Genesis 3:1-13October 8, 2017
Matthew 4:1-11Pastor Lori Broschat
DID IT HURT WHEN YOU FELL?
When I was in seminary I took a class on the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. My professor was a very cool guy who allowed us to do our assignments in creative ways if we chose. For the lesson on Genesis 3, the story of Adam and Eve, I drew a picture of a snake and gave names to each of the verses, starting with Infiltration by the Enemy, the Truth, the Whole Truth but Not Quite the Truth, Going, Going, Gone, and If I’m Going Down, I’m Taking You with Me. I titled the project “Where are We Going and Why Are We in This Handbasket?”
It’s not meant to be a funny story, the origin of evil and sin in the world. It’s a tragedy, not a comedy. As a Christian martyr said, “The Bible does not claim to provide information regarding the origin of evil but to bear witness to its character as guilt and unending human burden.” We should understand that burden because we bear it to this day.
Joan of Arc said, “I would rather die than do something which I know to be a sin or to be against God’s will.” That’s quite a mission statement, but then Joan had a rather dramatic life. We don’t often stand and defend our belief in God, although we do fight an enemy. The same force of evil trying to extinguish our force for good exists in the world we live in. It’s not folklore or myth or legend. Evil is real.
We know what the first sin of humankind was, how Adam and Eve disobeyed God with the help of a tempter’s smooth sales pitch. What we may not know is that there is a second sin that gets us in just as much trouble. It has been said that the second sin is even more dangerous than the first because it prevents us our recovering from the first. It is the sin of excuses – the unwillingness to admit that we are wrong and the refusal to see ourselves for what we are.
When we become guilty of the second sin, the sin of excusing ourselves and of being unwilling to face ourselves, we close the door against God and hope.[1] Witness the creation of the second sin at the moment when God confronted Adam and Eve about their sudden discomfort with being unclothed. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”
Covering your tracks, passing the buck, shifting the blame. Common traits of humankind from the very beginning. Newlyweds Adam and Eve decide to test the limits of God’s command to keep their hands off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Once the deed was done they realized why God didn’t want them to eat from the tree in the first place. They now knew both good and evil, and it wasn’t a comfortable experience.
One sin led to another, Adam threw Eve under the bus and then she followed suit by blaming the serpent. Curses followed, one for each of them, and even God’s good creation would be damaged, the land left unyielding and harsh. They were banished from their paradise and would be forever scarred by sin.
We’re all familiar with the fall from grace, but how aware are we of the pervasive nature of God’s grace within the story of Adam and Eve? Not content to leave them with their pathetic fig leaves for modesty, God provided animal skins to clothe and protect them. His banishment may seem a final judgment, but the dominant element is grace. The man and woman have alienated themselves from God, but God refuses to be alienated. It’s very difficult to end a relationship with someone who will not let the hurt be terminal.[2]
God’s grace clothes us. We can’t escape the truth that sin will cover us as well as a result of this complication of bad decision. We are all Adam and Eve. Their guilt is our guilt. Their shame at their sudden recognition of nakedness and vulnerability is all of ours. We share in their guilt, but we have an option B, a way out, a second chance to coexist with an almighty God and still live.
There are ways in which we bear our nature for sin right on our sleeves, out in the open for everyone to see. We don’t always have the decency to hide in the bushes like Adam and Eve. We may not feel we have the privilege or the luxury of hearing God’s voice calling to us like a concerned parent. God was not calling out to Adam because He was angry, but because He knew something was wrong.
He needed to hear from them what happened. You parents and grandparents understand. When a child is guilty, even if you know exactly what they did, you need to hear them confess so they can learn from the experience. There is now a trend among pet owners to post photos on social media of their cat or dog beside a sign announcing their misdeeds. It’s called Pet Shaming and it ranges from the humorous to the rather unpleasant.
I want to share a somewhat complex explanation for our predicament as human beings. “Before the fall there was no conscience. Not until their separation from their Creator are human beings separated from themselves. Human beings now really live by their own good and evil, by their deepest separation from themselves.”
Kind of depressing to think about, isn’t it? If we would have simply avoided sin and disobedience we would have remained blissfully unaware of the feeling of separation from God. Now, however, we are also separated from ourselves; that is, we can subconsciously or unconsciously check out of our awareness of right and wrong.
