JUST TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT IT - DON'T LOOK AWAY!

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

John 3:14-21

If you have ever been in the hospital or flipped through the phone book looking for a physician, you’ve seen the image – two winged serpents wrapped around a staff. It is known as the caduceus. The caduceus has been the symbol of the American medical profession for nearly a hundred years – a decidedly odd symbol for doctors until you begin to investigate where it came from and its underlying meaning.

This ancient symbol of healing, referred to in today’s gospel, is a reference to a story in Chapter 21 of the Book of Numbers – our first reading today.  In their trek across the desert from the slavery of Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land, the People of God underwent all sorts of trials and troubles. The one mentioned today is their plague of biting winged serpents. After praying for delivery from this awful plague, God instructs Moses to make a bronze image of the same serpents, put them on a pole and invite the people to take a good hard look at it. When they looked at it hard and long, they recovered.

Now this may sound like some kind of voodoo magic, but it isn’t! It’s primitive psychology! All you nurses, doctors, psychologists and mental health professionals, listen up now to this truth! What Moses did here is still good practice! What he is saying here is that the road to healing is always through facing the problem and looking at it squarely. Failing to look at problems squarely is the best way to keep them going!

The worst thing you can do, if you have a mysterious lump on your body, is to pretend it isn’t there! You need to pay close attention to it and have a professional examine it carefully and as soon as possible. The worst thing to do is to look the other way and pretend that it isn’t there! Healing begins with noticing.  

The worst thing you can do, if you or one of your friends or relatives has a drinking or drug problem, is to look away and pretend that it isn’t there! Reality must be faced squarely and help must be sought as soon as possible. The worst thing to do is to look away and pretend the problem does not exist! Recovery begins with facing facts squarely! That’s why people in AA must first of all say to themselves and others, “I am an alcoholic!” before their healing can begin!

Moses didn’t put it this way, but this is what he meant – all of us need to “wake up and smell the coffee” in several areas of our lives! As a culture, we are addicted to our denials. Whatever it is, we need to open our eyes and take a good hard look at reality and quit going to sleep just because it is comfortable and feels good for the moment!

And, yes, on a spiritual level, looking at Jesus dying on the cross – looking intently at it and understanding what it means – not looking away and not avoiding our responsibility in considering its implications - is the path to our eternal life as well! Looking at Jesus on his cross will help us understand that Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to save us! All we have to do is look at him on the cross, believe in him and his love for us and we will be saved. Just as the people of Moses’ time looked at an image on a pole of the serpents that were killing them and recovered, we can look at Jesus on the cross and recover from what’s killing us - our sins!

 

My sisters and brothers, today’s readings are about facing ourselves, facing our addictions and owning them, facing our shabby treatment of others and owning it and, yes, facing our sins and owning them. It is about taking a long, hard look at reality as a path to healing and forgiveness! As Jesus himself said, “The truth will set you free!”