Snake-bit Gospel GPPC Numbers 21:4-9, John 3: some seriously strange stories in this holy book. And the story about

Transcription

1 Snake-bit Gospel GPPC Numbers 21:4-9, John 3: If you ve ever read the Bible cover to cover, you know there are some seriously strange stories in this holy book. And the story about Israel, Moses, God, and the snakes is one of those strange stories. Yet for all its weirdness, in John s gospel Jesus mentions this very episode as he explains what it means that he has come into the world. So we look at the Book of Numbers and the Gospel of John together this morning. It helps to remember the context for the story in Numbers. In the three previous verses that we did not read aloud, the writer says God has just enabled Israel to whip the Canaanite army, utterly destroying them. So naturally we might expect this military assistance courtesy of the divine to be acknowledged by copious Israelite gratitude, or at least a perfunctory thank you to the Lord. But not so much. Instead, the people repeat what they ve done before. They become impatient. The Hebrew word for impatient also means to shorten and to be ineffective and powerless. Occasionally, when we re impatient, when we try to shorten a process then we actually

2 become ineffective and powerless. Sometimes when we are intent on 2 making something happen quickly, happen according to our timeline instead of God s timeline, then we end up being ineffective and powerless. Presbyterian writer Anne Lamott says, The problem with God or at any rate, one of the top five most annoying things about God is that [God] rarely answers right away. It can take days, weeks. (Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, 9.) Of course, it can also take years; just ask Israel. And the Israelites are not content to wait. They are impatient and begin to grumble against God and Moses. Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There s no food and no water, and we hate this nasty food, this manna, you re providing. The basic problem is that the Israelites are unwilling or unable to trust God. And who can blame them? Isn t it hard to trust sometimes? It s hard to trust to God. God loves us, and we ve seen our prayers answered as we hoped. But we ve also asked for things before and been disappointed before. So sometimes it s hard to trust. Of course, in the

3 long run the only thing harder than trusting is not trusting. There is a 3 trajectory to trusting and there is a trajectory for not trusting. And Jesus will tell us more about that in a moment. The people are unwilling or unable to trust God. So they complain about God and about Moses, the person God has called to lead them. And the writer of Numbers says God responds by sending poisonous snakes among the people, and they bite the people so that many Israelites die. Well, isn t this a strange way for a gracious and loving God to act? Is this merely a symbolic story? That would be nice. Is the writer mistaken, and the poisonous snakes just happened to show up as a coincidence? We hope. Is this cruel and excessive? It feels that way to me, but who am I to judge God? I don t have a solution to this awful mystery, and neither do any of the scholars I read. But the best answer I read was this, Sometimes suffering is the only path to redemption, and often the road to healing and light run straight through darkness and pain. (Craig Kocher, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2, 98.)

4 4 Sometimes suffering is the only path to redemption, and often the road to healing and light run straight through darkness and pain. We know that s true, don t we? We turn our back on a cherished relationship. We have an embarrassing moral lapse. We cheat at school or at work. We spend years of our lives just coasting along instead of doing our best to grow as persons and Christians. And every productive path we take to address any of these mistakes (and others like them) is painful and full of the darkness of uncertainty. The only effective antidote for healing the wound we ve caused requires the hard work of admitting our fault and allowing God to work in us to change. Maybe we shouldn t pretend we ve never met any poisonous snakes courtesy of God. This is a snakebit gospel. But the story continues. The people come to Moses and say, We ve sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us. And Moses prays for the people.

5 5 On the desk in Moses study is a church directory, and he opens it up and looks at each name and face inside offering those names and faces to God s care. He prays for his congregation. Lord, take away these snakes from us. So this peculiar God of ours gives Moses peculiar instructions. Make a poisonous snake; put it on a pole. And every bitten person who looks at it will live. So Moses makes this bronze snake on a pole, and whenever a bitten person would look at it, he or she would live. You look at the bronze snake and live. How weird is that? It sounds almost like an idol. In fact, later on in the Bible (in 2 Kings 18:4) we learn that this bronze snake does eventually become an idol to some of the people, an idol that Israel s King Hezekiah finally destroys. But here s the thing: Jesus makes reference to this bronze snake and to this whole messy episode. We catch Jesus in the third chapter of John s gospel. He s in the middle of a long conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus says, And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he

6 6 gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jesus says God sends him into the world not to condemn the world, but to save it. God sends Jesus into the world not because God loves just a few especially obedient Christians. No. God loves the world. But when Jesus says whoever believes in him may have eternal life, he is not just talking about the life we receive in the resurrection. He is also talking about a quality of life right now as we live our lives in alignment with God s will. As we speak and act for justice for people who are suffering. As we live with integrity and practice mercy. As we give of our selves sacrificially. So when we believe in Jesus, that does not mean believing in Jesus merely as a matter of history or intellectual assent. It means believing in Jesus as in investing ourselves, our very lives in following him. But then Jesus speaks of people not believing in him. He talks about people being condemned and people loving the darkness not the light. And people having their evil deeds exposed, but people doing what is true having their deeds brought to light.

7 How do we reconcile that God loves the world and sends Jesus to 7 save the world, beside this language of judgment? One preacher says, It is only in the make-believe world of a child that one can turn on a light without creating shadows. (Fred B. Craddock, Preaching the New Common Lectionary, Year B, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, 64.) When the light comes on, we know our lives will not be revealed as spotless. We are a snake-bit people, aren t we? What can we do? We tangle with the snakes, but we look up to the cross. Maybe when Jesus says those who do not believe in him are condemned already, he s saying no matter what your faith is, if you align your life against God s love that Jesus taught and lived, you re wasting your life. It s like beating your head against a stone. It s the natural consequence of fighting against the reality that self-giving love is what life is all about. Maybe in this section of John s gospel Jesus is not talking about God condemning people to eternal punishment. (He s already said God loves the world and wants to save the world. So we shall see if our stubborn sinfulness will be able to thwart God s love

8 8 forever. We shall see.) Maybe Jesus is saying when we fail to learn, live, and teach God s self-giving love, then we re hurting ourselves and the ones around us. But when we embrace the self-giving love of God as we ve seen poured out on the cross, then we start to live eternal life now. Can we be the people who start to live eternal life right now? Mr. Rogers, as folks knew him, was a Presbyterian minister, and a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He spent his life living eternal life, especially for children. In 1997, Mr. Rogers came to Los Angeles to receive the career achievement award from the Television Critics Association. Of course, there were all sorts of glamorous movie stars flitting about. But folks lined up to get hugs from Mr. Rogers. At last it was time for him to speak to the crowd. He told them that above all love is most important. No one of us, he said, gets to be a competent adult without other people taking interest in us, without loving us. Through the years, many of you have done that for me. My hunch is that you ve had some extra-special people in your life who have helped you along your way too.

9 9 Let s just take a half-minute to think about those who have cared about us and wanted us to know that we really matter. Just a half-minute, in the middle of this splendid evening, to think about those who have loved us. I ll watch the time he said. Mr. Rogers looked at his watch as the room grew silent and serene. After thirty seconds he said, Whoever they are, how pleased the people you were thinking about must be. And my hunch is that besides me, there are many others in this life who often think about you, and all that you ve meant to them. Friends in Christ, in the next thirty seconds, I invite you to close your eyes and to think about people who ve taken an interest in you, showed you that you mattered, encouraged, and loved you. I ll watch the time... Now, add just one other to your list. This One knew you before you were born, called you by name, sustains you every moment, roots for you every day, and will never abandon you from borning cry until you cry praise in the world to come. For God so loved the world that he

10 10 gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Amen.