This morning, as we consider this strange text from the book of Numbers, we will be keeping this question from Bishop Michael Curry’s book Love Is the Way in the back of our minds: Can love really change the world? Do you think it can? I do… But first, let’s talk about how we read the Bible.

There are many ways to read the Bible. We can read the Bible out of duty or obligation. We might think that if we read a certain number of verses every day, we will please God. Or, at the very least we can cross our Bible reading off our list of things to do to live a good life. It’s not bad to read out of duty. It’s better to read out of duty than not to read at all. But, there are other ways we can read. We can read the Bible to prove a point or to disprove a point. In this case, we might use the Bible like a book for a research paper. We carefully pick quotes out that either make our case or harm someone else’s case, but we don’t read carefully, in context, or try to apply it to our own lives in any meaningful way. This is a dangerous way to read the Bible. We make enemies when we read the Bible this way. We can also become overly self-assured in our own convictions if we only read the things that reinforce what we already believe or think is true.

When we read to make a point, we might make the mistake of the inspirational Bible quote calendar that included this as a verse to live by: “If you worship me, all will be yours.” Sounds great, right? The problem is: this verse was said by Satan in the wilderness as he tempted Jesus. Maybe context matters a little bit.

Or, we could read the Bible like in this story: A student went off to college, and as a going away gift, his parents gave him a BIble and told him it would help him along the way. A few months later, he called his parents and asked for some money. They asked him if he was reading his Bible, and he said yes.  They asked if he had read a specific chapter and verse. He told them he had, and that was the end of the conversation. Later, he sent his parents a letter asking for money. They replied with a letter asking if he had read his Bible and giving him a particular chapter and verse they thought would help. When the student came home at the semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not read his Bible. How? In each chapter and verse they had talked to him about, they had tucked away some money to help him – $10s and $20s. There are lots of ways to read the Bible, and many reasons we give either for reading or for not reading.

We can also read the Bible without our imaginations and without asking any questions. We can read this way, but we miss a lot when we do. Over the last few weeks as I have read and studied our passages for this morning, I kept wondering why the translators decided to say the serpents in the wilderness were “poisonous.” Snakes are venomous, not poisonous, and I thought the translators must have known that. My wondering led me to the original Hebrew, and the word translated as “poisonous” is actually a word that means “fiery.” This discovery led me to another question: Why did the writer describe the serpents in the wilderness as “fiery.” 

Just a warning: things start to happen when you ask questions when you read the Bible. You start to learn things and uncover things you never expected. It’s part of what makes reading the Bible so fun and exciting. My question about “why poisonous and not venomous” led me to discover that many people believe that the “poisonous serpents” in Numbers 21 were not snakes at all, but were rather a parasite called a guinea worm. People became infected with guinea worm disease when they drank contaminated water. People could remain unaware that they had consumed this parasite for a year or longer until they suddenly experienced an intense burning sensation on their legs or feet. At that time, the adult guinea worm would emerge, and the only way to treat the parasitic infection – and this is true even today – is by winding the worm up onto a stick. The worms can grow up to three feet long. In ancient times, these guinea worms were called “fiery serpents” because of the way people experienced a burning sensation on their legs or feet.

OK. Now that I have either thoroughly grossed you out – or intrigued you – hang in there with me. Asking this question led me to research with interest, and the fruit of that research was a realization: When we are in the midst of hard times, we need something to look at. We need something to focus on. If we don’t train our eyes to look ahead or stay focused on the goal, we will struggle to deal with whatever we are going through. Sometimes the struggle is our circumstances. I think about the difficulties we have all faced over the course of this last year. I don’t know about you, but whenever I took my eyes off of Jesus over the course of this last year, the more I struggled. The more I feared. The more I wondered how I would make it through. When I take my eyes off of Jesus, I’m more inclined to lash out, or react poorly, or try to take matters into my own hands, which always turns out badly.

Sometimes our struggle is our circumstances, but sometimes it is within us. Just like with these guinea worms, sometimes we let the smallest of things into our lives, and those things grow. We are unaware of it at first, but eventually, it all comes out. We let in just a little bit of anger, and it festers. It can come out as we harm our friends or our family with our words. Or, we let in the smallest bit of jealousy, and soon we can’t rejoice with those who are rejoicing. We smolder as we think about what we don’t have. That little kernel of jealousy can form rifts in our relationships, and soon we are isolated and alone. For the people of Israel, they had let little things in, too. They doubted Moses would come back for them when he went up onto the mountain to receive the ten commandments from God, and soon their impatience turned into idolatry as they formed a golden calf and worshiped it. 

Whether the difficulty we are facing is around us or in our own hearts, the answer for the people of Israel is the same answer for us: look and live. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the one who was lifted up for us, and find the healing balm that we are sore in need of.

Whatever we are going through, we need to look and live. 

In the wilderness, the people of Israel faced poisonous snakes or guinea worms, and the treatment for their suffering was rather strange. As people began dying from this plague, Moses prayed for the people. Then God responded this in verse 8, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So, Moses did so. He made a serpent out of bronze and put it on a pole. If someone was afflicted by this serpent or worm, that person would need to look at the serpent of bronze. And it worked. 

For many of the religions in the area, serpents were a symbol of fertility and wellbeing. But for the people of Israel, snakes weren’t nearly so welcome. Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim said it this way: “Snakes! Those ubiquitous fertility symbols found in any sanctuary worthy of the name adorned the regalia of every demigod of the nations around Israel. Meanwhile, in Israel’s own tradition it was the serpent who was the culprit.” And then Freitheim points to the story of Adam and Eve. For many of the religious traditions in the world at that time, snakes symbolized prosperity. But, for the people of Israel, snakes represented the end of time in paradise. Snakes were seen as enemies to the will of God, tricksters. And, if you recall, God cursed the ground the snake moved along and promised there would be a rivalry between the snake’s offspring and Eve’s children.

Can you imagine how Moses felt being told the answer was in a serpent on a pole? The object that once was considered cursed became the vessel of promise. That which brought death would soon bring life. Judo – the martial art – means “way of softness/gentleness.” The idea behind Judo is that there is power is gentleness. If an enemy throws a punch, you move to the side and allow the momentum of their punch to help you throw them off balance. As I think of treating the victims of the fiery serpents with a serpent on a pole, I am reminded that sometimes what is intended for death is what ultimately brings life. What was meant for evil was turned into something good. A bit like how a vaccine takes part of a virus that can make us sick and instead becomes the medicine that keeps us well. Or, how resistance makes our muscles stronger. 

So, what does any of this have to do with love and if it can change the world? I don’t have all the answers, but I offer this: God is love. And in the person of Jesus, we have been given the opportunity to look and live. He who was without sin became sin for us, so that what once would have led to our death instead led us to eternal life. No matter what we are facing, let us look at love and live. Let’s look to Jesus to pull us through, to lead us out of our darkest valleys. I am truly convinced that love already changed the world – in the person of Jesus – and it continues to change the world as we bring him with us into the tough stuff and into the wonderful stuff. Let’s look, and live, and be amazed by the way love will change the world today and in the days to come.