Sermon for Lent 1A Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19

February 17, 2002 The Rev. Beth Ernest

Many denominations have creeds, that is, statements of belief that must be adhered to, or laundry lists of articles which must be accepted. Not so in the Covenant. The Covenant has "affirmations," which mostly affirm beliefs in line with Protestant reformation and historic creeds without being legalistic about it. Affirmations of the Covenant Church include, among others, "the centrality of the Word of God," that is, the Bible and "the reality of freedom in Christ." That is, Covenanters believe whole-heartedly and whole-mindedly in the Bible as that which shapes the believers "faith, doctrine and conduct." Believers need to know their text. By the same token, Covenanters recognize that people who study and learn Scripture and apply it to their lives, will also differ from time to time, in how to interpret what they read and come to believe. There is freedom in interpretation. Theological hair-splitting has never been a Covenant thing. Living a life of faith is a Covenant thing.

And so, when we read texts like Genesis, people may well differ about what that means. Were Adam and Eve factual people? Was the world created in 6, 24-hour days? Was the snake the devil? Is this how evil entered the world? Though good questions and worth discussion, one’s faith need not hinge on such things. I don’t believe it did for the Hebrews who accepted these stories as sacred text, thousands of years before modern science was begun, before philosophy bloomed, or before the Covenant was even thought of.

Let’s see if we can put ourselves back in that time and look afresh at Adam and Eve.

Imagine you live in a barren, snowy wilderness. There are no ploughs, snow blowers, or salted gravel to make getting around easier. Winds blow, making life cold and the earth hard as stone. The growing season is extremely short, for darkness is upon you for several months of the year. During the times when there is a thaw, black flies and mosquitoes swarm. When summer comes, it is often extremely hot and either rains too much or too little so your crops come to nothing. When you do try to farm, rocks of all sizes rise up from under the earth’s crust. Imagine, if you can, such a place, where survival takes all your energy, a place where neighbors and other family members also squabble about what belongs to them and how to get it.

Then imagine a travel poster of a rich, fertile paradise. There is rain, but not too much. The weather is shirt-sleeve and bathing suit year round. Forests and lakes abound. The beautiful animals and fish that live there are just waiting to hop into a frying pan for you. God talks and walks directly with you there, in your copious spare time. There are no tensions, no problems, no need to look to one’s own needs, for God has already adequately done that. In short, it’s paradise, and the livin’ is easy.

I think the contrast between these two scenarios might approach the longing that the Hebrews had when they heard the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. There were the Hebrews—trying to eke a living off a barren land (in their case, a hot, sandy, rocky land). Six days a week was taken up with survival. On the seventh day they rested, exhausted. But they could picture an oasis, an oasis so huge that you’d think Sam Walton had designed it. Instead of the daily grind of difficulties, problems, faults, sins, and desires, there was an innocence, a closeness to God in the garden. Surrounding the Hebrews were cultures with other gods and idols, like a sun disc or a beast, that took no personal interest whatsoever in humanity. But in the beautiful paradise, Eden, God walked with the human beings he had created, talked with them, and advised them personally. The Hebrew people beginnings were in such a place as Eden, which defined what God created human beings to be and defined the relationship God desired to have with his creation.

But something happened, something went wrong, and they were expelled to earn a living in exile. The humans ate from a forbidden tree. Exactly how and why that happened is subject to some debate. Who was to blame and what eternal consequences their actions had is disagreed upon. Was it Eve’s fault for listening to the serpent? The serpent’s fault for tempting Eve? Adam’s fault for not putting a stop to at least his own participation? And why did God put such a tree in the garden anyway? Why point it out and then forbid it, as if to put a shining object in front of a toddler and say, "don’t touch!" Why make it a bad thing that the human creatures should know the difference between good and evil? Or, why give humans such freedom to choose in the first place, if disaster was to be the result?

What were the results of disobeying God?

Innocence lost.

Harmony shattered.

Personal relationship with God broken.

Adam and Eve alienated from their own selves as they found themselves naked and ashamed.

And we know that if we keep reading, we find Adam and Eve sent from the garden to work for their sustenance, men tilling the ground, women laboring in pain to bring forth children, their partnership put at odds by their disobedience.

God had said they would die if they ate of the tree, in fact, the implication in the Hebrew is that they would drop dead, but this does not happen, at least, not right away. But the easy life of Eden in close relationship with their loving creator, is dead.

I remember memorizing the Covenant Catechism back in my confirmation days. We had to stand and recite it in front of the church. My class was terrible at this—I think we were a huge embarrassment for Pastor Eldon! But some of those questions and answers stuck with me. One question was, "What is sin?" The answer was, "Sin is all that separates us from God."

