Tuesday, March 31, 2020
The Rev. Nathaniel Bourne
Collect
Almighty God, through the incarnate Word you have caused us to be born anew of an imperishable and eternal seed: Look with compassion upon those who are being prepared for Holy Baptism, and grant that they may be built as living stones into a spiritual temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading
Numbers 21:4–9
From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
Reflection
“So Moses prayed for the people.”
“What can we do to be the church right now?” I asked that question to our virtual youth group on Sunday, looking for answers of concrete steps they could take to reach out to our church and wider community. I hoped they would say things like writing letters, making cards, or collecting donations. After a few moments of silence, one of the middle school girls said “we can pray for them.” I was taken aback a bit by the answer at first, and it’s stuck with me. We can pray for them. I was so focused on “doing” and “helping” that I hadn’t considered the power of the act of praying. In our reading today we read this surreal story of poisonous snakes being sent upon the grumbling people of Israel. We could debate the theology of God sending snakes upon the people, or whether a bronze image can function as anti-venom, but I focused on Moses’ response. Surrounded by snakes and the suffering of his people, he prayed. That is one thing we can continue to do to be the church. We can pray. We can pray for the world, the sick, those at risk, our leaders, health care workers, grocery store employees, those who are without homes, the unemployed, and the list goes on. We pray for them not because we know that God will intervene in a miraculous and snake-repelling way, but because we have faith that something happens. We may not see it, or be able to recognize it, but I believe that by holding the world in prayer, we are doing something. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be writing letters, making cards, or offering donations – those things are important too. I hope we can see our prayer as our gift to the world, one of many ways we can continue to radiate God’s love into a world and time that desperately needs it.
Question
Who or what are you praying for today? How will you set aside time today to hold the world in prayer?