September 13, 2015: The Garden of Eden

September 13, 2015: The Garden of Eden

Genesis 2:4b-25

⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

On the day the Lord God made earth and sky— ⁵ before any wild plants appeared on the earth, and before any field crops grew, because the Lord God hadn’t yet sent rain on the earth and there was still no human being to farm the fertile land, ⁶ though a stream rose from the earth and watered all of the fertile land— ⁷ the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land^[c] and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. The human came to life. ⁸ The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east and put there the human he had formed. ⁹ In the fertile land, the Lord God grew every beautiful tree with edible fruit, and also he grew the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flows from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides into four headwaters. ¹¹ The name of the first river is the Pishon. It flows around the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² That land’s gold is pure, and the land also has sweet-smelling resins and gemstones. ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon. It flows around the entire land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is the Tigris, flowing east of Assyria; and the name of the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it. ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the human, “Eat your fill from all of the garden’s trees; ¹⁷ but don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day you eat from it, you will die!” ¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It’s not good that the human is alone. I will make him a helper that is perfect for him.” ¹⁹ So the Lord God formed from the fertile land all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky and brought them to the human to see what he would name them. The human gave each living being its name. ²⁰ The human named all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals. But a helper perfect for him was nowhere to be found.

²¹ So the Lord God put the human into a deep and heavy sleep, and took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh over it. ²² With the rib taken from the human, the Lord God fashioned a woman and brought her to the human being. ²³ The human^[e] said,

“This one finally is bone from my bones
        and flesh from my flesh.
She will be called a woman
        because from a man she was taken.”

²⁴ This is the reason that a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife, and they become one flesh. ²⁵ The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they weren’t embarrassed.

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Introduction:

As we begin this journey through the Narrative Lectionary, I am reminded of my great love of free samples.  Stay with me on this, okay?  I love restaurants, stores, and supermarkets that offer their potential customers a small bite of food which gives a hint of something bigger and better.  It could be a piece of cheese, some chips or perhaps a chunk of hamburger but whatever it is, I’ve rarely met a free-sample I didn’t like.  It’s as if your taste buds are given a “glimpse” of a wonderful experience to come.  Living a life of faith in God in our broken world is filled with many such hints of something better, glimpses of wonderful experiences yet to occur.

Here we receive a glimpse of paradise: how human life was (as is) meant to be.  It involves three key things: life that comes from God (verse 7), our relationship with the creation (verse 15) and our relationship with each other. By examining each of these three aspects we’ll gain a better understanding of who God intended us to be and what our life is meant to look like.  These “glimpses” will lead us to something bigger and better, but first let’s look at some “technical” things.   

The Technical Stuff:

The Bible contains two accounts of the creation of the world within the book of Genesis, written by different authors and later synthesized into one narrative.  Both accounts use rich, vibrant and poetic language and are not meant to be a scientific description of earth’s formation. Instead, they are like literary portraits which paint with words. The first is found in chapter 1 and the first three verses of chapter 2 and it is a beautiful poem that describes how God created an orderly world into being, forming it out of chaos.  On the seventh day, God rested.  In this account humans, men and women alike, are created “in God’s own image,” (Gen. 1:27) presumably at the same time.  At the end of the process, everything God made was “supremely good.” (Gen. 1:31)

The second account of creation is more intimate and “earthy.” It has many differences from the chapter 1: humans are created before plants and animals (unlike the account in chapter 1) and “woman” is created after these.  We also have a more descriptive account of the formation of humanity. As our lesson today says, God formed the human from the “topsoil.” The Hebrew word “adam” can be translated as either “man” or “human” and has a close relationship with the Hebrew word for ground or soil, “adamah.” Sometimes this person formed out of the “topsoil” is called the “earth-creature.” God forms the human out of the ground and breathes “life’s breath” into the human’s nostrils.  The “woman” comes later, after it is determined that the original “human” needs a companion.

What Does This Say to Us?

This devotion could go on with a more “technical” look at the biblical accounts of creation and the literary “mechanics” that make them work, but that’s not what we’re after here. When we read the bible devotionally, we’re looking to hear God speak to our lives today.  While a bit of technical know-how is necessary, it’s not the main thing. Now that we have a glimpse of the technical side, let’s see what it has to tell us today.  There are three main points that have a great significance for our lives. They were mentioned above, but deserve to be repeated: life that comes from God (verse 7), our relationship with the creation (verse 15) and our relationship with each other (verse 18 & 23). These “glimpses” or “free samples” will give us a hint of something larger and more significant for our lives.

