28th Week OT (M)
Jack comes home from work two or three times a week reeking of another woman's perfume. He “works late” frequently and seems to have lost interest in his marriage. The last straw is the way he hides his cell phone away so his wife doesn't see the texts he receives after hours. Seeing all these signs, Jill hires a PD to gather evidence of Jack's infidelity. After a month of following him around town, the PD reports to Jill that Jack is not having an affair. She sighs in relieve and says, “I knew he wasn't b/c I trust him completely!” This tells us that Jill does not understand the meaning of “trust.” If she “trusts” Jack after the investigation, it's b/c she has conclusive evidence. That's not trust; it's knowledge. She knows that Jack is not having an affair. If she had trusted him, she would have never hired the PD. Which comes first in the life of Christ: faith or evidence? Do we trust Christ and then understand the evidence in the light of faith? Or do we look for evidence and then decide whether or not to believe? The crowds want a sign. They want evidence that Jesus is who he says he is before they believe. Jesus says, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”
Of course, the sign of Jonah is Christ's three days in the tomb and his defeat of death in the resurrection. That's The Sign. The only evidence we need to believe. Believe that and the rest follows. Don't believe it and nothing else can or will follow. To say that faith comes first is not to say that only faith matters. God gave us reason to understand what we believe. But reason alone cannot get us to faith. Why? B/c reason alone never requires us to trust. What saves us is our participation in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ – our own partaking in the sign of Jonah that Jesus says is the only sign we need. So why do we clamor after additional signs? Locutions and apparitions? Why do we think we need something else to demonstrate the rightness of our faith? Well, why does Jill send a PD after Jack? She suspects that her trust is misplaced. She worries that she's been duped. She needs more. If you need more than the sign of Jonah to trust our Lord, you can certainly look for that more. Whatever it is. But know that that more is not really more. It's all you have. It's not faith or trust or belief. It's evidence. And that evidence quickly becomes your god. You become a follower of proof rather than a follower of Christ. And proof cannot save you. Paul says it plainly, “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”
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