March 5, 2017 - Lent 1
Tempting
Why? It is the insatiable question
of a child. The maddening interrogation we sometimes receive from toddlers that
almost never ends satisfactorily.
“Can I have
a cookie?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“It will
spoil your supper.”
“Why?”
And as much
as you might be thinking about calories, nutritional value, and all the other
reasons to not give the kid a cookie – you know each answer you give will be
followed with, “Why?” until you wish you had either just given her the cookie
or answered, “Because I said so!”
Well, it’s
not just children who ask, “Why?” is it? There is deep curiosity in us and we
often wonder, “Why?” about many things.
“Why do bad
things happen to good people?”
“Why is the
news always bad?”
“Why do
people who love one another also hurt one another?”
“Why did my
dad, wife, son, cousin get cancer and die?”
“Why does
my heartache never seem to end?”
“Why am I
never satisfied?”
“Why?”
I want you
to take a look at our first reading, the one from Genesis. In front of you, you
have an answer to a lot of the “why” questions we ask.
It would be
easy enough on this first Sunday of Lent to take apart these 3 lessons and
point to how these readings work together in a way that fists the theme of Let
which focuses us on Jesus’ suffering and passion to redeem sinners. But to do
so might miss an important point – an essential lesson – we might learn by
asking, “Why?” And specifically, why did God reveal these events to Moses to
write it down for us?
This
reading is here to show us why we are sinners, and the explanation begins with
the serpent. The text says that the serpent was crafty (עָר֔וּם),
and much has been made of that, but this is probably a play on words. You see,
the last verse of chapter 2 says, “And the man and his wife were both naked and
were not ashamed.” The word “naked” in Hebrew is (עָרוֹם).
It’s a comparison. Adam and Eve were naked (עָרוֹם)
and not ashamed – holy and innocent – and the serpent was crafty (עָר֔וּם) – meaning that there is more going on here than just a talking
snake. There is an enemy in the garden who is crafty and who will attack the
innocent ones.
He uses a
question – a question we still wrestle with today: “Did God actually say…?” In
this case the object of the question dealt with eating forbidden fruit from a
tree – an act of obedience requested by God. Today the object of this question
might be how we treat immigrants, our attitudes about sex, our habits of
worship, tithing, and many other things.
Do you
see what the serpent is doing? He’s trying to get them to question, to move her
away from God’s Word, to choose autonomy (self-rule) over obedience, to move
beyond being a mere creature to become like God. In short, he was tempting them
… and I say “them” because v. 6 tells us that Adam was there for all of the
whole conversation.
They were
tempted to become like God, and by choosing to disobey God, they became less
like him than they had ever been. And look at the consequences. They knew they
were naked – their innocence was lost. They became afraid. They turned on one
another. They turned on God. And God cursed the creation on account of them.
And they would die.
Brothers
and sisters, this is our heritage. This is where we came from, and as the
saying goes the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. We still question God’s
Word and doubt it. We still long to be a law unto ourselves in defiance of
God’s Will. We still turn on one another. We still fear. We still know this
sense of naked shame in the presence of God. We will all die. And the earth
groans under the curse we bring upon it as we abuse it, pollute it, and use
that which we were supposed to tend in ways that destroy it.
Why? Why
is the world in the condition it is in? Why are our political systems such a
mess? Why is there such disparity in poverty and wealth? It is because of the
events of Genesis 3. These events are like the rolling of a boulder down the
mountain side of time – and now, all these years later – it is a full-on
landslide of sin.
There is,
however, another, “why” this text prompts us to ask. In v. 15 God says to the
serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring (literally, “seed”) and her offspring; he shall bruise (batter,
crush, strike) your head, and you shall bruise (batter, crush, strike) his
heel.” He is saying that one day a descendant of Eve – a son, grandson,
great-grandson – somewhere down the line would take this same serpent on, and
even though he will be wounded in the process he will crush the serpent and
undo the evil he had done.
Why?
Because God still loves his fallen children. Because God … still … loves … us.
And so we
read of Jesus facing the devil in the wilderness. And what is the devil doing?
He tempting Eve’s great, great, great, etc. – grandson. And instead of
wondering, “Did God actually say?” Jesus states, “It is written.” He stands
firmly on God’s Word. And Jesus overcame the one tempting him.
He would
overcome him again on the cross when in innocence he suffered and died for our
sins. And he will overcome him and utterly crush the serpent – the great dragon
of Revelation – when he returns to rescue us from this sin-stained world and to
bring us to live in innocence with him forever.
Why?
Because he loves us. Amen.
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