During his fighting prime, it is said Muhammad Ali once boarded an airplane on his way to his next flight. As the plane began to move toward the runway the flight crew went through their usual pre-flight instructions and checks. One of the flight attendants, while checking to ensure all the passengers were prepared for the flight, noticed Ali had not fastened his seat belt. She looked straight at the brash champ and kindly requested he fasten his seat belt. With his then characteristic cockiness he snapped back, “Lady, Superman don’t need no seat belt!” Without missing a beat the flight attendant said, “Yes sir, you are right. But, Superman don’t need no airplane either… so buckle up!”
Many of us think we can just do whatever we want and completely forget about the consequences. It could be argued in many ways we want to play God. We want to be like God. And, as a result some folks come up with some pretty wild ideas.
Iowa State University math professor, Alexander Abian, proposed such a wacky idea. If we followed his suggestion there is no question we would be playing God. He proposed we blow up the moon using nuclear warheads so the earths tilt would be reduced by a fairly significant amount. Abian said he believed it would greatly improve both climate change and the current global climate.
That whole idea is just plain nuts. Well, at least that is what I think. I guess Dr. Abian thinks he can improve on God’s creation. I also guess he has forgotten to think about the fallout of such an idea, no pun intended. If nothing else was a problem in this idea, there would be radioactive moon rocks floating in outer space. Not to mention there would be no moon to give us beautiful moonrises and moonsets and our light at night. I also wonder if Dr. Abian has taken into account the havoc his idea would cause on the tides. I think we might be able to safely assume this man wants to be like God, he wants to play God. Maybe if Dr. Abian wants a more agreeable climate he should move from Ames Iowa to some place more tropical. Cuba is nice this time of year.
The human race has been fooled like their Biblical parents, Adam and Eve. We have been fooled at the seriousness of battling the evil one. At times we are almost gently, quietly lulled into a false sense of security. We are lured into a web of deceit and destruction. We are made to think we are better, more important than we really are. We begin to think we are more powerful than we really are. Humanity since the dawn of time, has been battling a spiritual force, a deadly enemy. We are fighting for our eternal lives. We are at war with the master of sin and manipulation. Our task as people of faith is to resist this evil and flee to the loving arms of God.
Our lesson this morning is a story familiar to most of us. It is the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God has given them specific instructions. They can eat the fruit of any tree in the garden with the lone exception of the tree in the center of the garden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
We parents are well aware of many of our kids’ tendency to do exactly what we just told them not to do. It is original sin at work. Original sin is an historic doctrine of the Church. Because of the next actions of Adam and Eve, we have fallen from grace and all have original sin in our lives. We exercise original sin when we practice free will in a manner other than which God would have us do. Original sin, rebellion, is a very real part of being a human creature.
Perhaps in Adam and Eve’s case there was a little help. Had it not been for the serpent they might not have tried the forbidden fruit. The serpent, however, presented them with a temptation they just couldn’t resist. “The only reason, the snake says, “God doesn’t want you to try the fruit is because when you do your eyes will be open and you will be like God.” They listened to the line and they ate the fruit. To put it quite simply, they made the decision to disobey God.
So, what can we learn from that story? We could say we learn we should never disobey God. That would be a really good answer. In reality, however, that is far easier said than done. We will always fall short. We will miss the mark. It is called sin. And, as I already said, we come by it naturally. It will always be a part of our lives. But, I believe there are several lessons we can learn from this text to apply to our own lives. There are far more than we can talk about today. I want to share just a few with you this morning.
First, temptation comes through ordinary devices. Serpents, snakes are a part of the natural world and have been from the very beginning. I don’t know why God created snakes. The Bible doesn’t say. I hate snakes. I believe in the old adage, “the only good snake is a dead snake. The Scripture also does not say that Eve saw the serpent as a demonic being. She saw it as a normal creature, part of the earth God made. She shows no fear or amazement at the serpent. Evil, Satan if you prefer, possess this creature. That is an extraordinary event in an otherwise ordinary situation. The serpent becomes a tool, just as many things can be a tool for evil today. Ordinary film, video tape, DVDs or other digital media can be used to produce pornography. A compact disc or a piece of vinyl can be used to make ungodly music. It isn’t the fault of the recording media used. It is an inanimate object and has no say in its use. It isn’t the company’s fault that made the media to begin with. They had nothing to say about the media’s use. It could be used for good or evil.
