Sermons during the season of Lent

The Rev. Marc Eames

Lent I

March 5, 2017

The story of Adam, Eve, and the serpent is one of the great stories not only in our scripture but also in world literature. The story can be funny, and it reveals some key insights about human nature from our curiosity, to our anxiety about the future, to our aversion to taking responsibility when things go wrong. Some people from inside and outside the church have criticized Christians for overemphasizing this story. The critique is not without merit, but I think this story is very important.

Modern psychiatrists have shown through many studies that we tend to remember the beginning and the end of stories with the greatest accuracy. Everything in the middle is just details. The fact that this story appears so early in scripture helps prove how important the Biblical authors thought this story was. You could argue that the compilers of scripture were just going in chronological order. That is true, but there is no reason it would have to be that way. The Bible is out of chronological order all the time. Ancient Christians knew 1 Thessalonians was written before the letter to the Romans. However, Romans is more important, so it was put first. The Qur’an is almost in reverse chronological order. Genesis did not have to be first if the authors did not want it that way.

My favorite part of this story is certainly the second half when we witness a caught and guilty Adam blame all his problems on “that woman” and God for giving her to him. Eve, for her part, blames the serpent. This is a moment that reveals what the pattern of human sin looks like, but the first half of the story, which we read today, is also filled with wisdom.

The Hebrew word for serpent and the Hebrew word for crafty are very close. There is a little Biblical wordplay that is lost in the English. The serpent was a dangerous, crafty creature that could leave you naked, or exposed. In English, we have a similar saying. When someone was craftily taken advantage of in a deal, we say that he “lost his shirt.” Even in English, we carry this idea that a crafty person could leave you exposed.

The serpent was clearly a dangerous creature. Most people in the ancient world had dirt floors in their homes. A snake could easily get inside. When you were paying attention and walking along a path, you would encounter a snake wirily. The human and the snake would probably both back away, not wanting a fight. Snakes know that humans can be dangerous, too. If a human is not paying attention though, they could stumble into a snake nest and be killed. Likewise, if a human was sleeping in their homes and moved suddenly startling a snake, the human could be bitten and die. If a human encountered a snake while alert, the snake probably posed little trouble, but if the human was not watchful, the snake was extremely dangerous. It is this attitude that the original author of this story seems to have. Later Jewish and Christian writers turn the snake into Satan. The question of if that was a justified move, we do not have time to get into today. Just know that the snake was not originally associated with the devil.

A quick word on genre, or the literary category of this story. This story was not meant to be read like a history book. The story is a fable. It has a talking snake. Ancient people did not think that animals talked and the point of the story is not to conclude that paradise is like a Disney movie where animals communicate as humans do. A talking animal helps signifies the literary genre of a fable, and like in all fables that means the story is going to have a moral, or morals. This story has a lot to teach us about the nature of humanity and our relationship with God.

The snake begins his conversation with the simple question that Eve cannot answer with a simple “yes” or “no”. “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Eve replied, “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.’

You will notice that Eve doesn’t get God’s command quite right. God doesn’t say anything about touching. The Biblical author may be making a very subtle point here. God did not give Eve this command directly. He gave it to Adam. Adam must have told Eve. He either did not convey it perfectly, or Eve misremembered it. Interesting that this point about transmission of God’s purposes is being questioned so early within our Holy Scriptures. We don’t have to wait for a modern secular reader to point this out. It is on page 3 of my Bible.

Perhaps because she does not get it quite right, the Serpent questions her understanding of God. “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 and evil.”

The serpent is not entirely wrong here. The serpent is crafty and he knows that death can have many meanings. He is correct that God will not immediately kill Adam and Eve for taking the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But there is a Spiritual Death that they will undergo. The death of their innocence, and the death of a part of their relationship with God, though not the relationship entirely. The craftiness of the serpent is fully displayed by the sowing of the seeds of doubt.

Many have written and questioned over the years what is the original sin? What is the first sin that Adam and Eve commit? Many have argued that it is pride and disobedience, and I don’t disagree with many of their points. However, I believe the most accurate way of describing the sin is a lack of trust in God, or in other words, a lack of faith. Eve ultimately did not trust that God was looking out for her. This tree was supposed to give wisdom as she understood it, and she was ready to grab it. This shortcut backfires for Eve.

The Biblical author is intentionally careful with the words that follow, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food.” Eve knew that the tree was good, and, of course, she did. God made it good, Eve was good. Eve already knew what was good. She had the knowledge of good. She had a relationship with God. She just did not have anything to compare good with, so she thought she needed more wisdom. She did not trust in God’s plan and this leads to doubting herself. Mistrust leads to mistrust. She felt that she needed this fruit. Her interior monologue then jumped to the passive voice. “It was to be desired to make one wise.” Who is doing the desiring? It suddenly feels like everybody’s doing it. The fruit has gone from something she hardly noticed, to something she wanted, to something that she desired and needed to have. She took the fruit and she and Adam ate; their eyes opened, and they knew that they were naked.

