Sunday, June 10, 2012

“Found By Grace”

Genesis 3:8-15

2nd Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5) - B

Sunday, June 10, 2012
United in Christ Lutheran Church

Flint, Michigan

Rev. David E. Daniel

The Old Testament lesson for today tells us the familiar account about an increasingly unfamiliar but significant matter – a matter of eternal life or death. Adam and Eve were trying to hide from God. They were hiding from God because they were afraid. And if God had not searched for them and found them, Adam and Eve would have forever been lost in sin and doomed to eternal death.

The account of the fall into sin is a familiar one. When Adam and Eve chose to listen to the lies of Satan and eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thereby doing what God had commanded them not to do, guilt and shame came into their lives. They were no longer comfortable in God’s presence. When they realized that God was in the garden, they hid from Him. It is important to note that God did not run from them; they ran from God (and Satan went with them).

I am reminded of an episode of the television show “Little House on the Prairie,” or as Laurie likes to call it “Little Disaster on the Prairie.” In this episode, Albert, the “adopted son” of the Ingalls causes a fire by smoking a pipe in the basement of the blind school. The fire kills Alice Garvey and Mary’s baby. When Albert learns that his carelessness is the cause of the fire and the deaths, he runs away. Charles and Jonathan search for him to bring him home and restore him in forgiveness. [i] They could have let Albert go. Charles could have chosen to start over... to cut his losses and start fresh. But he didn't. He sought after Albert and brought him home.

God could have started over, but He didn’t. He approached the couple in hiding and asked three rhetorical questions, giving them opportunity to confess. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:9-11)

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12-13)

Adam and Eve offered the first excuses in the history of the world, but unfortunately they were not the last. People have learned all too well from their sinful parents. We too are fond of making excuses. We too are pretty good at ducking responsibility and accountability. We too can be guilty of blaming others. The sad thing is that none of these reactions to sin is a solution to sin. We simply stay lost... hopelessly lost.

God is not the one who is lost. We are! And this is a serious matter! There are many today who downplay the seriousness of sin. Sometimes we hear them say, or perhaps you have said something similar yourself, “Yes, I did that, but at least I’m not as bad as he is.” But, in his Word, God makes it clear that every sin offends Him; every sin leads to death. St. Paul reminds us that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) It is time we take off the mild label by which many refer to sin and put back the “poison” label, which in fact sin is. It is poison. It wrecks our life on earth. It destroys our life for eternity.

But God would not allow sin to have the final word. He intervened in grace with a solution to sin and its eternal consequences. And just as He reached out to Adam and Eve, He reaches out to you and me.

It is so wonderful that we have this text for this Sunday when young Layla Nichole Meier is baptized into Christ’s Church. Understand that she is included in that “all” of whom St. Paul speaks. She is like us; in the same boat so to speak. She is a fallen sinner who cannot save herself, just like you and me. But thanks be to God for His love for us in Christ Jesus.

Like Adam and Eve, we have been found in God’s grace. In baptism, He calls us by name. In Baptism, God confronts the seriousness of sin. In Baptism, God joins us to the saving work of Jesus; His life, His suffering, His death, His resurrection. In Baptism, His Spirit gives us faith, forgiveness and life. All of this is in keeping with His precious promise in the garden.

The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)

It was there that God vowed to enmity between Satan and the woman. God quickly demonstrated that He is in control. Almost as soon as sin entered the world, God revealed His plan to take sin away. He promised to send a Savior to destroy the devils work.

When God sent Jesus, the seed of the woman, Satan did not give up. He worked even harder, as the Gospels make it clear. On the Friday of Jesus’ death, the Friday we call “Good Friday,” the devil endured his final defeat. The battle that began with a tree in the garden ended with a tree on Calvary. The serpent struck at Jesus’ heel, and Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) But then in His dying breath he declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and crushed Satan forever.

At the right time... in God’s time... His first promise found fulfillment. Jesus proved to be the solution to sin and death. He offered Himself as the atoning sacrifice, taking the sins of Adam and Eve and every human being to the cross. There He suffered the eternal consequences of our sins, paying the price in full for all of us.

And we receive the benefit of His work when we are baptized; just a young Layla was today. We are connected to Him and called to live our lives according to His Word. Do we fall short? Yes we do. We do sin against God and one another. We live in this world with all of its influences but we are not of this world. When we sin, we are called once again to repentance. We are called to confess our sins and return to God and Word. There we receive the Gospel promise. There we receive His Word of forgiveness, life and salvation.

This Gospel promise teaches us to run to God rather than from Him. Whether we are tempted to take sin lightly or be crushed by guilt and shame, God invites us to come to Him and receive His love and His peace—not the wrath we deserve. While young Layla has received the gift of everlasting life and salvation in Christ, you are also called as her parents, God-parents, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, to teach and encourage her in the Christian walk.

Jesus himself commands us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Many stop there with this portion of Scripture, but there is more.. teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

God kept His promise to Adam and Eve, and He will keep the promise He has made to us; to you, to me, to Layla. God is faithful! He finds us by grace and gives us eternal life through His Son.

In Jesus Holy Name, Amen.

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[i] May We Make Them Proud, part 2, Little House on the Prairie, Season 6, Episode 19, 1980.