I have the pleasure of being part of a a book group who is reading Love Is The Way, by Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

"I’ve come to see that the call of God, the love that bids us welcome, is always a call to become the true you. Not a doormat. The true you. Not an imitation of someone else. The true you: someone made in the image of God, deserving of and receiving love.

"Unselfish, sacrificial living isn’t about ignoring or denying or destroying yourself. It’s about discovering your true self—the self that looks like God—and living life from that grounding. Many people are familiar with a part of Jesus’s summary of the law of Moses: You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself [Mark 12:31]. Yourself. Loving the self is a required balance. If we fail in that, we fail our neighbor, too. To love your neighbor is to relate to them as someone made in the image of God. And it is to relate to yourself as someone made in the image of God. It’s God, up, down, and all around, and God is love.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830-1886) was an American poet. Little known during her life, she would become one of America’s greatest and most original poets of all time.  

According to the Poetry Foundation, Dickinson's work often saw "the inescapable limitations of their societies as well as their imagined and imaginable escapes. To make the abstract tangible, to define meaning without confining it, to inhabit a house that never became a prison, Dickinson created in her writing a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized." ​


Further Poems of Emily Dickinson. Little, Brown and Company of Boston, 1929.

As our Lenten journey moves closer to the High Holy week, this odd and down-right icky story reminds us to always watch our step. You never know where snakes will pop up.
 
This story reminds me of my least favorite scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones is led to a dark tomb that holds a clue to the treasure he’s seeking. When he drops a torch down in the cavernous hole, Indi discovers thousands of slithering, slimy snakes!
 
I can’t tell you what happens after that because my eyes are always tightly closed. But over the hissing sounds, I hear him complain, “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” 
 
I imagine the Israelites were saying the same thing during their great exodus from Egypt. I’m not sure exactly how long they had been searching for the land that God had promised them. But the longer they wander, the crankier they become.
 
By this point in the story, they began to get restless and whinny. They’re tired walking and sick of camping. They k’vetched about the lack of food and water. And many wanted to go back to Egypt and be slaves again.
 
For a while, God remains steadfast, putting up with their incessant complaints; sending them food and water, and a fiery light to guide them. But when they griped about these gifts too, God just seems to snap. And sends them something to really complain about…deadly snakes!
 
You might be thinking, “Well that was a little harsh, God.” But I get it. I’ve taken many road trips with a minivan full of restless kids kicking the back of my seat screaming for snacks and asking over and over again, “Are we there yet?” If I didn’t hate snakes so much, I too might be tempted to let a few loose in the car.
 
But I too can be a bit whiny...so I too can sympathize with the Israelites. Their complaints seem legit. They’re stuck in the wilderness – with no clear direction or end in sight.
 
The only choices they have are to follow this God who pushes their faith by challenging everything they thought they knew about the way the world worked. Or return to the brutality of slavery in Egypt which offered some semblance of consistency and predictability even if it was sure to kill them.
 
If this past year has taught us anything, it’s that the only thing certain is how uncertain life can be. It’s a truth that makes us all uncomfortable. And only puts us on edge.
 
This uncertainty is too much for God’s people and they begin to crack. They want the way life used to be. They’d rather face the devil they know than to do the hard work of faith that God is requiring of them.
 
Who could blame them? How many times have you thought, “I can’t wait to go back to the way life used to be.” We want our churches open, our restaurants teeming with people, and our streets gridlocked with commuters. We want the old normal, the devil we know how to navigate.

watch the entire message here

While COVID has made us feel a bit lost in the wilderness, I believe God has given us this time not to test our faith but to show us a way to rely on it so that we might begin to see the world differently. Through God’s loving eyes.
 
This pandemic has also shown us how little control we have in life. We like to pretend we do. The problem with this is that when things don’t go as we want them to, we make sure God gets an earful. And in return, we get a bunch of snakes.
 
I’ll admit, it seems like an odd way to show love, but so too are the covenants God has made. But again and again, God is willing to do whatever it takes to maintain a relationship with us. God continues to come into our mess in the most unusual ways to rescue and redeem us.
 
There was something about being bitten repeatedly by venomous snakes that helped the Israelites see the error of their way. They beg Moses to intercede on their behalf. If there is one thing they’ve learned about their God – and we can take this to heart as well – is when you cry out, God listens. And God reacts, even if it seems a bit outrageous and weird.
 
God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. “Everyone who looks upon it shall live.” Because of his faithfulness, Moses does what God asks. And immediately all the Israelites who died are given new life, and all who were bitten are instantly healed.
 
It makes me wonder if the American Medical Association adopted this image as their logo to reminds us that sometimes our flesh and bones have to be ripped open or broken before we can be made right again.
 
Ernest Hemingway wrote, “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” He knew all too well, how hard life can be.

Sometimes it feels like the snakes are getting the best of us. But this Jewish story reminds us that no matter how bleak life might seem there is always hope. Because out of great love for us God never gives up on us.
 
Which takes us to Jesus, who in the Gospel of John says: “As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14-15) You see, Jesus is God’s covenant promise, incarnate, meaning in the flesh.
 
