Walking With God In The Cool Afternoon Breeze; Genesis 3:1-8

 

Rev. George Miller

Sept 8, 2024

Genesis 3:1-8

 

It is not easy to be the New One in “The Garden” no matter how beautiful and bountiful the Garden may be.

 

Which is why the work of Women With a Mission and St. Lucas is so meaningful.

 

Being an immigrant, a refugee or a recent transplant to a new place is not easy- it can involve great anxiety, loneliness, fear.

 

So when we, as St. Lucas, collectively answered the Call to gather items for people we never met, it had great significance.

 

Doing so was a way to say “You are not alone.”  “God is with you.”  And “Let us walk with you in the cool afternoon breeze…

 

Today we begin our heavenly stroll through the Narrative Lectionary, hearing how the stories of our spiritual ancestors are connected and oh so relatable.

 

We start in the Garden.

 

God has created from chaos, using words to turn dark waters into light and land, sea monsters and swans.

 

In Genesis 2 we watch as God gets down in the mud, and gets God’s hands dirty.

 

God scoops into the rich red earth and out of clay forms the first human being.

 

Then in an act of intimate love, God breathes God’s own breath into the airways of Adam.

 

Which means the air of God, the breath of God that brought forth Gensis and moved across the waters is now coursing through the lungs, the veins of humanity.

 

Then, in an exquisite act of architecture, God creates Eve with incredible attention to detail and care.

 

Genesis 1 teaches us how words have power to create.

 

Genesis 2 tells us that we are wonderfully, intimately made by our Heavenly Parent.

 

But…as any Parent, or Auntie or or Grandfather knows, whenever you are blessed to have a child, you are also destined to experience heartbreak.

 

And heartbreak is what happens in Chapter 3.

 

Eve and Adam are in a Garden. Like immigrants or refugees they are in a brand-new place.

 

So we should be graceful and understanding that perhaps they don’t fully “get” the culture or understand the rules.

 

So they do what they do, and they taste the new fruit.

 

But in my opinion, it’s what happens next that is so tragic.

 

In verse 8 Adam and Eve hear God walking in the garden during the time of cool breeze…and they hide.

 

This Adam, who has God’s breathe within his body.  This Eve who was artfully made by the Greatest Architect.

 

They hide.

 

What makes this so sad is the assumption that this afternoon walk in the cool breeze with God was most likely a daily thing.

 

This divine stroll was something God loved to do.

 

This was the most pleasant time of the day, when a breeze from the sea flowed across the land, replacing the stifling air that had been rising off the earth.

 

This is God, as our Heavenly Father, ready to share the most pleasant part of the day with God’s beloved children.

 

And what do Eve and Adam do…they hide.

 

Because of anxiety, because of shame, because of choices made, they hide.

 

And God says “Where are you?”

 

How did God say these words?

 

Did God say “Where are you?” with a deep booming voice?  Did God say these words with rage?

 

Did God say these words with worry, like when you lose your kid at the St. Louis Zoo?

 

Or…did God say these words with the heartbreak of a parent when their child is hurt or has done something to disappoint?

 

In the cool breeze of the afternoon, God steps into the Garden for a daily walk with Adam and Eve…and they hide.

 

And it is heartbreaking.  Their relationship has changed.  It’s become broken.

 

The Garden of Abundance is now the place in which God’s heart is hurt for the very first time.

 

How often do we think of that?  The Broken Heart of God.

 

How the God who created with words, the God who crafted us with hands and breathe and architecture could experience pain and heartbreak.

 

But if God is to be real, and we are to really have a relationship with God, we have to be aware that God feels too.

 

Perhaps it is not the apple that upset God so much, but Eve and Adam feeling it was best to hide when they simply could have-

 

turned to God, reached out, been honest, and taken their daily stroll in the Garden?

 

…The Garden.

 

Where Genesis takes place.

 

Where unfortunate mistakes get in the way of cool breezes and sacred strolls with God.

 

The Garden…

 

Which is one reason why Easter is so important.

 

Though we are in the beginning of our narrative journey, it is good to be reminded of where we will end up.

 

As the Gospel of John, ch. 20 tells us, on the Sunday after the Crucifixion, at an empty tomb, in the Grden,

 

Mary Magdelene hears the voice of our Master, and she chooses to respond, and not to hide.

 

John brings us back to a place and a time in which we are in the presence of the Holy.

 

No matter what sadness, what worry or fear Mary feels, when the Lord calls out her name, she turns, she responds, and she wants to hold on.

 

Genesis 3 shows how we break God’s heart by hiding when all God wanted was to walk with us.

 

John 20 shows how we are the broken-hearted ones, and the Lord comes to us with love, gentleness, and another chance to get it right and live again.

 

As the beloved hymn says, “I come to the Garden…and He walks with me, He talks with me, and He tells me I am his own.”

