Adam and Eve and The Advent Hope

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

November 30, 2003

Text: Genesis 3

The story about Adam and Eve is a classic, not because it is old, certainly not because it gives us a factual account of exactly what happened on a specific day in the lives of the first human beings. It is a classic because it speaks the truth, the truth about all human beings and about each human being. It speaks the truth in story form -- a story so simple, a child can understand it and yet so profound, we never outgrow it, regardless of the degrees we have earned, and the wisdom we have attained. It is a classic story because it speaks the truth about our lives.

Adam and Eve are not merely the first humans, nor are they merely imaginary characters in a profound folk-tale; at the deepest level, each of us is Adam and Eve. Notice, I said each of us is Adam and Eve. In the story they are made of the same stuff. Eve is not really a separate creation. God did not get other clay to make her. In the story she is carved, sculpted, from one of Adam's ribs. This is to say she and Adam are one. One is male; one is female, yet both are made of the same stuff -- the stuff of our common humanity.

In the other story of creation that appears in chapter one of Genesis, the writer not only declares God created humans, male and female, but that he created them in the image of God. (I talked about what this means in last week's sermon.) Our problem is, we forget who we are. We are like the two Alzheimer patients who had been best friends for decades. They were in a special nursing home, and one said to the other, "You look so familiar, but I cannot remember your name." "That's okay," said the other, "I can't remember it either." The simple, profound story in Genesis 3 is the universal story that describes both how we lose touch with who we really are and the consequences of that loss.

In that story the problem begins with questions of exaggerated alarm. "Is it really true God does not want us to enjoy life? Does God forbid us from enjoying any fruit in the garden?" In response we humans, like Eve, often rush to the defense of God. "Of course God does not forbid the enjoyment of life. There is only one tree's fruit we are to avoid." Like Eve, we exaggerate what is expected of us: "If we even touch that tree we will die." Then our exaggerations are countered with half-truths, we totally believe. "That fruit is not poisonous. In fact, it's really special. When you eat that fruit you will be like God, you will be wise; you will know all that's worth knowing, (or as the Bible puts it: you will know good and evil)."

So we who have been created to live in the image of God, say to ourselves and to the world: "Is it right or fair for God to put up boundaries? Has God given us freedom only to take it away? Shouldn't we be allowed to experience as much as we can, and to express ourselves freely? After all, our eating this fruit is not going to hurt anyone; besides, it not only looks delicious, we are assured that eating it will make us truly self-sufficient; we will know good and evil." When sin presents its sales pitch, the focus is never on the cost but rather on how wonderful, how enjoyable, how profitable, how marvelous this opportunity is.

In the story, after Adam and Eve had done what God told them not to do, their eyes were opened. But what they saw did not give them a sense of peace or joy or well being. They became aware of their vulnerability, or to use the metaphor from the story: they saw they were naked, totally exposed, vulnerable. How human. The more we humans lie; the more we are aware of how vulnerable we are to others who would lie to us. And our lying distorts our ability to trust. The more we humans cheat or cheat on each other, the more we live in fear others are cheating or will cheat. The more we fail to live as God intends, the more society is undermined, and the more we are aware of our vulnerability and the more we live in anxiety and fear.

Is it any wonder Adam and Eve tried to make themselves less vulnerable, less exposed? They made loin cloths out of fig leaves. Have you ever felt a fig leaf? And how durable are fig leaves? Our attempts to protect ourselves from the consequences of our sin are about as effective as trying to make clothes out of fig leaves. Adam and Eve tried to hide their vulnerability in fig leaf clothing.

The story goes on to tell us that when they were aware God was near, they were afraid. Trying to avoid the consequences of their sin, they tried to hide from God. And so do we; after all, who among us wants to face the scrutiny of Truth when we know we have failed to live as we should. Little wonder we are involved in cover ups, deceptions, evasions, hiding. So it was with Adam and Eve. But their attempts to hide from God were about as successful as our attempts to hide from the Truth. Just as they were found out, sooner or later, so are we.

And when our misuse of life comes to light, most of us do exactly what Adam and Eve did. We blame our mess on someone else. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve not only blamed the snake; she even tried to place part of the blame on God. After all, if God had not made the snake, none of this would have happened. Of course, all our excuses and blaming of others cannot undo what has been done nor can it stop the consequences. What we did, we have done; and it cannot be undone. We cannot go back to the way it was before. Toward the end of the Garden of Eden story, after God had expelled Adam and Eve, God placed a guard at the gate because there is no going back. What has been done, has been done; it cannot be undone; and the consequences are inescapable.

Genesis 3 uses poetry in describing the consequences. Whatever else that poetry conveys, it tells us that life as it is now, is not the way life could have been. And that is the way it is with consequences of sin; life as it is now, is not the way it could have been.

God's grace does not undo what we have done. God's grace does not give us a "do-over," as if we had never violated God's will. What we are given is what we need to deal with the consequences. Toward the end of Genesis 3 we are told God provided what Adam and Eve needed to live outside the Garden; God knew the fig-leaf clothes they had made to protect themselves from being so exposed and vulnerable were inadequate; and so God clothed Adam and Eve, for living outside the Garden. This is the way it is; God's grace provides what we need to live in this post-Eden world that we humans have brought on ourselves. God does not abandon us or wash his hands of us. God chooses to remain involved with us, providing what we need in the midst of the mess we have created.

This amazing faithfulness of God is the thread uniting all the stories in the Bible. Regardless of how often we humans have repeated the rebellion of Adam and Eve, God refuses to give up on us.

This is what Advent is all about; it is the proclamation that there is hope for us, even in the midst of our mess. It is the hope of God coming among us to reclaim us and redeem us and convert us from the way we are to the way God intends us to be. This hope proclaimed in Advent is not merely a daydream or empty wish that evaporates in the heat of real life. It is the hope that is rooted in the amazing mystery of God choosing to become one of us, facing what we face and even more, and doing this in order to demonstrate the depth and extent of His love and His determination that we become the persons He created us to be, living as He intends -- in a loving and obedient relationship. This is not some fantasy wish. What Advent proclaims is hope that is confident expectation. It is the confident expectation that God's grace made known in Christ can and will empower us to live as God intends, even in the mist of the mess we humans have made.

God, forgive us for failing to live as you intend; keep our focus on Christ coming into our lives so we will be able to live in the midst of our mess with the confident faith we also call hope. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:

God, too much of the time we live in the hectic rush of planning this, doing that and worrying. Slow us down, Lord. Even when we pause to rest or when we try to worship, our minds go whirling out into future agendas. Our heads are filled with so much chatter, it is difficult for us to listen to those close to us, much less Your quiet voice. Focused on our list of things to do, we run past the possibilities you give us each day. Forgive us for being so centered on desires and fears that we miss the opportunities you give us each day for experiencing the abundant life Jesus talked about. Forgive us for being so preoccupied with ourselves we do not even notice the gifts of grace you place in our path. God, help us live our lives, one day at a time, one hour at a time, one moment at a time. Help us lift our focus from ourselves so that we are able to see, really see, our neighbors and in the process begin to sense Your presence in our midst. Help us to live as Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: "Our Father ...."