Echoes of Eden



This sermon is the last one in the series considering chapters 1-3 of Genesis. Is the Garden of Eden just a fairy tale... or might it be the symbol of one of our deepest longings? When I preached this sermon in church, it resonated with a number of people who heard it. Maybe it will touch something in you, as well.

 

Over the last several weeks, we have considered the creation stories that are told in Genesis. We have watched in wonder as God spoke the universe into being, carved out a space for us to live, and created humanity in his own image. We have listened to God tell us that our job is to “till and keep” the earth; and pondered the relationship between man and woman, the partner who “corresponds to him.” We watched those first humans eating the forbidden fruit as they tried to improve their status to be “like gods;” and saw the disastrous consequences of that action. This morning appears to be the end of that story. God has expelled those human beings from the Garden of Eden to make their own way in a hostile world.

But… is it really the end of the story? Actually, it is only the beginning of a long story that isn’t even finished yet. It began in hope as two children, Cain and Abel, were born. It continued with God choosing Abraham and Sarah to be the parents of God’s special people; and liberating their descendents from Egypt in a great Exodus. Those people were gifted with a land and leaders – some wise, others not so wise. When those people were conquered and dragged away in Babylon because of their foolishness, God stayed with them, and brought them back to their homeland once again.

But throughout the whole story, God’s people knew that they weren’t really where they belonged. Their homeland of Israel was only just a taste of their real home. Every now and then, one of the prophets talked about it. Isaiah described a place where there will be no more tears, no more death, and abundance for all; a place where the lion will lie down with the lamb, and humans will be reconciled with all creation. We know about that place, too. It’s the place where we want to be; the home that is so deep inside us that we’ve all yearned for it at one time or another.

C.S. Lewis, 20^th century essayist and novelist, tried to describe it:

“[There is] something that you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires… night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for…. You have never had it. All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it – tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should ever really become manifest – if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself – you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt, you would say, ‘Here at last is the thing I was made for.’ It is… the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. While we are, this is.”

Yes, our deepest desire is to be where we belong. And when we hear faint echoes of that place, we know it! We’ve all felt those echoes in one way or another. Some of us feel them best in nature when we see a sunset, a rainbow, one drop of dew on the red velvet of a rose. Others feel them through great art or music – the tragic grace of Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture, perhaps; or the magnificent chords of Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony. Most of us feel them in the profound silence of a cathedral. Surely, we feel them when we are gathered as the Body of Christ, worshipping and fellowshipping together as an extended family. And whether you believe that the Garden of Eden was a real, physical place that existed one historical day long ago; or whether you believe that the Garden is a symbol for a world uncorrupted by sin – it comes to the same thing. We all yearn for our world as we know it should be, but isn’t. The world that should be is our real home.

The way that we get to that world is through Jesus Christ. That’s why the Messiah came, after all – to get us back where we belong. We can’t get there by ourselves, no matter how hard we try. We need a whole lot of help to get back home. Jesus’ entire life was devoted to showing us what that home looks like, and helping us to get back there. He was born in a stable to show us that the status we yearn for so deeply isn’t really important after all. He showed us through his life of love and compassion what life in our true home will be like. Because we human beings didn’t believe him, and preferred to cling to power and status, he died on a cross. But he rose on Easter morning to gift us with the home that we lost – home right now through our relationship with him, and the promise of home forever on one day yet to come.

You see, when we live with Jesus and in Jesus, we are back in the Garden again. It started with Mary Magdalene on Easter morning when Jesus called her name – “Mary.” Jesus calls each one of us, too, by name, and invites us back into the Garden that is really a foretaste of the fullness of the Kingdom of God. That’s what heaven really is – the home that we thought was lost, restored to us again. The good news is that we’re going there one day when our lives are over. The better news is that we can glimpse it right now when we live in fellowship with Jesus Christ. When we pray, meditate, or do works of mercy and compassion in Jesus’ name, we slip away, even if ever so briefly, into our true home.

Echoes of Eden are really whispers of Heaven. We can already hear them, through the love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the working of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God that through Jesus’ living presence, we are home already. And thanks be to God that through Jesus’ resurrection, we will one day be home forever, never to leave again.

Consequences

What were the consequences when Adam and Eve ate that fruit off the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden? We know, of course, that God expelled them from the Garden; but there were other consequences that continue to affect our lives to this day. In this sermon, some of those consequences -- both good and bad -- are considered. Are there other consequences that come to your mind?

