The art of preaching has two steps to it: First, Find something or someone relateable
in the text and uncover what God is doing with that character or characters.
Second, if that doesn’t work, sing a hymn people like. Well, today I’m not sure I followed either of
these steps. But as any good public
leader knows, confidence trumps competence any day. So, in confidence this is what I have to
share today:
The Gospel of John puts a strange Old testament
connection on Jesus’ lips right before the most famous gospel verse of them
all. And just as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so the son of man must be lifted up that whoever
believes in him may have eternal life.
For God so loved the world...Now that means that Jesus, reflecting on
the crucifixion he was yet to endure, found its precedent in the book of
Numbers. So, one might conclude that the
story in Numbers demonstrated God’s unending love and faithfulness for the
people, right? Now maybe Jesus had a really strange idea of what love looks
like or how God demonstrates love, but the Number story does not sound like a
love story. It sounds like a horror
movie. Like “Snakes on a plane” or
“Anaconda”.
So, it seems that the people of Israel, very
recently rescued from slavery in Egypt, still on their way out, on the
underground railroad as it were,with a longer journey than necessary ahead of
them---not because God’s GPS was off but because the Israelites couldn’t
follow. Now, on the road they become
hungry. And they complain, pretty much
right away. Like the long car ride with
the kids? Whining in the back seat. Imagine a large crowd of whiners. They complain, and God feeds them. Manna for breakfast and quail for
dinner. And plenty of water gushing out
of a rock. They get two meals a day in
the desert on their way to freedom and they complain. Their complaint, according to the storyteller
went something like this: We have
nothing to eat out here and the food is awful too. Ugh.
Parents, you know how this goes.
Kid: What are we having for
dinner? (Assumption that you made dinner
for them). Parent: Chicken, broccoli,
rice, applesauce. Kid: Ugh.
I’m not hungry for that.
Parent: If you’re hungry enough,
you’ll eat it. Kid: No I won’t.
I want something else.
Parent: This is what I made for
supper. Appreciate it or be hungry. Kid: Ahhhhh. Can’t I have cereal? Parent:
NO. Kid: AHHHHHHHH.
The Israelites say to Moses, “Why did you bring us
up out of Egypt, we have no food or water here and wait hate the food her.” Have you ever been to a restaurant for the
first time, ordered from helpful waiters, promptly received your meal, ate it,
and then complained because something wasn’t quite to your liking? Or maybe eve received the meal, saw or tasted
that something wasn’t right and sent it back?
Contrast this with our neighbors who do not have enough to eat. A
complaining attitude rather than a grateful one. Where does that come from? Hearts enslaved to the world, where you scrap
and strive to get more, get the next best thing. We are taught to be dissatisfied consumers.
So the loving God sends poisonsous serpents to bite
the people and they died. The end. BUT
they become acutely aware of their insolence, their sin against God. Maybe the
snakes remind them of the story of the garden, Adam and Eve? Clever of God to throw that in their
face. Because it was clear that the
snake was a choice the first couple made.
They chose the snake over God’s grace.
Maybe that’s what God is saying.
You are free to choose. Don’t
choose the snake. And they cry out for mercy. God listens to their cries
through the prayer of Moses and God gives them a medical intervention. God does not take away the snakes. God neutralizes the power of the venom with a
bronze serpent on a pole. Sounds like a
potential idol is cast, but it is symbolic isn’t it? God does not eradicate all the
malaria-carrying mosquitos, God provides a net and the medical treatment. The world and the God who made it are both
dangerous. We might face illness,
violence, pain, weakness, loneliness, with fear and complaint and anxiety. But God provides a way out. There is another
way. There is always another way. Choose the way of God and live.
A woman came to my office this week. She was dropping off her mother’s clothes for
Peter’s Porch. She is the daughter of
Monica Miller, who was murdered in Ephrata on February 18th by
Randall Shreiner. It was a domestic violence situation that escalated. What do
you say? The family wants this tragedy
to shed light on the potential severity of domestic abuse and the inability of
victims to escape from it. They want to
choose life and a way out for others.
So back to Jesus.
Remember, he is the one who sent us to the snake story. Somehow, Jesus becomes like the bronze
serpent lifted up for the people to see and live. The cross, symbol of death, becomes
life-giving. How does this happen? Theologians have theories. Substitutionary atonement; restorative
justice. Call it what you want, God
sends Jesus to provide the way out. The
way out of violence is non-violent resistance.
The way out of prejudice is radical inclusion. The way out of rivalry
and competition is self-giving. Divine mercy toward sinful humans comes in the
form of a single sacrificial death on a Roman cross. When you need mercy, look at the cross. You
will find it there. Because in it God
knows violence, suffering, and death.
God knows what it is like to be us.
In the wilderness.
Struggling. Failing. Dying.
Jesus knows. And the cross is the power of God to heal. Amen.
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