In Smithsonian Magazine, Michael Lipske wrote an article about carnivorous plants. The Venus Fly Trap is the most famous plant to feed on insects, but there are many others. The Pitcher Plant, for example, uses a sneaky method which can remind us of the lures of evil. Often this plant is brightly colored, mimicking flowers, something that is very ordinary to the ants of the world. Sometimes a trail of nectar-secreting glands starts at ground level and leads up the outside of the leaf, summoning ants from the ground to the trap above. Once there the insect finds a mother lode of sugar. But just below it is a tube that is waxy and slick. That begins a descent that makes lunch out of the insect. The pitcher plant may look like a plain ordinary every day flower, but the reality for the insect says the plant is far more dangerous.
That plant sounds like the presence of evil in our world. Evil surrounds us every day. And, it may look just like something that is ordinary and every day, even beautiful. But, if we allow evil to gain a foothold it can devour our souls just as the pitcher plant devours insects. We must always be on our guard against the evil of the world.
A second lesson for us is that most of the time we don’t just jump in all at once. There are steps in downward progression into the ways of the world of evil.
Step one, create doubt. The serpent’s little speech sets Adam and Eve’s minds to wondering. They begin to doubt if God really would command they not to partake of the best looking fruit. “Maybe it was actually a suggestion by God rather than a command,” Eve may have thought. “Did God really say…?” The serpent asked. He wanted to plant doubt in their minds in order to establish a clear path to destruction.
Step two, deny the divine. The serpent goes from a subtle suggestion of doubt to a bold blatant statement causing Adam and Eve to doubt God’s word. “You will not surely die.”
Step three, blur the lines between right and wrong. The serpent suggests God’s command would destroy Eve’s personal freedom to know right from wrong. Eve was told God’s command was due to God’s own selfish and ulterior motives. “For God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” the serpent says.
Adam and Eves problem was not what they heard, but they lingered and listened to it. Even in her innocence she should have recognized the enemy by his suggestions, moving against God’s intent and design. Her problem and Adam’s response to her plague humanity even to today. We sense the first pangs of temptation but still stick around to debate the issues with the master of deception. It isn’t what we hear but how we respond. Christians must take a lesson from Jesus who, when tempted through Peter, says, “Get behind me, Satan!” If Satan won’t leave, we need to run to God’s holy presence.
The serpent was a schemer who used tricks to lure Adam and Eve into sin. The forces of evil still do today. A Chicago area drug user became a police informant. As an informant this man’s job was to induce drug dealers to sell him drugs or to sell them to an undercover police officer. And, this particular informant was usually successful. One of his most successful strategies for duping drug dealers, according to the Chicago Tribune, was to give them a challenge. This informant says, “I’d tell them, ‘Everybody says they can deliver the goods, but you look a little young; or you look a little too old; or you look like a nerd.’ Let the people think they are in control and have something to prove…” This informant succeeded in fooling drug dealers because he understood their psychology. Satan also understands psychology, and he uses the same kind of schemes. He dupes us into think we are in control. He challenges our egos. Only after sin takes its course do people find out ultimately we are not in control – we have been totally deceived.
When we become involved in sin and evil, we may think we are in control, but the more we let sin and evil in the more sin and evil controls our lives.
Finally, from the story of Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden, we learn temptation is only a question and not an answer. As free moral agents, God have given us the choice to accept or reject evil suggestions. When Adam and Eve yielded to temptation, when they disobeyed, they immediately became ashamed and wanted to hide from God. They even tried to hide from God, but they weren’t successful. Ever since we human beings have been trying to run and hide from the eye of God. We are no more successful at it than Adam and Eve. We cannot hide from God, now or ever.
Fortunately, the cross relieves us of our need to hide from God. The cross brings us into the glorious presence of God through Jesus Christ. That is the good news of the Gospel. We cannot resist all matter of evil, but through the cross we find forgiveness and reconciliation. Accepting what Jesus did at the cross we find forgiveness and reconciliation. Accepting what Jesus did at the cross is our choice. We can accept God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ or we can reject it. The choice is ours.
Every year for more than a decade, The Parachutist, the official publication of the United States Parachute Association has published an article called their “fatality summary.” In the article a writer analyzes the factors contributing to parachuting deaths in the previous year. Parachutists are classified first as students. Then they are classified according to the number of jumps performed. Class A parachutists have between 20 and 50 jumps. Class D jumpers have more than 200. According to the magazine pointed out that 59% of all parachuting fatalities were by those with a D classification, the most elite jumpers.
Friends, just because we are faithful Christians doesn’t mean we are immune to the forces of evil. We can fall victim very easily. First it is by the common, and then a slow progression until we are convinced we are just like God, or at least somewhere close. But, the choice is ours. We can choose to fall into the temptation of sin or we can work to resist it. There is an answer for all of us. Through our faith we can overcome the sin touching our lives. Through our faith we can find the grace and forgiveness we need. Adam and Eve did fall. So do we. But today Christ reconciles those who believe to God. Thanks be to God.
