Experiencing God's Love, Loving God, Loving Others

 

Genesis 3:8-15

Pentecost 3 Lectionary 10 June 9, 2024

Epiphany Lutheran Church Richmond, Virginia

Hans Tiefel has written a book! Hans is a Professor Emeritus of Religion and Ethics at William and Mary, and he’s in his mid-80s, and this is his first book! And, since I enjoy getting people together to talk about how to live our faith in public, I’ve gathered a group of folks in Williamsburg. We read a chapter of the book at a time, and get together to talk about it. And Hans participates!

The book is titled, Christian Ethics Introduced. (Ethics, of course, is what governs our behavior.) And Hans’ approach is fresh and intriguing. He writes that our behavior, as followers of Jesus, is not so much paying attention to a list of things that are right and wrong. Instead, Hans proposes, it’s a simple, two-part dynamic: First, we experience the love of God. We receive God’s love! Second, we love God back, which means loving other people!

Our words and actions, as followers of Jesus, are rooted in our experience of God, who loves us! And we respond, by speaking and acting with love towards other people.

Why am I talking about this? It’s because it’s so counter to the way the first human beings act in those verses we read from Genesis this morning!

You may know where we are, in the story in Genesis. This is part of the second of the two creation stories that begin the Bible. God has created a man and a woman, to live as creatures among all other creatures, and they are given the job of caring for all of the rest of creation, so that all of life will flourish!

Are you with me? Do you recognize the story?

Now. Why does God create the man and the woman? Why does God create all the rest of the flourishing creation? Did God have to do all of this? No! God does this purely out of love! Creation is a pure gift of love! And the human beings are given the job of caring for all the rest of creation. There is only one thing that the man and the woman are not to do: they are not to eat the fruit of one single tree in the garden of creation: this is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Do you know what happens? Into the story comes a serpent. And the serpent tempts the woman and says, “The only reason why God said not to eat that fruit is because then you would become like God.” And that sounds pretty good! In the story, both the woman and the man want to become like God! (They aren’t satisfied being human beings.) And so, they eat the fruit. And that breaks their relationship with God. (That’s what sin is, you know. It’s not naughty things that we do. Sin is when we are broken from God, and from each other.)

The man and the woman’s relationship with God is broken. They are no longer securely rooted in God’s love. They’re not loving God back. In fact, they are afraid of God! As this morning’s reading begins, when they hear the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden, they don’t rejoice that their loving God is present. They hide, in fear!

The root of Christian ethics – the way we are to speak and act as followers of Jesus – is in our experience of God’s love. Our response is to love God – and to love other people, and to show that in what we say and what we do!

Is that what happens in the story from Genesis? Uh uh. “The Lord God called to the man, and said to him ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’” God immediately knows the reason. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” How does the man respond? He throws the woman under the bus! “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” (Do you notice that the man is blaming God, too?! “The woman whom YOU gave to be with me…”)

So, the man blames the woman. And when the Lord God confronts the woman, what does she do? She blames the serpent!

* * *

The root of Christian ethics – the way we are to speak and act as followers of Jesus – is in our experience of God’s love. Our response is to love God back – and to love other people, and to show that in what we say and what we do! In this story (in which sexist interpreters traditionally place primary blame on the woman), the man is at least equally in the wrong – because he doesn’t simply take responsibility for his screw up! If he would simply do that – take responsibility, confess his sin, his brokenness; to turn away from that, to repent, then he would be acting in love towards God and towards the other human being he is living with.

But deflecting blame seems to be the way of the world, doesn’t it? (You know the acronym, don’t you? To “CYA.”) How refreshing it would be if, in particular, some political leaders I could name – not only in our nation, but in nations around the world – would simply take responsibility for the wrong they have done, instead of blaming others, instead of trying to cover it up. It’s the way of the world.

But we followers of Jesus live in a very different culture. It is called the kingdom of God. In fact, when we gather for worship, we speak counter-cultural words – each time we gather! For this morning’s words, open your order of service and look back at the Confession and Forgiveness.

We first address “the God of manna, the God of miracles, the God of mercy.” Do you recognize that this is the God of pure love? Of pure grace? Do you and I deserve any of that? Of course not! God is pure love.

Next, notice what you and I do, in the order for Confession and Forgiveness: We take responsibility! Read with me as I speak the words we use this morning:

“Forgive us for taking offense at your teachings.

“Forgive us for doubting that you provide enough to share.

“Forgive us for questioning your ways when they differ from those of the world in which we live.”

Then, what do we do? We ask God to reorient us. We ask God to re-root us in God’s love: “Turn us again from our own understanding to believe and trust in you, so that we may receive the words of eternal life and be nourished for life in the world.”

And then the pastor has the great privilege to say: “Through Jesus, the bread of life, God’s mercy is given to you: you are forgiven and you are loved into abundant life.”

* * *

“You are forgiven and you are loved into abundant life.” What kind of God even does that?! Do you and I deserve this forgiveness, this abundance? Of course not! It is pure gift, it is pure grace, it is pure love. God is pure love.

The root of Christian ethics – the way we are to speak and act as followers of Jesus – is in our experience of God’s love. Our response is to love God back, and to love other people, and to show that in what we say and what we do!

All that I’ve been saying is incredibly Lutheran! I’m only telling you what Martin Luther teaches us, in the Small Catechism!

In his teaching on the Creed: “I believe that God has created me together with all that exists. God has given me and still preserves my body and soul: eyes, ears, and all limbs and senses; reason and all mental faculties. In addition, God daily and abundantly provides shoes and clothing, food and drink, house and farm, spouse and children, fields, livestock, and all property – along with all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life....[A]ll this is done out of pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of mine at all! For all of this I owe it to God to thank and praise, serve and obey him. This is most certainly true.”

Luther is saying this: The root of Christian ethics – the way we are to speak and act as followers of Jesus – is in our experience of God’s love. Our response is to love God back, and to love other people, and to show that in what we say and what we do!

You may remember that, in the Small Catechism, Luther even explains the Ten Commandments in that way.

For instance, Luther turns around the Commandment, “You are not to kill”; to mean that we are to “help and support [others] in all of life’s needs.”

Listen to how Luther explains the hardest Commandment to obey (for me, at least, and also for many, many of our political leaders these days): “You are not to bear false witness against your neighbor.” Luther turns that around to mean that “we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.”

Imagine! Imagine what it would be like, if people who act destructively towards other people would take responsibility for that; if they would confess that sin; if they would turn away from that – so we could trust that all people are doing the best that they can! I think that might be a sign of “Your kingdom come.”

You and I can model that to the world, members that we are in the counter-culture called the Body of Christ. The root of Christian ethics – the way we are to speak and act as followers of Jesus – is in our experience of God’s love. Our response is to love God back, and to love other people, and to show that in what we say and what we do!

That is our prophetic message to the world: of what God is like, of what God desires, of who God is! God is love!

The life-long journey of faith is to engage in daily practices that allow God the Holy Spirit to open us to experience the God of pure love, to receive that love and grace, and then to respond with love in what we say and what we do.

What a joyous way to live!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine