A sermon preached at St Paulinus on Sunday 8 July 2007 (Trinity 5), 8am Mass. Readings: Isaiah 66.10-14, Psalm 66.1-8, Galatians 6.7-16, Luke 10.1-11, 16-20 Our readings today contain a verse which is the inspiration for a very unusual religious practice. The verse from Luke: Jesus says "See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions..." Some very small cults or supposedly Christian groups in America and Canada have seen in this verse, and in a similar one in Mark's gospel, an invitation to literally handle snakes. On the basis of 2 verses they believe that Jesus commanded them to deliberately handle poisonous snakes. Their view is that it is a proof of faith – they can do these things without fear of danger because God will protect them. Occasionally it doesn't seem to work. Those who handle the snakes and are bitten and indeed die – for it does happen – are said to have lacked sufficient faith. It's not just snakes either, there are gro
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