By setting our eyes on him, we are healed and given new life. Like Moses, Jesus is one who intercedes for us...even when it feels like we don’t deserve it. And the reason for this is stated in the next verse when Jesus famously declared, "God so loved the world," that God was willing to give his only begotten Son to die for us, just so we can live (John 3:16-17).

Again and again, God upholds this covenant, even if it seems a bit outrageous and weird.
 
Think about it, from death comes life. From the cross we set our gaze on comes our healing and salvation. And boy do we need it now!

It’s been a hard year of suffering around the world. From businesses to homes to schools, COVID has affected everyone. Compounded with the toxic and venomous attacks we’ve endure socially, politically, and even spiritually…it seems like the snakes have won.
 
But here’s the good news. God gave us the antidote in Christ Jesus.  His cross is our assurance that the snakes don’t win. God does. For God so loved you and me that God was willing to risk it all on a cross to save us from the deadly venom of violence, self-doubt, jealousy, greed, addiction, and the deadliest of all venom – fear.
 
Fear of the unknown; fear of the other; fear of failure; fear of death – nothing causes spiritual and emotional paralysis more effectively than fear’s venom. It corrodes faith; cuts off our pathways for loving God and one another; and when left untreated, it hardens the heart and soul. Fear tempts us away from God’s promise and tries to return us to the devil we know.
 
As we continue on our Lenten journey, now is time to take inventory of all the ways fear afflicts how we live God’s love in the world. Ask yourself how fear is stopping you from loving others. Or standing up for justice and equality. How is it keeping you from forgiving a friend, or caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves?
 
In Christ, God casts out all fear and puts love on full display. Jesus taught us how to live God’s love faithfully and fearlessly; in a way that pushes us to see the world differently.
 
From death comes life. As we fix our eyes upon the cross of Jesus, may we never forget that the cure for the snake was a snake. And the cure for all of human life is the sacrifice of one man’s life.

​Again and again, God upholds this covenant, even if it seems a bit outrageous and weird.
 
As you go out into the world, facing the uncertainty of life, remember this wherever God’s love is displayed, the snakes can’t win.
 
For God so loved the world...
 
 
 
 
Works Cited
Bartlett, David L., and eds. Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year B Vol. 2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008.
Helmer, Ben. Snakes. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2018/02/11/snakes-lent-4-b-february-18-2018/ (accessed 03.09.2018).
Jolly, Marshall A. https://modernmetanoia.org/2021/03/01/4th-sunday-in-lentb-god-so-loves-the-world/ (accessed on 03.11. 2018).
 
 

His story reminded me of something Richard Rohr said while teaching from the Gospel of John​; a prayer for unity that Jesus gave at the last meal he shared with his disciples. ​“Father . . . I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word; that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17: 20–23.)

Rohr had this to say:

David Wolf Budbill (1940 – 2016) was an American poet and playwright. He was the author of eight books of poems, eight plays, two novels, a collection of short stories, a children's picture book, and dozens of essays. After his death from Parkinson's disease, he was posthumously named The People's Poet of Vermont by the Vermont legislature.

Many of us follow the law because we’re afraid of what might happen if we don’t. We might get fined or go to jail. But there are those out there who find ways to skirt around the law – especially if it benefits them.
 
I mention all this because we are continuing our look at God’s covenants. Agreements made by God that benefit us. As we learned in the stories of Noah and Abraham, we have God’s assurance that if we fail to perfectly obey the terms of the covenant, God is still bound to them. God’s word is good, even when we are not. But that doesn’t let us off the hook or free us to run amuck.
 
Like the lines on a basketball, we need things like laws and rules that will help guide us in this game of life. Today reading gives us a look at the terms of God’s covenant. And it’s up to us to determine how it applies to our relationship with God and with one another. (Read: Exodus 20:1-17)
 
I have told the story many times before about when I decided to fast from the 10 commandments for Lent. It was a joke I made while I wasn’t very sober. Hey, it was Mardi Gras after all. But the next day, on Ash Wednesday, I decided to proceed as planned. But with a slight modification. Instead of giving up all ten, I would choose one to focus one. So I fasted from killing.
 
It seemed like an easy goal since I don’t have the stomach for murder. But it didn’t take me long to realize how guilty I was - killing people’s ideas, dreams, hopes, and desires. This exercise was truly eye-opening and rewarding for me, despite my failures I had along the way. By the time Lent was over, I noticed something had changed in me. I was more inclined to listen to other’s opinions and welcomed their ideas.  
 
As silly as it sounds, not killing showed me how to live. It opened my heart and transformed my behavior for the better. By looking at this commandment not as law but as a way to live faithfully, I began to deepen my relationship with God and others. And isn’t that what these ten lessons are designed to do?

watch the whole message here

When these words were given to Moses, the Israelites were newly liberated slaves wandering the wilderness without much direction. They needed more then Google maps to find the promised land. They needed a moral compass to guide them there.
 
Remember, they had spent the last 400+ years in Egypt. The only laws they knew were Pharaoh’s laws. The only gods they knew where his as well. So to help them understand who their God was and how they were to live accordingly as God’s chosen people, they were handed these 10 Teachings, as rabbinic traditions call them.
 