Actions have consequences. We all know that. If you’re hanging a picture and you hit your thumb with the hammer instead of hitting the nail, it hurts. That’s not news to anybody. But sometimes, our actions have consequences that we can’t possibly foresee. If you’re hanging a picture, and you hit your thumb with your hammer, you might fall off the ladder when you throw your hands up and yell “Ouch!” When you fall off that ladder, you might break your leg. Then you will need to take a trip to the Emergency Room and spend the better part of 6 or 8 hours waiting for treatment. All because you wanted to hang a picture. Who could have foreseen that?

The story of the forbidden fruit is the same kind of story. When the man and the woman in the Garden ate the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil, they thought that they knew what the consequences would be. The serpent told them that they would become like gods, because they would know the difference between good and evil. And that’s exactly what happened. When they ate that fruit, the text tells us that “their eyes were opened.” They realized that some things were good while others were evil. They gained the ability to make value judgments. They could now act on the decision “This is a good thing,” or “This is a bad thing.”

But what they didn’t realize is that all of their judgments were limited. They may have been like God, but they didn’t know everything that God knows. We never do, do we? And since they didn’t know everything, “good” and “bad” became distorted. They didn’t know what all the consequences of their actions would be, so they focused on the consequences for themselves. “Good” turned into what is “good for me,” and “bad” turned into what is “bad for me.” Those two little words make all the difference. So it didn’t take long for them to get “good” and “bad” mixed up. Their very first action was to hide from God when he came to the Garden that evening. They knew that they had disobeyed a direct order not to eat that fruit. They knew that God would be angry with them. And they knew that the consequences probably wouldn’t be pleasant. So they hid, thinking that hiding would be good for them. They didn’t know enough to realize that it’s never a good idea to hide from God, regardless of who you are! To make matters worse, when God found them, they didn’t own up to what they had done. Oh, they told the truth – but they told it in a way that pushed the responsibility for their actions off on somebody else. “The woman – the one that you put here with me – she gave me that fruit,” said the man. And the woman, in turn, said, “It’s not my fault. It was that serpent. He lied to me!” Oh, yes – politicians didn’t invent “passing the buck.” It goes all the way back to the Garden!

God’s response is filled with grief. “What is this that you have done?” Can’t you hear the sorrow, the anger, and the frustration in God’s voice? “What is this that you have done?” The question hangs in the air like fog, surrounding all our actions to this day. God knew what the consequences of their actions would be. The peaceful world of the Garden was going to disappear. With our limited perspective, one person’s good often clashes with the good of another. The results are disastrous: jealousy, resentment, hate, violence, and war.

So God laid it on the line for those first two humans, and spelled out what some of the consequences would be. People would have to work hard for their food. The soil would grow weeds and thorns more quickly than it would produce crops. Sometimes, it wouldn’t produce crops at all. And our conflict with the soil would continue until we finally die and are buried in it. The relationship between men and women would be permanently warped. The ideal relationship of mutual love and nurture that God intended would disappear, replaced by one of dominance and submission. And this pattern of conflict would spread like ripples on a pond until it filled the whole earth. Domination, conflict, suffering, and death – those are the consequences that we deal with every day because human beings wanted to be “like gods.” It’s not a happy picture.

But it could have been worse. It would have been lots worse if God had followed through with the original consequences that he had promised. On the very first day in the Garden, God told the human, “In the day that you eat of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil, you will die.” That was going to be the consequence. And so, God would have been well within his rights if he had ended the lives of the man and the woman right then and there. He could have put a tall, strong fence around the Tree of Good and Evil; and then he could have created two other humans, since the first ones were such miserable failures. But God didn’t do that. No, despite all their disobedience, fuzzy thinking, and poor choices, God never left those two human beings. God stood by his creation regardless of their behavior.

Now, we know the end of this story. We know that Adam and Eve are going to be thrown out of the Garden so that they don’t eat the fruit of the Tree of Life and become immortal. But we also know that when they are thrown out of the Garden and into exile, God goes with them. And God is still with us today. We may be foolish, selfish, short-sighted and self-centered, but we are never alone. God stays with us to the very end. Can you hear a whisper from the future, coming from the Gospel of John? “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son… not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

Maybe God’s presence with us is another unintended consequence of that incident in the Garden. After all, when human beings lived in the Garden, they didn’t need God’s presence with them all the time. Life was easy and joyful there; and their relationships with each other and with the animals were carefree. They knew that God was around. They even saw God now and then – in the evening, when God walked through the Garden enjoying that part of his creation. Things are very different now. Now, we don’t see God as often as they did. Some people never seem to be able to see God at all. And we need God every minute of every day. Living outside the Garden, we never know when we will crash into an obstacle that somebody has put in our way, or stumble on a misunderstanding that we thought we had cleared up, or even fall headlong into a pit of despair. Now, we need God to support us – to hold us up when we are falling – to encourage us when we want to quit.

