Show Us A Sign
Show Us a Sign
Psalm 65:5-8, John 6:30-35
June 28, 2026
Rev. Cynthia Cochran-Carney, First Presbyterian Church, San Rafael, CA
PDF OF SERMON AVAILABLE BELOW
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth's farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. Psalm 65:5-8
So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' " Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Abba who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:30-35
I am not sure why, but I have always been interested in signs. Physical signs. What they say and how signs communicate a message and information. I appreciate good signs and good signage in public spaces – churches, national parks, along roads and highways, stores. Sometimes we are visiting a new place and I will say – I am so impressed with their signage. Or I might say – Terrible signage here! How were we supposed to find the…. The building or the restroom or the café…
When Jeffrey and I were serving a new church development in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, we did not have a church building. We had choir practice in our living room, Bible study at the ice cream parlor and worship services at a middle school auditorium. Every Saturday morning, I would load the metal 4 x 2 sign with legs into my car and drive to the gas station next to the concrete island where 3 highways came together. I would wrangle that sign of my car on summer days and on winter days when the island was covered with ice and snow and set up our sign – New Life Presbyterian Church Worship service 10:00 am at Pocono Middle School and arrow. On Sundays we set up another sign outside the school with an arrow and then more signs at the building. Otherwise people would not know we were there or how to find us.
Signs can point us to something we did not know about. Or maybe we are looking for something or warn us about something or make us think. Or laugh or wonder or learn something we did not know. They tell us we are welcome in this place. Or make it very clear we are not. Remembering Jim Crowe era signs – White and Colored drinking fountains, etc.
I asked people to send me some signs they have seen. Thank you to those who did. Limited time to respond. I am thinking I may do a longer series on signs in the fall or other time. Share what people sent.
Mike, Janet, Steve, Lisa, Jan
Today we are taking a moment to celebrate what we have done here on the corner of 5th and E over the last 2 years to make it clear who we are and that all are welcome here. ADA Accessible path is a sign that all are welcome – come to the front doors. And we needed a new church sign with our name. Facilities Committee and Session considered different ideas. I love it. Clear, read from across the street. And also what is happening – a stand to display banners.
Signs – physical signs. Kept thinking about this word and other kinds of signs and how they show up in the Bible.
OT – Hebrew word
מֵאוֹתֹתֶ֑יךָ (mê·’ō·w·ṯō·ṯe·ḵā) root word Oth 79 times in Hebrew scriptures
A sign, a signal, a beacon, monument, omen, evidence, wonder (Strong's 226)
- attestations of divine presence
- Rainbow was a sign to God’s covenant and promise
Signs and wonders of creation and beauty. These point to God’s majesty and power and deep love for creation. Signs that inspire awe and gratitude. We can see and hear and touch and respond with words and song and silence.
Good News Translation
The whole world stands in awe of the great things that you have done.
Your deeds bring shouts of joy from one end of the earth to the other.
New American Standard Bible
They who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the sunrise and the sunset shout for joy.
NT – word
sémeion: Sign, miracle, token, indication 77 times in NT.
σημεῖον
Pronunciation: say-MY-on
miracle, sign, token, wonder
In the New Testament σῆμεῖον stands at the intersection of God’s self-revelation and human perception. Whether describing an unmistakable miracle, a prophetic marker, or an identifying token, the word gathers together manifestations in which the invisible purposes of God are made visible to those who have eyes to see.
Christ was a sign of the incarnate love and grace of God, the Holy. Pointing us to this deep truth.
John’s gospel
The first half of John’s book is organized around seven events. John calls them “signs,” Each sign is a miracle, yet more than a miracle. A sign is a miracle with a message. The message is this: God is here. In Jesus from Nowhere Nazareth, God is here. Here are the seven signs:
Water is transformed into wine.
A young boy is dying and then healed from a long distance
A paralyzed man stands up on restored legs,
Five thousand hungry people are fed in the wilderness.
Jesus walks on water - top of the Sea of Galilee
A man born blind is given his sight.
A friend of Jesus is raised from the dead
Compassion joined to revelation - Multitudes “followed Him because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick” (John 6:2).
In our passage, religious leaders repeatedly demanded further signs. Jesus exposed this as hardness of heart, not lack of evidence, He offers them bread – spiritual nourishment, embodied in compassion, love and grace, and not a system of purity, Keep out. You are not holy enough. You do not follow the rules we have put in place.
Ending
Signs and wonders. What does it mean for our church to put out signs that clearly say…..
Welcome Come on in You, wherever you are in your life, on your spiritual journey, are welcome here
Signs that say – in this building, in this community,
questions are welcome, laughter is welcome, tears are welcome.
Our LGBTQ friends and neighbors are part of the church family. Always welcome.
Cruelty and hate are not welcome here.
Two more things occur to me about signs and wonders. First, the signs are only known because people talk to each other about what they’ve seen. In the passage on the wedding at Cana, the guests didn’t see their water glasses turn into wine glasses before their very eyes. The miracle happens off stage. The servants know what happened. And we know about it because the servants must have talked to someone.
In John’s gospel, it is like Jesus somehow wishes humanity could believe and trust without signs and wonders, but he does them because we need them. But he does them in a way that requires us to be looking for them and requires us to talk to each other about them.
The second thing that occurs to me about signs and wonders in this gospel is that they are all rearview mirror events. We put a timeline together once we’re on the other side of it, and it is then that we see the sign and the wonder. Being followers of Jesus doesn’t mean we’re exempt from bad things happening to us. But when we reflect back, we can see signs that point us to God’s presence.
The invitation to look for signs and wonders re-orients how we see the world. It reminds me of a poem by Mary Oliver, written not long before she died.
In The World I Live In, she writes:
I have refused to live
locked in the orderly house of
reasons and proofs.
The world I live in and believe in
is wider than that. And anyway,
what’s wrong with Maybe?
You wouldn’t believe what once or
twice I have seen. I’ll just
tell you this:
only if there are angels in your head will you
ever, possibly, see one.
Maybe when Jesus said, ‘unless y’all see signs and wonders, you won’t believe’, he was paraphrasing Mary Oliver, and trying to figure out how to get us to put notice signs and wonders and miracles in our heads, so that we might possibly see one. Signs of all types
I invite you over the summer to look for and notice signs. Take pictures and send to me. What do they say? What do they say to you and to us?
No matter where we find ourselves in life, may we help each other see the signs and wonders of God’s love and grace and beauty and hope all around us. Amen
Resource
Rev. Marci Glass, “Unless You See Signs and Wonders,” Feb. 6, 2022 https://marciglass.com/2022/02/06/unless-yall-see-signs-and-wonders/