Dec

9

Missing the Signs

December 9, 2007 |

You get fired or laid off unexpectedly - and you realize that you missed the signs that would have told you that unemployment was coming.

Your girlfriend tells you that she is breaking up with you when you think everything was bliss - and you realize that you missed the signs that she was sliding away.

Your kids do something destructive (drugs, sex, crime) when you thought they were fine and upstanding - and you realize that you missed the signs that they were on the wrong path.

All missed signs - all instances when we could have seen a major trauma coming in our life.

Which is why I both question and understand the folks in the time of Christ.  They had hundreds of years worth of prophets to tell them that Christ was coming.  Isaiah couldn’t have been more clear in his prophecies - he even got the life of John the Baptist right (”a voice crying in the wilderness”). 

So, Christ comes - John the Baptist tells all who will listen that the long, sought-after Messiah is in their presence.  Disciples start to believe and follow.  Miracles and great signs become the norm.  Wisdom and good works are overflowing.

Yet, many do not believe.  They question, reject, despise, ridicule.  They just plain miss the signs and get it tragically wrong.

Two-thousand years later we can sit here and question them.  Why were they so dense?  Why wouldn’t they listen?  Why wouldn’t they believe?

Yet, so many of us miss the signs in our own time and in our own life that Christ is present.  We have the same benefit of inspiring writers and teachers, great signs, and good works - in the world and in our lives.  But, we choose to ignore them.

So, let’s use this second week of Advent to think about the signs of our time and in our lives.  Let’s heed these signs so we can walk the path set out for us by Christ.  And, let’s remember that Christ will come again.  There may be signs to tell us his coming is near.  Let’s listen to those signs and not be surprised if he shows up one day.

Or, maybe we just need to remember that Christ is present with us every moment of every day.  It might save us from missing the signs and making some tragic mistakes.


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