And that’s just what God does, throughout our whole lives. When we’re just little tykes, God tells us the only thing that we can understand – that he loves us. When we get old enough to think that we know it all, God is there to comfort us when we find out how little we really do know. When we are rejected by a friend, a lover, or an employer, God is there to reassure us that he will never reject us, and to offer us a new beginning. And when we see the end of our lives approaching, God is there to take us by the hand and lead us back into the Garden that we left so long ago.

Yes, the consequences of eating that forbidden fruit are overwhelming. Our human ability to focus on ourselves and to mix up good and evil is overwhelming; but so is the steadfast love that God shows us through all of it. In the end, maybe that’s the most unforeseen consequence of all – that despite our sin, God loves us, and cares for us, and promises us eternal life back in the Garden. And thanks be God that it is so!

Incident in the Garden

We all know the story of the man and woman in the Garden of Eden who ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. What were they thinking, anyway? Clues in the text suggest that it was an attempt to lift their status from nobodies to somebodies. Ambition still drives us today. Is that bad or good? These are the questions that I explore in this week's sermon.

Is there anyone who doesn’t know the story of the forbidden fruit? Everyone in the Judeo-Christian tradition knows it. Even people who have never set foot in church know it. God told the first man and woman not to eat the fruit of the tree that grew in the middle of the Garden of Eden, but they ate some of it anyway. And the snake was behind it all, smoothly suggesting that God didn’t really mean it when he forbade the man and the woman to eat that fruit. Sure, we all know that story. But there’s more to it than we pick up with just a casual reading. It’s more than just a story of disobedience. It’s a story that warns us about the glamour of status. When we unpack the story, it tells us a lot about ourselves even now.

So let’s start by taking a close look at that snake. Most people don’t like snakes. When they run into one, they run the other way. But that wasn’t the case in the ancient world. In the world of the Bible, snakes were symbols of wisdom. The symbol of the Greek god of healing, for example, was a staff with a snake twined around it. Far from being feared, in the ancient world snakes were honored. So when the serpent struck a conversation with the woman, she would have been flattered at his attention. And she would have taken what he said very seriously: “When you eat the fruit of that tree, you will be like gods.”

Like gods! Really? That would be a real advance in status! At the end of chapter 2, we read that the man and his wife were naked; and that they weren’t ashamed of it. That little verse is a comment on their lack of status – and on their ignorance about it. In the ancient world, the only people who went about naked were slaves. Everyone who was anybody wore clothing! And the better your clothing, the higher your status. It’s not that much different today. Teenagers would much rather wear Calvin Klein jeans instead of jeans from Sears! What you wear reflects who you are. The man and the woman were nobodies – and their lack of clothing was proof of it. So when the snake suggested that eating the fruit from the tree would make them “like gods,” it occurred to the woman that she would like to raise her status and become like a god. Making herself better sounded like a good idea.

Well, you know what happened. They did eat that fruit, and when they did, they realized that there was a difference between good and evil. That made them want to decide about good and evil for themselves when they made a choice. They didn’t want to just take orders from God any more. But, of course, there were problems with that. They may have known about good and evil; but they didn’t always understand the difference between the two. They certainly possessed more knowledge; but they didn’t always know everything that they needed to know. And they certainly didn’t always understand the consequences of their choices that they made. But their status had changed, and it had changed permanently. So, to show the world that they had bettered themselves, they made aprons out of fig leaves. They weren’t naked slaves anymore; they were something else. They now had a higher status than the animals, but a lower status than God. Oh, yes, that snake was crafty when he appealed to the woman’s desire to better herself.

The desire to become better still drives a lot of what we do. And ambition isn’t always a bad thing! I’m reminded of that every time the Olympics roll around. Athletes who have trained for years to better themselves in their chosen sport perform in remarkable ways!

