How many of you know that there are TWO creation stories in Genesis? Go ahead... raise your hands. Clergy, you don’t get a vote! I know it seems unlikely, but this is true!
The second creation story is the one we read this morning in Genesis Ch 2. God causes a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he then took one of his ribs and made a woman. This version is often used to suggest that women are submissive to men, made of their ribs in order to be a helpmate. My husband, when he wants to get under my skin, will call me his little rib-let! Not funny Walter!
The version I like to draw folks’ attention to is the first creation story in Genesis Ch 1 versus 26-27. In this version, God makes male and female in His own image. Both. At the same time. Sorry guys.
But if we pay attention to the wording in the Chapter 2 version, God says “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a partner... a helpmate.
And this is the crux of all of our readings today and my message to you: God’s divine intent for humanity was to live in community with each other and with Him. God created within us a need to be with others... to live in harmony...to take care of the Earth and to take care of each other and help each other.
But it did not take long for mankind to let God down. We all know what is coming, Adam AND Eve are tempted by Satan, and BOTH take a bite of the forbidden fruit. And from this point on, we have been trying to overcome this divide between God’s intent for us and the human reality of sin that we chose. But we can overcome this separation. Which of course we can do with the example of Jesus Christ who teaches us the importance of love and leads us home through his sacrifice.
And as I discuss our readings for this morning, I want you to listen for God’s grace and mercy that is so apparent.
So, this morning we began with the story of creation and scripture setting the primacy of human relationships. While all things were good that God created, he states that it was not good for man to be alone. And so, God sets to make a partner ... and equal ... to go through life with. Because we turned from God, we need each other even more to help and support each other to be in right relationship with God. And we do that by following Jesus Christ and by learning from each other and through each other.
Life is all about relationships: not just with our partners in marriage but with our work mates, our neighbors, our social communities ... and church family ... and our place in the world.
Our Gospel reading from Mark takes this point one step further. Our reading this morning takes place between the second and third time Christ tells his disciples that his passion is coming. Jesus and his followers are both physically and spiritually on the way to Christ’s crucifixion. And this adds even more meaning to the meaning of Christ’s words “Take up your cross and follow me.”
We see Jesus once again challenged by the Pharisees. They do not like this common man making claims about being the son of God and calling people not to pay as much attention to arbitrary laws but to God’s grace and love for all of his children, both Jew and Gentile. Jesus has turned everything upside down, and so once again they try to get Jesus to commit heresy in hope that the people will turn against him. “Is it lawful...” they begin quoting from Deuteronomy...”Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” This is their way of asking him his interpretation.
And we see Jesus do two things: He cites Moses and what he said, that Moses did allow for men to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce their wives. Note that women are not mentioned to be able to dismiss men. But Jesus tells them that this law allows for men’s hardness of heart and not God’s intent. And He quotes both creation stories, focusing on the importance of this joining together, in creating a community to thrive in. Where both support each other and create a loving relationship. We are incomplete without each other. It is the way we were created.
Jesus understands that in his culture, a woman would have a hard time finding her way without being tied to a man. If she were dismissed, she would have to then be returned to her father or live with a brother or possibly if she were lucky to live with her son and his wife. Women did not have a way of making a living alone and they depended on a male spouse or relative to take them in. And so, Jesus was addressing not so much divorce but more on the way we treat others. Would you want to leave another in such a state of devastation? We cannot just dismiss each other so easily and quickly, Jesus is teaching.
While we may not be legally responsible for each other, are we not morally responsible for our brothers and sisters? Whether family, friend, coworker or other?
You know, so many more conservative faiths use this scripture to pour guilt on those who find themselves in broken relationships or to pour out condemnation if a partner is of the same gender.
Neither of those is being addressed here. Jesus’ intent is to teach of the importance of relationship: with each other and with God. God divine intention is for us to live in healthy loving relationships and to strive to create and keep them.
But here is the good news! If we find ourselves at odds with this in our lives, God does not condemn us. Yes, there are laws that are made to help teach us and direct us, but there is also grace and mercy. LOTS of grace and mercy and Jesus.
Our answer to this divide between what God wants for us and what we have created for ourselves is given to us in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. This is the first of seven times we will read from Hebrews in this cycle with this being the preface of the entire book. Our reading this morning reads like an essay on who Jesus is as the Christ.
Paul writes that while God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways through the prophets, today he speaks to us through Christ, whom he has appointed heir of all things. Paul outlines the hierarchy of all living things: Jesus now sits at the right hand of God... above all things. But once for a little while, he was made lower than the angels but is now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
And there it is. We are told of Jesus’ relationship in creation, his role which is restoring us to God. Jesus in his death and resurrection in the key to our restoration to what God has created for us, what God wants for us. His divine intention for us. We may not be clear on God’s intention because, well, life sometimes gets in the way. COVID... jobs, taxes, relationships, children.
We may not always see or understand God’s intention for us, but we do see Jesus. We do know Jesus. We may not see our relationships the way God intended but we do see Jesus. And we do know Jesus.
It is through the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we can find our way back to God and to the glory and peace that he has created for us.
We know by the story of creation that we are created to be in loving community, whatever that looks like to you at this moment. We know that if we sin, we should not turn away from each other and hide from God, but to restore right relationship.
This weekend there were two groups who gathered together in community.... not to help each other.... but to help much larger groups who are not intimately known by all involved. One was a group called Walk for Pop that met together in the parking lot of First Baptist Church just a few blocks from here. POP is an acronym for The People of Parkinson’s. This was their second year to gather to raise money for Parkinson research. There were teams and sponsors and raffles and lots of people who were drawn together, not through individual relationships, but through their desire to help those who struggle with a debilitating disease. That is Jesus in action right there!
The second group that gathered this weekend was the Walk for Water, a mission to implement accessible, sustainable safe water solutions in communities worldwide. If you had driven downtown toward North Augusta, you would have seen hordes of folks walking from NA to St. Paul’s carrying buckets of clean water. This walk is to raise awareness of the global water crisis and to raise funds to provide solutions. Their information says, “We walk in solidarity with our neighbors around the world who must walk to collect often-unsafe water every single day.
Again, communities coming together to do God’s work. People of all walks of life, young and old, black, white and brown, rallying for a common purpose. No one cared if the neighbors were liberal or conservative or which football team they supported, or how they felt about vaccinations. They were all one body walking for a common cause, to help a brother and sister in need.
We may be a broken people. We may not be the best at relationships. And some misguided souls may even root against Georgia. But we still see Jesus in each other. We still work towards doing good. We still want what is best for humanity. And we still are walking each other home to the home God has planned for us.
Source
Lectionary Lab: Two Bubbas and a Bible. https://twobb.substack.com