Roseanne quipped that parenthood taught her why some species
eat their young. Parents do much for their children, and often those sacrifices
are rejected, forgotten, and even scorned. Children, at some point, believe
that they have figured out everything and can’t believe that their elders have
been so far behind the curve. Some of us have experienced our own children
treating us this way and some remember doing it to their own parents. It is a
nearly universal phenomenon that transcends culture and background. It is, to
some degree, a natural stage of life.
So, today’s lesson from the Book of Numbers, one of the
supposed five books of Moses, the fourth book of the Hebrew Scriptures, tells
about an experience not unlike our dealings with children. It is not exactly
the same. In this instance, it is Moses leading his people, the Israelites,
from slavery in the land of Egypt to the land they once called home, the land
promised to Abraham by God, along the shores of the Jordan River in Palestine.
Remember that the people on this journey, the descendants of Jacob, had once
worked for the toughest taskmasters ever known. Their lot in life in Egypt was
at the same plane of existence as a pack mule. They were forced to work 20-hour
days, with little or no food or water, in the heat of the desert.
You would think that any situation would look up from that
terrible existence, but not for the Israelites. Moses promised to arrange their
release from captivity and Moses did just that, with the help of God. Many
events happen along the path, you might recall that Moses, on the instruction
of God, parted the waters of the sea so that they could escape the charging
chariots of the Pharaoh, later God provided manna from heaven to give the people
nourishment in the midst of the desert, God met with Moses and sent a message
to the people while they camped at Mt. Sinai, a message that would guide their
lives for millenniums. It seemed that Moses on behalf of God had given them an
amazing opportunity. So, it seems only natural and quite child-like for them to
complain to Moses and God about just about everything in today’s passage. They
whine about the long travel (which it was), and the lack of water and food
(which can only be expected for a group of their size in the desert), and the
food that they do have is, they note, miserable. It almost seems, if you rank
their complaining, like they would be happy to return to slavery in Egypt. It
is like we tell our kids, “you really don’t know how lucky you are to be in
your situation.” But these Israelites supposedly know that they are lucky. They
have seen the worst of conditions, and yet they still complain, wholeheartedly.
I can’t understand the why of that. It seemed to be their
condition. Never satisfied with the blessings that exist, always looking for
just a little bit more.
That is when we hear something that strikes us as contrary
to God’s love. God sends serpents to kill these complaining people. It seems
that God is acting on the feelings that Roseanne so succinctly describes. But
that seems so contrary to God’s character, God’s love, and God’s forgiveness.
Even for the God of the Old Testament, this action seems contrary. God is
supposed to do these kinds of the things to the enemies: the Philistines, the
Babylonians, and the Egyptians. This is not supposed to happen to God’s
“chosen” people. Nonetheless, God does it. Why and for what purpose?
I am sorry that I cannot give you a settled answer. Is it
because God wants them to respect Moses because his prayer was answered, so an
antidote is created to save the people? Sometimes we need our boss to provide
us with a little bit of love to raise our stature in a way that allows us to do
what we do.
Could it be that God wants those complaining Israelites to
realize their great blessing: that they are alive and together. Might they
forget about their tiredness, if they knew they were especially blessed? Just
maybe that is the case. It is certainly up for discussion.
Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. It is often associated with
green beer, Irish Spirit parades, and even Chicago’s Green River. The tradition
says that if you don’t wear green, you get pinched. I want to assure you that I
was wearing green, yesterday. I want to point out that none of those things
have anything to do with the missionary bishop, the fifth century saint, the
patron of Ireland who wasn’t even from Ireland. There are definitely other such
feast days that are only very remotely related to the person they celebrate.
That is not to say that these saints, and Patrick
particularly, are not to be remembered and celebrated. St. Jude, the patron of
lost causes, describes the mission of the Memphis hospital that bears his name.
Similarly, a hospital named for Luke, legendarily known as a physician, also
makes sense. Samaritan Ministry lives out the example of its namesake, too.
Peter, the Rock of the Church, is often remembered in churches and cathedrals
including our own cathedral. I taught for many years at a school named after Saint
Andrew, the first disciple and the one who convinced his brother, Peter, to join
Jesus in learning the Way.
So what does Patrick’s example say to this church named for
him? As we remembered this past October, this place is the first Episcopal
Church named for Patrick in the United States (maybe even the Western
Hemisphere). There are others, now, but we were the first. The name may have
been an accident. St. Alban’s began a theme of naming its mission chapels, like
Alban, after British Isle saints. After Columba, George and David, the lot fell
to Patrick. We could think it happenstance unless you remember the many other
saints of the isles like Aidan, Chad, Bede, Dunstan, Swithun, Hilda, and Edith
were not used in this city in 1911.
