Living in the Spirit

September 1, 2023

Scripture Reading: Numbers 21:4b-9
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.’ 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.’ So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

The ancients seem to see a direct connection between catastrophe and sin. Jesus said that it rains on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45) Today, we have books such as Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner, grappling with the relationship of our behavior and its outcomes and the realities of the world in which we live. All three statements are true. Sin can result in catastrophe, but not always. It raining on the just and the unjust can be good or bad. Rain in times of drought is a welcomed gift from God, floods are not. The lesson in each of these outcomes is that God is always with us through all of life’s trials and joys, and when we are always with God, we understand that God is always working God’s purpose out including whatever role God has for each of us and all of us to create a world ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we turn away from you and get caught in our misery. We thank you for always being with us as we strive to always be with you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.