When God “blew life’s breath into his nostrils” (verse 7) it shows us that humanity is truly “inspired.” This means that God has “breathed” into us and that we are filled with God’s spirit.  In the Hebrew language the word “ruach” can mean both “breath” and “spirit.”  Genesis 1 says that we are made in the image of God, and Genesis 2 says that we are filled with God’s breath/spirit. 

This is the beginning of the “case” for human dignity and human rights from a biblical perspective. Every person you meet was made in the image of God and has God’s breath/spirit flowing through them. Different skin color? Doesn’t matter. Different nationality? Of no consequence.  We are all made in God’s image and have God’s spirit/breath in us. This gives us a clue as to how we should treat each other. Jesus will later say that the two greatest commandments are “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being and with all your mind” and “you must love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-40) He’s quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, but that idea starts here in Genesis with creation. We can act accordingly.

This lesson also gives us a clue concerning our relationship with creation.  Verse 15 says “The LORD God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it.” We are caretakers of something given to us. In his Small Catechism Martin Luther says God has given us everything we need: “all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life.” This is done “out of pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of mine at all!!” What had “the human” done to be given a garden? Nothing! It’s a gift. Already we see God’s love and grace present in our story.  Also, this verse clues us in on our purpose: to take care of what God has made. We have a job to do and we feel close to God, at one with God when we are doing it. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that it is God’s gift that people should “take pleasure in all their toil.” We can see that purpose here in Genesis 2.

Finally, verses 18 and 23 clue us in to our relationship with each other. God says “It’s not good that the human is alone. I will make him a helper who is perfect for him.” We are social creatures, meant for community and relationships.  Damon Thibodaux was a convicted criminal on death row. He spent year after year in solitary confinement with almost no human interaction. After fifteen years he was released when DNA records proved that he couldn’t have committed the crime that gave him the death sentence. After being released he spoke out against the practice of solitary confinement in interviews and other testimony by saying that it kills you “bit by bit and day by day.”

Thibodaux had learned what Genesis 2 tells us: “it is not good that the human is alone.” David Brooks is a syndicated columnist and best-selling author who agrees with Thibodaux (and, presumably Genesis 2) when he says “We’re not self-contained individuals. We’re social animals, not rational animals.” (quote from Brooks’ TED Talk). The human is complete when there is a relationship with the newly made woman.  Author and pastor Rob Bell has said that if you’re looking for a “girl power” moment, just remember that CREATION ITSELF isn’t complete until the woman is created.

We were made for community, we were meant for relationships: with God and with each other. Christians believe that God is in the form of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This means that at God’s core being, you’ll find a relationship. When we experience loving relationships, we are experiencing God and what God intended for us.  So here we are: experiencing some bite-sized “free-samples” at the beginning of our Narrative Lectionary journey: life, relationship with God and with each other. May they give us an appetite for more.

The Wedding Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus responded by speaking again in parables: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding party for his son. ³ He sent his servants to call those invited to the wedding party. But they didn’t want to come. ⁴ Again he sent other servants and said to them, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look, the meal is all prepared. I’ve butchered the oxen and the fattened cattle. Now everything’s ready. Come to the wedding party!” ’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went away—some to their fields, others to their businesses. ⁶ The rest of them grabbed his servants, abused them, and killed them.

⁷ “The king was angry. He sent his soldiers to destroy those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding party is prepared, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. ⁹ Therefore, go to the roads on the edge of town and invite everyone you find to the wedding party.’

¹⁰ “Then those servants went to the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding party was full of guests. ¹¹ Now when the king came in and saw the guests, he spotted a man who wasn’t wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet and throw him out into the farthest darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.’

¹⁴ “Many people are invited, but few people are chosen.”

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During a session of my Intro to Psychology class in my freshman year of college my professor was lecturing us about “involuntary reactions” within the nervous system. The explanation involved all sorts of technical terms like “parasympathetic responses” or “autonomic pathways” that are rather hard to understand (at least for me).  Instead of diving into scientific nomenclature, he settled on an “over-the-top” description. “Let’s talk about the involuntary reaction of fear.  Imagine that a lion walked into the classroom right now…” he said, pausing for effect, “…and he’s packing an Uzi!  That would cause you to have an involuntary reaction: fear.” We, of course, laughed out loud: not only did his use of hyperbole make help make the point, it helped me remember his subject 17 years later. It didn’t hurt that his delivery was effective, making the joke that much more hilarious.