As far as I know, the reason for choosing Patrick has been
lost in time, but that doesn’t mean that his example isn’t and shouldn’t
influence how we move forward in fulfilling God’s mission.
Patrick was born in Britain in the late 300s to a wealthy
landowner and deacon. He was the grandson of a priest. Patrick chose to do his
own thing. That is until, at age 16, slave traders captured him, took him to
Ireland, and forced him into hard labor. Like the ancient Israelites, Patrick
knew the plight of desperation that results from losing one’s freedom. In his
years of captivity, he came to know God and learned how to pray.
But, Patrick was not a missionary, yet; he didn’t convert
his captors like Paul once did. Patrick continued in misery for half a dozen
years. That is until he heard a voice calling him to escape his captivity and
return to the land of his birth. He traveled hundreds of miles across Ireland
before catching a ship to his native Wales. When he returned home, he decided
to dedicate his life, like his father and grandfather before him, in ordained
service. He began a rigorous course of study that eventually led to his becoming
a priest and later a bishop.
Then he received another vision, a calling, to leave his
homeland to return to Ireland to missionize the pagans there in the ways of
Christianity. His memories of Ireland were those of a slave. I can only imagine
what it must to have felt like to return to a land that had caused him
considerable pain, but he courageously returned as a different kind of servant.
Patrick is known for legendary acts of amazingness and
clarity. Of course there is the shamrock. Patrick is known to have taught the
concept of the Trinity using the three-pronged leaf. Each its own, but without
all three it would cease to be a shamrock. (Ah. A little St. Patrick’s Day tradition
related to Patrick).
Another legend tells of St. Patrick carrying a wooden staff on
his return to Ireland. When he entered a certain town, he leaned on it and by
the time the people believed what he had to say, the staff had taken root right
at that spot.
With lessons like today’s, and by that I mean those about
snakes, I must mention the most famous legend about our patron saint. Legend
says that snakes disturbed Patrick during a 40-day fast, so he chased them permanently
into the sea. Scientists tell us that the most amazing part of this tale is
that snakes attacked Patrick while he was in Ireland. There is no evidence that
snakes existed in Ireland, not in the present day or at the time of Patrick. (Source)
Of course, Patrick is known for chasing out evil from Ireland and replacing it
with the love of God. Patrick overcame his hatred from his time in slavery by
returning to Ireland in love.
And that is what John tells us about raising the bronze
snake in Numbers, it got rid of the ill will and replaced it with love of God,
it was salvation for the people. And John compared the raising up of the bronze
serpent, with the raising up of Jesus. Only by doing so, could God provide the
confidence of eternal life for all. We
look to the sacrifice of Jesus as the greatest of all gifts, and one that is
already given.
I want to point to one thing that Patrick is known for that
I hope will continue to seep into the mission of this parish. As is the case
with many successful missionaries, Patrick was known to adapt and interpret the
Word of God for the people he met in Ireland. He discovered that the way things
worked in Britain or in other parts of the world, didn’t have the same
connection with the people to whom he ministered.
St. Patrick’s is a parish in the Episcopal Church. The
Episcopal Church is known for being able to flex to the changing culture. To
understand that God is greater than anything that we have ever known and that
there is no way that we can know everything about God. If we are to follow and
live into the example of our patron saint, I pray that we will continue to discover
new ways to live out God’s mission in the world. New ways to carry the message
to people who have yet to discover God’s power that exists in each person’s
heart and connects us all into one body.
That is the gift that God gave us in Jesus, that we could
see that God exists with us and for us, around us and beneath us, like the
verse from St. Patrick’s Breastplate:
Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win
me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ
in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in
mouth of friend and stranger.
If this parish can live into that ability to learn from
those we encounter, discern new ways to love, and new ways to serve, and new
ways to worship that will let others into the experience of God, then we will
truly be living into the example of our patron saint.
It isn’t about eating our young, it is about learning from
them. Meeting them where they are, loving them with everything that we have,
and understanding that transformation of them and us must take place if we are
going to continue sharing the gift of God with the world. It is about raising
up the love of God as a beacon to the community.
That is a big task. It is a task that demands as much from
us as the people of Ireland once demanded of Patrick. We can do it together
with God’s help.
The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard (kurt@stpatrickschurchdc.org)
St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church (www.stpatrickschurchdc.org)
Lent 4B and Feast of St. Patrick’s
March 18, 2012
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