It is interesting what we choose to remember about events long past. The first lesson today contains an ancient memory during the time the tribes of Israel were still searching for a homeland. After being freed as slaves in Egypt and having gathered before the foot of Mount Sinai, the difficult time of negotiating and procuring territory that was also populated by other peoples was formidable and took place over several decades. As the years went by, naturally the people became grumpy and were tempted to think that life in Egypt under slavery wasn’t so bad. “Why did God do this to us?” was an understandable complaint.
Rocky outcrops among the desolate hills of desert wilderness offer protection against wind and some shadow cover from the direct sun. The summits offer a view to be forewarned of intruders. At the same time, rocky crevices, while first appearing so benign, also offer ideal homes to snakes. Without warning, snakes can suddenly craw out the smallest of holes, and strike with lethal force. It was no accident that snakes were so feared and detested among ancient people. Hence we can imagine a tired and discouraged band of refugees, not sure of where they were, seeking shelter in a rocky outcrop, and suddenly getting ambushed by a frenzy of snakes. Having bitterly cursed the God that had sent them into the desert, it was logical to think that God was punishing them for their lack of trust.
However, attached to this awful incident was the recollection that God did not leave them in their misery. God sent a way out and an antidote to the snake venom. The details of the cure were long since lost, but it was remembered that when people looked to God, when people trusted that God sent a sign of healing, healing actually occurred.
The affirmation that God’s intention is always to save us, to deliver us, and to free us was consistently passed on from generation to generation. Over twelve hundred years later, early Christians were also being thrust out into an uncertain territory. They compared themselves with the tribes when they were searching for a homeland. For they, too, would need to find a new home outside of traditional Judaism, to form a new community of both former Jews and gentiles, to live and adapt to a new culture. At the time it was uncertain where they would finally settle, for as followers of Jesus they were confronted with critics and skeptics on all sides, knowing that they were seeking to establish communities in the broader and hostile world of the Roman Empire. They took comfort in remembering that despite whatever difficulties came, God still wished them well, and God would not let them perish. “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him,” writes John. Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus reminds this small church family, “God is rich in mercy…. out of great love, God makes us alive…. God offers us immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness.”
Around Eastertide, we have all seen those hollow eggs made of sugar that have a little window in them, and when you look inside there is a little garden scene, multicolored flowers in bloom, perhaps a few bunnies peering through the grass, and maybe even a butterfly or two in the bright sky of an early dawn. It’s fun every year to peer through the window, even though the scene always stays the same. But as cute as the scene is, we cannot enter it, it is not real and has no life of its own. If we tried to open the window or crack the egg apart we would find that the scene would either entirely crumble in the process, or just disintegrate into colored paper, cotton, and some bits and pieces of colored frosting.
Likewise, we cannot recreate for the church and for ourselves another era or go back and return to another more comfortable time. It is futile to search for a world somewhere else in which we would all like to live. We can only live as disciples in the one we are in. We can only continue our journey from where we are now. If the living Christ is not revealed here, it is unlikely we will find Christ by seeking escape and wandering off searching someplace else.
To be sure, our world contains more turmoil and uncertainty than we would prefer and it is ok to admit that. At the same time, often in the past when civil society seemed to be breaking up or evolving into something not yet clearly defined, the church experienced a rebirth of reform, bridged the periods of instability and carried the faithful to new levels of understanding. We may well live in trying times, but we also live in potentially very formative times. Even when there is plenty of perplexity, anxiety is rampant, and critics and cynics appear like snakes out of nowhere, resurrection people sow the seeds of new birth and anticipate a renaissance of hope.
Naturally, I hope in all our future journeys wherever they may take us, that we will not surprised and assaulted by venomous serpents. But if we are, may we always have the steady confidence to look to God, to trust in a way out, a way of healing, and know that through God’s grace, a way of moving forward to a higher level of grace-filled living will be revealed.
