I am well acquainted with the garden-variety snake. I grew up on a dairy farm in West Central Wisconsin (1952 - 1964) before heading off to college in Indiana. On the farm, I thought snakes were cool. I would chase them around the farm buildings, catch and dangle them in front of the other children - much to their chagrin. One time I walked into the house with a three-foot garter snake wrapped around my shoulders. Mom was relatively unfazed but dad, well, dad believed that the only good snake was a dead snake, so its fate was sealed.

For some reason dad would kill any snake he found around the farm. He never had a good explanation. It seemed like an irrational fear, although, as a farmer/preacher, dad took great care of the farm animals. He believed farm animals had a special place in God’s heart - with the exception of snakes. Rather than seeing snakes as a partner in farm life - assisting our dozen cats in keeping down the mice & rat population - snakes were to be detested/killed. The very creature that could be an asset to farm health was seen as a threat. (Does this make any sense to you?)

That’s a long way of arriving at our text in Numbers 21:5-9 and in John 3, but I think it serves to illustrate the one of the divine paradoxes of faith - that which appears to be threatening is actually life-giving. Hold that thought as we journey from the Exodus Wilderness to Jesus and his own wilderness experience.

As a background for today’s text the children of Israel are on a wilderness expedition trip - beset by various hardships and challenges. When the going gets tough, what happens? The people murmur against God. This complaining or sinning leads to divine punishment, which leads to confession of wronging which leads to a request for intercession by Moses, who in turn persuades God to eliminate the punishment. It is a circular formula that is repeated numerous times in the wilderness journey.

This particular angry outburst surrounding the text in Numbers, finds the people, again, idealizing their former homes in Egypt. In the desert there are no delicious, tantalizing home-made breads, except the dreadfully boring, Manna. They complained about the water – it wasn’t fresh enough. God responds to this rebellious spirit and sends poisonous snakes to bit and kill. People die! The people confess to Moses, Moses intercedes on behalf the people, and God listens. God instructs Moses to make a bronze snake and sit it on top a tall pole. (Symbol today, medical.)

Again, a divine paradox: Anyone bitten by a snake could choose to look up at the bronze snake and be healed. Divine punishment - divine healing. That which appeared to be deadly, and was deadly, also provided the medicine for healing. (Make sense to you?)

Jesus revisits this theme some 15 hundred years later as he responds to Nicodemus in (John 3:13-16) “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 God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”

This divine paradox is present in baptism - especially for those traditions that do total immersion in water - the water that could potentially drown someone also represents re-birth, re-creation, and new life. Do you remember your baptism and having the preacher take his or her hand, grab your head and thrust you into the water? Was it a little frightening? That which appears to be threatening, the baptismal water, contains within it divine medicine. (Baptism next Sunday)

A very contemporary parallel in medicine is the flu vaccine. Why do people get vaccinated? In order to immunize one to the flu virus. However, the vaccine itself contains a very small portion of the flu virus, allowing the body, in a controlled way, to build up anti-bodies and immunity to the virus. The vaccine itself contains within it the potential for death (large dose) and also provides the opportunity for life. That which appears to be threatening is actually life-giving or healing.

Recall for a few moments the experience of Jesus. Remember what happened to Jesus after his baptism? He went immediately into the wilderness to sort out his calling to ministry. What did this all mean? While in the desert wilderness Jesus was tempted by the devil, how many times? Three times, and each time Jesus had the wherewithal to renounce the devil and choose a different pathway. Jesus roamed around the wilderness, for how long? Forty (40) days and nights, gaining clarity for his ministry calling, getting prepared for the work ahead. Do you see what is happening here? The wilderness, thought to be a place of desolation and despair, actually provided Jesus with crystal clarity regarding his call for ministry and mission. (I Visited H.Land. in 1983) Instead of being a place of desolation, it was a place of energy and vitality! That which appeared to be life-threatening for Jesus was actually life-giving!

When I think of congregational life and pastoral leadership in the context of today’s wilderness landscape, one cannot escape the paradox of ministry. As a District Executive for over 12 years, I have visited all 44 congregations in So PA, some many times, and I continually hear the laments of those who idealize the church of the 50’s & early 60's. A time when everyone knew their place in the hierarchy of religious structures; when one could, with great predictability, forecast all the phases of morning worship (60 minutes) from Prelude to Postlude; when the authority of the Office of Ministry was respected and ministers were high on the list of esteemed vocations (now very low); when denominational loyalties were honored. Everyone knew what it meant to be “Brethren.”

In what appears today, like a wilderness landscape - I hear complaints, murmurs if you will, of those who are surrounded by unfamiliar praise music (Brethren Hymnal songs in Spanish, Korean, Native American), new forms and styles of worship, new and unfamiliar people sitting in the pew, power-point sermons, and the great debates of Traditional Church VS Contemporary Church or the Maintenance vs the Missional Church. For some persons, the state of the church in today’s contemporary culture - is like a wilderness. It’s forbidding, its scary, and its threatening. Make sense?

