snakes on a cane
Holy Cross Day
September 14, 2006
Numbers 21:4b-9
John 3:13-17
From Hawaii, they set out for Los Angeles, via the red eye flight. But the travelers became impatient along the way. They complained to flight attendants, “but why must we ride in coach, when we had reservations for first class? For there is no leg room, and I have to sit between a screaming child and a yappy dog!” Unbeknownst to them, upon reaching 30,000 feet poisonous snakes were sent among the people. The snakes were induced to attack, they bit the passengers and many of them died. The people cried out to the flight attendants and the FBI agent, “Get us away from these poisonous snakes!” “Save us from these poisonous bites!”
So the FBI agent phoned the central office, and was put in touch with a snake expert, I like to think of him as a serpentologist. The plan was to identify the snakes, so upon landing, the correct anti-venom could be administered to heal the injured passengers.
Seems pretty simple, but the plot thickens. There are dozens of different kinds of snakes on board and each snake must be identified specifically.
The serpentologist says, “There are many hundreds of species of snakes with hundreds of cocktails of venom, some will kill you in two minutes, others in two hours and others you can cure with a good night’s rest, but here’s the thing, if you administer the wrong anti-venom, that will kill you.
The lives of the passengers are in the hope that they will land AND receive the right anti-venom.
The search for the right anti-venom…sounds like a sub-plot for some ridiculous horror movie that will probably turn into a cult classic.
The search for the right anti-venom, sounds crazy, but it’s something that’s more familiar to us than we would like to realize.
You see we join these passengers on the search. Not just to heal the poison in their lives, but to find the right anti-venom we need for ourselves as well.
That perfect cure which we think we can search out and find.
We find ourselves in a life-long search, just like Bono, who still hasn’t found what he’s looking for…
In the midst of this life-long search, we seek out our own cures for whatever ails us.
As we face the pressures, of classes, papers, exams, preaching in chapel, endorsement, CPE, approval, the call process…woah…it makes me nervous just thinking about all of those things, not to mention balancing them all out with family, friends, and the ever important “self-care”.
We look for the simplest way to deal with it all…some look to the accolades of grades and scholarships, some immerse themselves in other activities, and some turn to alcohol or drugs to alleviate the stress. While we search and try out different anti-venoms…we are only making things worse. Each anti-venom that we try, just weakens us in the long run.
In our struggle to do our best, we fall victim to the wrong cure of being the best, as we put ourselves before others.
As Pastor Anderson mentioned on Monday, in response to the attacks on 9-11, to the wars we see around the world, we look for a cure. A cure for the violence that continues, for the injustices that people face due to race, sexual orientation, or economic status. A cure for wars and attacks that continue to happen around the world.
We seek the anti-venom of the government as a place to look for help, for an explanation, or to place blame. We look to our leaders to heal the poison, which evades the globe.
Well maybe the semester doesn’t drain you too much…and the affairs of the state are not where your interests lie. But we all have to make a living on this planet, and what helps us? When all else fails, we look to something to provide happiness, confidence, comfort…we need an anti-venom with power.
Money. We each have our tendencies to turn to money, who doesn’t?
It seems to be the cure all.
It can buy us food for our aching bellies, it provides clothing to keep us warm, a new iPod or notebook, it pays the rent or the mortgage…gives us the luxury to travel, to buy gifts and to give to others in need. It must be an okay cure if it can help others as well as ourselves, right?
In the search for a way to heal ourselves, we are only causing more pain, more venom to seep through our veins.
As the venom takes hold, it slows us down, it forces us to the awareness that we ALONE cannot find the ultimate cure.
The Israelites, too, are in search of the correct anti-venom. In response to the fiery serpents, they need healing power. They alone cannot cure themselves.
They call upon Moses to pray to the Lord to take away the poisonous serpents. We know that Moses prays to the Lord for help, for a cure, to take away the serpents.
But we do not know if the serpents were taken away.
It seems to me that they were not removed, because the people continued to be bitten. Yet, we do know that the Lord provides a cure.
He sends down a serpent, with some instruction. The serpent is to be placed upon a pole, so when people are bitten they can look up at that snake on a pole and be healed.
It is a tricky situation for the Israelites to be in, though, don’t you think?
For to be healed, they must look at the animal, at the fiery serpent that injured them in the first place. They must look to the cause of the pain to receive healing.
But they don’t have to search out a cure…
All they must do is look to the snake and be healed.
We, too, must face the cause of our ills.
Upon the sight of Jesus on the cross, we see our sinful selves.
We see a reflection of our attempts to tackle our trials and tribulations alone.
We see the wrong turns and false cures, which we have clung to before.
Yet in that same Jesus, we also see Christ.
Who God sent down for us…
God knows that we cannot bear the weight of the world alone and sends down Jesus to live with us to die for us, and in his glorious resurrection provide the cure we are all hungry and searching for.
It is in the sight of Jesus on the cross that we are reminded that we need not search any longer for the correct anti-venom.
God has already given it to us. Through grace and love…
The anti-venom has already been found and administered…
God has sent Jesus down to us.
We need not search any more; all we should do is look.
We look upon the cross, and see our own humanity, our own sinfulness…but at the same time we gaze upon the gracious love of God.
As we look at Christ we see the forgiveness of our sins..
We see the conquering of death…
And we see the healing power, which God has freely given to us.
So stop searching…and start looking.
Amen.
