Do you remember the restaurant scene from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? The snooty manager wasn’t going to let Ferris and his friends have a table because they didn’t have a reservation. No reservation at that fancy restaurant meant no service. With the help of his friends and some fancy phone work, however, Ferris managed to talk his way in by pretending to be someone he was not. The easier way of course would have simply been to make a reservation. But securing a table at a really good restaurant may mean placing a reservation and a down payment months in advance. There is a little sushi restaurant in Tokyo where you have to do just that, but only after you have met with the owner so that he can eyeball you and decide whether or not he wants you as a customer.
Is that what you had to do for the meal that is being offered here this evening? Did you have to put in a reservation and forward me a down payment for the bread and wine of Holy Communion? Of course not! In fact when it comes to Holy Communion, no reservations are allowed. Martin Luther explains what I mean when he wrote: “Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training [for Holy Communion]. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.” Sure you can make a reservation by telling me that you’re coming to Holy Communion. But you should have no reservations about what is being offered in this holy meal. To find out more, let’s turn to our sermon text from Numbers 21.
What does the bronze snake incident have to do with Holy Communion? Well let’s get our bearings first before we answer that question. Moses and the Israelites had been trudging through the wilderness for close to 40 years. The end of their journey was near, but the challenges continued. The Israelites had hoped to take a short cut through Edom, but the king there would not allow it. This forced the Israelites to travel through a hot, dry, wilderness known as the Arabah. Even today the Arabah is not a place you venture into lightly. Not long after they arrived there the Israelites began to complain about the lack of water. But God miraculously provided water by causing it to gush forth from a rock that Moses struck (though he was supposed to speak to the rock, not strike it).
Although their thirst had been quenched, they soon had another complaint: lousy food. They were talking about manna—that bread-like substance God rained down from heaven every morning. They used words like “light,” as in not very filling, and “detestable” to describe God’s gift. You can understand the Israelites’ frustration can’t you? If you had to eat manna or even pizza every day for 40 years, you’d get sick of it too. That’s only normal.
But wait, from God’s response we see that complaining about his gracious gifts is not “normal,” it’s abnormal. It’s sinful. Likewise the world may think that the death of thousands of babies a year through abortion is normal, it isn’t. Just as same-sex marriage is now seen by many as normal but isn’t. And neither is it normal for husband and wife to break their vows to one another, or for children to talk back to their parents. These things may be common, but they are not normal, not according to God’s holiness. And so we should never get comfortable with sin any more than we ever get comfortable with someone running a red light. For sin is just as dangerous to ourselves and to others.
To emphasize this truth with the Israelites in the wilderness God sent poisonous snakes in their midst. God let the Israelites suffer in this way not so much as a punishment, but as a call to repentance. God wanted the Israelites to realize just how dangerous and harmful their sin was. You can’t repeatedly run red lights and think you’ll be fine. Sooner or later your life is going to end in a tragic crash that could have been avoided. The snakes then were like the police who chase down red light runners—not because they enjoy handing out tickets, but because they want to stop behavior that would have lasting harmful effects.
And it worked! The Israelites confessed to Moses: “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us” (Numbers 21:7). And Moses did just that. He prayed on their behalf even though if I had been Moses, I would have been a bit skeptical of this confession. Were they truly sorry, or were they only repenting because they were in a lot of pain? But Moses sets the example that we are to follow. He took their confession at face value, forgave, and pleaded on their behalf. May we be as quick to forgive as Moses was, refusing to hold a grudge against those who have harmed or spoken against us.
And God was as quick to forgive as well wasn’t he? He told Moses to do something quite unusual to provide healing for the people. Instead of giving Moses medicine to administer, God told him to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. He promised that all those who would look at that snake would be healed. There may have been some Israelites who refused to do that because it sounded like dumb idea. How could looking at a bronze snake heal anyone? Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to look for a plant or something that could provide healing before it was too late?
Just as it seemed foolish to look to a bronze snake for healing, many people today think that it is foolish to look to Jesus and expect to be saved from sin. It’s just seems too easy. Many think that there must be a better way to ensure entrance into heaven, or at least there must be other ways to get there besides looking to Jesus. Yet just as looking at the snake was the only way the Israelites could be healed, so looking to Jesus is the only way we can be saved from sin. Jesus made that clear when he said to Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him…Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:14, 15, 18).
If you think that looking to a Jew crucified on a cross 2,000 years ago is not a reasonable way to receive salvation, consider this. A man was telling his friend about his years as a sea captain on a treacherous stretch of water in the English Channel. Many boats had sunk on that route and many lives lost. “Weren’t you ever afraid of drowning?” the captain’s friend asked? “No,” he replied, “I don’t know how to swim.” “But wouldn’t that make you more afraid of sailing those waters?” his friend asked incredulously. “No, because when you get dumped in the water and you can swim, you’ll try to strike out for shore and invariably drown. As I can’t swim I just cling to the wreckage and wait for help.” Friends, that’s God’s remedy for sin. Just cling to the wreckage that is the cross and you will be saved. Don’t try to swim to the shores of heaven on your own because you won’t make it.
The way God dealt with the Israelites using the bronze snake reminds me of how God deals with us through the Sacrament. Sometimes people ask how the bread and wine of Holy Communion can give us the forgiveness of sins and salvation. Well, how were the Israelites healed from their snakebites? Did the bronze snake itself heal the people, or was it their faith that did the trick? Neither! What healed the people was God’s promise.
Now while the bronze snake only represented a real snake, the bread and wine doesn’t just represent Jesus’ body and blood. It really is the body and blood as we have learned from other sermons in this series. Don’t have any reservations about this! Just as the Israelites were healed when they looked at the bronze snake because God said they would be, so you can be sure that the bread and wine is also Jesus’ body and blood for the forgiveness of sins because Jesus says it is.
But should you really partake of this holy meal? I mean many fancy restaurants won’t let you in if you’re not wearing a dress, or shirt and tie. You might be dressed to the nines outwardly this evening, but what does your life look like on the inside? Oh I’m sure it looks a lot like the Israelites’ record of morality. Like they, we too are chronic complainers. Like they, we have broken faith with our God and with one another. So perhaps we shouldn’t come to Communion until we have fixed our life. No, what’s our theme this evening? No reservations allowed! Your sins don’t disqualify you from coming to this meal—not unless you have started to accept those sins as “normal.” But if you are bothered by your sins, if you don’t want to continue in those sins, then come. Come boldly, confident that you will receive what God has promised to provide here: forgiveness and a fresh start. It was with that kind of confidence that the Israelites were to look at the bronze snake, and not with an “I-don’t-know-if-this-will-really-work” kind of look. Likewise don’t come up here with fingers crossed. Come with open hands ready to accept what God promises you will receive: his love, his forgiveness, and his strength!
While Ferris Bueller didn’t have a reservation to that fancy restaurant, he had no reservations about his ability to secure a table. God wants us to have that kind of boldness too when coming to Communion, not because we are deserving or are smooth talkers, but because he himself graciously invites us and bids us not to be afraid to approach his throne of grace. For here we receive that which we need to stand before a holy God: we receive Jesus’ body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. This is most certainly true. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
List at least three facts about the Israelite journey through the wilderness.
Explain: Complaining about God’s gracious gifts is not normal, it’s abnormal.
Agree or disagree? Explain. God sent the snakes to bite the people as punishment for their complaining.
What was noteworthy about Moses’ and God’s reaction to the people’s cry for help?
How is the bronze snake like Jesus? Give at least three answers.
How does today’s sermon text help you make sense of today’s sermon theme? (Holy Communion: No Reservations Allowed)
