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15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.(Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 NIV).
I bought a newspaper for the first time in many years. I love newspapers, not the digital kind, but the good ole newsprint with ink kind. I had a paper route when I was a child, but later one loved the smell, touch, and news that the newspapers. I bought it because I saw that Mr. Red McCombs died in San Antonio on Sunday. Red was a United Methodist of my old district. He and his family attended Flour Bluff UMC and he and Charlene wed at FBUMC. In fact, his best friend was a very active layperson in the district and one year came into the district office and asked if I could give him something from the FB church since Red was wed there. When FBUMC closed, the district got the altar elements including the cross and candlestick holders. This friend said "What else can I give to a friend who has everything?" I agreed and Red got the cross and candlesticks of the church in which he was reared. A story I once heard I have shared time and again about when Red was young, he had a memory of Saturday night, when his mom would get all the money and gifts that people gave to the dad who was a shade tree mechanic. Red's mom would add up the money and worth of the barter and the next morning at FBUMC, she would give the tithe. That stayed with Red and allowed him to be a big time donor to many causes. Just in San Antonio alone he gave over $50 million, not counting huge donations to many schools. Rest in peace, Red. May God comfort your family and friends.
If there had been newspapers back in the year Adam came on the scene, the headline would have read: MAN BITES GOD. It was, and continues to be, big news! God created man, places him in a paradise garden, asks the man "to work it and take care of it" but what does the man do? Well, we all know; the man, with the gift of free will, chooses to do what he wants. Never mind that God provided Adam with life and a purpose, even provided free food, and lovingly warns him that even though there is a tree that can make you know the difference between good and evil; he still does what we hoped he would not.
We get introduced to another player in this drama, a serpent. At this point in creation, to be fair, walked upright, and could talk. This particular one could also tempt. It is for this reason that scholars and Bible readers have known this serpent was none other thatn God's enemy, disguised as a serpent. The serpent goes to the woman and speaks to her with these words, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Already we see, the serpent is crafty because it changed what God had said to the woman. God had told the woman and the man, they could freely eat of any tree in the garden, except for one. The serpent changes it to not eating of any tree in the garden. Okay, I said he was crafty; no, he's a liar. She responds with the right answer but reveals that she and the man had already gone to check out the forbidden tree because she adds that they should not even touch that tree because they would surely die. The serpent counters with "You will not certainly die, For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." There's the eternal temptation, to be like God. We see this in several places in the Bible and we can even say that the reason Satan is Satan is because he too, wanted to be like God. The Tower of Babel featured a people who wanted to be like God and built a tower to get as high as God. Anyway, the woman saw the fruit was not only pleasing to the eye, but good for good, so she take a bite of the fruit (which somehow, someone, said it was an apple) and shares it with her husband, who willingly takes a bite, too. Both of their eyes are open and they make their first "wise" judgment, that being naked was not good. And to remedy this, they take sandpaper leaves of the fig tree and make underwear out of them. Who's the wise one now?
Lent will allow us to ask the same question. Are we desiring to be just like God? Or, do we think we are as smart as God? A true Lenten journey will help us answer that with a resounding no. Our journey should help us humble ourselves before God in a posture of gratitude for all God has done for us. It started today!
PRAYER: Loving God, journey with us as we start this forty day journey. We want to be like You, but not better than You. We want to be wise, but wise enough to serve and bless You and Yours; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Journey with God for forty days!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
