There’s that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indiana Jones reaches the Well of Souls, and he and his companions throw a torch down into the well and then peer inside
—only to see that the well is filled with snakes upon snakes upon snakes, to which Indiana Jones
—no fan of snakes, wonders aloud: “Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?”
And that’s where I’m at with today’s reading as well: “Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?”
It feels like there is a logical next step in the lectionary—the weekly readings
—God’s covenant with Noah, then Abraham, then Moses
—then King David,
that would round it out,
that would give us four solid Covenants, each with a few generations in between. David would point us onward to next week’s promise of a New Covenant made by Jeremiah… It would just fit the bingo cards so much better!
But no… instead of fast-forwarding centuries from Moses to David, we instead only move 40 years and 450 miles to these snakes…
Prayer
Freedom came quickly… then slowly…
just as Gilligan’s 3-hour tour took considerably longer,
what should have been a 19 day walk, has taken the Israelites four decades.
In that time Moses, his brother Aaron, and even God, have been challenged for leadership.
The people have wailed for food, and received manna (a substance somewhere between snow, bread, and dandruff)
then wailed for meat and God gave them quail…
And then, after their first major military victory, they come to God again and wail, “We have no food, no water—and let me tell you, the food is horrible…”
They’re Gaslighting God! “There is no food—and it tastes horrible!”
That’s enough to give God an anxiety attack!
“You claim I didn’t provide anything for you, and what I provided wasn’t up to snuff!”
And God’s had enough
—these venomous snakes slither out and start killing people.
Then the people repent, and God provides a strange solution, a bronze snake that they might look upon and live. In the midst of pain and suffering,
they look up and they live!
Many generations later, this snake will be destroyed by the righteous King Hezekiah, because the people had begun to worship it as a god
(as I said last week, we humans are predisposed to make small gods.)
So that’s the story
—but let’s break it down into our 6 categories on the Bingo card
—let’s see if it is even a covenant…
Strangeness:
The freedom and responsibility of 40 years ago doesn’t seem to be turning out well for anyone
—the people find freedom to be a burden,
and God finds the people to be a burden,
and poor Moses is caught in the middle keeping the peace.
Problem:
We’ll there’s certainly a mountain of problems, the chief among them: “Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?”
Facet of God’s Character:
This was a struggle for me
—on one hand, God is shown to be a God who can be hurt by the people’s gaslighting…
and God is also shown to be a God who keeps on keeping on with the people, right, God of the long slog through the desert
—but also,
as John chapter 3 makes plain
—God is a God of Faith
—a God worth believing in,
a God who will save
—Look up!
Look up and live!
Sign:
This is fairly straightforward at least
—the bronze snake.
Blessing:
The blessing is life,
not absence of strife or suffering,
but to look up and live!
The snake almost functions as a vaccine in that way.
A snake vaccine…
No really!
Look, here is a blueprint of the thing that threatens your life. It will make sure the effects of the venom is not deadly, it won’t stop the pain, won’t stop the terror surrounding you, but you won’t die!
Re-ordering of Relationship: On one hand, there is the repentance of the people—that’s a change in relationship… but this story feels much more like a moment in an ongoing story than a wholly new relationship…
In fact, the whole thing feels like a paltry promise,
a trifling covenant… if it can even be called that…
more an illustration of last week’s covenant being broken, than the establishment of a new one…
But, perhaps, to those saying “Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?” it is no small thing
—if you’re dealing with deadly snakes, survival is everything!
And that swings us well into the final question, “So What?” What does this all mean for us?
I’m drawn to a quote by Professor and Author Phyllis Tickle:
“And what the story recognizes is that all of us are going to be bitten—painfully bitten—in this life. Most of us learn that truth fairly quickly just from experience. But, according to the story, it is not the being bitten that we in this imperfect world can do anything about; it is only the how we respond to being bitten that we can control. When we look up, usually we are saved by that very act of faith for it is when we look down and struggle with what is tormenting us that we most often empower it by the very attention we are going to give it.”
As strange, and frankly convoluted as this story is, there is that brass tacks reality of suffering and response
—looking up is an act of faith, being drawn to divine promises of life,
even as life draws out agony…
For that matter, just as the Israelites are at their wits end at 40 years, many of us are in a similar space at the 1 year mark of the virus…
some of us might even be tempted to gaslight God
—you’ve not provided for us, and those things you’ve provided for us aren’t very good!
I know whenever I get too down about it all, I think about what the influenza epidemic of 1919 must have been like
—I mean, we have so many means of keeping in touch,
many stores deliver, or at least have curbside pick-up.
Our scientific knowledge and abilities to respond to the virus are truly amazing!
And yet, much like that pandemic, we’re always re-learning that we’re not in control…
we can do everything right and things can still go wrong
—we can do things wrong and everything can spin out of control.
All of us are going to be bitten in this life…
Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?
Look up!
Don’t look down that well that will suck you in, but look up!
God so loved the world,
Look up! Amen.
