June 6, 1999 - LESSON(S): Genesis 3:1-6, NRSV

SERMON TITLE: Whose to Blame

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. There's an old expression
    1. Curiosity killed the cat.
    2. I discovered that there was a second part of this saying that I did not know.
    3. Satisfaction brought it back.
  2. Sometimes this may be the case.
    1. Sometimes
    2. Sometimes this is true.
    3. Other times curiosity may be dangerous.

MAIN BODY:

  1. You have been given a box.
    1. It is not an ordinary box.
      1. It is made of gold.
      2. The workmanship is exquisite.
      3. It glows with an incredible light which lights up the whole room.
    2. You have been told not to open the box.
      1. The more that you look at the box the more curious you become.
      2. What could be inside the box?
        1. Is it a crown?
        2. A precious jewel?
        3. A rare perfume?
        4. It must be something very valuable to be inside this box.

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    3. You pick up the box and feel the weight of it.
      1. There is nothing inside which rattles.
      2. Surely it will not hurt to open it a crack to see what is inside.
    4. You undo the clasp and open it a crack.
      1. You can see nothing.
      2. What is inside the box.
    5. You open it a little wider.
    6. Angry and emboldened, you open it wider and see what at first looked to be a brown, ugly cloud.
      1. The cloud moved and separated, and then, with a loud buzzing sound, hundreds of things resembling small insects escaped into the room.
      2. Terrified, you try to close the box, but your hands shake and you could not manage the catch.
      3. It is almost empty when you finally slammed the lid, and only one thing remains in the box.
      4. It is "hope."
  2. You remember the story of Pandora's Box?
    1. Although Jupiter had punished Prometheus for stealing the divine fire from the chariot of the sun, he was not satisfied.
    2. He felt the gods should seek retaliation against Man for accepting the stolen gift.
    3. Summoning, all the gods to the great hall, he asked them what they thought would plague and torment Man the most.
    4. It was decided, after many consultations and arguments, that a woman might harry him and plant seeds of ambition and dissatisfaction in his breast.
    5. So, in much the same way as Prometheus had made Man, they brought clay from the earth and created a woman whom they named Pandora.
    6. When she was given life, she was endowed by the gods with every gift;
      1. Venus bestowed beauty on her.
      2. Mercury gave her the art of persuasion
      3. Apollo donated the love of music.
      4. The Graces trained her in the social arts.
      5. Then, Vulcan fashioned an exquisite box of pure gold into which were put all the evils that have plagued mankind ever since
        1. disease,
        2. famine,
        3. pestilence,
        4. fever,
        5. envy,
        6. greediness,
        7. gluttony,
        8. hatred and
        9. intolerance.
      6. It did not seem possible that a thing as lovely as the golden box could contain so many ills.

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    7. As they were about to close the box, the gods and goddesses regretted their hasty decision.
    8. And, although they were too proud to abandon the idea altogether, they added one beautiful gift that would lessen the pain caused by all the other disasters.
      1. This gift was called hope.
      2. The gods tucked it down into the bottom
    9. Then they cautioned Pandora not to open the box, which was intended as an offering to the man who took her in marriage.
    10. Her curiosity got the better of her and she loosed all the evils that have plagued human kind ever since.
    11. The Angry God's got their revenge.
  3. Two people stood in front of a tree.
    1. They were curious.
    2. As they stood there a voice spoke to them.
      1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made.
      2. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
      3. The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 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; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
      5. 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.
      6. 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.

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  4. Curiosity killed the cat and there was no satisfaction to bring it back.
    1. All the evils that have plagued humankind were let loose in the world.
      1. Shame
      2. Rationalization
      3. Blaming
      4. Pain
      5. Thrones and thistles
      6. Murder
      7. And much, much more.
    2. They would be revealed in time as life continued and changed, and changed again and again.
  5. God was not angry.
    1. God was very sad.
    2. But what was God to do.
      1. He said: "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--
      2. therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
      3. And God revealed the changes that were to take place.
      4. The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."
      5. To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
      6. And to the man he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

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    3. The curse is not like the curse of the Obeah witch doctor
      1. When he pronounces a curse people live in fear.
      2. People may even die.
    4. The curse is only the revelation of the future.
      1. It is a future that was to be, and is, much different than God desired.
      2. It is the present in which we live.
  6. And when you stop to think about it, "Whose to blame?"
    1. God created a marvelous, wonderful and good world.
    2. Human kind has turned it into what it is.

CONCLUSION:

  1. All we can do now is relate to and work with the God of goodness.
    1. Our god is the God of restoration
    2. Our god is the God of renovation.
    3. It is a promise that is being, and will be fulfilled in every detail.
  2. All we need to do is to pay attention and work the system that has been provided for us.
    1. This is not as easy as it might at first appear.
      1. In this sub-division we put out our trash and garbage on Tuesday evening for pick-up on Wednesday morning.
      2. But Monday, May 31 was Memorial Day.
      3. If there is a holiday, trash and garbage pick-up takes place a day later.
      4. Drive around this sub-division and you will find that many people have put out their trash on Tuesday evening.
        1. Are they ignorant?
          1. No! There has been extensive communication.
          2. they do know what day it is.
        2. Are they naive?
          1. Perhaps.
          2. I do not think so.
        3. Could it be that they simply do not think.
          1. They have a pattern of living.
          2. The pattern is more important than the information.
    2. God desires biblically literate people who have the capacity to think and to act.
  3. Curiosity is a two-edged sword.
    1. It can lead to darkness or light.
    2. It can help or hurt.
    3. It can heal or make ill.
  4. Maybe instead of opening gold boxes or taking fruit from the forbidden tree we can open the source of knowledge and experience the benefits rather than the curses of God.

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