The word sin does not appear in this passage, but it is all around. Sin brings shame, self-judgement, and fear. I believe the original sin is lack of trust in God. That sin wasn’t the eating of the fruit, it was the decision to eat the fruit. Eve already sinned as can be seen in her interior monologue. This sin immediately brings the fear that she was not good enough. She needed the fruit because it could make her wise. She then eats with Adam and they realized they are naked. Sin then brings shame. God did not desire Adam and Eve to be ashamed of their appearance, only after they sin, do they judge each other as having something to hide. Through their lack of trust, Adam and Eve have permitted fear, judgement, and shame to enter their lives, and you will notice that God has been silent.

This fable teaches us not that sin is somehow genetic but that there is a pattern of sin that we share. The Adam and Eve story shows what sin looks like. Lack of faith in God leads to an overemphasis on the self which leads to fear, judgement, and shame. Adam and Eve decided that God could not be trusted, and they must rely on themselves for everything.

In relying on themselves, they immediately make a misjudgment. They assumed that eating of fruit of the knowledge of good and evil would make them wise, but it, instead, showed how foolish they were. They already knew good, they did not need to know evil to be wise. God never said that the tree would make them wise. Eve thought so. But the fear, or awe, of God is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom can be attained through the knowledge and love of God. Through experiencing this world in God. No magic fruit can give you wisdom. There are no shortcuts in life.

One reason we retell this story today on Lent I is that Adam and Eve are not thrown out immediately. They get a chance to confess their sin, God asked them if they did it. Adam blamed Eve and God, Eve blamed the serpent. God threw them out of the garden, and they still had opportunities to make right.

Our God gives us second and third chances. Even after punishing Adam and Eve, God cared for them, and clothed them. Lent offers us a chance at renewal. We all have had our problems, but God gives us another opportunity to right our wrongs. To be more loving, more compassionate, more patient, and more forgiving people – as God created us to be.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

The Rev. Marc Eames

Lent II

March 12, 2017

Last week, we encountered the memorable story of Adam, Eve, and the serpent. I explained how I think the original sin was a lack of trust in God, or a lack of faith. Today, only in the 12th chapter of the first book of the Bible, we have a great sign of hope, and the reversal of what we saw in Adam and Eve. We see Abram have trust in God, and his faith in God propelled him to action.

Abram grew up in Ur. Ur was part of ancient Mesopotamia in the fertile crescent. The cuneiform writing people that all of us learned about it World Civilization some ****** years ago. Abram’s father Terah was a direct descendant of Noah. His family had settled in the fertile crescent generations ago. It had become their home, but there was some sense that this ancient city south of modern Baghdad in Iraq was not meant to be their home. Terah had this feeling, a sense, perhaps a call, that they had to move west. They had to go to the land of Canaan. Scripture does not tell us why he decided to go, but we know Terah never made it there. He traveled from Ur to Harran. Harran was an ancient city well attested in source documents of the day from Egypt to Mesopotamia, but we haven’t quite located it. It is somewhere in Southeastern Turkey. Terah moved there and settled with his family including the future patriarch Abram.

There are many stories through history of immigrants and refugees pausing at other locations on their journey to their ultimate destination. My great-great-great grandfather was a scot who was determined to get to the United States. Ultimately, he never made it, but he settled in Canada, a place which was easy to immigrate to because it was also part of the British Empire. He worked on a farm in Ontario and his wife gave birth to a son who would eventually be the father to my great grandmother. He moved the family to Brooklyn where my great grandmother was born. He was very proud that his daughter was born in the U.S. where his late father had wanted his progeny to end up. It really moved him. His father was not long dead, and this was a final present to him from his son.

Likewise, Terah never made it to Canaan. Be it age, health, or some other circumstance, the Bible never records the reason. They end up in Harran. Harran is derived from an ancient Akkadian word Harranu – meaning “road”. When I read that in preparation for today, it jumped off the page. The pilgrimage that I will be taking in May is called “el camino” or “the way” or “the road.” The great patriarch Abraham’s father was headed to a place called the “road”. He was on the road somewhere, though he did not finish the journey.

Terah, is someone whom I have thought very little about in life. Who is this guy? Some minor footnote in history? One that the lectionary does not choose to even include in today’s reading. I admit that I had forgotten about him on occasion. His encounter with God was on the road. I don’t know why he ended up there, but can’t most of say the same about where we end up? How did we get here?

