After the Fall

A line from a nursery rhyme - - sticks in my head - -
        - - as I read the Scripture readings for this morning.
The line is:    “When she was good - she was very very good - -
            - - but when she was BAD - she was HORRID !”
    These scripture readings - - are about GOOD and EVIL - in conflict. Good and evil are struggling with one another. In these scripture readings BOTH - good and evil - are trying to overtake the human heart and soul. It’s pretty significant stuff.
    And I hate to reduce two major theological themes of the Bible - to a line from a nursery rhyme. But the line sticks in my head - - as I read these Scripture readings.
    There are TWO - very BASIC things that these scripture readings seem to say about how God created us. ONE - is that we were created in the IMAGE of God.  We are DESTINED for GOODNESS. God wants us to be WHOLE - and to live FORGIVEN - SANCTIFIED lives.   
    In the beginning - God created heaven and earth - - and before the SNAKE offered that fruit of the tree - - in the VERY BEGINNING - - God looked out on creation and - again and again Genesis says it: God looked out on creation - and it was GOOD.
    God created humans - - and God said, “Let US make humans in OUR LIKENESS - - after OUR image”. That’s right!  God speaks in the PLURAL in this text.
        We - - plural - - - - are in God’s IMAGE.          AND we are created GOOD.
    That’s the FIRST - foundational truth: there is something GOOD about human existence
    The OTHER is - - the FALL.    /    Sin and evil.   /   The violence.   /   The bad.  
        The horrid.
    The way this is portrayed in Genesis is that the snake TEMPTED Adam and Eve.  
In the gospel reading - - Jesus - - was TEMPTED in the wilderness - by the DEVIL. Overcoming EVIL was Jesus FIRST big task in his ministry. Confronting - - all that would take away - - the BREAD of life - - or put the KINGDOMS of the WORLD - over the kingdom of God. That’s where the story of the gospel begins.
    And those very same forces of evil - - have their WAY with us.
        And sometimes we give in.
        And sometimes - we seek the good instead.
    And so - here comes that nursery rhyme into my head.  And I wonder could it be that the “she” in the rhyme represents US:
“When she was good she was very very good - but when she was bad - she was horrid”
    Created GOOD - - and YET fallen into bad.
        Fallen - - and yet offered - - salvation - - and life - - and redemption.
    Paul - in his letter to the Romans - wrote about it - - by COMPARING Adam to Jesus. For Paul - Adam BROUGHT sin into the world - - and Jesus saved the world FROM sin.
    The action of ONE brought bad - and put bad on top.
    The action of the NEXT - was stronger - and returned the good to the top.
    And that’s a pretty NEAT little doctrine.
        It works in my MIND, logically.
    But how do I FEEL about it ?       Well that’s a different story.
    First of all, aren’t the good and bad parts of human experience BOTH present ALL the time? The idea that creation is either bad or good seems simplistic, or untrue to me. But maybe that’s part of the point of these stories if we think about them for a while. 
    That’s not all that troubles me about Paul’s way of describing it, though. The next thing that troubles me is that it seems to take away all of our responsibility and put it on Adam.
    Can you imagine poor being Adam ?
    It would be WORSE than being Martin Sheen right about now!   / /
    (Adam responsible for all human sin and Martin Sheen responsible for Charlie his son…)
    Paul says - that Adam’s actions and choices represent ALL human sin. Adam is responsible for giving birth to all that is evil. That… Adam brings sin on - - everybody.
    Think of YOUR - WORST thoughts and actions - for a minute. . .
        I wouldn’t wish MY worst actions on the world -
    And THEN on the OTHER hand imagine being in Jesus’ shoes . . .
        You would have to be a SUPER hero.
    But lately I find that I feel LESS like a super hero than ever.   /   As I watch people get sick - who I can’t cure.   /   Things in people’s lives - or in organizations that I belong to - or in the world - that I can’t fix.  /  I see budget problems at Westminster that I can’t solve…
I’ve actually NOT imagined I was Spiderman - or Superman - since I was in Junior high. 
Until recently.   Lately - - - I’ve - - WISHED it once again.
    Out of nowhere - some part of life goes from - very very good - - to horrid.
    And I wish - - to God - - I could call lightening down - from the sky –
- - and be super human.
    And then I breathe deep - and slow - and let it out.
        And thank God - I’m still here -
            - and my time is - not yet come -
            - and God’s grace - and salvation - and hope - and life - 
            - are still offered.
    So - - that’s the life and death struggle - - of these texts.
    It is a struggle that is a part - of ALL of Lent.  
This season that starts today and continues until Easter.  These - so called - “40 days”.
    The season of Lent - is about spending time in EXTRA prayer and Scripture reading. More than usual. And it is about self-sacrifice - - and giving up.
    And so it’s about the suffering of Jesus.
        And the suffering of all humanity.      / /
    BUT -- it‘s ALSO - a season that PRECEEDS - - - Easter.
    And so - it is a season of – ‘so called’ - “preparation”.   /   And maybe THAT word - causes us problems.   /   In our culture “prepare” means “prelude”.   /  
Prepare is about what we do….leading UP TO something. Think of how we prepare for anything.  We begin to act it out AHEAD of time. Buy the supplies - put them in the closet.
