An Old World Gone Wrong,

a New World Being Created

Sermon by Pastor David Layman

August 13, 2006

Genesis 3:6-15
II Cor. 5:14-20

I find it difficult to read or watch the news anymore. Global warming
seems to be more than a possibility this summer. Was Katrina a
forerunner of what is to come? Just when the situation in the Middle
East seemed like it couldnt become any worse, it has. Crime, drug
addiction, tragedy, seem to be more and more a part of everyday life.
The book of Genesis opens with a similar perspective. The first 11
chapters tell of a beautiful creation gone wrong. The first man and
woman disobey God and are exiled from the Garden. As part of the exile,
there will be enmity between people, and the earth shall produce thorns,
thistles and crabgrass (I threw in the crabgrass to see if you were
listening!) (Genesis 3:15, 18). Genesis goes on to relate how Cain
murdered his brother, Abel. Wickedness in the world is great, so God
sends a flood in judgment, preserving Noah, his family, and
representative animals, as they experience exile on a boat. Then Noah,
on dry land again, plants a vineyard and gets drunk. Genesis 11
completes the bad news by telling how human beings in arrogance built a
tower to the heavens to make a name for themselves. The outcome of
their arrogance in Babel was that humankind was divided into various
language groups. Reading Genesis 3-11 is somewhat like reading the
newspaper today: bad news, bad news, and more bad news!

But you didnt come to church to hear bad news. God doesnt leave us in
the midst of our mess! The good news begins when God came seeking out
the man and the woman in the Garden to hold them accountable. God acted
in mercy to make for man and woman garments for protection. God made
them leave the Garden of Eden lest they eat of the tree of life and live
forever as fallen creatures. And, as Genesis 12 informs us, God launched
his rescue mission when He called Abraham, desiring to work through a
particular people so that through this people, all the families of the
earth shall be blessed.

Reading the Old Testament is somewhat like reading the newspaper today.
Abraham didnt do a great job, and the children of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob continued to muddle around. There were high points: deliverance
from slavery in Egypt, quickly followed by low points: rebellion in the
wilderness. Once the Hebrew people got to the promised land, many of
them became all too much like their pagan neighbors, and failed to
become a light to the world which God desired. David had some high
points, but some terrible lows as well (remember Bathsheba? The
supermarket tabloids would have had a field day with that one!) There
was exile from the Garden of Eden, another exile into Egypt when the
descendants of Joseph became slaves, an exile from the promised land
when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell to Assyria and then
Babylonia. Interestingly, Babylonia was the site of the infamous tower
of Babel! Some of the children of Israel were allowed to return from
Babylonia and eventually rebuild a temple. But the people were still
dominated by Persia, then Greece, then Rome.

The truth of the matter was that Israel failed, time and again, to
fulfill the mission God called Abraham for. But instead of abandoning
the plan, God chose to fulfill it by becoming flesh in the life of
Jesus. Jesus himself was exiled as an infant to Egypt, to escape King
Herods murderous plot. As Moses and the children of Israel were
commanded to celebrate the passover feast for deliverance from slavery
in Egypt, Jesus observed the new Passover feast the night before He went
to the cross to make possible the deliverance of all people from slavery
to sin. Gods plan has never been to abandon the world, but to remake
it. Even when the darkest day of all history took place, one Friday on a
hill outside of Jerusalem, as Jesus was crucified, beyond the
expectation of anyone, Gods plan was in process of being fulfilled.
Jesus experienced exile to death on Friday, but deliverance to life
everlasting Easter Sunday.

The temple in Jerusalem was the symbolic place where heaven and earth
met. But Jesus said Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up. (John 2:19) In Jesus Christ, heaven and earth truly met, and
when we worship him in Spirit and truth, we show ourselves to be part of
His new kingdom.

Some like to focus on when the world is going to end. Id rather focus
on the new world God promises to bring to be! Its not merely something
we are to sit back and wait for. Jesus said this new world, the Kingdom
of God, was beginning with his ministry. Jesus invited his listeners to
begin to live in his new kingdom. To practice a new code of ethics. To
be bearers of Good News! That is our calling, today! And Jesus promised
this new kingdom would ultimately reign triumphant!

I had the opportunity to meet Landrum Bolling when participating in
funeral services for Darrell Beane. I was impressed with him, and
continue to be impressed with the articles he writes in our local
newspaper. Landrum seems to be expressing the teaching of a new kingdom
that Jesus established, with a new set of ethics. Returning violence for
violence has not brought peace to the Middle East in the last 60 years!

Melvin Lukenbach writes of a terrible murder that took place in his
Minnesota neighborhood (Upper Room, Feb. 14, 1997). A 17 year old boy
was viscously beaten with an iron pipe and then stabbed by two brothers,
who mistakenly blamed this youth for assaulting their sister. The
victims mother was devastated by this act of attempted revenge, and the
community was outraged. The family had earlier suffered the death of the
father in a car accident, and the death of a daughter to cancer. At the
trial, the two murderers sobbed their apologies. The mother, to
everyones surprise, forgave them. She said Jesus died for my sins. He
forgives me and expects me to forgive others. My grief is overwhelming,
but I can bear to forgive these men. Hopefully, we will never be in the
situation of this mother. But the depth of her faith has within it the
power to change our world!

Anne Reed tells of taking part in the volunteer disaster relief response
to the Midwest flooding of 1995. Anne was leaving a market after buying
food to cook for volunteers. As she approached her car, a poorly dressed
young man came up, pulling at the chain and cross around her neck. He
flipped the cross in Annes face and said Why do you wear this? To show
you are a Christian? Trembling, Anne heard herself say No, I wear the
cross because I am a sinner, and Jesus died for me--and he died for
you. Anne began to cry. And as she looked at the angry young man, tears
filled his eyes as well. Then he ran away. (Upper Room, Sept. 29, 1997).
A new world begins to be built by the witness of people like Anne.

One more illustration, less dramatic, but doable by each one of us.
Walter Maris writes of (Upper Room, May 6, 2002) entering a doctors
waiting room which was nearly full. Pain and worry marked the faces of
those nearby. Some were voicing impatience and irritation at their long
wait. Then Walter was greeted by an elderly man he knew from church. He
had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but there was no sign or worry,
and no irritation or impatience. The elderly man made only positive
responses to those about him. He was a ray of sunshine in the otherwise
gloomy waiting room. The inner peace he possessed was contagious and
gave Walter quiet strength. When this elderly man was later hospitalized
and until his death, he continued to be a witness to Gods love. He
wasnt waiting until the life to come to begin to live in the Kingdom of
God Jesus inaugurated. This elderly believer decided to live it joyfully
with each earthly day he had.

And that opportunity lies before us! We can focus upon a world gone
wrong. Or become part of the new world being created!

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