Tag Archives: guilt

When Adam Was Afraid

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“When Adam Was Afraid”

Genesis 3:8-10 (3:10) – June 3, 2018 – from Dave Ivaska’s book Be Not Afraid

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How often have we seen children, after they have misbehaved? Oftentimes, they know very well they have done something wrong. Their little lips may tremble, sorrowful eyes fill with tears. They may duck their heads because they fear being punished, and not meet the adult’s appraising look. Or even, run and hide so the person in charge needs to go find them.

These traits can occasionally be true for not-so-little people, too. Can you remember people you knew who acted like this, at work, or school, or among the circles of friends you know? The feeling of embarrassment and guilt, even of wrongdoing, can be very strong.

We look today at Genesis chapter 3, and at the very first instance of being afraid recorded in the Bible. But before we take a closer look at the book of Genesis, I’ll give you a preview of our summer sermon series. We will focus on a phrase that appears dozens of times in the Bible, both in the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the New Testament. “Be Not Afraid!”

Fear and anxiety—and their companion, worry—haunt many people, on a regular basis. God keeps reminding us in the Scriptures to be not afraid! We can find this command many times throughout the Bible books, in many different situations.

As I said in this month’s newsletter article, I attended both undergraduate classwork at Moody Bible Institute as well as seminary study at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. I learned in my bible study and interpretation classes that if anything is mentioned with frequency in the Scriptures, it is really important. “Be Not Afraid” certainly is one of those statements.

But, what is the first time fear is mentioned in the Bible? For that, we need to look at Genesis 3, the account of the time sin entered the world. This narrative is about permission, prohibition, temptation, and most of all, about relationship. Free, loving relationship between God and humans.

To recap, in the beginning, God created humans. We look at two representative humans, Adam and Eve, who figure prominently in Genesis 3. The crafty serpent asks Eve a leading question about God and what God has forbidden them access to. The serpent puts doubt in her mind, and tells Eve that this forbidden fruit will cause her to become wise, like God. She sees the attractive fruit on the only tree God has forbidden, plucks it and eats it. She then gives some to Adam, and he eats some, too.

I could tell you lots more about the serpent, and how crafty and manipulative it was. I could mention about thoughtful Eve, and how she drew her own conclusions from what the serpent presented to her. I might add that she saw the tree as good for food and pleasant to the eyes. Moreover, when she brought some of the forbidden fruit to her husband, he “puts up no resistance, raises no questions, and considers no theological issues….The woman does not act as a temptress in this scene; they both have succumbed to the same source of temptation.” [1]

To say this in a different way, God has given the man and woman considerable freedom and latitude in their lives in paradise. The serpent slithers in and plants doubt in Eve’s mind. She eats the fruit, her husband also eats, and they have both transgressed the only hard and fast rule that God has given them.

Adam and Eve’s eyes are opened, and they realize they both are naked. Guilt, shame, and embarrassment are all featured prominently here. What are they to do? They both sew coverings out of leaves to cover their nakedness. Cover up their shame and embarrassment. However, their human resources are just plain inadequate.

Except—their guilt and sin are now compounded. When God—in some kind of human-like form, so humans could see and relate to God—came into the garden later that day, fear strikes deep into the hearts of both Adam and Eve.

Fear! What must that have been like? To feel fear for the very first time?

All of us have had that experience. All of us have experienced fear for the very first time, and I suspect you cannot remember the situation, or exactly when it happened. It probably happened when you were very young. We are told this is the exact situation with Adam, here in Genesis chapter 3.

Why are Adam and Eve afraid? If you had disobeyed a dear parent or other beloved family member, how would you feel? If you—as a child or teen—had purposefully gone against something that was forbidden, what would be the result? Wouldn’t you be afraid? At least a little bit? Afraid of being punished?

Fear of punishment is very real, even in areas where physical or verbal punishment is frowned on. Let’s look at how punishment is defined. ”The purpose of punishment is to stop a child from doing what you don’t want—and using a painful or unpleasant method to stop him [or her].” [2] That certainly seems like what Adam and Eve might be expecting. It seems like they expect God to be full of anger, wrath, even vengeance.  

God does not act in the expected way. “The Creator of the universe and all creatures chooses not to relate to the world at a distance, but takes on human form, goes for a walk among the creatures, and personally engages them regarding recent events.” [3]

What is that? Did the commentator on the book of Genesis say that God was seeking out a relationship with Adam and Eve? Doesn’t God go out of God’s way to look for the humans? Such a striking and unusual response for God to make. Instead of punishment and retaliation, the Lord comes looking for humans with open arms, even though God knew very well what they had done, and what was necessary to set it right.

Fear causes us to hide, too, when we sin. Fear of disappointment, yes, but also fear of shame, and embarrassment, too. Plus, there is fear of punishment: punishment on a horizontal plane, from other people as well as a vertical plane, from God.

