Searching and Fearless
Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” – Numbers 21:6–8 (NRSV)
As a pastor, I have occasionally had the honor of walking alongside someone in their recovery journey as they completed step four of twelve, making “a searching and fearless moral inventory” of themselves.
I’ve witnessed the courage it requires to catalog one’s failures and shortcomings in detail. I’ve been present for what was sometimes equally challenging work: owning one’s goodness and giftedness.
And I have seen the healing and new life that can come from taking such a long, unflinching look at one’s actions.
Cue the poisonous serpents.
God sends them to torment the ungrateful Israelites in the wilderness. Then tells Moses to make a statue of one, put it on a pole, and show it to them as an antidote. You know, just normal Bible stuff.
I confess, I don’t believe in a God who would send venomous snakes to kill me for my ingratitude. Not sure what to do with that.
But I do believe in a God who encourages me to take long, hard looks at my mistakes. And I can testify to the way that hard and holy work has been an antidote for some against the things that threatened their lives.
Prayer
Healing One, make me searching and fearless.
About the AuthorVince Amlin is co-pastor of Bethany UCC, Chicago, and co-planter of Gilead Church Chicago, forming now.