Seventh Sunday after Trinity - July 26, 2009

The Church Season of Pentecost
The Seventh Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (July 26, 2009)

“INTO EDEN”

Readings:
Psalm 33:1-11
Genesis 2:7-17
Romans 6:19-23
Mark 8:1-9

Sermon Form Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Old Testament Lesson from the 2nd chapter of Genesis, especially the following verse:

Genesis 2:7-17 (NIV)

7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

There are so many interesting revelations revealed in this scripture from Genesis. “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, and the man became a living being.”(v. 7) The text states, “God formed the man,” but the detail of that word “formed” reveals more meanings, it can mean, potter, molded, maker, to form, fashion, and frame, or to be predetermined and preordained. We confess each Sunday that God is indeed the creator of the heavens and the earth. But even more glorious than that, here in Genesis we hear of man being formed, molded, and fashioned by God’s own hand. God took extra care to take that “lump of earth”(Luther) and He transformed that lump into the “forefather of our race.”(Franzmann, Vol 1, p. 31) From dust, a lump of dirt, was Adam made. In Hebrew, ground is called Adamah, so Adam is formed from Adamah. And from dust formed into a man, God breathed, and that dirt became living man, who was the image of God. Then God lovingly placed Adam,

“INTO EDEN”
(I – Man’s journey puts himself outside of Eden)

In fact that reading says it twice, and Luther made a point of it too, that is that Adam was, “created outside of Paradise; for the text states that he was brought or placed into Paradise before the creation of Eve, who Moses here points out, was created in Paradise.”(AELW 1:91) Interesting, isn’t it that Adam was created outside the garden and that by none of his own reason or strength God placed Him into Eden to take care of it. And because God did not want Adam to be alone, from within the garden God created Eve. I suppose that some here would quickly agree that men are from dirt and women are from paradise. But, not so fast, as it was Eve who first ate from the forbidden tree and with whom Adam joined in that forbidden meal. All too soon their journey into sin led them outside of Eden.

Yet the world which Adam and Eve lived was created by God. The first living couple was created in the image of God and that first couple marred themselves by their own sin and by their own actions. And that sin caused their journey from paradise to death, a death which we inherit for from that sin we die too. That is what we believe as Christians. But not all who are around us believe that God is sole source of all that is created nor is He any part of creation at all. We’re under constant attack from the media, scientists, and scholars who cannot get their minds into Eden. To them it is journey of the unwarranted, unproven, and un-measurable, simply put it is a fairy tale. One of the latest atheistic scholars who does not wish to defend his disbelief responds with these words, “Somebody who thinks like the way I do doesn’t think theology is a subject at all. So to me it is like someone saying they don’t believe in fairies and then being asked how they know if they haven’t studied fairyology.” So he says, case closed, no need to talk or think of God’s creation of the world. No need to consider God’s creation of man, and His creation of all things. No that journey into mythical Eden, is like studying a fairytale. Funny isn’t it? For it would seem that the non-history of non-believers has somehow repeated itself. For it was satan who first denied God as he slithered into Eden the home of the perfect first couple. Then satan enticed Eve, with the words, “Did God really say?”(Gen. 3:1) And all too soon that couple’s hands were stained by the forbidden fruit. Their disbelief caused them to doubt, and that doubt was sin, and that sin caused their journey out of Eden.

In Eden, Adam and Eve chose the one thing they were told they could not have. Today the people around us tell us that we are to believe in everything and that the belief of God is one thing that you should never have. We are told that if we have faith, then we are weak, mindless, and needy. We are told if we stay outside of that fabled Eden, we will save ourselves from believing in fairies and fairytales. Rather we should graze mindlessly on all that is in this world and we would all be much happier. The mantra for today is that believing in everything is okay, but believing in Christ is not okay. And quite frankly we as Christians fall for those droning mind numbing messages that are drilled into our heads. God is bad, and good is perceived. Religion is for the sad, and prosperity for those who do not believe. Sadly, in beginning we were faced with the temptation, “Did God really say?”( Gen 3:1) and now in these last days we are told, “there is no god who has a say.” Instead we are told, if you want what is “pleasing to the eye and good for food”(v. 9) then work hard. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Place your feet on your neighbors back and push him down. Then when the time is right push off and dive into a paradise better than Eden because it has been formed by your own hands. Join the strong willed, and indifferent who bid you to come into a new paradise. Come journey into the new-world Eden where new man-made theory has pushed out untested belief.

“INTO EDEN”
(II – Christ’s journey puts man into the heavenly Eden)

Repent. For in this world we cannot by our own reason or strength put ourselves back into the paradise of Eden. Scholars will always scoff at the biblical account of the beginning and they will always be too focused on their self-defined present reality to know what their future holds. Not so you. For God has placed a greater Adam into His world corrupted by sin and disbelief. As we are told in scripture, “in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Cor. 1:22) Through the journey of our lives we add our own sins which add to that which we receive from that first Adam. Scripture tells us, “45The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. (1 Cor. 15:45, 47) The first Adam, the man of dust dies, but the greater Adam, who is Jesus Christ, journeys from heaven to earth for us. Christ comes into this world because the paradise of Eden still exists. Christ journeyed to the cross, so that all our sins would be set aside. All the pain, sorrow, grief, and despair that we face in this world is conquered by Jesus on that cross. Jesus drags us out of the dirt of this world and He breathes life into us. Christ’s Word combined with the water in baptism picks you up out of the grasp of sin, death and the devil, and places you in His presence and that is paradise. On the cross Jesus gave His body and shed His blood for you. Even today you when eat and taste His true body and blood, truly this very day you will be with Him in paradise. God lifted a lump of dirt from the ground, He breathed upon it and gave life to the man Adam. God once and for all lifted up His Son Jesus Christ onto the cross, and there Jesus took His last breath, and in so doing Christ gave back to you paradise. Rejoice, for in Christ your sins are forgiven. In Christ you are given the promise that upon your last breath, He will lift you up and place you in Eden which is an eternal paradise, a place in which you will surely never die. Amen.

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