The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
We are halfway through Lent now, and it is time to look back and look
forward. We need to look back on how our Lenten practices are working for us,
and look forward to the great climax of the Christian year, Holy Week and
Easter.
Today's reading from the book of Numbers connects up nicely with this theme.
The people of Israel have left Egypt and captivity behind. They have trudged
through the desert and have begun to learn to trust in God's care. Throughout
their long journey, God has provided for them: water in the dry places, food
when they needed it, laws to govern a new lifestyle as a free people rather than
as slaves, and, as Scripture tells us, their shoes and clothing have not worn
out. It's been a long journey, and once again we find them falling into the
habit of grumbling and complaining. Many of those who left Egypt have died. Some
of those who left as children have attained adulthood, and their memories of
Egypt and slavery have begun to fade. But many of the older adults are still
mentally and emotionally in Egypt although their bodies are tramping through the
dry lands of the Sinai peninsula. And they are, of course, looking back,
comparing, complaining: We are so tired of this eternal food of manna and
doves! Remember, in Egypt, we had fresh vegetables and fruits, and a variety of
meat? And we're so tired of walking all the time. Wouldn't it be nice to stay in
one place, have a home, be settled down again?
One proof that we people are made in the image of God is that we, like God,
have feelings and emotions, unlike animals who react and proceed on instinct.
And how do you think the Lord God responded to the complaints of these people
whom he had so carefully and bountifully provided for? (pause for people to
think) That's right, God got mad. He decided to give these ungrateful,
complaining wretches something to really complain about, and so they found
themselves in the midst of a huge population of poisonous snakes! And, of
course, some of the people were bitten and died. We don't know if those who died
were the ones who complained. The Bible doesn't say.
So, of course, they ran to Moses to "fix things." And Moses prayed for
them...that is, he had a conversation with the Lord. The Lord said to make an
image of a serpent and put it on a pole, and all the folks who saw the image
would be cured of the poisoned bites. And so it was.
What are we to learn from all this?
Well, changing our lifestyle or habits or attitude is a process. We may not
have to make the drastic change from being slaves, allowing our masters to think
for us and provide for us, to becoming a free people, taking responsibility for
ourselves and thinking ahead, like the Israelites did. But we all have to make
changes in our lives from time to time. Perhaps we have to change our ways of
thinking and living from being an only child, enjoying full access to Mom and
Dad and being completely spoiled by many grandparents, to being an older sibling
with a baby sister and brother who's now getting most of the attention,
curtailing our access to adults who make us feel so special and take care of all
our needs and wants. We may even have to wait for a turn on Mom's or Dad's lap!
Or maybe we are changing from being a carefree, spontaneous teen to being a
married person with responsibilities and duties that we hadn't even imagined
exist. Or maybe we're changing from grabbing a snack or a smoke whenever we feel
like it, to following a strict weight-loss or diabetic diet, or methodically
cutting down on our use of nicotine or whatever other thing we are trying to
wean ourselves from.
Changes like these do not occur overnight. Crossing a Red Sea does not
immediately turn us into responsible, cooperative and considerate citizens. The
birth of a younger sibling does not automatically make us mature and careful of
the new baby. Being presented by a doctor with a new diet or new health regime
does not automatically bring about instant weight loss or cure of a condition.
We have to live into the new mind-set, the new habits, the new attitudes, and
make them part of our own thinking and feeling and lifestyle. It was hard for
the Israelites and it's hard for us. And it is just as true of changes in our
spirituality and personality that we set out to make at the beginning of Lent,
or the beginning of the New Year.
Today's Gospel provides some help. Instead of looking at a snake image on a
pole in order to be cured, we are encouraged to look at another living thing on
another pole in order to be saved. We are told to look up to Jesus, use him as
an inspiration and a motivation for ourselves...not only to model our life and
actions on his, but to understand the reasons why he allowed himself to be
crucified. But there's more to it than that. The word used for "lifted up" as on
a pole or gallows, is the same word used for "exalted." Jesus was lifted up on
the pole of the cross, in shame and humiliation. And a few days later he was
lifted up from the tomb, in glory and triumph. And a bit later, he was lifted
up, again, into the clouds, and went to resume his rightful place as part of the
Triune Godhead, the Trinity, the ruler of earth and heaven and all things
contained in them. And he left behind him his friends, standing there, looking
up to him. That's the posture and the attitude we are encouraged to make our
own.
And, of course, that means changing from looking on ourselves as the center
and our own desires and feelings as the motivating force of our lives, to
looking on Jesus and his life and example as our prime motivation. Just as Jesus
was continually giving to others and serving with others, emptying himself of
his own human desires, needs and feelings and replacing them with God's
bounteous caring and love for all, we are encouraged to do the same. In short,
we are encouraged to empty ourselves, as Jesus did; to "put on Christ" as Paul
tells us to do, by replacing our self-centeredness with God-like caring and love
for others, in fact, with God-centeredness; to allow ourselves to be humiliated
and emptied and scorned, with the knowledge that we will, in time, be exalted
and glorified as we enter into our places with God and Jesus. Paul's letter to
the Ephesians gives us some very definite pointers on how to do this...perhaps
not as easy as looking upon a bronze serpent on a pole, and definitely not as
easy as looking casually on a crucified Jesus on a cross. And, of course, it is
much harder to mentally and emotionally climb up onto that cross and join
ourselves to him, to "make up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ" so
that we, too, may be exalted and glorified in our own turn through our
attachment to and love of him.
So: we are at Mid-Lent. How is your Lent going? Are you grumbling and
complaining, or are you accepting the changes you set out to make, and allowing
them to change you, change your thinking and feeling, change your life? There's
still time, still half of Lent, if you need it...and God knows, we all do.
That's why it is given to us! Amen.
