After Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea, they quickly began to doubt God and turn away from him. Things became so bad that God actually sent venomous snakes that bit and killed many of them. Eventually God proposed a rather strange remedy. He had Moses make a bronze serpent and hold it up on a pole for everyone to look at. It must have been hard to have to look at the very thing that was causing their death, yet God chose to work a great healing through what seemed to be the instrument of defeat.
In today’s homily, I look at how we often see situations in which a seeming defeat is turned into victory. The United States flags that flew over Ft. McHenry in the War of 1812 and over Iwo Jima in World War II are both physically in bad shape. Yet these beaten up and tattered flags are not symbols of defeat, but of victory.
The cross is the most visible sign of seeming defeat there has ever been. Jesus appears helpless and conquered. Yet we know that the opposite is true. The cross is the greatest sign of victory the world has even known. It means not defeat, but victory over sin and death. This is how God works. He often takes what looks like defeat and turns it into a victory. He will do the same for you. So, don’t be afraid of losing; be afraid of not even beginning to fight and missing out on the sure victory.