“Shame and Blame“, by Rev. Mike Holly
Sermon Series: Dysfunctional Families of the Old Testament
As a parent of multiple children, one of the most difficult things to ascertain is what really happened. There is a fight or an argument. Someone drew a picture on the wall. Someone broke a family heirloom. Who did it? Fingers point at one another, but no one steps forward to take responsibility.
In Genesis this morning, we read about Adam and Eve disobeying God’s command that they do not eat the fruit. When their crime is discovered, Adam immediately points to Eve. Eve points to the serpent. Human beings have a tendency to avoid consequences by shifting the blame away from themselves — from the very beginning of our existence.
This morning, we invite you forward to start off this New Year by receiving God’s gracious gifts of bread and cup as we celebrate Holy Communion. As you kneel to receive God’s gifts, take this holy opportunity to be honest with God in prayer: accept responsibility for the ways in which you have fallen short of God’s hopes and dreams for your life and dedicate yourself to being faithful to God and neighbor in 2015!
~Mike Holly
The Word
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’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 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.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
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. 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.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
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