Our first reading seems rather strange. The Israelites, who are on their journey through the wilderness, are in one of their frequent bad moods when they complain to God about everything. Did you notice that they complain about having no food, and then say the food is terrible? Which is it? No food, or terrible food? Then they are confronted with a plague of poisonous snakes. It seems natural to assume that God must have sent the snakes because the people complained. The people themselves seem to believe that. However, neither the narrator nor God ever explicitly says that God sent the snakes for that reason. The story specifies that God sends the snakes, but neither God or the narrator calls the snakes a punishment.
Perhaps that conclusion comes from employing a false sense of logic. Maybe God did not send the snakes because of their quarreling after all. Crying out to God in complaint is not usually condemned in Scripture; for example, there are many psalms that center on complaint or lament. There are times in Scripture when “speaking against” God or God’s messenger does bring catastrophe, but that is usually made explicit. There is no direct correlation named here, this week’s reading leaves us to draw our own conclusions. Is God punishing the people with the snakes? We don’t know the answer, just that God is not predictable.
In the story the people repent of their sin and then ask Moses to pray for them. This role as intermediary is what Moses does best: facilitating communication between God and God’s people. In this instance, God does not literally give the people what they ask for, which is to “take away the serpents”. The serpents do not go away, nor do they stop biting. Instead, God instructs Moses on how the people who are bitten can be healed. Deliverance does not come in the way that they expect but rather in the form of another covenant God makes with God’s people. If they believe in God’s promise when they look upon the bronze serpent, they will be saved.
In our gospel, Jesus refers to that serpent that was lifted up in the wilderness by Moses, saying that just as the people believed God’s promise in the covenant when they looked at that bronze snake, so now God’s promise will be revealed when he is lifted up. Of course, at the time, no one understood that he was referring to his own crucifixion. Now we know when we look upon Jesus on the cross, God wants us to believe the covenantal promise that he died for us so that we might be saved.
Our story also includes what is probably the best-known verse from scripture, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” The simple explanation is that God loves the world and he sends his child (God’s self) to save it. Saving the world requires a process that ends hate, injustice, intolerance and oppression and replaces it with justice, compassion, mercy, love and equality. Verses 19 -21 explain that some choose hate over light, evil deeds over good deeds, and therefore they reject the light of the son of God who was lifted up on the cross. Those who believe agree with Jesus’ mission to change or restore the world from being full of evil and injustice to the loving, just and caring world that God intended. For the author of this gospel, believing in Jesus has more to do with what we believe regarding evil, hate, exploitation, and injustice rather than some sort of mystical “religious” conversion.
In his commentary on the gospel of John, theologian Rudolph Bultmann offers helpful insight into John’s thinking: “In the decision of faith or unbelief it becomes apparent what man [sic] really is.” (The Gospel of John a Commentary,159) In other words, for Bultmann, one’s disposition to do good reflects a person’s true character, philosophy or belief system, and therefore becomes an important factor in determining whether one rejects or believes in Jesus. Bultmann believed that for John, believing in and accepting Jesus’ message had more to do with agreeing with his teachings than with having some sort of change of heart. The challenge posed by the incarnation of Jesus is that we are called to decide who we are, what we stand for, and what exactly we believe.
As Christians, we are faced with the question of whether or not we can stay neutral in the midst of wrongdoing. It seems that John was letting us know that whether or not to believe in Jesus cannot be a neutral decision. Jesus demands we take a stand, which requires making a decision and acting on it. Neutrality and indecisiveness are not options. To follow Jesus requires the courage to make decisions about the evils of hate, exploitation and oppression that surround us, to stand against the brutal and sinful ideologies that often run rampant in the world.
Paul addresses this question in our second reading from Ephesians. For Paul, the function of the cross was to tear down walls of alienation which divided nations and peoples of the world; the result is a new humanity whose identity is in Christ and who are also identified as God’s chosen people (in addition to God’s first chosen people). Paul insists on the central role of the cross that Jesus alludes to in our gospel reading. Jesus Christ becomes the means through which the unity of “all things in him, all things on earth,” are made possible. The global church longs for the reconciliation of all peoples and nations. In his letter, Paul invites the church at Ephesus to exemplify unity in the midst of diversity.
Sometimes denominations in the 21st-century seem to be reversing the message of unity because walls of hostility are being erected around various social issues. The church is challenged to rethink its evolving identity as the people of God as a place where individuals use their spiritual gifts to build bridges of unity with others. In his book Capital Gaines, author and TV personality from “Fixer Upper” on HGTV Chip Gaines talks about bridge building. He describes himself and his wife Joanna as “true dreamers” who are sometimes idealistic “to a fault.” Inspired by scripture, they see a future role for themselves as bridge builders, to facilitate conversations among all kinds of people, of all genders, faiths, ethnicities, and cultures, that will help figure out a way forward for our world.
In the same way the apostle Paul invites us to know and identify our God given place in the church and the world. The church should help us identify our role and empower us to use our gifts and talents in the transformation of the world. Every believer has to realize that God has a role for us to play, and if we fail to function in that role, something important may not be done. Ephesians calls all people, of all genders, ethnicities and cultures to find our place in God’s mission and carry it out. Paul reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved by faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God — not because of works, lest any person should boast.” The intelligence and gifts we have are all gifts from God, and we have to recognize and accept those gifts and use them for the sake of God’s mission in the world. Amen.