September 14, 2006
Numbers 21:4b-9
John 3:13-17
From Hawaii, they set out for Los Angeles, via the red eye flight. But the travelers became impatient along the way. They complained to flight attendants, “but why must we ride in coach, when we had reservations for first class? For there is no leg room, and I have to sit between a screaming child and a yappy dog!” Unbeknownst to them, upon reaching 30,000 feet poisonous snakes were sent among the people. The snakes were induced to attack, they bit the passengers and many of them died. The people cried out to the flight attendants and the FBI agent, “Get us away from these poisonous snakes!” “Save us from these poisonous bites!”
So the FBI agent phoned the central office, and was put in touch with a snake expert, I like to think of him as a serpentologist. The plan was to identify the snakes, so upon landing, the correct anti-venom could be administered to heal the injured passengers.
Seems pretty simple, but the plot thickens. There are dozens of different kinds of snakes on board and each snake must be identified specifically.
The serpentologist says, “There are many hundreds of species of snakes with hundreds of cocktails of venom, some will kill you in two minutes, others in two hours and others you can cure with a good night’s rest, but here’s the thing, if you administer the wrong anti-venom, that will kill you.
The lives of the passengers are in the hope that they will land AND receive the right anti-venom.
The search for the right anti-venom…sounds like a sub-plot for some ridiculous horror movie that will probably turn into a cult classic.
The search for the right anti-venom, sounds crazy, but it’s something that’s more familiar to us than we would like to realize.
You see we join these passengers on the search. Not just to heal the poison in their lives, but to find the right anti-venom we need for ourselves as well.
That perfect cure which we think we can search out and find.
We find ourselves in a life-long search, just like Bono, who still hasn’t found what he’s looking for…
In the midst of this life-long search, we seek out our own cures for whatever ails us.
As we face the pressures, of classes, papers, exams, preaching in chapel, endorsement, CPE, approval, the call process…woah…it makes me nervous just thinking about all of those things, not to mention balancing them all out with family, friends, and the ever important “self-care”.
We look for the simplest way to deal with it all…some look to the accolades of grades and scholarships, some immerse themselves in other activities, and some turn to alcohol or drugs to alleviate the stress. While we search and try out different anti-venoms…we are only making things worse. Each anti-venom that we try, just weakens us in the long run.
In our struggle to do our best, we fall victim to the wrong cure of being the best, as we put ourselves before others.
As Pastor Anderson mentioned on Monday, in response to the attacks on 9-11, to the wars we see around the world, we look for a cure. A cure for the violence that continues, for the injustices that people face due to race, sexual orientation, or economic status. A cure for wars and attacks that continue to happen around the world.
We seek the anti-venom of the government as a place to look for help, for an explanation, or to place blame. We look to our leaders to heal the poison, which evades the globe.
Well maybe the semester doesn’t drain you too much…and the affairs of the state are not where your interests lie. But we all have to make a living on this planet, and what helps us? When all else fails, we look to something to provide happiness, confidence, comfort…we need an anti-venom with power.
Money. We each have our tendencies to turn to money, who doesn’t?
It seems to be the cure all.
It can buy us food for our aching bellies, it provides clothing to keep us warm, a new iPod or notebook, it pays the rent or the mortgage…gives us the luxury to travel, to buy gifts and to give to others in need. It must be an okay cure if it can help others as well as ourselves, right?
In the search for a way to heal ourselves, we are only causing more pain, more venom to seep through our veins.
As the venom takes hold, it slows us down, it forces us to the awareness that we ALONE cannot find the ultimate cure.
The Israelites, too, are in search of the correct anti-venom. In response to the fiery serpents, they need healing power. They alone cannot cure themselves.
They call upon Moses to pray to the Lord to take away the poisonous serpents. We know that Moses prays to the Lord for help, for a cure, to take away the serpents.
But we do not know if the serpents were taken away.
It seems to me that they were not removed, because the people continued to be bitten. Yet, we do know that the Lord provides a cure.
He sends down a serpent, with some instruction. The serpent is to be placed upon a pole, so when people are bitten they can look up at that snake on a pole and be healed.
It is a tricky situation for the Israelites to be in, though, don’t you think?
For to be healed, they must look at the animal, at the fiery serpent that injured them in the first place. They must look to the cause of the pain to receive healing.
But they don’t have to search out a cure…
All they must do is look to the snake and be healed.
We, too, must face the cause of our ills.
Upon the sight of Jesus on the cross, we see our sinful selves.
We see a reflection of our attempts to tackle our trials and tribulations alone.
We see the wrong turns and false cures, which we have clung to before.
Yet in that same Jesus, we also see Christ.
Who God sent down for us…
God knows that we cannot bear the weight of the world alone and sends down Jesus to live with us to die for us, and in his glorious resurrection provide the cure we are all hungry and searching for.
It is in the sight of Jesus on the cross that we are reminded that we need not search any longer for the correct anti-venom.
God has already given it to us. Through grace and love…
The anti-venom has already been found and administered…
God has sent Jesus down to us.
We need not search any more; all we should do is look.
We look upon the cross, and see our own humanity, our own sinfulness…but at the same time we gaze upon the gracious love of God.
As we look at Christ we see the forgiveness of our sins..
We see the conquering of death…
And we see the healing power, which God has freely given to us.
So stop searching…and start looking.
Amen.
posted by jake, eh at 1:10 PM
1 Comments:
I heard rumors of this excellent sermon -- I am glad to see it was delivered by you!
Good job -- talk with you soon.
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