Snakes of Criticism
A good friend of mine in Louisville, Ketucky is my source for inspiration. Here is a portion of one of his sermons.
Dr. John Lentz
Sermon - John 3: 1-17
February 17, 2008
Jesus tells Nicodemus about how the son of man must be lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness was lifted up. The bronze serpent wrapped around a stick that Moses lifted up some claim has become the symbol of Medicine today but then it was a symbol of forgiveness and healing. Anyone who looked upon the serpent would recover from his or her snakebite. By the way the snakes were there because of Israel’s refusal to accept God’s grace to them. It is what happens today when we refuse grace still. The serpents of critical thinking and shoulds, oughts and have too’s creep into our thoughts and bite us and rob us from peace of mind, as well as disrupt everything. Looking up and allowing the endless possibilities of God’s grace to be with us in the moment stops the venom of the serpents bite and allows us to be born from above, and dwell on what God is doing for us, or on our behalf, or the endless possibilities that belong to us because of being children of the king.
What kind of "snakes" creep into your life? If you have any suggestions for how to contend with them, send me an e-mail and I will share thoughts with others on the Theology Blog: stephen@silverspring.org
Together in Christ,
Stephen
