It was maybe 15 years ago that I first heard the phrase "evidence-based medicine."  As a lawyer I did a lot of work for Boston Scientific, and they were big on using that phrase.  The idea was that what medicine did should be based on science, on evidence, on techniques that had been studied and proven to work, not just hunches or theories or someone's pet ideas.
          The idea had some merit.  After all, in most places in life when we're considering whether or not to do something, we want to know what works.  We ask ourselves if others have gone down the same road and, if so, how that's worked for them.  We look at evidence. We look for signs.
           That same phenomenon is in play in today's Gospel (Lk 11:29-32), where Jesus accuses "this generation" of being "evil" because it seeks a sign beyond what is being given, beyond Jesus' life, death and resurrection.  I don't think that Jesus is saying it is wrong to look for evidence; He's saying that "this generation" is being given plenty of evidence but just won't see it.
          If you think about it, that's always the problem, isn't it.  We have lots of evidence, but our preconceptions, biases, entrenched modes of thinking, and, most-of-all, our desires, interfere with our seeing it.  That's true in medicine, law, politics, religion, the list goes on.  There was a ton of evidence about what Adolph Hitler intended-- he wrote it all down himself in Mein Kampf-- people just wouldn't or couldn't believe it until it was almost too late.
           So we might consider in this time the signs with respect to Jesus.  Are we like those in Jesus' day, who asked for signs but couldn't see the ones staring them in their faces?  Do we fall victim to the social pressure in 21st century America not to see the signs?  Do we buy the myth that science has supplanted God?  Do we feel like Christian belief is old-fashioned, naive, silly?
           Let's look at the signs.  Beyond the miracles and incredibly-deep teaching which the Gospels recount about Jesus (and I know people will say those were all made up), we have some indisputable facts-- some signs.  For example, we have hospitals, clinics, universities, social programs for the poor, all because of jesus.  The folks who first established those kinds of things did so because they were doing what Jesus told them to do. We see people, throughout the ages and in our own time, whose lives are positively and dramatically changed because they had an encounter with Jesus and developed a relationship with Him.  Even in this day miracles are worked in His name.
         Sure, there are people who misuse religion, as there are people who misuse medicing, law, and all the rest.  Don't let that get in the way of looking at the signs.  Look at the joy in the lives of people who are trying to live the way Jesus told us to live.  Look at the beauty which is all around us.  Experience God's love and mercy.  
           You'll see the signs if you look for them.  Give it a try.