When we’re dealing with the parables of Jesus I get the same feeling because these seemingly “simple” stories are anything but straightforward.  Jesus will start with a relatively familiar setting like a wedding banquet, farmer’s field or group of men fishing and his audience will immediately know what he’s talking about. But just about the time his hearers think they know what’s going to happen, Jesus will twist the story in such a way that things get confusing and people start to think.  Sometimes this occurs with unexpected behavior from characters and on other occasions there is a great deal of hyperbole (exaggeration).

C.H. Dodd’s definition of “parable” is a good representative of scholarly thought: “At its simplest the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.”*  I often say that parables are stories that are meant to make you say “Oh, yeah, I get it," as the story begins immediately followed by, “Wait a minute, really?” by the time it's over.

 Parables get you thinking.

Our story today starts out normal enough: a king is throwing wedding party for his son and wedding invitations go out. Makes sense right? Then things get weird. Not only do people refuse the invitation, some grab, abuse and kill the messengers. You might be thinking “Who does that?!?!?” and you’d be right, but we’re just getting started.  The king responds in anger over the mistreatment and death of his servants (again, very understandable), and he responds by destroying the murderers and SETTING THEIR CITY ON FIRE. Say what?!?!? Presumably the fatted calf and oxen that had been butchered are simply sitting there on the table while all of this is happening. Finally, when the new guests arrive, the king throws one of them into the “outer darkness” because of his attire. Wow!

All of this hyperbole is meant to make a point. Much like my Psychology Professor who referred to Uzi-packing lions, Jesus is giving us vivid images to get us thinking.  At this point, of course, we have to be careful. Parables get you thinking, but it’s important to keep the rest of scripture in mind as we ponder. Parables don’t just mean whatever we want them to: going down that road will ultimately mean conforming Christ to our image rather than the other way around. We need to look at the parables within the greater context of the Gospel of Matthew and of scripture as a whole. So what’s going on here?

In Chapter 21 Jesus enters into the temple where the chief priests and elders of the people begin a verbal “fencing matching” with him.  He responds to their questions with parables and it gets rather dicey.  The Pharisees figure out that he’s speaking about them as well and they join the group that is ready to arrest him; only their fear of the crowds stops this. 

Again and again in the Bible we see examples of the high and mighty being brought down while the lowly are raised up (See what Hannah has to say about this in 1 Samuel 2:1-11. Mary weighs in with the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55. Paul adds to this in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.  Jesus himself talks about how the ‘last will be first and the first will be last will be first’ in Matt. 19:30 and 20:16.  The religious leaders, those favored in society, the people with all of the prestige either don’t understand what God is up to or they don’t care.  They are turning down an invitation to God’s party. Crazy isn't it? The lowly are coming instead. 

And how about the improperly dressed wedding guest? There have been plenty of explanations out there about why one of the guests didn’t have a wedding garment.  Some scholars say that these types of garments were handed out at the door, others say that if he had spoken rather than remain speechless things would have been different. One of my favorite stories about this comes from the amazing preacher and Professor Fred Craddock.

Craddock, Barbara Brown Taylor and Tom Long attended an Atlanta Braves baseball game while in town for a preaching conference. After taking their seats they noticed a group of college kids who were sitting a few rows in front of them. One of these students had become rather drunk and belligerent. He started yelling profanities, throwing empty (and not-so-empty) cups of liquid and generally carrying on. When security finally came and forcibly escorted him out of the stadium, Craddock turned to his companions and said, “He must not have been wearing a wedding garment…”** Perhaps the guest’s lack of wedding garment had everything to do with him rather than the host. 

In the end, God is throwing a party and all sorts of people are invited.  You might scratch your head and wonder why people wouldn’t want to show up, but then all you have to do is look around at our world today and scratch your head at humanity’s behavior around our globe. Not only do we choose to do evil because the righteous option is hard, quite often it seems we choose the evil option when the righteous path is MORE OBVIOUS.  Jesus uses exaggeration to get this across.  Hopefully this can show us that there is a party going on and that we are invited.  

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* Quoted on pg. 121 in The Peoples' New Testament Commentary by Eugene Boring and Fred Craddock.

** I originally heard this story at a preaching conference at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN. Since then, I have heard it related by a variety of other people too.