Sermon - September 16, 2012 - Creation

Genesis 2:1-17 NRSV - Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. ²And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. ³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

⁴These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; ⁶but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— ⁷then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.
⁸And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. ¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹²and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. ¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

 Today, we are focusing on the Creation, the work that God did. God made heaven and Earth, the sea and the dry land, plants and animals and at last man.  And God said it is good. Think about that, you look at a sunrise or sunset with sky that seems to have been painted by a master. Or looking at the landscape to enjoy the rolling hills with the fields of plants that blow in the breeze. These scenes often make you just stop and think WOW.  That’s precisely how God looks at you. God looks at you and says, Wow, it is good.

When you were created, God made you in his image.  God created you precisely as you are and it is indeed good.  Now I know, some of you and even I have said a prayer to God that goes something like this: “Really? Couldn't you do better?  I mean look at this hair?  Couldn't you maybe shave off a few pounds?  I mean look at these love handles, if they are there to show people that I love food, they got the message loud and clear.  I wish I looked more like __________” and you can fill in the blank.  However, this prayer is precisely the very beginning of things. We think that God could have done better and perhaps even we could do better.  So society, we as a collective whole, has given everyone the image that we should all strive for.  We want to be a person who is tall, dark, handsome, beautiful and symmetrical, physically fit, and highly intelligent. 

However, God looks at each one of us as individuals and says, I love this, this is good.  God loves our differences.  God loves our desire to do different work because we were made to do different work.  Work which we enjoy and would not grow tired doing. God created us to be in relationship, people to share this life with and even to be in community and relationship with God.  When Adam and Eve were first created, they were naked.  Now this is precisely how God wishes to see us. Exposed. Baring it all. So the whole world can see and accept it.  With no fear but love for ourselves and our bodies and even for one another.  As a child growing up, they often go through a phase in which they do not want to keep their clothes on. They are fighting because that is not the way they want to live.  They want to feel and experience the world.  They want to feel the sun and wind. They want to roll around in the grass and play in the mud.  

This is how life was in the garden.  Living with God, enjoying creation and loving every minute of it.  Now also after their creation, God spoke to Adam and said, “Do not eat of the fruit of this tree or you shall die.”  This was the first commandment that was given to humanity.  Enjoy all that I have given you but stay away from this for it will hurt you.  Hurt you so much that it will cause you to die. 

However, we don't know how much time has passed but one day, we hear of the Serpent coming and talking to Eve.  That's right, they could talk to the animals. Well the Serpent started talking about the commandment that was given.  By asking questions, doubt was inserted.  Here doubt was used to take a person and cause them to question the very commandment that was spoken to them.  Eventually Eve takes the fruit that they were not suppose to eat and eats it.  Eve also gives the fruit to Adam.  Now for centuries, this has been called, The Fall. The single time a choice was made and an event in human time that we have defied God's commandment.  This event is what separates us from God.    

After eating this fruit, Adam and Eve knew Good and Evil.  They then realized they were naked; they were exposed and everyone could see.  Keep in mind, there is only Adam, Eve and God. What did they have to be ashamed of??  But they got leaves and made clothes for themselves. For when Adam and Eve hear God walking the garden, they hide.  Now think about that, hiding from God.  Can you really do that?

But God comes and does not call them out but instead asks them to join him.  When they come out, he  asked, why were you hiding? Does this mean God doesn't know what happened?  Do you think God the creator and sustainer of all that exists really does not know what happened to his two creatures?  God wants them to stand before him and confess.  To admit to themselves and to him that they broke the commandment that was given to them. For after admitting it, they could understand the reason for their punishment.  And so they were punished, they would be removed from the garden a Cherubim, a powerful creature with 6 wings was placed to ensure that Adam and Eve would not return. They would have to work hard for their food to survive. When they would have children, there would be much pain. Yet the Lord still provides them with clothing and food and even makes sure they are taken care of.  For God still loves them. 

For God is still at work within the creation and sustaining them. After a while, Adam and Eve have two sons.  Cain and Abel.  These two sons were given to be in charge of two aspects of the world, remember there weren't a lot of people running around to be in charge.  Cain was in charge of plants, the vegetation, the things that grew out of the earth that thrived on sun and the rain.  Abel was in charge of the animals, the creatures that worked the land, nurtured it so that the plants could grow strong, and even spreading seeds and food for the plants.  When it came time to offer a sacrifice to God, to give thanks for all of God’s blessings,  God showed that Abel was his favorite. And when one is liked more than another, jealousy arises. Jealousy leads to hate and hate to anger and anger led Cain to murder his brother Abel.  Now God still spoke to Adam and Eve and to Cain and Abel for God still loved them as his creature.  So God speaks to Cain and asks him where is Abel? Cain says that he does not know, he is not his brother's keeper. But the very soil that has absorbed Abel's blood cries.  It cries for the death of Abel and for the life that was taken.  God confronts Cain to get the confession so that Cain may know and admit that he did wrong.  

That same pattern, when we do something wrong, God confronts us and we confess.  That is a pattern that has been going on, will we ever learn?  Will we ever change?  No, for we know of Good and Evil, the best thing we can do is talk about how to deal, accept, and forgive so that we may help one another avoid those things that are evil.   

For even after all of this, God did not give up on his creation.  God is still at work, in, among, and through all of us.  Come back next week and hear how God will work within the world.