Signs

God put a sign in the sky to remind him not to ever destroy every living thing ever again with a flood. We still see the sign in the sky and so we can be assured that God also sees it and is reminded of his covenant with us.
What signs do we see every Sunday that also remind us of what God has promised or of what God has done for us?
As I look around the sanctuary my eyes are drawn to the cross. I remember that Jesus gave up his life on the cross for me. He took my sins as his own and willingly paid the price by dying on the cross for me. It’s at the cross that I know I can lay my burdens down and know that they will be lifted from my shoulders.
Right here we see the baptismal font filled with water. As we heard from the gospel according to Mark Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River as a sign for us that we all need to change our ways. John was preaching a Message of repentance and Jesus’ Message was very similar, “Change your life and believe the Message.”
In the words at our baptism we hear how God claims us, and seals us to show that we belong to God. God frees us from sin and death, uniting us with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. By water and the Holy Spirit, we are made members of the church, the body of Christ, and joined to Christ’s ministry of love, peace, and justice. We are asked to remember with joy our own baptism as we celebrate this sacrament.
Over here we see the joyful feast that the Lord has prepared for the people of God. When we hear the words of institution for the Eucharist we are asked to remember Jesus and all he taught and did whenever we eat this bread and drink this wine. They are signs for us of the sacrifice that was made for us so that we could enter into an intimate relationship with God, our Father. Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.
I believe that all creation is a sign of God’s love and power. Science can explain some things about our world but there’s a whole lot about this universe that can’t be explained other than to say it just happened. I don’t believe it just happened. I believe that God spoke the word and then it happened. And everything I see around me everyday just proves it for me. They are signs for me of God’s covenant.
But I’m reminded and come back to Jesus’ message as recorded in Mark. “Times up. God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.”
Friends, there are signs all around us. Some of them we notice and pay heed to and some we ignore. And so we pay the consequences of our ignorance.
In this season of Lent we are on the road with Jesus moving toward Easter. Not all of us travel the same road but I believe every road we travel will take us to God. All we have to do is follow the covenant signs and read the charted directions.
Thanks be to God for his gracious signs of love and peace. Amen.