Sunday Stretch: Vol. 23

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Today is the first Sunday in the season of Lent. It seems every year I have to go back to the entomology of the word Lent itself - only to remember that it’s simply a derivation of the old English word for springtime.

Here in Minnesota, where we had a major blizzard last week, Lent doesn’t quite always coincide with spring - however much we might wish it otherwise. I learned long ago that I needed a stockpile of purple sweaters - not dresses. (Purple is the liturgical color for Lent).

Still, every year, in the doldrums of winter and a busy season of church work as well as the inevitable rush of planning for summer camps and childcare, I strive to see the beginning of Lent as an opportunity. For 30-60 minutes every Wednesday, there’s a chance to slow down and be spiritually present. Experiencing the slowness, contemplation, and repentance of Lent - acknowledging the necessity and pain of the Cross - for me always means a much more meaningful Easter. Resurrection is meaningless without acknowledgment of death.

So this Lenten season, I invite you to join me. Slow down as you read these Sunday Stretch posts. Dwell a bit longer in God’s word, which as you’ll see this week from Jesus himself, is often the antidote to a world that insists on faster, more, and never enough.

Let’s get to the texts …

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Bible Stories

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7

Gen. 2:15   The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.  ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;  ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Gen. 3:1   Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;  ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’”  ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die;  ⁵ for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.  ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Gosh. Sometimes it’s hard for me to read this passage with a straight face, because this is a passage that has frankly spawned a great deal of sexism and hatred/discrimination/violence against women. For so long we have thoughtlessly accepted this storytelling as a reason for the “curse of Eve.” But the truth is that while the Bible is a holy text, it’s also a human text. And this story betrays the long history of the double bind facing women. We are supposed to be the “weaker” sex and “submit” to men. At the same time, Adam is laughably weak in this story. His defense is one women have heard for so long over the years. “My wife made me do it.” What happened to being the stronger sex? You’ve got to laugh and not cry.

So what can we take from this passage? I think one important note is to see the way that wisdom operates. Self-awareness can be painful and embarrassing. Human beings have been dealing with the effect of this self-awareness, this knowledge of God while remaining mortal, since the beginning of human consciousness, and so this story of Adam and Eve rings true to human reality. The only way to overcome this embarrassment and pain is through love: first God’s love for us, and then our love for God and for one another - even as we know our own sin and nakedness and mortality.

Questions to Ponder

Why would God offer such a temptation?

Why do you think human beings tend to especially want the very thing we can’t have?

What do you think Adam’s role really was in Original Sin? How do Adam and Eve share culpability, responsibility, and consciousness in the sight of God?