25 February 2015 - keeping up with the jonahs

LORD, we are not an evil generation. We seek you.

Really?

This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign

A sign would be nice, now that you mention it. We need something louder than the world. We need something more entertaining than our entertainment. We need something more pleasurable than our pleasure. This is the sign we want. When you have compassion on us and multiple loaves to feed our hunger we begin to get excited. We're almost ready to run off and make you king. But we miss the point of that sign. You aren't here to feed the cravings of the flesh. 

no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah. 

You yourself are the sign. You yourself are the truth to which the sign points. You are greater than Jonah. If our eyes are open to you we will be quick to repent just as the people of Nineveh are quick to repent. If our ears our open we will come to you from the ends of the earth because your wisdom is greater than that of Solomon, the wisest man to ever live.

So why are we so reluctant to take notice? Why do we find ourselves condemned by the queen of the south and the men of Nineveh?

For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom
but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles

This isn't the sign we expect. This isn't wisdom we recognize. Your sign, the Cross, looks like foolishness to us. But "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:25).

We want a sign and wisdom. We want some sort of proof according to the paradigm of this world, perhaps according to the limited expertise of science.  But you offer something else entirely. You do not compete with the wisdom of the world. You do not compete with the signs of the astrologers, of UFO-watchers and psychics, or even the signs of controlled and reproducible experiments. You render all worldly wisdom as foolish. You show the signs of the world to be empty or limited.

Teach us to look at you, Jesus. You are greater even than Solomon and Jonah. Teach us not to insist on the categories of wisdom and sign that the world imposes. Call, us, Jews and Greeks alike to recognize you, "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:24).

When we discover this truth we are quick to repent. Jonah is only one day into a three day journey through the city but we already proclaim the fast and put on the sackcloth. You are the power of God and the wisdom of God and we comes from the ends of the earth to see you. You do something utterly greater than any worldly truth or paradigm can. You pour out your own Holy Spirit.

I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,
and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power (cf. 1 Cor. 2:3-4).

We long for this. We come from the ends of the earth for this. We beg you for this. It is worth more than any worldly sign or wisdom.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.