    But with LENT - - what we’re PREPARING for - is the exact OPPOSITE of the whole focus of the season.
    We prepare - - - - NOT by “PRELUDE” - -
        - - but by living in the OPPOSITE.
    We prepare to celebrate the RESURRECTION - hope and JOY of Easter - - by living with the SUFFERING of Jesus - and the SIN of the world.
    But that’s NOT something we take to - - very well.
        “Sin” - - is not something many people like to entertain.
    People who are NOT Christian - I think - reject such talk.
    For example, take Jazz Sunday at Westminster. Jazz Sunday at Westminster was reviewed recently on a website blog. The reviewer liked the jazz music pretty well, but hated the prayer of confession!
        Why ?   What’s that about…?
    I think that part of why IS - that many people see Christian talk about “SIN” as a JUDGEMENT on THEM that is UNDESERVED.
    Which is NOT the case.
    “Sin” - - is a Christian - - “DIAGNOSIS” - - as my friend Rod once said.
    “Sin” is a diagnosis - of the condition of the world.   /   The whole world.
    And there is ALSO - - a treatment.
        God offers forgiveness - - and life - - and wholeness.
            Return…to the natural state of goodness…
        The ministry of Jesus Christ - - began in triumph over that sin.
        And ended - - in suffering because of it - - in death - 
            - and yet - even that - was overcome.
    That’s why we spend time thinking about - - - the suffering of Jesus.
    An English professor - named James Schapp - - has written about HIS struggle - - - with a CRUCIFIX - - - in a way - that highlights the struggle of Lent - that I’ve been talking about:
    Lent - - to him - - seemed like a lot of DOOM and GLOOM.
    So - what HE did - - was to GRAB a huge CRUCIFIX and head out to the TRASH.  Really - - he thought - - it was a Roman Catholic thing and he was Protestant.  The crucifix had been in his STUDY for TWO weeks.  
Kind of hidden off in the corner.
    He had KEPT it because he’d never HAD one before - being a life-long Protestant. Christ the sufferer - was depressing – but fascinating. Thank goodness we’re over all that angst - he thought.
    What HE believed in was the EMPTY cross.
    The resurrection – and the glory.
    And anyway things hadn’t gone well with that crucifix thing around.   /   In the last two weeks the family of a good friend had left town for a new job. Maybe it was because of that crucifix thingy.
    Well, the garbage truck was coming in a few minutes.
    He stood waiting with the broken body of Christ - well not REALLY – it was only a sculpture of the broken body - a graven image.
    “Just throw it” he told himself.
        Shove it between some trash bags.
        The crucifix felt almost radioactive in his hand.
    And for some reason he just COULDN’T toss it.
    His sister had given it to him - because she didn’t want it.   /   She was a social worker - and a non-believer.  An old woman - a client of hers’ had given it to her.     “Take it home”, the old woman had said.
    “Put it in the TRASH” he told himself.
    So - he laid it right on top - and went back to his study.
    Later - he looked out the window - and the trash barrel lay on it’s side - blowing in the wind.  Gloriously empty. But now he couldn’t think clearly.
    Really he should go get the trash can - before it blew away.
    And when he did…out on the LAWN - he FOUND it – again!
        Can you BELIEVE it ?!
        The garbage man - couldn’t toss it either!!
        Really - how do you toss - a suffering Christ ?
    Well - maybe he could live with it.
He hid it in a drawer.
            No - - he got it out again - and went to get a trash bag.
    He stepped out the back door - and got in his car.   /   Laid the crucifix in the bag - on the back seat.  Out of town - to the fields and ditches to the north. 
Just drop it off in the country…Some people do that to dogs and cats…
    And this wasn’t even alive - - and so it wouldn’t - - - suffer.   It’s just a statue.
    “Keep it!”
    “Ditch it!”
    “keep it”
“ditch it”- - went the voices in his head.
    Finally he threw it out the window - - and went back into the city.
    Lent made for long faces.    Easter made the world sing.
    The suffering Christ - - was history.
    A half hour later - - - - he felt guilty.
        Maybe he needed - - the suffering - - of Christ.
        So he headed back out the door to the fields and ditches again.
    The reason was - - - so simple - really - -
        - - yet so deeply true - - - of COURSE he needed the suffering - of Christ.
    The suffering of Christ is where we begin to deal with our own suffering.
    And remember where the suffering story BEGINS:
    God declared that Jesus was “beloved”.
        That came first.
    Just before this encounter with the devil, in the previous chapter of the gospel of Matthew, is the baptism story. Jesus is declared “good” and “beloved” by God.
Just like creation - - just before the fall.
    And the thing is - - it’s still true AFTER the fall.
    Jesus beloved-ness can NOT be broken by any test or temptation.
    No evil the devil can devise can sway Jesus in this story.       
    Just like all the bad-ness in the world - does not take away from the world’s goodness.
         It is in fact both.
    But to make that reality beautiful - - instead of an endless repetitive trap - - we need to enter into the suffering of Jesus, and THEN to connect that suffering with our own.
    However good or bad things are - - we can’t just ditch them.
    This is the life we have.
    And this is he Jesus we have.
        And both the beginning and the end of the story are very very good.
        The only question is: how long are we going to be in the middle?