Some beginning thoughts for this week's sermon:
The Lord works in mysterious ways, we often say. When we set out on a journey, a plan, it is very very likely that things will not go “as planned.” We still make plans, and move forward in faith, but the reality is that there are bumps along the way. As we move through life, we find that we become more and more aware of the ways that everyone is moving along a journey that is not always smooth, not always as expected, and not always straight and narrow.
When the Israelites were brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, it is likely that they had no idea that they would spend 40 years out there in that tough transitional time. Did God, or Moses, let them know how long the journey would be…? Most likely not, and one can hardly blame them that they got kinda gripy along the way, even though the story doesn’t give them the benefit of the doubt. . . . The people spoke against God and Moses, and longed for the time in Egypt, though they were suffering from forgetfulness. They had forgotten God in their lives, they had forgotten that God is the one who saves, and that God works in mysterious ways. “Your ways are not my ways says the Lord.” So the Lord found this strange way to remind the people that God, himself, was the one who saves, and was the one on whom trust and faith should be placed. God sent poisonous snakes and then gave Moses the means to save the people when they looked at the bronze snake on a pole. The story shows the people that God is the one who saves, and also the one who sent them into the wilderness, and ultimately, will bring them to the land of promise.
