Putting The Genie Back In The Bottle ...
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
When our twins were quite young -- infants really -- I remember a scene that played out on our living room floor. My son, ever the gregarious and energetic one had managed one afternoon to yank the leg off our old studio piano. He was sitting there gleefully pounding it on the carpet while his twin sister egged him on, shouting, "Go, Aaron, go!" In defense of my daughter, it needs to be said that the boy didn't require any encouragement. Furthermore, it didn't occur to either their mother or myself that we needed to lay down the law about tearing the leg off the piano. Nonetheless, there they were, in the Garden of Eden, reaching for the fruit.
Another time we had stayed up with the children watching the ice skating championships. It was fun seeing the artistry and beauty of the skating, and a nice evening was had by all. The next day, though, my wife and I were upstairs cleaning when we became aware of a kind of frightening silence down in the dining room. We tiptoed down the stairs and there they were. They had found a gallon bottle of vegetable oil and poured it out on the hardwood floor where they were now gliding along playing ice skating. They looked up at our shocked faces and said, "Look, Mom! Look, Dad! We're skating!"
Innocence really is wonderful. These children had no idea of wrong or right. They only knew hunger, sleepiness, discomfort, and of course, curiosity. The delight for them was in the seeking of experience. That look that would come across their faces when they tasted something new or had a surprising new experience is a look that is emblazoned in my mind. I will remember it always. But alas, the days of innocence are few and children grow to a place where they must learn about good and evil, about consequences of actions, and ultimately the truth about things like Santa and political parties.
We see this journey out of innocence in the story of Adam and Eve, as well, don't we? Loss of innocence is mourned, almost universally. And the consequences of its loss are large, if unavoidable. I don't know how many of us can remember, or even imagine, what it might feel like to not have any knowledge of good or evil? Part of the beauty of the stories of my children come, not because of the acts themselves, but because they were utterly clueless that these things -- done by an adult -- would have been quite unacceptable.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be pure and innocent? It reminds me of the first time I traveled to another country. I was, quite literally, a babe in the woods. I had no idea about the realities of the culture, and only the barest grasp of the language. I was, for all intents and purposes, an innocent. After a few weeks of social gaffs and being laughed at politely behind my back, I began to pick up the cues and to learn about the expectations and realities of the country I was visiting.
To me, the story of Adam and Eve is a mourning story. It mourns the loss of innocence for us all and speaks to a deep yearning in each of us for some kind of return to Eden and its ways. Why else would we be so charmed by the antics of children?
But alas, the genie is out of the bottle for us.
Child-like innocence, while precious in a child, doesn't work for us once we are grown. We can cast all the forlorn backward glances we like, but the truth is as Paul writes. "When I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways" (1 Corinthians 13:11). No matter what we might wish for, the truth is that we do know the difference between good and evil. We do know what is right and what is wrong, and we are called to plant our standard with the good and the right. It is on that ground that we are called to live and have our being.
Of course, there is a world out there that slides, with Pontius Pilate, into the dangerous waters of relativism. "What is truth?" Pilate asks, as he grills Jesus, as though truth takes a break when challenged. Others get into the act as the challenges come to us, tempting us in ways not dissimilar to the serpent. You've heard them before. "Well, who's to say what's right and wrong?" Or, "That's just your opinion. Who died and made you God?"
Let me say this one more time. In spite of the smog thrown up by others, we do know what is right and what is wrong. We do know the difference between good and evil. We know it from our personal experiences. We know it from holy scripture. We know it because God gave us the good sense to recognize it, and we know it because we have a deep wellspring of tradition that teaches us about this. If we pay attention to life and people around us, we know that it hurts when you get hit. Hitting, therefore, might just be wrong. We know, too, from our traditions and scripture that hurting others is not what God would have us do, and this is just the beginning.
We know it's wrong to steal. Whether it's the burglar taking your stereo or the giant corporation stealing billions from the people, it's wrong. And though it is virtually epidemic in our culture, we know that lying is wrong. Whether it is a slight untruth on your job application or the lies told by governments to cover their misdeeds, we know that it is wrong. The list extends to oppressing workers, to violating God's good creation, and on and on. And again, we know.
We also know what is good. We know what it feels like to help someone who needs our assistance. We know what it's like to feed someone who is hungry, and we know what it is like to lift up someone who is downtrodden. We know what it's like to offer good things for our children -- indeed for all the children. These are good things, and we well know it.
Yes, we all long for a time of innocence remembered in ancient biblical texts like this one. But the genie is indeed out of the bottle. Blame the loss of innocence on whomever you wish. Whether it was the fruit, the serpent, Eve, or even hapless Adam, it doesn't much matter. We have been given the knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong. God stands with us today calling us to choose the good and the right. God walks with us today, double daring us to risk it all if need be to stand for what is just and right.
It is as the writer puts it in Deuteronomy. "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live ..." (Deuteronomy 30:19b). The choices that we are making virtually every minute are before us in so many ways today. As we step together into this Lenten time, let us use this knowledge that we have and let us choose the things that make for abundant life.
