direct, as we heard from the Pharisees this morning. Other times, it is indirect, as when the Psalmist complains: “Why do you stand afar off, O LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1) Implicit in the plaint is the request for a sign of God’s presence. Ultimately, that is the sign we all want and continue to want. Even Jesus was driven to the point of pleading: “My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me.”

There is an incident in the Gospels where Jesus and the disciples got into a boat to proceed to another town. In route, the disciples discovered:

“they had forgotten to bring bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

Jesus, on the other hand, was not concerned about bread but about the disciples and their potential susceptibility to the false teaching of the Pharisees.

And he cautioned them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

The disciples were confused and believed that Jesus was complaining about the fact that they had forgotten to bring bread.

And they discussed it with one another, saying, "We have no bread."

Then Jesus caught on to their misunderstanding.

And being aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? (Mark 8:14-18)

He then recalled with them the two incidents in which he fed the crowds with just a few loaves and fish.

And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?" (Mark 8:21)

His complaint to them is clear: You’ve witnessed how I fed thousands with just a little, and yet you worry about having a single loaf of bread. Why can’t you clearly see what is going on.

And how about us? Do we too so easily forget the many signs of God’s loving presence in our lives? Do we know Him well enough to recognize the signs he offers? Do we not remember?

Signs are important for the building of faith; but how strong is our faith when we live from one sign to the next? Although the Psalmist began his song asking about the Lord’s absence, in the end he remembers.

Yes, you Lord, note trouble and vexation, that you may take it into your hands;
the hapless commits himself to you;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
The LORD is king for ever and ever; the [wicked] nations shall perish from his land.
O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek;
you will strengthen their heart,
you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. (Psalm 10:14-18)

Likewise the Psalm which Jesus prays from the cross — “My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me.” — ends in similar manner, remembering who was his Father and the signs that indicated his presence and blessing.

The Pharisees were quite proficient in knowing the Law and were skillful in their interpretations. What appears to have been lacking was a knowledge of and relationship with their Heavenly Father. It is only in that relationship that we can read the signs. Like the Jews of Jesus time, we are intended to be on the front lines in the very real battle between good and evil. So it is imperative that we become adept at reading the signs of Christ, our savior and champion.

Still, our plea for a sign, for guidance, for direction is frequent — unless we have just abandoned the possibility that God will give us one, and have surrendered to the false notion that we must go about life alone. So, we must learn to read the signs in the present and have faith that the God who blessed us in the past will continue to do so.