The temperatures were mild, the wind was light, and the sidewalk was smooth and wide. Nearly perfect. Mary and I have pedaled many miles on the local reservoir path; an eight-mile loop.
We rolled, talked, and then rolled along in silence. At mile six we both glanced up to see a sizable snake stretched across the middle of the concrete path. We gasped a bit and then split apart and hugged the respective side of the path. The plan worked, but the heart-stopping encounter was enough to alter our evening ride.
Drawn to the warmth of the sun-baked sidewalk, the snake left the shadow of the high grass to interrupt the evening. That’s the way snakes operate.
Last evening, in Charleston, South Carolina, a snake emerged from the tall grass. Evil walked into the warmth of Emanuel AME church. An hour later they were counting bodies. An hour later a community recoiled. An hour later the outrage of all civil human beings swelled at the reality that in that moment evil had an address… evil pitched a tent.
One snake… one unthinkable mission. Satan found an ally. Hatred found fertile ground.
The snake is not new. The snake lurks, it slithers, it postures… and then it strikes. For those in its way, the journey is changed forever, and let’s face it, in some ways we’re all in its way.
Four miles later Mary and I were riding on the access road into the park. There, just two feet off the right shoulder was another snake. This one had been crushed… a passing adversary had claimed victory. The threat was gone.
In Genesis 2 we catch a glimpse of evil. It claimed an address. It entered the perfection of the garden. It interrupted the journey. It altered history.
But God wasn’t done. God promised the snake killer. He committed to send a solution. Evil would have a worthy opponent.
The unthinkable had an adversary. The defenseless had a hero. The snake would never have the final word… never. Not in Charleston, not in Sandy Hook, not at Columbine High School, not on the campus of Virginia Tech, not in a tranquil Amish school, not anywhere. The final word doesn’t belong to evil.
In the face of evil; on the sidewalk of life, God sent an answer to the snake. The Word became flesh. Righteousness had a name and an address. The wait was over. Hope had a pulse.
Jesus came. And while the snake still shows its hideous strategy far too often, we know that someday the final crushing blow will come. Road kill with eternal consequences.
Don’t be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil. Stay alert like this, and before you know it the God of peace will come down on Satan with both feet, stomping him into the dirt. Enjoy the best of Jesus! (Romans 16:19, 20 MSG)
With both feet… but until then, grief and pain and tears.
In Charleston, in the very place where the Word of God is preached, the snake came out of the high grass… but evil has an adversary. The crushing blow will come.
Hope through the tears. Perspective in the pain.
Together with Charleston. Forever with Jesus, our snake-crushing King.
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