Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17; 3:1-8
In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when 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; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— then 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.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but 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.’
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about two priests who decided to go to Hawaii on their holidays. Yet they were determined to make this a real vacation by not wearing anything that would identify them as clergy. They packed colorful shirts, shorts, swim trunks and sandals, and each brought sunglasses. The morning after they arrived, they went to the beach, wearing swim trunks and t-shirts. They were sitting on beach chairs, enjoying a drink, the sunshine and the scenery when a gorgeous topless woman came walking straight towards them. They tried not to stare, but the temptation was strong. As the woman passed them, she smiled and said, “Good Morning, Fathers.” They were both stunned. How in the world did she know they were priests?! So the next day, they went to a store on the island and bought garish Hawaiian shirts. Once again, in their new attire, they settled down in their chairs to enjoy the sunshine. After a little while, the same gorgeous woman, topless again, came walking toward them. And again, she nodded at each of them and said, “Good morning, Fathers.” One of the priests couldn’t stand it any longer and said, “Young lady, we are priests and proud of it, but I have to know, how in the world did you know we are priests, dressed as we are?’ She replied, “Father, it’s me, Sister Kathleen.”
Silly priests thinking they can somehow hide from temptation! No, temptation comes for us all if we’re going to live in this world and unfortunately there aren’t any other worlds to live in except this one as far as we know. Perhaps one day we’ll find a world in which temptation doesn’t exist. And yes, I believe in a heavenly world without sin and temptation. I’m referring to a terrestrial world filled with bodily creatures. Of course, temptation exists wherever there are bodily creatures. The worlds themselves are indifferent to the needs and temptations of us bodily creatures. So really the issue isn’t the world in which we live…it’s US who live in it! But some of us like to hide from bodily needs and temptations like priests and nuns and that’s just their prerogative. Their prudishness can have great comic effect! And besides, I wouldn’t be Lutheran if I didn’t poke a little fun at our faithful Catholic brothers and sisters…
Our reading for this week exposes us to the beginning of temptation for us humans. I suppose temptation was around a lot longer before Adam and Eve wherever bodily creatures have existed. But we humans only care about it affects us and how we are to cope with it. Who cares about how temptation affected all the bodily creatures created before humans?! We humans are special. We’re created in the image of God! We’re different than all the other bodily creatures and we’re supposed to handle temptation differently…better! Well, if we believe Adam and Eve are the source of all humans then we have a lot of improvement to make in coping with temptation. Adam and Eve did a terribly poor job resisting the devil and temptation and if they are our common ancestors, the ones we look up to for advice and wisdom in navigating this world, then we’re in a tricky situation. They taught us to give into temptation! They taught us not to resist the devil! They’re terrible role models to look up to! They walked in the garden of Eden; they knew God intimately and yet they couldn’t resist temptation and the devil! What hope do we have who only occasionally get glimpses of God in our daily lives?! We certainly aren’t living in the garden of Eden, surrounded by perfection and God’s presence. What hope do we have for resisting the devil and temptation?!
Believe it or not, we have a lot of hope for fighting that fight. We have the wisdom of Scripture and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, fighting alongside us. Adam and Eve didn’t have Scripture and the witness of Jesus to uphold them and strengthen them. No, they had very little to protect them from temptation and the devil. And praise be to God for his gifts of scripture and the Son! What gifts we have in both Word and God’s flesh! We have weapons to bring that fight that Adam and Eve did not. Sure, they’re our ancestors but they were poorly equipped to resist temptation and the devil. We, on the other hand, are greatly equipped. We have the wisdom of Paul from his letter to the Corinthians that says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Cor. 10:13) What a powerful verse to bring to the fight against the devil and temptation! To know that none of us is alone in our fight against temptation! And not just knowing that God is with us in that fight but knowing that a multitude of people are fighting the same fight alongside us. WE ARE NOT ALONE in our fight against temptation! Adam and Eve didn’t have this assurance. They truly were alone without God or anyone else to give them strength and encouragement. I know, I know…were they really without God?! Probably not but still they were left to the power of free will to make that decision of resisting or not resisting. No one ever said that having freedom and free will was easy. In fact, Scripture tells us that with freedom comes responsibility and accountability. We must answer for the decisions we make in this world. God is watching over us each and every day, seeing how we use and abuse our freedoms and free will. And He will hold us accountable…”he will come to judge the living and the dead.” We confess it…be assured of it!
Paul isn’t the only one who gives us gives us tools for resisting temptation and the devil. James tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (4:7) The devil is no match to our God. It’s no wonder he’s portrayed as a snively little snake in Genesis! He’s squirmy, he’s slimy, he’s slithery…he’s weak in comparison to our mighty God! Cling to God in that fight against the devil. He will easily and gladly crush the devil! He WILL flee from you if bring God with you to that fight.
You see, Adam and Eve didn’t have the necessary tools to resist temptation and the devil. But we, on the other hand, do. Let us cling to God’s Word in our fight and be strengthened by it. David certainly clung to it in his countless struggles. He sang, “I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.” (119:11) Let us gladly give thanks for his powerful Word! Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
