May 26, 2024
Genesis 3:6-13
Introduction
We know this story well— Adam and Eve are in the Garden; they are tempted by the serpent to eat from the tree of knowledge which they were told explicitly not to eat from. And because we know this story well, if I were to ask you what this story is about you would likely tell me it’s about: disobedience, original sin, failure, and getting kicked out of the Garden. And while that is true, have we ever considered maybe there’s more happening in this story?
Consider the question God asks in verse nine, right after Adam and Eve eat, realize they are naked, and hide because they hear God coming. Verse nine says, “…the Lord God called to the man, and said, ‘Where are you?’” Do we really think God doesn’t know where Adam and Eve are? Do we think God doesn’t know what has happened? Of course, God knows. So perhaps there is more going on than we thought. After all, this question is the very first question God asks in scripture, which would suggest it is an important question. And since it’s an important question, perhaps we need to re-hear this question from God. We need to re-hear this question because we are so familiar with the Adam and Eve stories, and so sure they are about disobedience, original sin, and failure, that we can’t hear anything new or different.
Move 1
When you hear this story what tone do you hear God using when asking, “Where are you?” Is God mad? Sad? Scared? Curious? Worried? Inviting? How we understand this question has a lot to do with tone. If we hear a loud angry accusing voice yell, “Where the ___ are you?!”, we know what’s coming next. If we hear the concerned and worried voice of a parent calling for their child, “Where are you?” that question has a different meaning. And if we hear the soft, sensuous voice of a lover calling to their beloved, “Where are you?” it has yet another meaning.
We know God is “looking” for Adam and Eve, what tone is God taking? Maybe it’s not about disobedience, punishment, or being bad. Maybe it’s God wanting to be with Adam and Eve like a parent wanting to be with their child. Or, what if God is inviting Adam and Eve to come back to God and back to themselves? What if the question is actually for Adam and Eve’s to ask of themselves? And if that’s the kind of question it is, then what if it’s a question we are to ask ourselves as well? “Where are you?”
So let’s ask this question and let’s do so by asking it in three ways: First, “When God comes looking for you, where are you in your life today?” Second, “When God comes looking for you, where are you hiding today?” And lastly… “When God comes looking for you, what do you hear?”
Move 2
The first question, When God comes looking for you, where are you in life today? What does life look like? What’s going on? Where are you in your life of prayer and spirituality? Where are you in your friendships and relationships, in your marriage, parenting? Where are you in your work? Where are you in those events and instances that have left you brokenhearted and grieving? Where are you in those moments you regret—a time you wish you hadn’t said or done something, your disappointments, failures? Where are you in your joys and thanksgivings?
That question, “Where are you in life today?”, is an invitation. It is an invitation to look at your life, to be self-reflective about how you are living. But we should not hear the question as Adam and Eve did—as a judgement, as a conclusion. “Oh no. I am so busted!” We can miss God’s invitation when we turn our response into a judgement or a conclusion because whatever our answer is, it’s actually information. The question, “Where are you in your life today?” is about honestly looking at ourselves and saying, “This is where I am.” Which can be followed by, “But I’d like to be somewhere else,” or “This is where I am now, but it’s where I never want to go again.”
“Where are you in your life today?” This question, and those that flow from it, ask us to notice what’s going on in us and around us, for better or worse, and to truly and honestly see who we are and where we are. Because if we don’t know who we are… if we don’t know where we are… how could we possibly make any forward progress? What happens when you ask the question, “Where are you in your life today?” What is God inviting you to discover?
Move 3
Second question… When God comes looking for you, where are you hiding today?
What parts of your life are you hiding? Why are you hiding? In what ways do you hide? Do you hide through busyness, work, taking care of the kids, distractions? Do you hide in those actions that get you amped up and happy— advancing your career, sports, sports betting, shopping, alcohol, drugs, social media? Do you hide in your preoccupations, your dreams and fantasies. Do you hide because you are afraid, embarrassed, because you feel guilt or shame? Are you hiding from the hard decisions in life you just don’t want to deal with, or from those difficult relationships and circumstances you just don’t know how to deal with? Are you hiding from your past? Are you hiding from your future?
