February 19, 2005

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  I gave my first sermon at St. Peter's this past Sunday, 2/13.... this is the basic bones of the sermon, but since I don't read from the notes or even refer to them during the sermon, the delivery was much more informal... v. different but the same.... lol a couple from my first parish, Holy Cross, came...a couple from beacon (bethany and ryan) as well... craig and helena from group (v. cool since they are Jewish)... and of course donathan and my m.i.l.... bethany so could not believe i said "sex" in church, lmao... and i asked craig how he and helena would feel about me saying YHWH during the sermon, but they were ok with it - craig was surprised that i would even ask him becz he wouldn't expect anyone to change their religion for him, but i told him i would never be religiously imperialistic again... so here it is - hope you like - but regardless, lmk, ok? Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25-3:9 Psalm 51 Romans 5:12-21 Matthew 4:1-11   To understand the importance of the Genesis text, we need to come to an understanding of the nature of the sin committed by the first man and woman...if, as (the passage from) Romans tells us, all sin came into the world from this act, it becomes imperative to understand this sin - what was so heinous that God's only reaction could be the eviction of humanity from paradise? from the very presence of the living God, for the story plainly indicates God dwelled there also? and why would God care so much?   first, to give us a hint as to the “why”, there is the interesting construction of the name for God. in the first creation story found in Genesis, chap 1, the name “God” is Elohim, which is a formal term, and suited for the telling of a tale of cosmic scope.  however, this passage uses Elohim combined with the true name of God, Yahweh, as in LORD God.  this true name of God is found wherever and whenever the covenant between God and israel is invoked, so the writer appears to be intentionally linking the God of covenant, Yahweh, with the God of creation, Elohim - quite appropriate for this more intimate tale of the creation of God's people. this also points to why God would care about the sin of these first humans - God is making a covenant with them, a sacred pact, which they are to break...   next, the “what” -- the act that is forbidden is to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  there is quite a lot of discussion about the nature of this tree, and why knowledge and the pursuit of it would anger God.  Scholars throughout the years have formulated five basic theses: the fruit imparted actual knowledge about good and evil > this is inadequate.  The tree of life offered immortality, a province reserved for God, for divinity.  The implication, therefore, is that a similar restriction, a reservation to God, applied to the knowledge of good and evil, which doesn’t stand up and has little/no scriptural support. the fruit imparted moral discernment > it is absurd to assume that humanity acquired this faculty only after eating the fruit, especially since an ability to discern  between good and evil, right and wrong, is implicit in God’s warning not to eat the fruit. the fruit imparted sexual knowledge > there is no hint anywhere in Scripture that sex is wrong for humanity or that it is reserved for God, quite the opposite. the fruit imparted omniscience > at first glance this is logical, since good and evil make up the whole, like heaven and earth, except that Adam and Eve did not gain omniscience as a result of consuming the fruit, only shame and a recognition of their nakedness. the fruit imparted wisdom > although wisdom is seen as one of the highest pursuits humanity can attain, wisdom literature (such as Job & Proverbs) makes it clear that there is a wisdom that is God’s sole preserve, which one should NOT aspire to attain.  To pursue this knowledge without reference to revelation is to assert human autonomy…to neglect the fear of the LORD, which, according to Prov 1:7, is the beginning of knowledge, by deciding what is right without reference to God’s will would be a terrible sin indeed.  It would be the rejection of God, Godself, and the punishment could only be the separation of Creator from creation. And so the primordial couple is cast from Eden.   If the OT reading points us to the “why” and the “what” of our condemnation, Psalm 51 gives us hope that the LORD will reconcile us in the end.  While acknowledging that it is in acts of rebellion and waywardness that we have sinned, the psalmist asks God to cleanse and restore us, to return us to God’s presence and to restore the joy of salvation.  If we only agree to return from our willful ways and restore wisdom to its rightful place, allowing the will of God to decide right actions, then we will be welcomed since “a broken and contrite heart, o God, you will not despise.”  But how is this hope to be realized?  If the first sin was so heinous that it forever drove a wedge between Creator and creation, how can this rift be healed?  Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans how Yahweh tried to rejoin with God’s people by making covenant with them during the time of Moses and the Exodus, but the people had hard hearts, and never truly succeeded in keeping the Law of the Lord. So, God broke through into human history once and for all by becoming incarnate within Mary, Theotokos (qeotokos) the God-bearer, who bore Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.  By this one act God brought God’s kingdom directly into our world, and by Jesus dying on the cross, brought salvation and reconciliation into God’s creation. Even though the single sin of Adam and Eve brought the death of separation from God to all creation, the single reconciling act of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross covered all the many acts of wanton rebellion, cruelty, and sin perpetrated before and after that sacrifice.  It is this gift of God, of God’s Son, that is powerful and righteous enough to compensate for all of the evils that plague God’s good creation.    The kingdom of heaven is at hand – Shalom is here, we just must work towards its realization.     How does one work with God to bring about this reconciliation, this kingdom of heaven on earth, this Shalom?  By every little act that we do or don’t do.  During his sojourn in the wilderness, Jesus recognizes that more is at stake than simply succumbing to temptation.  Jesus is rewriting the paradigm of Exodus – whereas Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years and ultimately succumbed to temptations and fell away from Yahweh, Jesus is called to exemplify obedience to the will of Elohim Yahweh under the pressure of severe testing and at the cost of self-denial.  The goal of obedience to God is accomplished, not by triumphal self-assertion (the sin of autonomy committed by Adam and Eve), not by exercise of power and authority, but by the way of suffering, service, and humility.  We as God’s people are called to self-sacrifice, for it is in taking care of others that we can reconcile them to each other and ultimately to God.  We are called to humility, for we realize that all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God.  Obedience to the will of the Almighty alone is the measure of true discipleship, and it is God’s will that all should ultimately be reconciled – all creation within itself and to its Creator.  We can only accomplish this by relying on the example and help of Jesus – only Jesus succeeded, so he must be our guide.   Homework assignment: to go out into the world with eyes open to opportunities to bring about Shalom.  We all have within us a propensity to sin, but it has been overcome by the atonement made once and for all by Jesus Christ.  Therefore we need to refocus our attention from what is wrong within us to what is right about God’s good creation.  All around us are people needing healing, needing a friend or a helping hand.  As we respond to the needs of other folk, we help them to see the face of Jesus in us, and thus we become God’s hands in the world.  We need to bring the love of God to the world, to help reconcile all of the world to itself, and finally to God.  Only then will we know real peace, true Shalom.

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