As people of faith, what is your particular wilderness experience? Are you one who finds yourself murmuring in the pew or in the parking lot? How do you respond to the changing religious landscape? Change is no stranger to the good folks at York First. You have faced some straining financial challenges, ministry staff reduction, and a slowly aging congregation. For many it is unsettling and even painful. It signals a significant change in the way you “do” church.

So as we experience congregational and personal economic and social insecurities these past three years, as many people wonder what is happening to the church they love, as everything around us seems to becoming unraveled, we are, understandably baffled! Book called, Who Stole My Church?! Most of us ordinary folks don’t know how to give language to what we are experiencing. Is that true for you? Do you know what I am talking about?

Even the early Christian church was no stranger to stress and conflict. The early church family experienced a similar kind of stress, not only in their leadership squabbles (Remember the strong contention between Paul, Barnabas and John Mark in Acts?) but also the stress and anxiety within the early church family caused by the delay in the return of Jesus. It was a time of great concern because Jesus went away and promised to return. This delay caused great stress in the church.

Even today, as many experience stress and anxiety within church life, in the midst of denominational angst and anxiety (anxiety high approaching Annual Conference) when things seem to becoming unglued, many natural human feelings are aroused. Who is responsible, who is at fault? Most people do not enjoy living in anxiety, do you? No! We want resolution! The sooner the better! Many want a quick fix and then move on!

The question is - what can we learn from the wilderness experience of the Israelites - that will inform our lives today? Where do we find seeds of hope among the apparent threats of the wilderness experience of the Israelites?

In our Old Testament story, the Children of Israel murmur against God and their complaining leads to death….God sends punishment (poisonous snakes), the people complain to Moses, Moses intercedes on their behalf….God listens and then God sends a healing remedy…a bronze snake…and those who looked up at the bronze snake were healed. Those who look up, live! That which appeared to be threatening was actually life-giving. In the wilderness God’s chosen people found clarity in their calling for ministry and mission. It took them 40 years of hard, rough and tumble work.

What can we learn from our Hebrew ancestors? TWO short Take-Home THEMES for our consideration especially in the light of all that has been happening within the life of the York First congregation: First of all, the people of Israel were required to respond in some fashion and instructed to look up and gaze at the snake-turned bronze in order to access its healing power. (No sitting back waiting for someone else to make a decision.)

For the good folks gathered here at the York First COB – you have great potential for serving the cause of Christ in this community. You have recently completed an extensive survey related to the Natural Church Development process, and later a Congregational Leader’s Retreat. I was very interested in reading the results of the two questions: (1.) What would a healthy First Church look like? And (2.) What is God realistically calling us to do? Many of these responses dove-tail nicely into the Eight (8) Quality Characteristics of Natural Church Development, and what I would consider as being vital components as York First moves forward as a thriving, healthy congregation.

Empowered Leadership         Gift-based Ministry         Passionate Spirituality
Effective Structures         Inspiring Worship Services         Holistic Small Groups
Need-Oriented Evangelism         Loving Relationships

As you continue to explore what it means to be a “mission-minded” church, reaching out to the “unchurched” or as the new nomenclature defines it, “pre-Christian people,” is certainly on target for responding to the question: Who is my neighbor? What does God require of us?

This kind of mission looks beyond ourselves, our interests, our desires, to the interests of others. The Apostle Paul had a significant teaching in this regard, “Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 2:4,5) The challenge for York First, then, is to build the future on looking outward and looking upward! You future will not be achieved by looking in the rear view mirror pining for the Golden Days of the past, but rather looking forward, and looking upward with confidence and grace. Does this make sense?

Finally, when we are inclined to be discouraged with the economy, or with employment issues, or with ill health, or with distress and pain, heartache, and a per-chance to try and fix blame and find out who is at fault for our church difficulties we seem to be in, we are invited to look up to God and be healed.

When we get bogged down in grudges, gossip, and decay within our very own souls, no matter how large or trivial it may seem, God has made provisions when we confess or sins, engage in self-examination, and then look up and fix our eyes on Jesus. In fact, Lent is a time of self-examination as you prepare for Love Feast this coming Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m.

So when people get really frustrated with so many changes in the worship and congregational life, and leadership changes – we are invited to look up and be healed. Yes, today it may seem like a wilderness…however, what did God do with the Israelites in the desert? God made them a Holy People! And God has the power to make YOU a holy people!

Again, what happened to Jesus in the desert? He got a strong grip and a strong grasp of his ministry and mission. Where did it happen? In the wilderness. Yes!

As a community of faith in transition, as a community experiencing stress and anxiety, I believe God has great things in store for you as you make you way through, what seems to be a desert-like experience. Does this make sense to you?

In the midst of this apparent wilderness, in the midst of all the varied circumstances facing the church, you are invited to look up to the healing presence of the gift of the Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace! That which appears to be threatening can actually be, life-giving.

This day, we no longer need to look at a bronze snake, like our Hebrew ancestors. Instead we are invited to look up to the gift of Jesus! Look up and live. Amen.