Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Genesis 2,4-9. 15th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Genesis 2,4b-9 (10-14) 4914

15. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 060

Lioba, Virgin, Abbess ✠ 779

Eustochium, Virgin, ✠ 419

28. September 2014

1. O Lord Jesus, Thou who bears all our cares, forgive whatever we have done against You and our neighbors, purify us with the gospel and make us new people so that we live as Your stewards of Your creation (VELKD, Prayer for the 15. Sunday after Trinity ¶ 1). Amen.

2. »These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh Elohim made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for Yahweh Elohim had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then Yahweh Elohim formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And Yahweh Elohim planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground Yahweh Elohim made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.«

3. Jesus exhorts us: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“« As Jesus reminds us, we live in a world beset with troubles, trials and tribulations. We have the threat of ISIS and conflict in Iraq and Syria. We have economic woes, unemployment and underemployment that continue to plague our nation. We struggle with illness and infirmity. Added to this is the persecution we face as Christians; for some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, this persecution ends in their martyrdom and death. With all these foes arrayed against us, Jesus promises us that our Heavenly Father will provide for us.

4. We see Yahweh’s Divine Providence at the very beginning in Genesis 2: »Yahweh Elohim planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground Yahweh Elohim made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.« Here we see that Yahweh provided for both our temporal needs (He made to spring up every tree that is good for food) and our spiritual needs (He planted the tree of life in the midst of Eden). This bliss did not last long, for Satan disguised himself, tempted Eve and brought mankind into rebellion against Yahweh.

5. Satan used the infamous phrase: »Did God really say ...?« Satan did not encourage Adam and Eve to eat from the trees that provide physical nourishment. Nor did Satan encourage our first parents to eat from the tree of life. Instead, Satan zeroed in on the forbidden tree of knowledge, and he tempted Adam and Eve to partake of this fruit. In doing so, Satan sowed the seed of doubt. He tempted mankind to doubt Yahweh’s Providence, for lying behind his question is: God has not fully provided for you. He has kept from you an important piece of knowledge: you do not know what evil is, and, therefore, you are not fully in the image and likeness of God, for He knows both good and evil. Take, and eat, from the tree of knowledge and you will become like God; you will take unto yourselves the responsibility to provide for yourselves.

6. In a twisted way, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with a perverted ideal of what Jesus exhorts in our Gospel pericope this morning: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.« Satan tempted our first parents to seek the reign of God, yes, but to overthrow God and take that reign for themselves. Once you are like God, then you can do anything you want: no law will bind you for you will make all the rules and live as you please. How beguiling this temptation is to this very day. Satan daily tempts us to also doubt God’s providence in our lives. Does God really provide for you? Then why are you unemployed, why are you sick and dying, why is your family in shambles and a host of other tempting questions. If God cares so little about you and your physical life, then surely God does not care about your spiritual life. Make your own way, be your own god and forge your own path of righteousness. The path of self-righteousness is the path of rebellion that sets us up as our own god just as surely as Satan tempted Adam and Eve to do. And the results are just as devastating, for we cannot serve two masters: either God makes us righteous or we do.

7. Jesus said: »Seek first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.« It is Yahweh’s good will to give us the blessings of the tree of life. He had planted it in the midst of the garden and placed no prohibition upon it; its fruit was there for Adam and Eve to eat. For a time, Yahweh had to bar access to the tree of life because its gift would come at a terrible cost if sinners ate of it and lived forever. But Yahweh promised mankind would have access to the tree of life once more.

8. Yahweh promised through the Prophet Isaiah: »There shall come forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon Him. With righteousness He shall bring justice to the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. In that day the Root of Jesse shall stand as a signal for the peoples, and the nations shall inquire of Him and His resting place shall be glorious« (Isaiah 11,1-2.4.10). Jesus Christ is this promised Root of Jesse, and in Him the Gentiles hope (Romans 15,12). A root grows into a tree, and Jesus is the True Tree of Life that grants everlasting life. Christ our Lord was crucified on the cross whose beams were carved from a tree. Jesus won your hearts on this cross and His fruit is righteousness (Proverbs 11,30). The tree of life stood in the middle of the Garden, and Jesus is the Great Central Tree who stands in the middle of the universe. He is the Axis of the world, the World Tree who holds up the skies, and the Tree of Life. He unites and separates the heavenly realm where God dwells in His great hall and Middle Earth where we live in our smaller halls (Murphy 8). The cross stops stop the mouth of the dragon-snake Satan by providing for the resurrection of the dead (Murphy 15). The cross becomes a tree of life that extends its Fruit, Jesus Christ Himself, for us to partake and live forever. The curse of the tree of knowledge is overturned, death yields to life, sin yields to righteousness, and all this through Christ Jesus.

9. Christ now stands once again in the midst of the reign of God, and He bids you to go and partake of this Tree of Life. Do not be tempted by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for its fruit cannot give you righteousness. The wisdom of this world cannot grant you salvation. Your own merits cannot earn you forgiveness. Only Jesus the Tree of Life can give you the righteousness that He would have you receive. Seek Jesus and His righteousness, and you will have eternal life as He intends for you to have. His balm is for your healing. His Providence flows from His righteousness and He will satisfy all your earthly needs. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, Thou Life-giving Tree, bid us take refuge in You so that we are safe and sound in this world and borne to Your heavenly reign. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, September 29, 2014

Genesis 2,4-9. 15th Sunday after Trinity

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