Eden, Restored...
Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-10; Mark 1.9-15
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
We are part of the humanity God sought to destroy in the flood.
Sit with this notion for a moment. (Pause). For humanity, of which we are a part, consistently defies the limits of the deep purpose of the universe, that is, diversity in unity under God’s authority and ownership. Humans fail to honor nature, animals, bio-diversity, let alone one another; we bring violence and fear as we try to take possession of life on our own terms, to set up outcomes we imagine we control. This is tough truth to face on this first Sunday in Lent.
God uncreates in the damning of the flood, destroys all that He named good and very good. Out of the chaos of the waters as the Spirit hovered over the deep, God called out land, stars, moon, sun, continents, wind patterns, herbivore animals, wild beasts, forests, lakes, rivers, streams, and humanity. Stamped at the turnstile of creation as beloved and beautiful, quickly we mar this gorgeous space as we cannot stand to be bounded in our freedom.
Every violation imaginable happens, so much so, that God says, “Enough!”
As creation collapses under water weight too heavy to bear, darkness covers the deep once again. As we die, we cry out, “save us! Save us!”
In an extraordinary act, never seen before by any other god, God does, save a remnant and makes an incredible covenant, one sided mind you. The bow in the sky reminds God to bind Her own power on behalf of humanity, thus setting up Her deep and abiding attachment to our salvation.
Our ancient family understood the power of God’s omnipotence and God’s justice. In short, the Creator is allowed to stand judge and destroy that which is disappointing. This bow in the sky is what shot the lightening arrows for heaven’s sake! It is not the pretty rainbow we get after a good rain and the sun comes out. No. It is a power and energy invisible to the human eye. The bow is transformed, in an act of surrender, our God sets the scaffold for judgment always tempered with mercy. In this binding, God becomes invested, deeply invested, in what happens to humanity. She creates a vulnerability for Herself in this attachment, one we recognize when we attach ourselves to a partner or our babies, for instance.
God’s power, justice, patience, and love are framed in a comprehensive pattern of continuous self-giving. While the enactment of this covenant is still stop-gap due to humanity’s unceasing conflict with bounded freedom, like Israel wandering in the wilderness, corrupt kings, exiled in Babylon, empires rising and falling, God does not relent in Her pursuit to restore Eden. She sends prophets on the way, their clarion call to return, to repent, to sit in an ash heap waiting for salvation. Which will come. For God simply does not give up. Even when we do...
“This is My Son, My Beloved.” Is the pinnacle declaration of sacrifice. There is no hidden agenda here, no plan B to skip the gruesome outcome of a life lived in direct obedience to the vocation of Savior. As Jesus rises out of the waters of the Jordan, He casts off any strictures of tribal affiliation, religious authorities, political empires. He no longer belongs to Galilee, rather He declares His allegiance to the Lordship of God over all of creation. It is God’s Empire, not Caesar’s. From this moment forward, every word out of His mouth, every interaction with the outcasts, every challenge to temple power, will place Him closer to the cross. He knows this. Even at the end of Mark’s storytelling, when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, wrestling one last time with His call to sacrifice - ‘if it is Your Will, take this cup from Me - He does not waver. He holds the ground for humanity’s salvation, against the onslaught of fear and terror.
Jesus is cast out by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested and proved, taunted by the demonic, sweet talking voice of the one called Satan. He is pummeled in His 40 days with promises of grandeur, success, freedom, power, independence. At the edge of starvation, it is the wild beasts who accompany Jesus, a renewed reconciliation torn asunder so long ago. The lion meets the Sacrificial Lamb. Eden Restored...
This is the territory of redemption, for this is where the kingdom of God has arrived, within reach. It is not only a geographical place marker, i.e. the whole of creation, but the embodied person of Jesus, in the flesh, who eats and drinks with sinners, challenges the corrupt money changers who turn temples into prosperity machines for their own luxurious lifestyles, and offers dignity and respect for all those marginalized and alone, without voice or agency.
As you stand at the doorway of Lent, our season of humility, penitence and ultimately faith before us, where are you haunted by the demonic voice that calls you away from your vocation, a cross-bearing follower of Jesus Christ? Does despair or disbelief, a certain kind of cynicism grab hold, almost like ‘here we go again, Lent: what’s it all for?’ The malaise of death all around threatens to strip any semblance of hope in a resurrected life.
Thus we must turn to our African-American sisters and brothers for they have a well-conceived and theologically deep scaffold of faith first built in the fires of slavery. They knew, by the stripes on their whipped backs, that the Christian overseers did not plan for them to gather in heaven. The white slave owners held to a ‘removal’ theology, that is, heaven will be populated by white land owners and their families. It doesn’t matter where Black People go, for they are not fully human, made in the image of God. On the other hand, Christian slaves generated what we call a ‘realized eschatology’ that is, in Jesus Christ, when the heavens were ripped open and the voice of God said, “This is My Son, with whom I am well-pleased”, heaven came to earth and will never leave. The Black Church is credited with saving their lives. Redemption is now, here on the ground, so we best get to work defeating that old enemy, death. In all its forms of violence, degradation and segregation.
Honestly, We do a disservice to Easter and its power, if we collapse under the weight of empire’s destruction, the demonic voice seducing us into inaction. The kingdom of God is at hand, for heaven’s sake! As we sit at their feet, we learn the depth and power of this simple Jesus statement. What can’t we do if this statement is true? If its here right now, this kingdom - what stops us from standing up for justice, generosity, mercy and hope? They know its not going to be complete in their lifetimes, nor do they expect it. Rather African-American Christians hold a generational vision, kids, grandkids, great grands, and beyond. To the nth generation, until God completes Her work.
It is the power of ‘WE’ that is claimed, not the power of ‘I’. Our humanity is a shared endeavor, created in the image of God, together. Beloved is the Name Given first to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and then in an action of such mercy, bestowed on us. Eden Restored...