A homily by Fr.
Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church ,
Mt. Vernon , Illinois on
“GOOD AND EVIL: PRIVATE CHOICES, PRIVATE RESULTS?”
(Homily text: Genesis
3: 8 – 15)
Our two-and-a-half-year-old
grandson gets a written report about his day at the preschool where he
attends. It says things about how and
what he ate, his nap habits, and whether or not he got a “time out” during the
day.
So, the
other day, the report said that he’d had one “time out” during the day. His dad asked him about that. Here was Jesse Morgan Frazier’s
matter-of-fact, straightforward report….He said that “Another kid (whom he
named) was riding a toy that I wanted, so I went over and knocked him off the toy
and took it and rode it. The teacher saw
me and gave me a two minute ‘time out’ in the chair in the corner.”
No remorse,
no indication that he had to apologize to the other kid, nothing of that sort
was offered at all….it was a straightforward, plainly stated report. It was as if to say, “Well, dad, there it is,
that’s what I did and what happened afterward.”
Now if
Jesse behaved like Adam did when God asked him about his transgression in
eating from the forbidden tree, Jesse might have said something like this: “Well, dad, you know that you put me in this
preschool with this other kid. This
other kid was riding a toy that I wanted, and I didn’t like that, so I went over
and knocked him off the toy he was riding…it was all his fault.”
If Jesse
had responded that way, we might say that he was trying to “pass the buck”.
That’s what
Adam did, he “passed the buck” to Eve, who, in turn, passed it to the serpent.
As we turn
to the passage before us this morning, we would do well to remember that the
Bible’s main purpose is to educate us about God and about God’s interactions
with human beings. Put another way, the
Bible’s purposes are essentially theological ones. The theological truths about God and about
the human condition are of prime concern here.
Before we
reflect on the meaning of the actions which took place that day in the Garden
of Eden after Adam and Eve had eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, we ought to remind ourselves of the circumstances which had
taken place just prior to God’s coming to them in the Garden, asking, “Where
are you?”
As we turn
to the Genesis account before us today, we notice, of course, our reading picks
up the events at midstream….Previously, Adam and Eve had been told what they
may – and may not – do in the Garden.
They are placed there, after all, to tend the Garden of Eden (see
Genesis 2: 15). They may eat, they were
told, of any tree in the Garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.
But through
the tempting of the serpent, Eve succumbed to the fruit’s appeal to the eyes
and to its value as food. Eve takes the
fruit, eats of it, and offers it to Adam, who has been standing there right
beside her throughout the temptation and the partaking of the fruit.
Now, what
are the theological truths that the Bible is conveying to us as it relates this
incident to us? As we said a moment ago,
the theological truths are paramount to the Bible’s purposes.
Here are
some suggestions:
·
Casting the causes of our own actions onto God
cannot relieve us of the responsibility for those actions: Notice that Adam, in responding to God, says,
“The woman whom you gave to me….” One
has to wonder: Is Adam suggesting that
by giving Eve to him, that God is somehow responsible for the disobedience that
took place? Is he suggesting that, if
Eve hadn’t come along, there would have been no temptation and no transgression? Perhaps so.
It’s noteworthy that Adam begins his response by pointing out God’s
actions in providing Eve for him…it’s the first thing that Adam says. Perhaps that’s the intent of Adam’s
answer: Blame God for the situation
that’s come about.
·
Casting our attention onto the misdeeds of others
cannot relieve us of the responsibility for our own actions: Notice that Adam is standing right beside Eve
as she is tempted by the serpent. (At
least that’s what the text implies.) When
God asks Adam if he had eaten of the forbidden tree, Adam replies that “The
woman you gave to me, she gave me of the fruit, and I ate.” Adam tries to avert God’s glance and to
redirect it to Eve. But notice that God
then queries Eve, who, in turn, attempts to further redirect God’s attention
onto the serpent. The theological truth
here is that each one of is responsible for our own behavior, and for the
consequences of that behavior. Another
truth to be gleaned from the text is the reality that God’s gaze will fix
itself on each and every party who has a part in disobedient acts. Each one will be examined. No wonder that the Bible says that we should
be sure that “our sin will find us out.” (Numbers 32: 23b)
·
There is no private sin: One of the most important lessons for us to
absorb, given the nature of the times we live in, is this one: Whatever misdeeds we commit, they are not
private and solitary matters. There are
consequences to our acts which go beyond ourselves, and which we cannot
control. Look again at the Genesis
account….The fallout from Adam and Eve’s disobedience went far beyond
themselves, onto their children (and to us), and into the very created order
within the entire world. Everything
changed as a result of the misdeeds that took place. This is a central lesson that Genesis conveys
to us: What is done in private has
widespread and often public effect.
·
We live with choices: Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden, in
part, to have an intimate and close relationship with God….after all, Genesis
tells us that they walked with God in the Garden. We tend to think of the Garden of Eden as a
perfect place, and in many respects, it was.
But evil also had access to the Garden, and to Adam and Eve. So the theological truth of Scripture in this
regard might be to remind us that, no matter how close our relationship is with
God, evil is also lurking, seeking a way to offer a temptation to us which
would separate us from that intimate and loving relationship with God. We often forget that the Garden was a place
where God and evil both were present. Surely,
that reality is a mystery which will have to await our appearing before God
face-to-face someday to be fully explained to us.
God, the
giver of all good things, also gives us the indwelling presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, to perfect our walk with God,
and to resist the power of evil, which is ever present throughout all our
earthly life.
All that we
have said here might be summed up in the wonderful Collect this Sunday, which
says:
O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
