Sermon: Fallen Promise
Perfection to Imperfection
Today we begin a new series looking through the Old Testament to some of the key stories which make up the history of God and creation. God and humanity.
As we start over we go to the beginning of it all.
Creation. Purpose. Existence.
Why are we here and what are we to do with it?
Genesis has two versions of the creation story.
Two similar yet different interpretations - because let's face it, who really knows? There wasn't anyone there to record it for all humanity!
today we hear snippets from the creation, and the first people set in the Garden of Eden; they were designed perfect. Innocent. They were given charge over Eden; all creation was there and they wandered freely. There was just one condition; but, the condition created temptation, and temptation drove them beyond Eden out into the world.
In the biblical story temptation comes in the guise of a serpent; a wily creature with the power of speech who is able to give voice to the internal argument we all experience every time we are tempted. And temptation can be good as well as bad; a wee treat; a moment of calm in a fraught day – temptation to pause; to stop; to enjoy; to relish. This is all in our vocabulary – and of course the temptation to stray…
During the week I read a question that bright me up short for a moment. In the biblical telling of the story God says, if you eat the fruit you will die the same day.
Yet they did not die - so was God lying? Can God lie?
After being a bit nonplussed, I came to these conclusions.
First: it's allegory! We cannot know for sure the detail. This is more about humanity’s relationship with the creator than the ins and outs of what Adam and Eve did.
Second: they did not die the same day, but they were expelled from Eden the same day. They did lose eternity the same day. They did move from perfection to imperfection. They lost their innocence. Suddenly they knew. Everything.
They knew good and evil. They knew right and wrong.
Innocence died in that instant.
Third. And this is an answer from a colleague which resonated beautifully. God as creator is our parent. As parents we tell our children to do or not do something, if it's important and for safety it may be a stern warning, even a wee threat attached.
Don't do it, you'll die, is the threat. But it doesn't mean if they do it, we are going to literally kill them. We forgive them. We may remove them from the treat, take away the toys. Punish the offence. But we don't stop loving them, caring for them, what we want is for them to thrive, to grow to learn.
Thus it is with God too. Innocence was lost. Knowledge was gained which would have far reaching implications. And that first implication was the realisation that they were naked and needed to cover up. The second implication was the desire to hide from God, because the knowledge also told them what they had done was wrong.
Wrong as wrong could be.
That simple act of giving in to temptation has far reaching implications. God could have left those trees out of the garden – not put the temptation there at all. God could have not created the wily serpent. God however wanted them to be able to make choices; wanted humanity to work out for ourselves the difference between good and bad; right and wrong; to choose God or not.
Here we are today. In a world where people still sin, still lose innocence, still seek to outwit God and others.
Evil is in the world.
We cannot deny it.
There are those of us who will remember exactly what they were doing 15 years ago today. And already, there are those for whom today is just another day and they have no idea what anniversary it is.
Fifteen years ago today the world was changed forever.
An age of innocence died when those men chose to take control of and fly those planes to New York and Washington DC.
Suddenly, the violence of extremism became a reality rather than a theory, or something that happened to other people in other countries.
And in the fifteen years since that day extremism, terrorism has become a stark reality in the western world.
From Paris to Syria; from London to Egypt Westerners have become targets. Travel has changed; security checks, what you can and cannot take with you – on 11th September 2001 innocence died. And the world was changed forever.
In some ways of course it was not new; it was not the first terrorist attack ever; it was not the first large scale attack in the world. It wasn’t even the first in the USA; but it was different – for this was not a lone voice, protesting, planting a bomb or opening fire; this was the first coordinated multi targeted attack on US soil; it was the first to play out live in TV – in that moment everything changed. Fears were born as people died.
Mistrust on a scale never before seen
Arrests and imprisonment of people because of what they wore – which marked them out as being of one particular faith and suddenly the imperfect world become a little more imperfect
Suddenly the colour of skin; the family name; where you worshipped God became factors in whether you were trustworthy or not
So…. Before we begin to spiral down into a pit of despair – let us pause.
Because, we are still here.
Humanity continues to live and love; children are born; lives go on. Temptation is a reality we all live with every day
God is still with us; Eden is somewhere on the horizon
God made us to choose. We are all made in God’s image – this doesn’t mean we look like God; it means we have potential: to love and care; show compassion; help others; protect life – my lasting image from that day 15 years ago is not the collapsing towers and other terrible images; it is of the first responders; filthy, exhausted but still helping; still searching – and then in the following days all of those who travelled to New York however they could to join the bucket lines; they were tempted to help.
The world may be imperfect – but in this imperfect, fallen world are people who are prepared to step up and reflect God’s light in the darkness – and that give me hope.
|Sunrise over the Forth JMR2013|