Our first reading seems rather strange. The Israelites, who are on their journey through the wilderness, are in one of their frequent bad moods when they complain to God about everything. Did you notice that they complain about having no food, and then say the food is terrible? Which is it? No food, or terrible food? Then they are confronted with a plague of poisonous snakes. It seems natural to assume that God must have sent the snakes because the people complained. The people themselves seem to believe that. However, neither the narrator nor God ever explicitly says that God sent the snakes for that reason. The story specifies that God sends the snakes, but neither God or the narrator calls the snakes a punishment.
Perhaps that conclusion comes from employing a false sense of logic. Maybe God did not send the snakes because of their quarreling after all. Crying out to God in complaint is not usually condemned in Scripture; for example, there are many psalms that center on complaint or lament. There are times in Scripture when “speaking against” God or God’s messenger does bring catastrophe, but that is usually made explicit. There is no direct correlation named here, this week’s reading leaves us to draw our own conclusions. Is God punishing the people with the snakes? We don’t know the answer, just that God is not predictable.
In the story the people repent of their sin and then ask Moses to pray for them. This role as intermediary is what Moses does best: facilitating communication between God and God’s people. In this instance, God does not literally give the people what they ask for, which is to “take away the serpents”. The serpents do not go away, nor do they stop biting. Instead, God instructs Moses on how the people who are bitten can be healed. Deliverance does not come in the way that they expect but rather in the form of another covenant God makes with God’s people. If they believe in God’s promise when they look upon the bronze serpent, they will be saved.
In our gospel, Jesus refers to that serpent that was lifted up in the wilderness by Moses, saying that just as the people believed God’s promise in the covenant when they looked at that bronze snake, so now God’s promise will be revealed when he is lifted up. Of course, at the time, no one understood that he was referring to his own crucifixion. Now we know when we look upon Jesus on the cross, God wants us to believe the covenantal promise that he died for us so that we might be saved.
Our story also includes what is probably the best-known verse from scripture, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” The simple explanation is that God loves the world and he sends his child (God’s self) to save it. Saving the world requires a process that ends hate, injustice, intolerance and oppression and replaces it with justice, compassion, mercy, love and equality. Verses 19 -21 explain that some choose hate over light, evil deeds over good deeds, and therefore they reject the light of the son of God who was lifted up on the cross. Those who believe agree with Jesus’ mission to change or restore the world from being full of evil and injustice to the loving, just and caring world that God intended. For the author of this gospel, believing in Jesus has more to do with what we believe regarding evil, hate, exploitation, and injustice rather than some sort of mystical “religious” conversion.
In his commentary on the gospel of John, theologian Rudolph Bultmann offers helpful insight into John’s thinking: “In the decision of faith or unbelief it becomes apparent what man [sic] really is.” (The Gospel of John a Commentary,159) In other words, for Bultmann, one’s disposition to do good reflects a person’s true character, philosophy or belief system, and therefore becomes an important factor in determining whether one rejects or believes in Jesus. Bultmann believed that for John, believing in and accepting Jesus’ message had more to do with agreeing with his teachings than with having some sort of change of heart. The challenge posed by the incarnation of Jesus is that we are called to decide who we are, what we stand for, and what exactly we believe.
As Christians, we are faced with the question of whether or not we can stay neutral in the midst of wrongdoing. It seems that John was letting us know that whether or not to believe in Jesus cannot be a neutral decision. Jesus demands we take a stand, which requires making a decision and acting on it. Neutrality and indecisiveness are not options. To follow Jesus requires the courage to make decisions about the evils of hate, exploitation and oppression that surround us, to stand against the brutal and sinful ideologies that often run rampant in the world.
Paul addresses this question in our second reading from Ephesians. For Paul, the function of the cross was to tear down walls of alienation which divided nations and peoples of the world; the result is a new humanity whose identity is in Christ and who are also identified as God’s chosen people (in addition to God’s first chosen people). Paul insists on the central role of the cross that Jesus alludes to in our gospel reading. Jesus Christ becomes the means through which the unity of “all things in him, all things on earth,” are made possible. The global church longs for the reconciliation of all peoples and nations. In his letter, Paul invites the church at Ephesus to exemplify unity in the midst of diversity.
Sometimes denominations in the 21st-century seem to be reversing the message of unity because walls of hostility are being erected around various social issues. The church is challenged to rethink its evolving identity as the people of God as a place where individuals use their spiritual gifts to build bridges of unity with others. In his book Capital Gaines, author and TV personality from “Fixer Upper” on HGTV Chip Gaines talks about bridge building. He describes himself and his wife Joanna as “true dreamers” who are sometimes idealistic “to a fault.” Inspired by scripture, they see a future role for themselves as bridge builders, to facilitate conversations among all kinds of people, of all genders, faiths, ethnicities, and cultures, that will help figure out a way forward for our world.
In the same way the apostle Paul invites us to know and identify our God given place in the church and the world. The church should help us identify our role and empower us to use our gifts and talents in the transformation of the world. Every believer has to realize that God has a role for us to play, and if we fail to function in that role, something important may not be done. Ephesians calls all people, of all genders, ethnicities and cultures to find our place in God’s mission and carry it out. Paul reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved by faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God — not because of works, lest any person should boast.” The intelligence and gifts we have are all gifts from God, and we have to recognize and accept those gifts and use them for the sake of God’s mission in the world. Amen.