Here
\nwe are. \u00a0Again. \u00a0It is the beginning of the church year. \u00a0Again. \u00a0We
\nstart anew with the stories. \u00a0Again. \u00a0For those among us who have not
\nattended to the church’s liturgical calendar before, I apologize. \u00a0It
\nis a wonderful rhythm of life, and I hope you will be enriched by
\nliving into it. \u00a0Personally, I’ve been attending to the church’s
\nliturgical calendar for decades, and been leading worship in the
\nliturgical seasons for more than a decade and this is a year where
\nstarting over again takes some energy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nlast year hasn’t been easy AND there is fear of what will come in
\nthis coming year. \u00a0Often I’m frustrated with the rather depressing
\ntexts that accompany Advent, I don’t want to start in the darkness.
\nThis year I’m ready and willing to admit that there is much darkness
\nin the world and that I, too, yearn for the light of God to break in.
\n Ironic, isn’t it? \u00a0This is the year I’m forgoing those depressing
\nAdvent texts to continue the Subversive Women sermon series?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nSubversive Women chosen for Advent are intentional though. \u00a0I’ve
\nalways loved the idea that we start the Christian year in unity with
\nour shared history with Jewish people, reliving the period in our
\nshared history when we waited for God’s messiah to change the course
\nof human history. \u00a0I also love that we do this in a season of
\ndarkness (for the Northern Hemisphere \u2013 I’m quite sad about how
\npoorly all the metaphors of the liturgical year work in the Southern
\nHemisphere and struck that this is yet another experience we have of
\nprivilege). \u00a0Anyway, I love that we start the year in darkness, and
\nin the waiting, and in our shared history. \u00a0I love that the quietness
\nof Advent contrasts with the frenetic pace of consumer culture around
\nus; creating a pause, a pregnant pause. \u00a0Along with waiting with the
\nJews, we also wait with Mary in the last month of her pregnancy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That
\nis, I really love Advent. \u00a0And it is with delight that I offer you
\nthis text for us to play with today. \u00a0What better way to start the
\nChristian year and re-start the telling of our faith story than to go
\nback to one of the stories of creation? \u00a0And, what \u00a0better place to
\nstart than the woman called \u201clife\u201d itself, Eve? \u00a0(Yes. \u00a0Eve means
\n\u201clife.\u201d \u00a0Subtle, huh?) \u00a0After all, she has been accused of
\nruining human life on this planet in multiple ways, so she MUST be at
\nleast a little subversive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This
\nis an old, old story. \u00a0It is in the voice of the Yahwehist, the
\noldest of the four voices found in the Torah. \u00a0It is a story trying
\nto make sense of the world as it is, and there are a lot of
\nexplanations going on. \u00a0It is trying to make sense of the human need
\nfor interpersonal relationships. \u00a0It is trying to make sense of human
\ncapabilities exceeding that of other creatures. \u00a0It is trying to make
\nsense of the labor necessary to stay alive. \u00a0It is trying to make
\nsense of the experience of separation from God. \u00a0It is trying to make
\nsense of the power of love. \u00a0It is trying to make sense of the human
\ndesire for knowledge.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’m
\nnot sure it succeeds at any of these tasks, but I appreciate noticing
\nthat these huge questions of why things are the way they are was
\nalready bugging people thousands of years ago, and they were
\nstruggling to find answers just as we are today. \u00a0The existence of
\nthe questions they were trying to answer makes me feel more united
\nwith the tellers of this story than the story itself does. \u00a0Which
\nisn’t the story’s fault. \u00a0It could be a perfectly adorable myth if it
\nhadn’t been used to support the subjugation of women and the
\nChristian obsession with \u201csin.\u201d \u00a0However, it has been, which
\nmakes me squirm all over again when I read it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two <\/p>\n \nIn <\/p>\n You \nWhat \n<\/p>\n \nSo, \n<\/p>\n \nGiven \n<\/p>\n They \n<\/p>\n A \n<\/p>\n \nEve \n<\/p>\n \nIn \n<\/p>\n \nSermon How \n\tWhere \n\tWhat \n\tWhether \n\tPersonally \n\tWhat \n\tHow <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1<\/a>\u00a0What <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron<\/p>\n First United Methodist Church of Schenectady<\/p>\n 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n November 27, 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nand a half years ago I preached on this text and explained in detail