Each of us—every worshiper here today—sins. Every day. It doesn’t matter who we are, or how good we are trying to be. Each of us makes mistakes. It is like someone using a pencil; there are sometimes mistakes we would like to erase. We all have sins, or mistakes, or errors in our lives. And what’s more, we can admit them to God and receive forgiveness.

We can see the loving response right here in Genesis 3, when the Lord was walking in the evening, and how God called and called. God took the initiative. Who was it who sought out humans openly and in love and compassion? God. Simply God.

What do we think when we see the Creator of the universe coming toward us in love, compassion, and relationship? Is that Someone we can trust? Is that Someone we can ask forgiveness from? Is that Someone who cares deeply about us even though God may know every single fact about our sin and disobedience?

God wants a free and loving relationship with each of us, just like trusting children and a loving, caring parent. We celebrate that relationship today with communion, remembering what the incarnate God, Jesus Christ, did for us 2000 years ago. God wants to restore us to the peace, joy and love intended for us from the day of creation. Praise God! Alleluia, amen.

[1] Frentheim, Terence E., Book of Genesis, New Interpreters Bible Commentary, Vol. 1 (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999), 361.

[2] https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/350/350-111/350-111_pdf.pdf, accessed 5/31/18.

[3] Frentheim, Terence E., Book of Genesis, 362.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2018: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!)

Be Reconciled to God

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2 Corinthians 5:20b – March 1, 2017

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“Be Reconciled to God”

Saying “I’m sorry.” People can say “I’m sorry” for all kinds of things, from stepping on the back of your shoe on accident, to crashing into your car and totally destroying it. Sometimes, people think it is okay to accept an apology, and other times, it isn’t.

Did you ever think what God’s thoughts are? On us, saying “I’m sorry” so often, for almost everything, it seems? How does God feel when people ignore God’s rules for days, weeks, even years—and then, once one of God’s big rules—the Ten Commandments—get broken, people sometimes say, “I’m sorry.” And then, expect everything to be all right with God!

It was kind of that way with King David. He was a powerful king later on in his reign, commanding great armies that conquered large areas surrounding Israel. As with many really powerful people, David felt more and more like he was an absolute ruler, and nobody could give him counsel, or tell him “No, you can’t do that,” or “That’s a bad idea.”

Remember how King David saw the young, beautiful Bathsheba, wife of one of his generals, Uriah? Uriah and the rest of the army were away fighting a war, and King David had Bathsheba brought to him. King David slept with the beautiful Bathsheba, she became pregnant, and David ultimately had his general Uriah killed because he wanted to cover up his sin.

But, God knew what happened. Eventually, God told the prophet Nathan, and then everyone in Israel found out what happened, too. And, the baby died shortly after he was born.

King David was devastated. As a result of his grief and shame and guilt, he wrote Psalm 51. This is most of that psalm. I want everyone to listen for the grief David feels, as well as his guilt, and sadness at disappointing God, and how he says “I’m sorry” to God.

51 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love.
Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins!
2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin!

3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins.
4 I have sinned against you—only against you—and done what you consider evil.
So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me.
5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful.

6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom.
7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again.
9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil.

10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me.
12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you.

For millennia, the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament traditions have highlighted  this penitential attitude. King David’s eloquent request for God to hear him and forgive him stands as one of the most moving expressions of “I’m sorry” ever penned.

But, what if people can’t quite relate to rich and powerful King David? What then? What if David seems too high and mighty, or a bit too distant, too removed? I was just a mom and a housewife for years, before I went to graduate school in my forties. I didn’t think I had much at all in common with David.

Or, did I? You and I all know that people have a tendency of being self-sufficient, self-involved, going their own way, pushing others away, and often not particularly caring about others. God has a name for this kind of attitude, and it is sin. I bet you can recognize it.

“I don’t need any help! I can do it on my own! I’ll do it my way! I don’t need God. I don’t need anybody else meddling in my business, either.”

You and I—we may not have openly been involved in adultery, or murder, or a cover-up on the scale of a congressional investigation, like King David. But, that does not matter to God. Sin is sin. We have been talking about sin for the past few weeks, in our services centered around Jesus and His messages from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus always wanted us to focus on our inside attitude and reception to God.

It is that sinful, selfish attitude that separates people from God. And what’s more, it separates people from one another. It is a barrier that separates each individual from every other individual. However, let’s look at this verse from 2 Corinthians 5. “God is making His appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Did you hear? God wants to overcome that barrier of our sin, of self-involvement and self-sufficiency. Paul says that God took all our sin and put it on Christ, so that we could be clothed with His sinless righteousness.

“In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” So, God is not counting trespasses! God is merciful and forgiving! God wants to be reconciled to us! God’s arms are indeed open wide! Our Lord wants us to come close.

Paul says, “Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation.”

God is waiting with open arms. We can’t receive God’s forgiveness if we aren’t familiar with God ourselves. Do you know Jesus? Are you close to Him?

Now is the acceptable time. Now is a good time. God is waiting.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2017: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!)