Let us choose healing in our relationships. Let us choose to assume the good in others. Let us choose to stand for the weak and vulnerable. Let us choose to be people who follow God's ways in all things, and sisters and brothers, let us do so -- not looking back wistfully at lost innocence, but gazing forward, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). Amen.
Another time we had stayed up with the children watching the ice skating championships. It was fun seeing the artistry and beauty of the skating, and a nice evening was had by all. The next day, though, my wife and I were upstairs cleaning when we became aware of a kind of frightening silence down in the dining room. We tiptoed down the stairs and there they were. They had found a gallon bottle of vegetable oil and poured it out on the hardwood floor where they were now gliding along playing ice skating. They looked up at our shocked faces and said, "Look, Mom! Look, Dad! We're skating!"
Innocence really is wonderful. These children had no idea of wrong or right. They only knew hunger, sleepiness, discomfort, and of course, curiosity. The delight for them was in the seeking of experience. That look that would come across their faces when they tasted something new or had a surprising new experience is a look that is emblazoned in my mind. I will remember it always. But alas, the days of innocence are few and children grow to a place where they must learn about good and evil, about consequences of actions, and ultimately the truth about things like Santa and political parties.
We see this journey out of innocence in the story of Adam and Eve, as well, don't we? Loss of innocence is mourned, almost universally. And the consequences of its loss are large, if unavoidable. I don't know how many of us can remember, or even imagine, what it might feel like to not have any knowledge of good or evil? Part of the beauty of the stories of my children come, not because of the acts themselves, but because they were utterly clueless that these things -- done by an adult -- would have been quite unacceptable.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be pure and innocent? It reminds me of the first time I traveled to another country. I was, quite literally, a babe in the woods. I had no idea about the realities of the culture, and only the barest grasp of the language. I was, for all intents and purposes, an innocent. After a few weeks of social gaffs and being laughed at politely behind my back, I began to pick up the cues and to learn about the expectations and realities of the country I was visiting.
To me, the story of Adam and Eve is a mourning story. It mourns the loss of innocence for us all and speaks to a deep yearning in each of us for some kind of return to Eden and its ways. Why else would we be so charmed by the antics of children?
But alas, the genie is out of the bottle for us.
Child-like innocence, while precious in a child, doesn't work for us once we are grown. We can cast all the forlorn backward glances we like, but the truth is as Paul writes. "When I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways" (1 Corinthians 13:11). No matter what we might wish for, the truth is that we do know the difference between good and evil. We do know what is right and what is wrong, and we are called to plant our standard with the good and the right. It is on that ground that we are called to live and have our being.
Of course, there is a world out there that slides, with Pontius Pilate, into the dangerous waters of relativism. "What is truth?" Pilate asks, as he grills Jesus, as though truth takes a break when challenged. Others get into the act as the challenges come to us, tempting us in ways not dissimilar to the serpent. You've heard them before. "Well, who's to say what's right and wrong?" Or, "That's just your opinion. Who died and made you God?"
Let me say this one more time. In spite of the smog thrown up by others, we do know what is right and what is wrong. We do know the difference between good and evil. We know it from our personal experiences. We know it from holy scripture. We know it because God gave us the good sense to recognize it, and we know it because we have a deep wellspring of tradition that teaches us about this. If we pay attention to life and people around us, we know that it hurts when you get hit. Hitting, therefore, might just be wrong. We know, too, from our traditions and scripture that hurting others is not what God would have us do, and this is just the beginning.
We know it's wrong to steal. Whether it's the burglar taking your stereo or the giant corporation stealing billions from the people, it's wrong. And though it is virtually epidemic in our culture, we know that lying is wrong. Whether it is a slight untruth on your job application or the lies told by governments to cover their misdeeds, we know that it is wrong. The list extends to oppressing workers, to violating God's good creation, and on and on. And again, we know.
We also know what is good. We know what it feels like to help someone who needs our assistance. We know what it's like to feed someone who is hungry, and we know what it is like to lift up someone who is downtrodden. We know what it's like to offer good things for our children -- indeed for all the children. These are good things, and we well know it.
Yes, we all long for a time of innocence remembered in ancient biblical texts like this one. But the genie is indeed out of the bottle. Blame the loss of innocence on whomever you wish. Whether it was the fruit, the serpent, Eve, or even hapless Adam, it doesn't much matter. We have been given the knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong. God stands with us today calling us to choose the good and the right. God walks with us today, double daring us to risk it all if need be to stand for what is just and right.
It is as the writer puts it in Deuteronomy. "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live ..." (Deuteronomy 30:19b). The choices that we are making virtually every minute are before us in so many ways today. As we step together into this Lenten time, let us use this knowledge that we have and let us choose the things that make for abundant life.
Let us choose healing in our relationships. Let us choose to assume the good in others. Let us choose to stand for the weak and vulnerable. Let us choose to be people who follow God's ways in all things, and sisters and brothers, let us do so -- not looking back wistfully at lost innocence, but gazing forward, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). Amen.
