Monday, September 14, 2026

Holy Cross Day 

Numbers 21:4b-9 

[From Mount Hor the Israelites set out,] 4b but the people became discouraged on the way. 5 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.” 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7 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. 8 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.” 9 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. 

This passage from Numbers is the first of three readings you will receive over the next few days to celebrate a lesser festival in the church year entitled “Holy Cross Day”. Obviously, by its name, one can guess what the day is about. It celebrates the paradox of the cross, that it was the tool used to murder the Son of God, but has become a symbol of our salvation through Jesus’ death thereon. 

And to set us up for the majesty of that reality, we hear nothing but whining and complaining from the Israelites in this passage from Numbers. Talk about a paradox. Not only are they complaining about this “lifesaving” trip that Moses has led them on out of Egypt to the Promised Land, they also do not care for the food stops Moses chose and God provided! Only when the consequences of their whining catch up with them in the form of venomous snake bites do they repent and seek to make things right with God. 

If we are truly honest with ourselves, we are not that different. We tend to whine and complain about this and that, the only difference being we rarely suffer such severe consequences as death by reptile.  

Here is a challenge for this week: whenever you see a cross, connect with God in prayer, however spontaneous (but do it safely if you are driving 😉). Confess to God about a way you have already whined and complained that day and ask for God’s guidance for you to let it go. But do not hear this challenge as a call to bottle up all with which you struggle and have no outlet for it. Lean on your siblings in faith to bear the load and bring it all to God. Because even when we feel we have no other choice than to whine and complain, God can take it. 

– Pr. Kyle 

Loving God, when we struggle and want to do nothing but whine and complain, give us your Spirit to bring us peace. Encourage us to lay it all at the foot of the cross through which you make all things news. Amen.