 

“And the love we share, as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”

 

It is such a beautiful hymn, it is a beautiful testimony, reminding us

 

that no matter what we have done, no matter what we have gone through, no matter what tragic mistakes we have made, we do not have to hide from God.

 

No matter what level of anxiety we endure, no matter the sadness we experience, we are not alone.

 

We can always turn to God, Our Creator, and we can say “Here I am Lord.”

 

And God is more than happy to walk with us, to remind us who we are and to whom we belong.

 

For that, we can say “Amen.”

Saturday Night Sermon at St. Lucas UCC; Aug 31, 2024- Matthew 20:1-16

 

Rev. George Miller

August 31, 2024

Matthew 20:1-16

 

Tonight, you’re going to hear the 2 scariest words in the English language: 

 

Junior High.

 

Now, just 3 weeks ago we celebrated our children going back to school.

 

We blessed Backpacks.  Watched  a video made by our Children’s Ministries.

 

Joked about where we went to school and proudly wore our school colors.

 

But let’s take a moment to be honest. 

 

Is it fair to say, that for some of us…many of us…

 

…the most treacherous, confusing era in our entire lives was Junior High?

 

The lunchroom where the cool kids sit here; nerds sit there.

 

English class when introverts are forced to stand up and read their book report infront of everyone.

 

The group project in which 1 person does alllll the work while 1 person does nothing.

 

Science when the teacher says, “Choose your Lab partner, you’ll be working together all semester.”

 

Picking teams during gym class and that sense of “please don’t let me be picked last.”

 

Could this be another way to hear today’s reading? 

 

What if the Landowner was an athletic coach who lets everyone play on the team?

 

Imagine this:  Those picked first are the athletically astute, the tall, the agile, the quick, the strong.

 

That would be a winning team, BUT the coach goes to the theatre department, gathers the drama geeks and the tech nerds.

 

Now we have a team that will not only win but put on a great show while doing it!

 

The coach sees there are others who’d like to play. 

 

So, he goes to the outcast table in the lunchroom and says “C’mon, I want you to be part of the team.”

 

Though they may have acne, glasses, or funny sounding accents, they get to play alongside the jocks and the theatre kids.

 

Not only are they now a winning team that puts on a good show, but they are a team that has become wonderfully diverse.

 

But that’s not enough. 

 

The coach goes out behind the school building, under the bleachers, and finds

 

the ones who are smoking, skipping class, and being oh so goth.

 

“C’mon, I want you to be part of the team.”

 

At 5 pm the coach goes to the room delegated as “special education,” reaches out to the students listed as “special needs.”

 

The coach asks “Why aren’t you playing on the team.”

 

And someone, perhaps in a wheelchair, says “Because no one will pick us.”

 

With great love in his heart, the coach says ““C’mon, I want you to be part of the team.”

 

Here’s a field full of jocks and beauty queens, muscles and mathematicians, computer techs and trombonists.

 

There are students of German, Bosnian, Irish, Mexican, French, Caribbean, Scottish, Afghanie descent.

 

At the end of the event, the coach says “Congratulations, you have all won the game!”

 

“Congratulations- you all get 1^st prize!”

 

Would that upset you?

 

Perhaps if you were the jock selected at 7 am.

 

But for the students selected at noon or 5 pm, it would be a joy!

 

...but what if we look at today’s reading another way.

 

What if the vineyard is not a place. 

 

What if the vineyard is a person…and the person is you?

 

What if the hours represent eras in your life?

 

What if the people are you at those different eras?

 

Think of this for a moment.

 

If you were born before 1960 there is a good chance you were raised going to church.

 

Perhaps you were that sweet innocent child who got to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and attend Confirmation.

 

But then as you became a teen, go off to college, get your first job, and date,

 

church was no longer a priority or a regular thing.

 

Then, maybe around the noon hour of your life you have a kid, raise a family, so you decide it’s time to go back to church.

 

But then the kids grow up, and they leave, as children do…

 

…And with no more need of Christmas pageants and bake sales, your participation at church begins to wane.

 

Then comes that moment-

 

death and disaster break in at the 3 pm hour, and when it does, you may find the desire to come back to church; come back to God….

 

…or some may pull themselves further away.

 

Then there is the 5 pm hour in our lives. 

 

The long day has begun to come to a close. 

 

We’ve done it all, seen it all, know it all or discover we don’t know a thing.

 

We find ourselves asking “Was any of it worth it?”

 

As the night begins to fall, there can be the thought:

 

“Does God still care about me?  Does God still want me to be part of the team?” 

 

“Am I still a beloved child of Heaven?”

 

To which the owner of the vineyard comes along, extends a hand and says...

 

“Yes.  Yes YOU are!”

 

Maybe today’s parable isn’t about us judging others on what time they “arrive.” 

 

Maybe it’s a story saying -

 

“No matter what hour of life you are in, God is seeking you, God is extending an invitation to you, God wants YOU.”

