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Part One
Part Two
Luke 11:4 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who sins against us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
Genesis 2:4-7 In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up– for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; 6 but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground– 7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:15-17 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
Genesis 3:1-8 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. 8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Creation and Fall
The summer is over and school has started. Here in our church we are back in our sanctuary. This Sunday we are celebrating Rally Day which is the start of our church calendar year. It is a time to reassemble or “rally” after the relatively quiet summer of vacations.
It is also the start of the year for the Narrative Lectionary. I like to work with this lectionary because it is a four year cycle, one year for each gospel. It also starts off with Genesis and goes through the Old Testament until Advent.
This morning we start with the second creation story. The first chapter of Genesis is the majestic, eagle’s eye’s view of creation. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God speaks and things come into being. God creates from nothing. We could call it a God’s eye view because it is told from the perspective of God.
The second chapter of Genesis is different; it is a closer view of creation, a more down-to-earth view. In Genesis chapter 2 God gets His hands dirty. We are told that God formed the man from the dust of the earth and breathed the very breath of life into him. Consider the intimacy in this act. Picture God forming and shaping the first human and breathing into the human’s nostrils the breath of life and, we are told, “the man became a living being.” God planted a garden and placed the man in it. God formed the birds and animals and had the man name them. But for the man there was not found a helper to be his partner. No creature was a suitable companion for the man. God put the man to sleep, took a rib from the man’s side and created woman as Adam’s partner, as his companion. The chapter ends with the words, “and the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.”
At the end of the second chapter of Genesis we have the wonder of creation. We are told in the third chapter that God would walk in the Garden at the time of the evening breeze. God would visit with the man and the woman. I love to picture that. To be in a garden filled with beautiful flowers and warm breezes. To be ble to freely eat from the trees. If I close my eyes I can see it in my mind. Imagine yourself in the Garden with me. Wouldn’t that be glorious? And God would come and talk to us there. How wonderful it would be to know God this way. The love, the intimacy, the relationship that could be.
Then comes the most tragic event in all of history. The Fall. The serpent asks the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the Garden’?” The woman answers, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the Garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the Garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” Now remember, the woman had not yet been created when God told the man not to eat from tree in the middle of the garden. We are left to assume that the man must have told her what God had said. The serpent now puts doubt in her mind. “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”
Or let’s put in another way, the serpent said, don’t trust God, God is trying to trick you. I know what’s really going on.” God wanted trust and God wanted obedience. Instead of trusting God Eve listened to the voice of the serpent. It says in the text that Adam was with her. But Adam did not speak up, he didn’t say, “No, we must trust God.” Instead, they both ate the forbidden fruit together. At that moment their relationship with God that was built on love and trust was rent asunder.
Their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. It was more than physical nakedness. They were naked before a holy God. Physically, mentally and spiritually naked. Completely exposed.
It’s funny how we feel about being naked in our society. For us, it’s a matter of shame to be naked. How many of you have had a dream in which you suddenly realize you’re naked? I know I have. And what advice is given to those who are nervous about speaking before an audience. “Picture them naked.” I promise I do not do that. Why are we ashamed of being naked? We aren’t born this way. I remember a time when I only had my first three children. They were all under the age of five. I was upstairs taking care of the baby. The other two were allowed to go outside but we had a firm rule that they were to stay in the back yard.
Suddenly my mommy sense started tingling. That feeling you get when you know it’s too quiet and the kids are up to something. I went looking and I found the two of them in the front yard. They had taken off their clothes and were standing there stark naked waving at the cars that went by. They were not ashamed of their nakedness. Young children are comfortable this way but adults are not. We want our clothes to cover us so we are not exposed.
Yet, we are always naked before God. Not only does He see our actions and hear what we say; He knows our very thoughts. The good ones and the bad ones. The selfish, angry thoughts. The times we feel we aren’t good enough and the times we are puffed up with pride. Nothing is hidden from God.
How did the man and the woman react to their awareness of being naked? They hid themselves from God. God who created them, God who provided them with everything they needed, they hid from Him. They tried to hide their nakedness with fig leaves. Fig leaves! Fig leaves cannot hide our nakedness. How awful it is when we hide from God. Or perhaps I should say when we attempt to hide from God. God knew they were among the trees. And God knows where we are. Psalm 139 says, “7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.”
Some might find these words frightening. They tend to view God as a heavenly judge just waiting for them to do something wrong so God can punish them. That is so sad. This is not who God is.
Listen again to the ending words of our selection from Psalm 139. I find these words comforting. “Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.” There is no place we can go that God is not with us. God does not forsake us when we fall into sin nor does God forsake us in the trials and temptations of life. God is always with us, leading us and holding us fast. Our God is loving and steadfast, always trustworthy.
Despite this how often do we turn from God? We seek our identity from other things. Our position. Our pride. Who has the biggest house or newest car? And then there is always money. Money, money, money. We turn from God and seek the things of this world as if they could satisfy us. If only we would open our eyes and see God, how the things of this world would pale in comparison. There is so much temptation in this world. There are so many things that we can let come between us and our relationship with God. It doesn’t have to be bad things. Even good things can turn us away from God. We need to guard our relationship with God the same way we would guard a precious treasure.
There is a story told about a wealthy man who obviously had no need for pocket change, yet he still took the time to bend over and pick up lost pennies and other coins. Whenever the man found a coin he would stop, pick it up and look at it in his hand, then after standing quietly for a moment, he would then put the coin in his pocket and continue walking. He was once asked about his unusual habit. “Why does a man who has no need for money stand still as though he had just found a gold coin?” The man replied, “When I find a coin I look at the words, ‘In God We Trust,’ and I can hear God asking me, ‘Do you still trust me?’ Once I’m certain that I still trust God more than money I can continue with my day.” Perhaps we should take the time to hear God ask us the same question, “Do you still trust Me; am I still first in your life?” (pause)
We all know the end of this story in Genesis. God punishes the man and the woman; He banishes them from the Garden. But just before God puts them out of Eden verse 21 tells us “and the Lord God made garments of skin for the man and his wife and clothed them.” Despite their disobedience, despite their lack of trust; God still cares for them. So we can look at this act of God’s and see His compassion and His love. They cannot stay in the Garden but God still cares for them.
We are all imperfect people, we are fallen, we sin, that is who we are; sinful, fallen people. What are we to do? Are we without hope?
No, absolutely not! We acknowledge our brokenness and we ask for forgiveness. We see this in our brief reading from Luke. “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who sins against us.” When we ask for forgiveness God clothes us, not in the skins of animals as He did for Adam and Eve but God clothes us in the righteousness of His Son Jesus who died to reconcile us back to God the Father.
Jesus came to restore the broken relationship between humanity and God. Jesus Christ was fully human and fully divine. Jesus crossed the un-crossable divide; His body bridged the great gulf that sin created between humanity and our Holy God. It is through His death and resurrection that we are adopted as sons and daughters of God.
Today we celebrate the Lord’s supper. Jesus told us to do this in remembrance of Him. Jesus was the only truly righteous one. It is His righteousness that is conferred on us when we acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior and turn to Him for mercy. We are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. Our sins are forgiven, we are washed clean and can stand before God because of what Christ did for us. It is Christ’s righteousness that we are clothed in, so we can grow more and more like Jesus every day. Thanks be to God for our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Let us pray. Lord God, grand architect of the universe, Your design of creation is unflawed. Yet we continue to litter your creation with defects and imperfections. Show us how not to destroy, but to create, not to demean, but to uplift, not to hate, but to love, so that your creation may be made perfect once again. Amen.