March 26, 2006

Healing in the Wilderness

by Julianne Stokstad

I've been asked, what's all the emphasis on wilderness for Lent? Wilderness comes up often in our Lenten scriptures. The Israelites were wandering in the wilderness of Sinai for forty years on their way from slavery to freedom. Jesus went to the wilderness to fast and face temptations for forty days. The wilderness can be metaphorical for the wild and hard places in our lives. And there are snakes in the wilderness.

I don't like snakes very much. I began my dislike when a professor in college threw a bag full of snakes out on to us in zoology class. I sat frozen in terror and have no memory of what happened to the snakes. Probably because I didn't want to see them, on my many field trips and hikes with students, we would find a snake on our path.

One of my great joys as a naturalist is to look for creatures wherever I go. In India, I saw an elephant, many water buffalo and bullocks, mangy dogs, sleek cats, lots of different birds and a few snakes in the grass. In Lumbini, Nepal, at the Buddha's birthplace, while walking through the gardens, I saw out of the corner of my eye a thin whip snake jump on me from a bush. I let out a holler and brushed my clothes furiously as I jumped around to get it off. I saw it so very clearly I can describe it easily. It was about 6 inches long, with a triangular head, black beady eyes and a diamond like pattern of scales. But there was no snake, only a long black elastic string hanging from my jacket.

In today's scripture from the book of Numbers we hear an obscure story about snakes. The Israelites were in the desert wilderness of Sinai. The comforts and food of Egypt began to look pretty good compared to the manna they were growing tired of. They complained bitterly to Moses and to God. The Bible tells us God heard their complaints and sent poisonous snakes to them. Many people were bitten and died. The Israelites interpreted this as God's punishment for their sins. And they cried out to Moses to pray to God to take away the snakes. Apparently the snakes stayed, but God gave them a way to deal with the snakes. At God's command, Moses made a bronze snake, put it on a stick and told them if those bitten looked at the pole, he/she would live. And so it was. As they looked at the bronze snake, they remembered God and believed in God's power to heal and were healed. Over time the bronze pole became an object of worship for itself, an idol (remember the Second Commandment?) and was destroyed.

These verses are reminiscent of Egyptian snake magic. Snakes are one of the oldest and most complex of symbols. They can represent temptation like in the Garden story or with the shedding of their skin, resurrection and new life. They are a source of strength, yet dangerous, able to bring death. They are used as symbols of healing by doctors and they are reminders of sin.

John in our gospel reading makes an obvious comparison: "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." For me, it is not so much a story of a sadistic parent sacrificing his only beloved son in a gruesome way as a story about God who can take the worst possible situation and redeem it. It is a story about belief and about healing, especially healing in the wild and most horrible places of our lives.

Snakes, the cross, God, Jesus, what do you believe? The Hebrew Bible passage says nothing about belief, just about facing that which they feared and remembering God. God healed them when they remembered God. Worshipping the snake was idolatry. In the passage from the gospel of John, however, the word belief is used four times. It is given as a requirement for us in response to Jesus.

Belief is a loaded word these days. Belief is a certainty, a conviction of knowing what is true. Belief implies to many people intellectual knowing but it doesn't always correspond with fact. People believe all sorts of things----the earth is flat, poor people are lazy, vitamin C cures colds. Some churches will tell people what to believe. Thank goodness here we are encouraged to use all of our God-given ability to think, to learn, to discuss and to examine our beliefs. Belief is not necessarily rational or logical. We all know people who hold beliefs and no amount of rational argument will change their minds. My father was not alone when he said, " I know what I believe, don't confuse me with the facts."

We live in such an exciting complex time where facts, reality, even truth seems to be changing. What is held as true today might not be true tomorrow, that is how science works. There is a fierce competition within politics, media, advertising, and religion to provide people beliefs. Amidst all this change, people are seeking truths to hold on to, which is one reason there is such a strong surge of conservatism worldwide.

Kathleen Norris in her wonderful book Amazing Grace says "I find it sad to consider that belief has become a scary word, because at its Greek root, 'to believe' simply means 'to give one's heart to.' Thus it we can determine what it is we give our heart to, then we will know what it is we believe." (p. 62) Looking at our beliefs in this way, perhaps will help us shed some light on them.

What does belief mean for a Christian? I struggle to put together my heart beliefs with what I know about how the world works. For me, the point is looking at the life and teachings of Jesus to inform me about God. Jesus brought healing and justice for the oppressed, the weak, the violated and abused in society in non-violent ways. He taught us to love each other and God. He knew God is love and God's love for us all is the source of healing. Yet Jesus died violently on the cross. I hate that. The gospel teaches us that God's love can transform the worst tragedy. Love can transform the world's suffering and pain.

Going back to my story about the snake from India. I was shocked to realize the snake I had so clearly seen was a production of my brain, not a real snake. It has made me wonder, how many things I believe are simply my brain's reconstruction and interpretations of stories from earlier in my life? What is true and what is fiction I must examine most carefully.

When snake-bitten Israelites dared to look at the snake, the very thing they most feared and they were healed. What is your snake? Facing our fear feels messy and uncomfortable. It takes courage. Yet by facing our fear and in that remembering God, we allow God's grace and love to come in and transform them into blessings in ways we can't even imagine.

The cross like the snake is a complex symbol. So I ask you, when you look at the cross, even shadowed through the curtain, what do you see? Through Lent, we have put various symbols in front of the cross-rainbows, wilderness, the Ten Commandments and today it is a prayer wall. What do you see when you look at the cross: judgment, punishment for sin and death or do you see love and new life and resurrection?