Hunger (Fail Forward #1)

. 3 min read

4-5
Mar 2017, Christ Mountain Top, Lent 1
Psalm
32 (call to worship)
Matthew
4.1-11 (kids)
Genesis
2.15 – 3.7 (message)
All our hungers
      Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride
of life (1 John 2.16)
      When lust has conceived, it gives birth to
sin … death (James 1.15)
      Wealth, sex, power (ancient church)
Good things perverted by
sin
      Our relationship with food – a good thing
– perverted
            Eating disorders
            Industrialization, chemicals, work
force
            Bag of chips … just a few? Or, “once
you pop…”
      No wonder this story of the “original sin”
involves food!
            “You will be like God!”
            Genesis 3:6  saw that the tree was good for food
      Sin dressed up as forbidden fruit (Romans
7, MSG)
            The rule, the “no”, only increases
its appeal
            All we need is a big red button with
the words, “Don’t”

Three problems in the story:
1. Whose fault?
      Woman or man?
      Pandora’s box – the woman … with hope
trapped in the box?
      Romans 5 – the man!
Easier
to find fault than find solutions – human enterprise
      Kids: It’s not my fault (accidents)
            But it is your responsibility
            Don’t assume I was always kind and
empathetic as a parent
      And, sometimes, it is your fault, you
knucklehead
2. No death!
·       Genesis
2:17
 in the day that you
eat of it you shall die.
·       Genesis
3:4-5
 the serpent said to
the woman, “You will not die;  5
for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil.”
      They don’t die “in the day”, though they
are banned from the tree of life
      But, what is death? Other kinds of loss
            Loss
of spouse to death, to infidelity
            Death
is about loss, absence
Their losses:
Partnership
to power (blame & shame)
Near
to far
      With each other: Naked to covered
      With God: Daily walk to banishment
      But it’s not my fault. Sure it is.
3. Original sin
Romans
5:12
 sin came into the
world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all
because all have sinned (our responsibility)
Romans
5:18-19
 just as one man’s
trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads
to justification and life for all.  19
For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the
one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Original
sin, as in
      The first?
      Or, “patient zero”?
All
I know is that I do not remember a time in my life when I lacked a selfish
impulse: the desire, the craving, the hunger to satisfy ME at the expense of
someone or something else – obeying my parents, doing my homework, stealing
from a childhood friend, terrorizing the cat, striking my sister. And I really
wasn’t an awful child. After all, “Just Perfect” = JP. Your memory may be
different, that’s just my memory.
Failing Forward
Not
because of our goodness or effort. Not because we follow some inspirational
self-help guide. It’s as if we can’t help ourselves. We are hungry, we eat, and
we remain empty … or become empty.
Psalm
106:14-15
 lusted exceedingly in
the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. 
15 And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into
their soul. (KJV)
Only
because God’s love is more persistent than our selfish impulse.
Genesis
3:15
 I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike
your head, and you will strike his heel.
Extra
verse, “Sing my tongue the glorious battle”
      God in mercy saw us fallen,
sunk
in shame and misery,
felled
to death in Eden’s garden,
where
in pride we claimed the tree;
then
another tree was chosen,
which
the world from death would free.
      © 1967 Concordia Publishing House

Ro
5 (repeat)