Ex 14:5-18, Ex 15:1-6, Mt 12:38-42
I think God is wonderfully active in our lives. I’ve come to the sense that God is so intertwined with our world that there is no clear or useful way to distinguish the sacred from what is often thought of as profane or secular. Today’s readings provide additional biblical basis for reflecting on how our long tradition tries to talk about God’s presence with us.
In th first reading the Israelites are finally leaving Egypt and before they even get across the Red Sea they are ready to give up and go back. The exodus is, of course, one of the great stories of journey in all the world. The experience literally created the Jewish people. It was their defining moment but it was fraught with all the issues of journey: hope, doubt, fear, anger, triumph and tragedy. In the same way, our faith journey has to encounter all that happens in our life. The journey defines us: what do we hold on to, what do we run away from and where do we end up when we finally arrive? Here the Israelites faced with the Egyptian army hot on their heals, decide it’s time to go back. They cry out to God and are given one of the most spectacular signs of all times. The Red Sea parts for them and then closes on the Egyptians wiping out the whole army. That’s what I call a real sign from God.
It is, of course, the whole point of the story. Just when you think all is hopeless, with the Egyptian army bearing down on you, God will save you. Especially in situations where you are helpless, God will come to the rescue. The problem is, we all know situations where that hasn’t happened. We don’t seem to have contemporary examples in which God is removing people from harm’s way on a regular basis.
Let’s think about that a minute, with the help of our Gospel reading. Right there, the Pharisees ask Jesus for exactly what today we seem to be missing. They ask, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Jesus responds with pretty tough language calling them an “evil and unfaithful generation” that will be given no sign except the sign of Jonah. The sign of Jonah is his being in the whale for three days. Which points to Jesus three days in the tomb before his resurrection. That will be the sign they’re looking for.
The more immediate point for us is that you can’t ask for or get a sign from God that proves that God is there and going to fix things. Think about it, Jesus is saying he won’t give them a sign. In these same Gospel stories, how many people did he cure? People who couldn’t walk, couldn’t see, were leprous, deathly ill, etc. Where have these Pharisees been? It isn’t that Jesus wasn’t willing to do miraculous things. In each case, these were people in need. People who believed in him and asked for help, not for proof. We don’t get signs from God to prove God presence or existence because everything that happens in life is open to interpretation. If the Pharisees hadn’t seen all the good Jesus did as a sign what would convince them?
I do think we get signs from God when we need it. Signs that help save us, lift our spirits and give us a new hope. I’ll bet that every reader of this reflection has had a moment like that. Times when something happened to you or something you noticed changed things for you. Maybe an event, or a story, or a talk with another person and it said something to you that was important, something you never forgot. A day or a time that has very deep meaning for you. Sometimes we may think of them as signs but more often we are just over-joyed or surprised or humbled or we feel lucky or get an insight that we never would have thought of before. God is so much a part of every moment of our lives. We just have to remember to look for the signs.