All of this is the kind of hiding Adam and Eve are doing. They are naked and afraid and hiding among the trees to protect themselves. They’re hiding to cover up, so they won’t be seen because they now know something about themselves. They think they are hiding from God but in my experience of trying to hide from God is I’m not really hiding from God or even other people. I’m hiding from myself. And every time I hide from myself, I’m hiding because I don’t want to face some part of me. I don’t want to see it. But what always happens when I hide like this, is I divide myself and I have to live with a part of me here and a part of me tucked away somewhere else where hopefully no one will find me. I think it’s safe, but it’s not, is it? Because when part of me is here, and part of me is hidden away somewhere else that means the whole of me isn’t anywhere. I’m no longer fully me. I’m no longer fully open to anyone—not even God.
What does hiding look like in your life today? What has driven you to hide? Who are you hiding from? What could happen if you stopped hiding? Now, again, as you ponder that question don’t make it a judgement or a conclusion because this is again simply information. So let the information inform you and guide you to new opportunities and possibilities.
Move 4
And lastly, when God comes looking for you, what do you hear? This question brings us back to tone again, but it also brings us to how we think God will respond—especially to our sins.
Now yes, what follows our story is God’s rebuke of the serpent and eventually Adam and Eve’s dismissal from the Garden—which makes us think we should expect a similar response—God’s judgement, anger, and rebuke. But I want to propose that if we listen carefully, particularly with ears of those who are part of the body of Christ, then we might just hear God say… Olly olly oxen free.
Do you remember that phrase? “Olly olly oxen free” is a catchphrase used in children’s games like hide and seek or kick the can to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game. But long before it’s use in childhood games, the phrase came about as a derivative of “all ye, all ye outs in free, all the outs in free.” Which means, all who are out may come in without penalty. “Olly olly oxen free” is a call to safety.
God told Adam and Eve if they ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge they would surely die. But when they ate of the tree, they didn’t die. However, something did die. Their perfect relationship with God was now severed by sin—which is the consequence of sin. But what follows from that first sin, all the way throughout biblical history to Jesus and beyond, is God constantly at work to bridge that gap of separation. Through laws, then through the prophets and then to Jesus, God is always saying, Olly olly oxen free. Come out from your hiding come back to me. You are free. You are safe. Regardless of what you have done, come out from your hiding and return to me. Olly olly oxen free.
Conclusion
God knows where Adam and Eve are. God knows what has happened. Which means God is not really “looking” for Adam and Eve. Rather God is inviting Adam and Eve—inviting them to be fully present in the moment before them—just as they are—even though they have done what they were not supposed to do. God is inviting them to take a risk, come out from hiding, be vulnerable and open to what will happen when God comes looking for them.
Regardless of who you are; regardless of what you’ve done or left undone; no matter what has or has not happened in your life; regardless of what you are hiding, where you are hiding, or why you are hiding… when God comes looking for you, you can know where you are is right next to God. You can know there is no point in hiding because God already knows, but you can come freely, and safely to your God.
When God comes looking for you, it’s not as an angry judge. Rather, when God comes looking for you it’s as a loving parent who wants to find you, keep you safe, set you free, and guide you to the best place we could ever be—a deep and restored relationship with God. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, May 26, 2024
Creator God, you create eye-catching sunrises and sunsets; you carve out a canyon so massive and stunning we call it Grand. You stupefy us with giant redwood trees and the vastness of the oceans depts and the stars above. And then you knit us together in our mother’s womb—wonderfully and fearfully made.
And so we gather in awe O God, for you are great and marvelous and you bless us beyond our imaginations. And yet, for all your creative wonders, you would have us worship you more for your love than for your greatness; more for your care than for your majesty.
You sent Jesus because you love us so deeply. Sunsets and mountains and oceans lead us to your door, but Jesus is the one who takes us to your heart.
And it is because of Christ we know you want us to be whole, to stand tall, to embrace the truth that we have been made in your image, and that you will—no matter what—never leave us or forsake us.
Holy God, help us to perceive the vastness of your love and acceptance. Help us to know more deeply that we belong to you… always.
On this Memorial Day weekend Holy God, when we remember those who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice, help us to embrace the awe-inspiring truth that in death we are led through the gates of eternal life. Help us remember the chances we have been given to be in a community that shares tears and joy, struggles and hopes. Help us remember each new day is a gift given by others, and filled with new possibilities to serve and love without bounds or conditions. Help us remember, you set a table before us and give us the promise that death never gets to have the last word.
May we never forget, and never lose sight of these opportunities and these blessings.
We ask now to hear our prayers that are heart-deep and beyond words, as we offer them in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”