·         They achieve excellence, like Gabby Douglas who won a gold medal in women’s gymnastics. She was better than any other woman in the world on the balance beam, on the uneven parallel bars, on the vault, and on floor exercises.
·         Some athletes achieve sustained excellence, like Michael Phelps. He is now the most decorated Olympic athlete in history, having won 22 medals over 3 Olympic Games.
·         They achieve despite handicaps. We’ve all seen pictures of Oscar Pistorius, the South African runner who competes on artificial legs since both of his lower legs were amputated as a child.
·         They achieve despite injuries. In the men’s 4x100 meter relay race just a few days ago, American sprinter Manteo Mitchell finished one leg of the race on a broken leg.
·         They achieve even though it may put them at personal risk. Sarah Attar and Wojdan Shaherkani, are the two women who represented the country of Saudi Arabia for the first time in the Olympic Games. They have been repeatedly insulted, and even threatened by conservative Islamic men who believe that women should not compete alongside men.
·         And they achieve even though they appear to have no chance to achieve! Claressa Shields grew up in inner city Flint, Michigan, living next door to drug addicts and crackheads. As a child, she wanted to learn the sport of boxing. Although her father told her boxing was only for boys, she took up the sport anyway. She used worn-out equipment, and sometimes even had to make her own. Her family was the poorest of the poor. She was quoted as saying, “I went without a lot of meals growing up.” What chance was there for someone in those circumstances? But she never gave up; and last week she won a gold medal in the very first appearance of women’s Olympic boxing.

No, there’s nothing wrong with ambition. I am inspired by the athletes of the Olympic Games who work so hard for a chance to prove that they are better than everyone else in the world! But it also makes me wonder what might happen if we Christians channeled our ambition the way that Olympic athletes channel theirs. What if we used our ambition for the good of others? Instead of striving to better our status through big homes, fast cars, and designer clothing, what if we tried to improve ourselves through what we can do for God? We know how to do that. Jesus told us to work deeds of mercy, to share what we have with those who have less, to visit the imprisoned, and to befriend the unloved. What might happen if we worked as hard to improve our Christianity as Michael Phelps did to improve his swimming?

That’s exactly what God wants us to do, you know. We aren’t God’s slaves any longer. In Christ, God has adopted us as beloved children; and made us partners in creating the kingdom that God intends for all creation. But our job is still the same one that God originally gave us in the garden – to take care of the world by nurturing and cherishing it and everything that lives in it. If we tried to outdo each other in following Jesus’ example of love, what might we achieve? If each of us took an interest in just one lonely child, a whole generation might grow up experiencing love as an alternative to hate and violence. If each of us bought just a few extra cans of food for others when we shop for ourselves, food pantries would be full of good things to share with hungry families. If all of us practiced prayer as diligently as Olympic athletes practice their sport, we would live our whole lives in touch with God! Yes, our human ambition got us in trouble way back there in the Garden of Eden; but God can transform that drive into something that can be used for the good of the Kingdom.

We will always want to make ourselves better. It’s human nature. If we would only work to follow in the way of Jesus Christ, we could make the whole world better, as well.

Corresponding to Him

Did God create men to be superior to women? Many people think so; and they quote the Bible to prove it. I'm not so sure! This sermon examines Genesis 2:18-25 to see if there is any support for the idea that men are superior to women. What do you think?

It is said that when God decided to create woman, God first consulted with the man. “If you give me an arm and a leg,” God offered, “I’ll create a companion for you who will cook your meals, clean your home, and run all your errands.” The man considered; and then replied, “I don’t know. An arm and a leg is a lot to lose. What will you create if I only give you a rib?” And the rest... is history!

The relationship between men and women: We cry about it, we fret about it, and we certainly joke about it. The great philosopher Socrates is reported to have said, “My advice to you, young man, is to get married. If you find a good wife, you’ll be happy. If not, you’ll become a philosopher.” More recently, the humorist Will Rogers commented, “There’s two theories about arguin’ with a woman; and neither one works.” Even the science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury put in his two cents’ when he said, “Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.”

But when all the jokes have been told and all the clever lines have been said, we’re left with a serious question: What should the relationship of men and women be? Many people have claimed that one is superior to the other. The early Christian thinker Augustine concluded that women are fit only to bear children. The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas stated that women are defective, while men are complete. And the reformer John Knox stated flatly, “Woman was made for only one reason: to serve and obey man.”

Is that right? Are men superior to women? That is what some Christian denominations teach; and they claim that the Bible supports it. They use texts from both Old and New Testament to prove their point; but the story on which all of their thinking rests is the story of the creation of man and woman in Genesis 2. So maybe we’d better take another look at that story. What does it really say about the relationship between men and women? How does God intend for them to relate?

