Good Morning Friends,
Perhaps you are feeling a disturbance in the force…an uneasy premonition or nudging. Well, that is probably the Holy Spirit at work. Know it will come when the time is right. But requesting the Holy Spirit to act according to our will as a mark and signal is not usually the best approach. There is the issue of allegiance. Do you honor your brother? Do you follow the ways of Nero? Do you cling to Power? Are you fighting for the right side? There just seems to be something about signs like the Mark of Cain and the Mark of the Beast or even the sign of the fleece that make us uncomfortable. In our text today the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign. He had just performed a series of miracles. Jesus was not real pleased with their requests. So, Are You Looking For A Healthy Sign Of God’s Love This Valentine’s Day?
Scripture: Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him.
Genesis 4:9-15 (NRSV)
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.
Mark 8:11-13 (NRSV)
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
Judges 6:39-40 (NRSV)
Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Revelation 14:9-10 (NRSV)
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.
James 1:1-11 (NRSV)
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.
Mark 8:11-13 (NRSV)
Message: Ok, Gideon asked for a sign and got away with it. But I think he at least realized that it was a dangerous thing to do. Gideon had a lot of guts to ask God the way he did. Maybe God was easy on Gideon because Gideon did have a heart for God. I think we all realize that it is appropriate to listen for the signs of spiritual life and grace but not a good practice to be asking God for a sign or trying to cook one up on our own. But have you thought about why? Here we just might realize that asking for a sign from God is basically an indication of our unbelief and that is never pleasing to God. The thing is that the signs are usually already there right in front of us and there is no real reason to be asking in the first place. The reality is that there are signs of God everywhere we look. God has made himself known through his creation. And the thing is that we miss tremendous blessings when our hard hearts blind us to those signs. And to make the problem worse, we delay God’s blessings on us when we ask for a sign instead of acting on the faith we have. Friends, God has this plan for each of our lives and does so want to bless us. He wants to bring spiritual blessings to our lives. He wants to fill our lives with a peace and a joy that does not require a sign. We are to be a sign for others. So do not put God off by asking for one more sign. A great deal of wisdom can be found in this decision-making process about who we believe Jesus really is. Whatever your needs in defending an answer, the question always requires us to step out in faith.
And So, for the benefit of everyone we need to stop showing our lack of belief and when nudged to help another person actually act on it in a positive way. God has given us every sign we need to show us that we can trust Him. It is crazy to delay what God wants to do in our lives. Friends, if you are asking for a sign maybe you need to get back on the right path and be a sign for others. The more we love the less we fear and the greater our hope will be. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so you still have time to act.
Pray we wait for the Lord to prompt us. Pray we do not act in anger or out of fear but act in love. Pray we realize God wants our best. Pray we realize that God will offer us grace. Pray we hear, believe, confess, repent, and obey. Pray we realize that our lack of belief will find us out. Pray we realize that our deeds are outward physical statements of our inward reality. Pray we do not ignore the signs of sin and the pending consequences of our action and inaction. Pray that though God may choose to protect us it does not mean that we are sinless. Pray therefore that we carry the spiritual marks of a Christian. Pray we carry the mark of God’s story of charity, of humility and of loyalty. Pray we carry the mark of love that gives God the glory. Pray we are a sign of faith, so we never have to ask for one.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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