Loading...Today is sssssserpent Sssssssssunday when the sssssssnake is the sssssstar! My youngest son Joseph had a pet snake for several years. Slytherin, the California King Snake, was an excssssssellent pet. Slytherin never barked, ate rarely and inexpensively, and was loads of fun to take to elementary school science classes.
Biblically, the snake gets the rap for asking Eve if she thinks she heard God correctly when God said eating fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a capital offense.
How confident do you feel about what God says — How about what God says in Holy Scripture says about Love and Hope and living forever in heaven with Jesus? On a scale of 1-10, rate how easy would it be to persuade you that what you know and believe about God is wrong? Is God’s word true or not? I mean the story of a talking snake and gullible human is a lot to swallow.
In a minute we are going to stand and confess our Faith in God as found in the Nicene Creed. Could you walk away from the Nicene Creed in a minute OR are you holding on to the Faith as the Church articulates it with a vice grip?
Just asssssssking.
The word “Lent” means “lengthen” and is applied to this season because the lights and shadows are lengthening. That’s all. Sometimes Lent gets translated into meaning since you are naughty you must be punished for your sins. Nope. Lent IS the opportunity to shine light on to the dark corners of your soul you might wish felt less spooky.
One of the dark spooky corners many middle aged Americans keep behind lock- and-key is how to believe everything the Holy Scriptures and the Church say about Faith:
That God gave his only begotten son to end that all who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Most people I meet in church can recite that like you just did. But coming to terms with the details of John 3:16 involves buying into a virgin giving birth, a dead man being raised after three days in a tomb, then ascending into heaven, and then sending a Holy Spirit. Are you sssssssure that is all accurate and you want to commit to something that cannot be proven?
I cannot prove any of the story. But I can swallow it — in the Sacraments. And I can invite you to walk with me into the Lamb’s light. Pack all your dark spooky corners and your lock and key. I’ve discovered that the Way of the Cross only gets darker and spookier with every step. With every door the Lamb unlocks, there is more freedom and light than my eyes can bear to look at. That’s why Easter takes so much time to look at. Bring your doubts to the journey.
Where there is doubt there are angels waiting to minister suddenly. That sneaky serpent can provide a spook. And it can provide the opportunity to say, “I believe what God says whether it’s true or not.”
Amen.
