In John chapter 4, verses 43-54, Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee, and people, hearing about the works being done, expect signs and wonders. The Roman official, therefore, seeks to have his child healed. And Jesus tells him, “You know, folks, you are not desirous of believing unless you see signs.” But the father is laden with concerns about his son. He doesn’t engage Jesus in any discourse; he is single-minded, and he says, “Please, heal the young boy, lest he dies.” This is a parent’s call, not theological discourse or debate. It’s about knowing that you can do this, and I really need you to do it. So, Jesus says, “Go away, your son lives.” There is truth in Jesus’s statement. We do want to see signs that make a difference, and signs are all around us. But at times, we fail to see signs because, in many ways, we are not still enough for the signs to manifest. These are some important times when we need something more than what occurred in the past.

 We need more from our institutions.   We see how many institutions have been self-serving. We watch the stories of these pastors and priests who fly around in private jets and live largely, and somehow, this has been acceptable because, in some way, this seems to be the way of life for us, and there is so much that we have come to accept from our institutions. In many ways, they no longer serve us; they serve themselves. We know too well the wealth of the Church through the Middle Ages. We know too well of the atrocities that the church has committed in the name of Jesus and the masking of wealth from the poorest folk in the world; we know that, but we also know that few have followed the path of Jesus to be a sign in the world, a world where there are few signs now. When Jesus left his disciples, he promised to send his spirit. He promised that he would open for them a new way. And he did. And they, too, were able to demonstrate signs. And many believe. If they see the signs, they will believe, but they can only see the signs if those who have the gospel are open to allowing the Spirit to use them with the signs and not use them to in some way lord over or beguile folks. 

Jesus offers signs to the Kingdom by having done his preparatory work and allowing the grace to flow. What about you? Have you bought into the thinking that you are not one of those, that you are not one of those special people who can manifest the power of the Spirit to the world? It is understandable if you think that way because that’s what we have heard for the most part. The idea is that these experiences ended with Jesus and his disciples; all we need to do now is talk about it. The more we can talk about it, the more we can learn it by heart, and the more we can accomplish our task. What a task, what a low task. I fear that there is a much higher task for each one of us, and it goes way above talking about what others have done. 

The task before you, and the task before me, is to bring about joy in our Lord, for the joy of the Lord is our strength and ability. Our ability to manifest and demonstrate the divine presence of God in our world is our task. Not the little tasks of memorizing and regurgitating, but the task of doing, of being able to respond to those like the official in the passage who comes to the man of God, the woman of God, and says, come and help me save my son, save my child, who is at the point of death. That man and that woman of God should be able to say, “Go away; your child lives.” We won’t get there tomorrow morning but must aim for something. 

We must set our sights a lot higher than we have; for the most part, when it comes to our faith, we behave like beggars and not heirs. Are you a beggar or an heir? Are you an heir to the Kingdom or a beggar at the gate? Jesus invites us to be heirs. And if we are heirs, then we would be expected to demonstrate and manifest all that an heir would demonstrate and manifest. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and called to manifest what our brother manifested. My prayer for all of us is a prayer from the heart that we would really embrace the potential that is ours. And we don’t have to broadcast it. We don’t have to tell anyone what we are doing, but in our own private world, go for it. Go for that manifestation of Christ in you. Go for it. Go for that ability to demonstrate signs in our world. Go for it. Make it real. Make it happen because it’s your inheritance. Jesus says so, and Jesus never lies.