As if that wasn’t bad, here’s another viewpoint for you to consider. Sin is always and ultimately related to God. While sin has devastating societal, relational and physical ramifications, the central problem of sin is that it offends and incurs the wrath of God. Sin is a personal attack on the character and ordinances of God.
Inherited guilt and corruption leave every person completely unable to save himself or to please God. There are six ways this pervasive inability affects everyone. Until God intervenes with his sovereign, gracious, saving power, mankind is totally unable to: repent or trust Christ, see or enter the Kingdom of God, obey God and thereby glorify Him, attain spiritual understanding, live lives pleasing to God, receive eternal or spiritual life.[3]
Anyone feel like they need a hug? It’s a lot to take in, but we know there’s hope. Still, we need fresh eyes to really clarify why we do what we do. What motivates us to sin? Ultimately it is the force of evil, whatever name we give to it. We can take away from Adam and Eve, as well Jesus’ temptation in the desert by the same person a certainty that we have been hearing that same voice in our ears for a while now.
We’re so used to this voice we don’t often recognize its source. David was real acquainted with the speaker. In Psalm 32 he poured out his emotions about disobedience. Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. You may be surprised to learn this is a psalm of thanksgiving, not one of lament. David was genuinely rejoicing for his experience.
When he did not confess his sins, life was miserable. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Ever had that feeling, like your guilt was eating away at you, even impacting you physically? I once heard a cheating spouse say he was so relieved when the truth came out because he had been drinking Pepto-Bismol for months.
Not everyone is able to own up to their guilt or their opportunity for grace. As one of my favorite modern psalmist sings, “While the priest just sits and weeps, lamenting the fact that he can see darkness and light in so much detail, he has given himself over, refusing what he knows to be real. He turns away from every meal, starving himself of goodness, he doesn't think he can heal.”[4]
If he were here today David would tell us that there is good news for those who confess their sins. Confession brings forgiveness and it brings healing. We can be forgiven, we know that, or we should, but do we understand the healing God offers to us? Sometimes if you break a bone it will heal by itself, but it might not be as strong. If you want a successful healing you often need intervention by a surgeon or therapist. Though it may take longer the result is much better.
The human factor touches nearly every mistake we make, every wrong word we say, every act we come to regret. We know it comes with every willful sin. We can’t escape it. We have to own it. Just like the Pet Shaming photos, God has a view of us when we are disobedient we cannot deny. He sees us in all our uncovered glory, vulnerable once again.
When all is said and done, we know that the God who means us to grow has put us into a risky world, surrounded by influences both better and worse, and that we cannot shift responsibility but must make our own creative choice. We know as well as Adam did that alibies will not work. The God we must meet at the end of the day will not be put off by references to other people’s sins or by complaints about the universe. When he speaks it will not be in terms of they, or it, but you.[5]
We continue to fall from grace over and over, yet we will never completely fall out of God’s grasp unless we let go. Grace will never fail us, unless we throw it back in God’s face. Not all denominations share this doctrine, but John Wesley believed we can lose our salvation. He did not believe in once saved, always saved. He understood God’s gift of free will to be just that, free to use for good or for bad, even to walk away from God forever.
Salvation is the restoration of the relationship between God and His best work, humanity. He made us a little lower on the scale of magnificence than the angels, quite a bit less powerful, but able to engage in true relationship with Him, to invite Him to occupy our lives and our hearts with His love and His Spirit.
We know, of course, that salvation is not possible through any other means than the blood of Jesus. Like a regular donor, He willingly gave His blood for our sake. We didn’t ask Him to do that, because humans would have had no idea such a thing was possible, nor would they understand that His blood sacrifice would have had any more permanent effect than the blood of animals on the altar.
It was knowledge only He and His Father possessed, knowledge that was passed on after His seemingly fatal end. Now here we are, recipients of the knowledge of God’s grace, not to mention the grace itself. There is something to be said for holding on to that hope when we are so sick of our own sinfulness. It takes less strength for that than it does to refuse to give up our sinfulness.
I’ll close with a word from C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity, “In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that, and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison, you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
1
[1]Kalas, J. Ellsworth, Old Testament Stories From the Backside, pg. 16
[2]Kalas, J. Ellsworth, Grace in a Tree Stump- Old Testament Stories of God’s Love, pg. 11-12
[3]ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version, pg.2530
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[5]The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 1, pg. 507