The Fall

July 6^th, 2014               “The Fall”                   Rev. Heather Jepsen

Sermon Series: Genesis: A Summer Sojourn

Genesis 2:4b – 3:24

          Today we continue our summer sermon series on the Book of Genesis.  You may remember from a few weeks ago, that this summer series Genesis: A Summer Sojourn is made up of sermons that you and I create together.  I hope you brought some questions today, as I introduce and then together we discuss this interesting text.

          You may remember from our other discussion, that the book of Genesis is actually a collection of the works of several authors, rather than just one writer.  A few weeks ago we discussed the first creation narrative in Genesis, which was written in the Priestly tradition during the time that the Israelites were in Babylon.  This morning’s reading, the second account of creation and then the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, is thought to be written in the “Yahwistic” voice, or the “J” tradition.  Even though this story comes second in our Bible, scholars think that it is the older of the two narratives.

          Where the first creation story was about the power of God and the importance of order and organization; this story is much more focused on relationships.  God is a physical presence in this narrative; walking in the garden, creating with his hands and breath, talking one-on-one with people, and sewing garments for clothing.  This narrative presents God as tentative, learning, discerning.  Creation is a work in progress, rather than a “one and done” event.

          Humanity, too, is pictured differently in this narrative.  Man is created from the earth to care for the earth.  The Hebrew for dirt or earth is adamah from which the man adam is formed.  That’s how we get the name Adam.  It’s not a proper name, more of a term for one made from the earth.  God creates Adam with a purpose, to till and care for creation.  These words could also be translated to serve and protect.  Humanity was created with the specific purpose to care for the earth. 

          In that process of care, a helper is needed, and so woman is created to help man and to be his companion.  Everything is fine and good until the crafty serpent shows up and begins asking questions.   What happens after that has been interpreted in various ways for generations.  

So let’s talk about it . . .

What do you see in this story?

What questions does this text raise in you?

What does it say about God?

What does it say about the nature of humanity?

What is the sermon for us today?

(follow the link to our website to hear the conversation)