What we witness here in Genesis, the book which means "Beginnings" is a separation from God. Sin does that. And sin comes in the form of disobedience to God’s commands. Even those commands we don’t understand. Even those decisions which we think are going to lead us to greater wisdom, but end up leading us into exile.

Some theologians say that this is where original sin comes from. Eve "fell" in the garden, and henceforth, we are all born into a sinful existence. Some theologians go even further, and say that this sin is sex, since Adam and Eve suddenly found themselves naked. And some extreme views even point to Eve as the gateway to sin and hell, thus forever damning women (whom Eve symbolically represents) as the inferior sex. It is interesting that the Old Testament never mentions such ideas. Human sexuality, within the confines of marriage, is portrayed quite positively. Women often have identity issues in the OT, but they are also often portrayed as strong and faithful. Some are wily characters, but no more so than Jacob the trickster, or Abraham, or Saul, or Samson…!

As far as sin goes, the OT takes for granted that we do and will sin, yet can be capable of great faithfulness and obedience. Both are realities of the human condition. But it is only to the rarest of people, like Abraham and Moses, that God is present in a similar way that God was present with Adam and Eve in the garden. Humanity is separated from God. Hence, we do live in sin, which is by definition, all that separates us from God. Sin is unavoidable—as is our separation from God. Like the pairs ice skating last week in the Olympics, the deck is stacked. Our best efforts are in vain. We do not live in the garden, nor can we get back there by ourselves. The way back to that innocence, and that close relationship to God has to come from some other path.

The law given to Moses helped to give order, structure, and a picture of righteous living but it could not undo what had been done. The law was also cumbersome and impossible to fulfill.

Throughout the OT, there are predictions and prophecies that point to the one who will come with the message and the means to get back into relationship with God. And in the gospels we read of One who came directly from God, because he was God, to conquer sin’s deadly grasp on us forever. Though we continue to sin and disobey God, the effects of death are reversed by Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul was a rabbi, who, in good Jewish rabbinic fashion, he takes the story of the garden and elaborates on it. And, as the first great Christian theologian, he interprets it through the lens of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul describes how sin came through Adam—notice he lets Eve off the hook—but through Jesus Christ the rift is repaired, healed, and made new. A new beginning is given to us. Whereas Adam was disobedient, Jesus Christ was obedient. Whereas Adam’s way lead to death, Jesus Christ leads to new life. Whereas Adam’s actions brought judgment and condemnation, Jesus Christ’s actions bring justification, that is, making things right between God and humans. Whereas Adam’s sin opened the floodgates to further, unavoidable sinning, Jesus’ obedience brings righteousness to many.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ act as an antidote for the effects of sin and its power over us. Instead of being driven away from God, we are now given a way to return to God, and so we have a new beginning, a new Genesis.

I once heard it described in this way: When we were created, we reflected God’s image beautifully, like in a mirror. But human disobedience shattered the mirror. When trying to see God or see ourselves as children of God, the image is distorted. But Jesus mends the mirror, allowing us to again become whole in God’s presence.

We might be tempted to believe that God gave up on humanity between the garden and the coming of Christ. Such is not the case. Even as God drove Adam and Eve from the garden, he remained with them. God has never forsaken humanity, just realized our limitations. God repeatedly reached out in forgiveness and encouragement, and continues to do so. That we now have a way back to God is even more evidence of his love for us, bought by the suffering and death of his own Son. This gift is a gift of grace, a free gift, undeserved, unearned.

I began by talking about Covenant affirmations, those core beliefs Covenanters value and hold true. Another one is this, "the necessity of new birth." In other words, we have a new beginning, a new birth, when we turn from sin, asking forgiveness, and turn to God instead. It is belief in Jesus Christ’s act on our behalf that makes this possible.

Probably everyone here has heard some dramatic story about how a great sinner was brought to his or her knees and accepted Jesus Christ. Of course, that happens. And the angels rejoice. More commonly, regular people with the typical list of pain and hurt and sin and brokenness find that there is something missing, something empty, something "not whole" about their lives. It was Pascal who once said that inside of us there is a God-shaped vacuum. And Augustine who wrote this prayer, "You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you."

When we come to God in Jesus Christ we are not sent back to live in a lush garden of beauty. Our lives are not made easy, nor do we find that we do not need to work for our own needs. But when we come to God in Jesus Christ, our hearts find rest, for they have come home.

May God lead us all into a closer relationship with him. May God fill the vacuum within us with his immeasurable love and grace. May God bless our new beginnings. Amen.

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