\na theory of it that had changed everything for me. \u00a0To my delight,
\nwhen we got to this text in our Bible Study, people remembered that
\ntheory \u2013 it changed everything for them too! \u00a0Some of you were here
\nthen to hear it, and some weren’t, so I’m going to split the
\ndifference and briefly share the theory again.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nthe Ancient Near Eastern people believed that you could either be
\nimmortal or reproductive. \u00a0Furthermore, sexuality was linked to
\nreproduction, THUS it was linked to mortality. \u00a0If you are going to
\nlive forever, you don’t need to have children as your legacy, and you
\ndon’t need to be a sexual being. \u00a0If you are mortal, and you are
\ngoing to die, you get to have children. \u00a0This was a common motif in
\nAncient Near East stories (this is the area that the ancient Jews
\nwere from). \u00a0None of the garden narratives in the Ancient Near East
\nhave any children in them. \u00a0Gardens are places for IMMORTAL, ASEXUAL
\nbeings. \u00a0Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
\ntransformed Adam and Eve from being immortal, asexual beings into
\nmortal, sexual beings. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nmight notice that the text says directly, they were naked but \u201cnot
\nashamed,\u201d which indicates they didn’t have sexual awareness of
\ntheir own bodies to begin with. \u00a0As the wise Catholic priest who
\npointed this out said, before eating, Eve and Adam seem to be \u201czero
\non the passion meter.\u201d \u00a0Sexuality is activated ONLY when they ate
\nof the tree. \u00a0The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is really
\nthe center of it all. \u00a0What do we know of it?<\/p>\n\n
\n\tfor some reason<\/li>\n
\n\tmakes one like God (3:5) \u201clike one of us\u201d (3:22)<\/li>\n
\n\tare opened and see nakedness (sexual awareness)<\/li>\n
\n\tone wise (3:6)<\/li>\n
\n\twith punishment<\/li>\n
\n\tproduces a concern that the one possessing it not live forever.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\nelse do we know about the phrase \u201cknowledge of good and evil\u201d
\nfrom the Bible? \u00a0 Deuteronomy 1:39 teaches us it is something that
\nchildren lack, Isaiah 7 calls it a sign of maturity. \u00a0From 1 Q
\nSamuel 1:9-11 (Dead Sea Scrolls) \u201cHe will not approach a woman to
\nhave intercourse with her until he has attained the age of twenty
\nwhen he knows good and evil.\u201d \u00a0Hmm, this is clearly about sex. \u00a0In
\n2 Samuel 19:36 \u00a0An old man is being invited in for wine, women, and
\nsong. \u00a0He responds \u201cI’m 80…. and no longer potent, deaf, and not
\nexperiencing the joy of food.\u201d \u2026. also \u201cknowledge of good and
\nevil\u201d as something an old man loses.<\/p>\n
\nsexual potency, sexual maturity, sexual appetite seem to be implied
\nhere! \u00a0Then, the tree is an aphrodisiac. \u00a0The premier aphrodisiac in
\nfact, as it brought the humans from zero sexual appetite to \u201cnormal\u201d
\nrather than from weak appetite to stronger appetite. \u00a0This is a story
\nof awakening to normal sexuality. \u00a0In that case, \u00a0the serpent is a
\nfertility symbol offering this knowledge. \u00a0After this story, Eve
\ncalled mother of all things! \u00a0It is because of the eating of the
\nfruit of the tree that all other humans exist, within the framework
\nof this story. \u00a0And all hearers of the story in all times should be
\ngrateful to her for eating it! \u00a0So, then, why was the tree forbidden?
\n Because immortals do not beget. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nthis new understanding of the tree, the
\npunishments about pain in childbirth, and man lording over woman,
\nFIT. \u00a0There is no fall, as much as Paul and others have made of it,
\nand there is no original sin. \u00a0The couple is making a journey UPWARD:
\n they become aware, wise, and mature in full adult human stature. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nstarted off like children and come into full adult status.<\/b>
\n <\/b>Isn’t
\nthat an interesting creation story? \u00a0It is a story that tells how we
\nbecame reproductively capable, sexually aware, adult humans. \u00a0This
\ncreation story includes the creation of future generations of humans.
