Fourth Sunday in Lent March 26, 2006

Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-21

In psychology, we cannot heal from dis-eases until we acknowledge they are part of us. We must take a long, hard look at our “shadow side.” Newspaper headlines provide ready examples: evil feeds on the denial that it is present. When we refuse to own the shadow-side of ourselves, we give those “shadow-selves” more power to do harm. That is the engine that powers sin.

In the story of the bronze serpent, God’s prescription for the toxic snakebites required that the people look at the bronze image of the very thing that made them ill in the first place. They could not be cured without taking a long, hard look at the source of the poison. In the passage from JOHN that refers to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, Jesus echoed this: “all who do evil hate the light” (John 3:20, NRSV). Not wanting to have their deeds brought to light, those who do evil run away from taking that long, hard look.

Many have become too used to the crucifix as an ornate religious object, and no longer relate to its horrifying brutality. It was the most shaming and terrifying punishment the Roman Empire could inflict. A crucifix ought to function like a bronze serpent, causing one to focus on the human sinfulness that led to the crucifixion of Jesus, the model of the godly life. To take a long, hard look at a crucifix is to see that sinfulness. To really look hard at that sinfulness is to begin to be redeemed from it.

The serpent and staff was a cross-cultural symbol in the ancient world, associated with Mercury, the messenger of the gods of Greece and Rome, and carried by Aesculapus, a healer credited with being the first veterinarian. It is still a common symbol for medical professionals, known by its Latin name, the caduceus. The caduceus appears in the insignia of another healing profession: it is painted on the side of every New York City Sanitation Department vehicle — all the garbage trucks!

It has been said that “practicing forgiveness is like taking out the garbage.” You can’t possibly do it once and have it over with. You must keep doing it. You have to see that the garbage needs taking out before you do it; and if you don’t do it and it piles up, then it festers, smells bad, and attracts all sorts of unpleasant things. Taking out the garbage is an act of healing.

Take a long, hard look at your spiritual “garbage” and then do your chores. Look on your own “bronze serpent” and live. Come from the shadows into the light. It’s the healthy thing to do.

This week’s Reflection was prepared by Lisa Bellan-Boyer, who serves as a writer and consultant for the American Bible Society and is an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies and Humanities at Hudson County Community College and a Research Associate of the Harvard Pluralism Project.