For some reason Christians like to call these words “commandments.” But I think this makes it harder for us to see them for what they really are: teachings; lessons for a good life. They have been passed down through the generations to guide into a real relationship with the One who hears our cries and comes to our rescue.
 
However, “these practices are not kindly suggestions,” as Barbara Brown Taylor warns. “They express the purposeful will of God for God’s people. Those who ignore them do so at their own peril – not because God is standing over them with a hammer, but because these teachings describe a way of life.”
 
This is not to say we won’t sneak in some work on the Sabbath or disobey our parents from time to time. Let’s face it we’ve all broken one, if not all, of these teachings at least once in our life. But just as God remains faithful to the covenant, the bible tells us that we too must be faithful to the Lord. If we are wise, we’ll use these Ten Teachings as a road map to move us in this direction.
 
That’s why it’s important to practice them daily, and not just during Lent.  We will not always get it right, and that’s alright. These teachings aren’t meant to shame us or to be some kind of litmus test to find perfect Christians. They are a gift from God – forged by a covenant and fashioned by grace.

They are designed to help us understand who we are and where God wants us to be.  That’s why we often make Lent to be a spiritual journey of sorts.
 
It’s why we are encouraged to practice certain spiritual “disciplines” that give us a better understanding of where God wants us to be - in God’s heart. Despite their stern-sounding name, spiritual disciplines are more about deepening our spiritual growth than performing some religious mandate.

For example, when I was discerning my call to start to start this new church, I practiced the spiritual discipline of self-examination. This required sitting quietly with God and mediating on the places God had revealed my calling to me.
 
You might be searching your soul for answers to some big question, maybe you’re feeling lost or directionless, or you just want to get to know God better. I’d encourage you to try practicing a discipline like prayer, or meditation, or intentional reading God’s Word to see how the Holy Spirit moves you to act.
 
As you might already know, I like to encourage people to use Lent as a time to fast from something that is keeping them from feasting on the goodness of life. By fasting and feasting on these Ten Words, I now have a clearer picture of who I am. And who I’m called to be -the visible presence of God’s love in the world.
 
It’s no surprise that Jesus would use these teachings as the moral compass of his ministry. Everything he did was based on these words which he boiled down for us: “love God and love each other.” Jesus knew the two cannot be separated. He risked his life, and broke a few laws, to show us how to make love a part of our everyday worship of God.
 
It’s like this: If you say you love God, then you can’t help but love everyone made in God’s image.
 
If you make God’s love your priority, then you won’t be tempted to worship an idol like a politician or a bank account. You won’t covet what others have. Or take that which isn’t yours.
 
If you refuse to use God’s love in vain, then you won’t cheat on your spouse or business partners, you won’t lie or bear false witness to cover up your wrongdoings.  You’ll care for your mother and father.
 
If you remember to take a day of sabbath rest, you might discover the whole purpose of what a life in God’s love is all about – to enjoy the splendor of God’s glory sharing food and fun with family and friends.
 
These ten teachings are, as Joslyn Schaefer describes it, “like an umbilical cord, tethering us to what nourishes us, energizing us so that we can discern and accomplish God’s good purposes for our lives.”
 
While laws are important and need to be obeyed, they will always be, second to love. Jesus confirmed this when he touched the leper and healed the bleeding Syrophoenician woman. Again and again, Jesus broke purity laws to teach others of their moral responsibility to the wellbeing of God’s children.

If Jesus were among us today, I know he’d wear a mask. No doubt about it. He’d do it not out of fear of getting sick, but as a way to remind us that God's love puts other people’s needs before his own.
 
Jesus showed us how loving God and one another is the way to live a faithful life in the fullness of God’s righteousness and grace. When we use them as blueprints to shape our lives in the image of Christ, things change. The blind see, the hungry are fed, justice is restored. People and communities are redeemed and returned to the God who loves us enough to risk it all for us.
 
Lent is a time to shape and mold your heart in the image of Christ, so that you can bear witness to God’s unconditional love and grace as living witnesses of Christ’s church.
 
There’s an old joke about a Lutheran minister who, when bidding farewell to his rabbi counterpart  says, “Keep the faith my friend.” And the rabbi reply back, “Thank you, now go and keep the commandments.” As you might imagine, the two go hand in hand.
 
Faith means we must trust God. When we trust God enough to follow God’s direction, practicing love becomes second nature. So we are called to keep these teachings close to our heart where God’s covenant with us was first made.
 
As our love for God grows stronger, we overcome the fear that stops us from loving our neighbor. 
  
When we love one another, we no longer judge people unfairly, or exclude others who are not like us.

When we love one another, we no longer desire to kill or to cheat or horde our resources from those less fortunate. 

When we love one another as God first loved us, then we put the health and wellbeing of others above all else.
 
As Jesus showed us, when we come together in love, the hope and promise of God’s covenant comes alive. 

God is love. And love is life. So as you leave here today, I encourage you all to go and live that life abundantly.
 
 
 
Work Cited
Bartlett, David L. and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word, Year B Vol 2. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008).
Schaefer, Joslyn Ogden. The Law. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermon/the-law-lent-3-b- march-7-2021