Some people find meaning in the order in which humans were created. They say that man is superior to woman because man was created first. But that argument doesn’t really hold up when we look at it closely. If you’re going to argue that whatever is created first is better, then what do we do with the story in Genesis 1? Remember that in Genesis 1, men and women were created last. Is that story saying that everything else in creation is better than human beings? Of course not! Genesis 1 says that human beings are created in God’s image, meant to rule on earth in God’s place. In Genesis 1, the best thing in creation – humankind – is created last. The relationship between men and women can’t rest on which one was created first.

But if we look closely at the Hebrew words that are used in Genesis 2, we can find a really big clue as to what God intended the relationship of men and women to be. We find it in how God refers to the woman before she is even created. In verse 18, God decides to find an ”ezer k’negdo” for the newly created human. That’s the Hebrew for what God is looking for: an “ezer k’negdo.” What does that mean? Well, the first word, “ezer,” can be translated as “helper.” But that word “ezer” doesn’t refer to a servant! An “ezer” is someone who is strong: a nurturer and a protector. In fact, the word “ezer” in the Old Testament is most often used to describe God! When Psalm 121 confesses that our “help” comes from the Lord, the One who makes heaven and earth, the word for “help” is “ezer.” No one in their right mind would describe God as the maid! An “ezer” is the help on whom you can always rely.

So if “ezer” means a strong, reliable help, what about the Hebrew word “k’negdo”? Like many Hebrew words, it’s hard to translate. The closest that we can come is that it means “corresponding to him.” The New International Version says “suitable for him,” while the New Revised Standard Version translates it “as his partner.” It’s really a question of status. Someone in the Ancient Near East who was “k’negdo” had the same social standing that you had. “K’negdo” is neither above you nor beneath you. If you put the two words together – “ezer k’negdo” – it describes a social equal who is a source of nurturing strength. If we trust the words that the author of Genesis used, that’s what God intends women to be – partners who are not only the social equals of men; but who also nurture them, protect them, and are a source of their strength.

Of course, we all know that in the Genesis story, this ideal relationship hardly gets off the ground before it is spoiled. When the first two humans eat the fruit of the forbidden tree in the middle of the garden, their equal relationship turns into something very different. We’ll consider that story in a couple of weeks. For now, it’s enough to say that although women are subservient to men, that situation is not what God originally intended.

But in Christ, that relationship is mended. Jesus accepted all people – both men and women – as God’s valued children. He modeled God’s original intent for men and women. In the eyes of Jesus, neither was less valuable than the other. Paul understood this, and reminds us in his letter to the Galatians, “There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Through Christ, the relationship of mutuality that men and women can and should have is restored. We may not be back in the Garden of Eden; but we can live as though we are!

Unfortunately, living like that is hard to do. There are areas of the world in which men are legally in charge, and women have virtually no status. Saudi Arabia comes to mind. Women aren’t even permitted to drive a car in Saudi Arabia! Girls are forced into marriages that benefit their fathers financially; and showing any independence might lead to their being stoned to death. Our own culture even buys into the inequality. For years we have heard that women aren’t as valuable as men. And girls are caught in a cultural bind. On the one hand, the media portrays them as shallow, stupid, or scheming. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just watch one episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. On the other hand, Madison Avenue holds women to impossibly high standards. Have you ever seen an aging, overweight woman – somebody who looks like me – in a clothing advertisement? I didn’t think so. It’s no wonder that little girls grow up not knowing who they are!

Hopefully it’s here, in the midst of the body of Christ, that women can see what God intended for them. It’s here that men and women can live in mutually supportive relationships that nurture both of them. It’s here that men can put down the heavy burden of always needing to be in charge, and let someone else carry their heavy loads for a while. It’s here that girls can learn that they are valuable children of God just as much as boys! Hopefully here, in our congregation, both men and women can learn how God intended them to relate to one another, even as they learn how God wants them to relate to Jesus Christ.

Yes, the relationship between men and women is a complicated, controversial topic. That isn’t likely to change any time soon. And each one of us has to work out for ourselves who we are, and how we relate to one another as women and as men. Maybe the best way for me to end this sermon is the way I began it – with a quote. It’s by Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet. He said, “Let us treat both men and women well. Treat them as if they were real. Perhaps they are.”