 

Maybe the beauty of today’s story is that the Kingdom of God is a place in which

 

-there is space for all,

-a time for all,

-a way for all to be part of the team.

 

No matter what age we are.

 

No matter where we went to school.

 

No matter what hour we are living our spiritual life.

 

It is good that God is there, God is with us,

 

and God loves having us as part of the team.

 

For that, we can say “Amen.”

Sermon for August 25, 2024; Ephesians 6:10-20

 

Rev. George Miller

August 25, 2024

Ephesians 6:10-20

 

Everyone has a gift.  At least 1 gift.  A gift that they can do better, brighter, more beautiful than anyone else.

 

Some are ballerinas, dancing so elegant, so demure.

 

Some are computer programmers, their brains seeing patterns, understanding codes.

 

Some are great at oral history, knowing how to share the chisme that lets the new Pastor know who is related to who and how and when this was built and why.

 

Some are great at maintenace, knowing how to hang photos in the office, fixing locks, making sure the water leak in the bathroom stops leaking water.

 

Arts, science, storytelling, infrastructure are all great, important skills…but not everyone is meant to have them all at all times.

 

You can’t be upset if your best computer programmer puts on a stinky SWAN LAKE.

 

Or mad if your prima donna is a prima-don’t when it comes to spreadsheets and Google Docs.

 

Don’t put a monkey wrench in the hands of a person who’s easily distracted by watching people walk by.

 

Don’t expect the one who knows how build the porch to be sitting on the porch sharing gossip.

 

And yes- we have ballerinas who are excellent on the keyboards, and historians who know how to fix things.

 

But the thing is- it is OK if each of us have 1 gift, and that gift we have we do really, really well.

 

The world needs dancers and project managers, storytellers, and architects…we just don’t need everyone to be everything.

 

This is something that I feel is missing from today’s Scripture.

 

In today’s reading the author poetically states ways a Christian can be attired.

 

It sounds like Etsy and Amazon Prime have come together with a list of items one can wear.

 

A belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness.

 

Shoes so you can go proclaim the Gospel.  A shield to protect yourself from evil and injustice.

 

A helmet for mindfulness.  God’s Word as a tool of protection.

 

The Whole Armor of God that we are encouraged to take up so that we can live in this world with faith and conviction.

 

I don’t know about you…but all of that sounds like a lot.

 

Belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, sword…I’d be falling over, uncoordinated, and unsure what to do with half those items.

 

Shoes to proclaim the gospel- I get that.  Can do that.  Love to talk; and talking about God- yes!

 

Breastplate of righteousness? Got a loonnnggg way to go with that one, especially depending on who and how one describes that word, and if I’ve had my nap.

 

The shield to fight off all the injustice in the world…that is exhausting.

 

If being an active, faithful Christian in today’s world means wearing all that Armor all the time and wearing it well…is there anyone who can do that?

 

BUT, but as a unified Body Of Christ, as a church that has been transforming lives since 1880-

 

Well, then it is safe to say that we do have within our midst all kinds of folk who wear at least one of those articles of armor.

 

No doubt at St. Lucas we got folk who wear a belt of wisdom.  We see this on our Tuesday ZOOM and Sunday Bible Study.

 

No doubt we got folk here who by their very nature live as righteous as they can.

 

Think of our elders who have given what they can and done what they could so we can gather here today.

 

The choir last week, without a doubt, sung with shoes that shared the Gospel.

 

We have Ministry Teams like Mission, Social Justice, ONA that are holding shields addressing issues of justice, be it in the form of poverty, hunger, or discrimination.

 

The items collected by Women With a Mission are a shield, empowering refugee and immigrant women to thrive amidst the threat of scarcity.

 

We see that helmet of salvation being shaped around the heads of our youth as they stand before us to read scripture and plan their next mission trip.

 

And there is no doubt that our kids are being empowered to study the Word of God so they know how to be Caring Christians in our community.

 

It is fascinating to note that as of now, we have at least 18 Ministry Teams here at St. Lucas.

 

AND, we have at least 15 Missions we fund in addition to our Backpack Program and our covenanted ministries with Missouri and St. Louis.

 

Holy Schmoly!  That’s a lot of ministries, and that’s a lot of armor.

 

But it’s not armor that we are all wearing individually, but-

 

armor that we share, support, cheer on, provide for, dream about and nurture.

 

Today’s reading encourages us to put on the full Armor of God.

 

And God bless anyone who can.

 

But perhaps the true victory, the true wonder, the healthiest way of being is if each of us put on what we can.

 

And what we do for the Lord, we do very very well.

 

Perhaps the true victory, the true wonder, the healthiest way of being is that we each

 

encourage, cheer on, and support those who do what they do, and do really well.

 

That way, together, as St. Lucas UCC, we know that someone, somewhere is wearing what we ourselves may lack.

 

In doing so, we can continue to be the church that is transforming lives as the hands and feet of Christ since 1880.

 

For that, we can say “Amen.”