My father ended up working in computers. Why? He was being thrown out of the navy with thousands of others post-Vietnam and his career counselor asked, “What do you want to do with your life?” He answered with an age appropriate, “I don’t know.” The advisor said, “Computers is an up and coming technology. Do you know anything about computers?” “No.” “Ok, well give it a shot.” That is how my father started his career. I think most of us can relate. We tend to fall into things. Few of us follow our five-year-old urge to become a space explorer, or become the next batman. Though I do own the Batman mug – “I am not saying I am batman, I am just saying no one has ever seen batman and me in the same room together.” Even if we advance the ball 13 years later – few freshmen in college become what they originally declared their major to be.

Terah just ended up in Haran. We don’t know why. The answer is probably not that interesting. He just ended up there. He traveled on his way to modern day Israel, and he did not make it the whole way. His family paused and settled. I have a four-year-old and a seven-year-old. It is hard to go anywhere. I can so sympathize with a decision that declares, “We have traveled far enough.” Haran is over 1100 miles from Ur. That is more than twice as far as I am going to travel on the camino, and Terah had to travel with his kids and family. The question of “Why did he stop?” interests me far less than the question of “How did he get as far as he did?” He traveled a long way with everything he had. At some point, he grew tired and stopped. He could not make it. He left it to his son to finish the journey.

God is not always subtle. He spoke to Abraham directly and without great fanfare and identification. God simply says, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” That is the end of the description. Promises follow, but not further explanation. Abraham is to trust in God’s plan for him. I never received an order quite like this, but many of us have done things in our lives that are hard to explain at the time. Why did we make a career move, why did we fall in love with our spouse? Why did we chose to settle where we did?

God told Abram that he would make him a great nation. We read that often to mean the way it turned out. That Sarah, Abraham’s wife, would give birth to a son, Isaac who would be the father of Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. We know that God would eventually promise great things for Abraham, personally, but this original promise is not as detailed. Abraham probably thought that God would use his nephew Lot to do all of this. Lot’s father had died and Abraham was caring and guarding him. Abraham did not have all the information, yet he chooses to trust in God anyway.

I love the line that God uses to conclude this unusual communication, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 55% of the total world population is a follower of the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three look back to this call of Abraham with special reverence. God chose this family to bless all other families of the world. I love that God says, “families” and not “people”. Of course, people is implied, but through Genesis we read about a particular family, not a family in general. God wants us to know that God cares about the specifics – including us. God cares about our family, and our decisions. Not just families in general.

The clockmaker God of the deists that creates the universe, but really cannot be bothered to interact with it, is not the Christian God. God wants us to know that his relationship with one family is a model that can be born out for all families. All families will be blessed through God’s relationship with Abraham’s family. God is a God of all people, but also specific people. Like you. I don’t mean to belabor the point, but it comes up again and again - through the story of Israel through the incarnation, and the work of the early church. God uses specific people to bless the world.

Abram did not seem to think about God’s call very long. Scripture details Sarah’s laughing at God’s plan. Moses insisted that God had the wrong guy. Zechariah doubted God’s plan. I don’t think the Biblical authors were trying to save Abraham’s delicate piety. Lots of people question God’s call in scripture. It is completely normal, but Abram doesn’t. As it is written, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.” Abraham trusted God.

As most of you know, in two months, I will be leaving for France to start my walk to Santiago heading on the same pilgrimage path that has carried believers for the past 1100 years. I am excited to go, but now that I am getting this close, I have been receiving more questions about this plan. A Sabbatical coming from the word “Sabbath” is supposed to be a time of rest, walking more than 500 miles does not seem to be that. This is a fair criticism, though I think a Sabbatical is about resting from your usual work and routine and starting another, as a break. Sabbaticals for priests also should have a strong worship element to it, and I am drawn to movement as prayer. I will be taking much of this time to pray. I am sure that my poor wife will tire of the number of churches I stop and visit.

I do feel called to this pilgrimage sabbatical, and I want to say this now before I leave, so if it is a disaster, you can remind me about it. I know it would have been easier for me to have camped out at the Yale library and read for three months. I certainly thought about it. Some of my colleagues have been surprised I did not do this, but I feel called to walk, and walk with my wife. I will be asking you to write a short prayer on a piece of paper that I can carry with me to Santiago that I can pray every day. I want this to be a prayerful experience.

I pray this goes well, but even if it doesn’t, I think it is the right thing to do, and I encourage you to listen to what you think God is telling you, and try it – even if it sounds out of character. I encourage you to listen to what you think God is telling you.

In Jesus Name. Amen.