\n It is a much more interesting story than it initially appears,
\nright? \u00a0Personally, I’m rather grateful that they ate of the fruit
\nand gained sexual maturity because within the constructs of the
\nstory, NO OTHER HUMANS would otherwise exist, and I rather like
\nexisting.<\/p>\n
\nfew other notes on this story, particularly for those who have heard
\nit used in other ways. \u00a0Adam (whose name means both \u201chuman\u201d and
\n\u201cdirt\u201d) and Eve (whose name means \u201clife\u201d and \u201clife-bearer\u201d)
\nwere in the garden together and the serpent speaks to Eve while
\nAdam is also present<\/b>.
\n Only Adam is told NOT to eat of the tree, and yet when Eve responds
\nto the serpent she assumes that it applies to her as well AND she
\nstrengthens the command. \u00a0The first version was \u201cof
\nthe tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in
\nthe day that you eat of it you shall die\u201d. \u00a0Eve tells it like this,
\n\u201cGod said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in
\nthe middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’\u201d
\n She adds the touch. \u00a0Isn’t that how humans work? \u00a0When we really
\nwant to keep a rule, we make rules around the rule in order to make
\nkeeping the rule easier.<\/p>\n
\nis aware of the risk, but the serpent tells her, \u201cYou will not die;
\nfor God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and
\nyou will be like God, knowing good and evil,\u201d AND she looks with
\nher own eyes. \u00a0She sees that \u201cthe tree was good for food, and that
\nit was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to
\nmake one wise.\u201d \u00a0She listens to the serpent AND she takes in
\nawareness from her surroundings, and she decides that risking death
\nis worth having knowledge (and sexual maturity, let’s be clear). It
\nis almost as if she is a prepubescent girl choosing to become a
\nwoman: there are big trade offs in that choice, but there is goodness
\nin being an adult.<\/p>\n
\nthis week that we celebrated Thanksgiving, taking days apart to be
\ngrateful, and remembering a shared meal between generous native
\npeople and overwhelmed frightened immigrants, it is worth remembering
\nthis ancient story being grateful to Eve who is said to have chosen
\nknowing, and growing up, so we all can exist. \u00a0We can also be
\ngrateful to Eve and her choice throughout Advent as we wait for
\nMary’s baby to come. \u00a0All of the babies who have been born, within
\nthe constructs of this story, exist because Eve chose knowledge and
\nmaturity over staying in the dark. \u00a0We take her light into these dark
\ndays. \u00a0Amen<\/p>\n
\nTalkback Questions<\/b><\/p>\n
\n\telse do you think about Advent?<\/p>\n
\n\telse do you notice the contrasts of light and darkness, and what
\n\tmeaning do you make out of them?<\/p>\n
\n\tdo you do to avoid being pulled into the frenetic pace of consumer
\n\tChristmas, and back into the quiet reflection of Advent?<\/p>\n
\n\tyou heard this theory before or not, how does it change your
\n\trelationship to this story \u2013 and to Adam and Eve?<\/p>\n
\n\tI like the idea of Eve considering the serpents ideas, taking in
\n\tawareness of her surroundings, and deciding for herself that
\n\tknowledge was worth it. \u00a0How does her thoughtful consideration
\n\tchange the story?<\/p>\n
\n\tdoes it mean to be grateful for sexual maturity, and to consider our
\n\tcreation myth to be about that?<\/p>\n
\n\tdoes God’s love get reflected in this story?\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\tfollows is reworked from \u201cThe Garden: We Have it ALL Wrong\u201d
\n\tpreached on 3\/9\/2014. \u00a0That knowledge came from Father Addison
\n\tWright during a lecture series at \u201cEcumenical Scripture Institute\u201d
\n\tat Sky Lake in 2011 on the first 11 Chapters of Genesis. \u00a0\n\t<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n