Advent 4, Year B
December 18, 2005
Christ Church, Covington
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your
word” (Lk. 1:38).
Years of watching police dramas have clued me into this fact (at the very
least): the crime is often solved by return to the scene. Events are
reconstructed, the drama re-enacted (at least in the investigator’s mind), and a
way forward is found. Every crime has a story, and uncovering the story is
crucial.
So here’s our crime story this morning. You’ve heard it before: Adam and Eve in
the Garden, placed there by God, commanded not to eat the fruit of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. Eve, tempted by the serpent with the promise
that when they eat of the fruit, she and her spouse will be like God. Eve eats
the fruit, and gives some to Adam, who also eats. In that moment, everything
changes; sin and shame enter the world. Self-centeredness and self-interest have
triumphed. We have a crime on our hands.
That’s quite a result from eating an apple. It’s not your conventional crime. In
fact, it’s the root of all sin and shame. From these events the rest of the
tragedy (the human tragedy) unfolds. The serpent’s promise comes true, but not
in the way that Eve thinks. There’s a sting in the serpent’s tail, because in
the end, Adam and Eve not only know good and evil: they’re infected with the
distinction that runs right through their own psyches. No kidding: it’s
criminal.
Now place this crime story alongside the story we’ve heard this morning, the
story of the angel Gabriel who appears to Mary. This isn’t a crime story, but
something else again. True, as in the original scene there is God’s command, and
a chance to respond. But Mary’s response is different from Eve’s. Again, it’s
the return to the crime scene, the reconstruction of the crime. But this return
to the scene is not just a reconstruction, an attempt to find out who’s guilty.
This return will not only solve the crime, it will dissolve the crime. This
reconstruction does not only look to the past, to what was done. It actually
reconstructs the world now, making it new. What was done is undone.
God is going back to the root of the problem, human self-will, in order to
provide a solution. He’s going back to the scene of the crime, and engaging in a
saving recreation. A daughter of Eve will have to let her own will be shaped to
respond to God obediently. Mary, through God’s grace, will have to say “yes” so
that Eve’s disobedience can be made right. From this action will come the
Savior, who will lead us back to God.
It’s the root of the problem. God has to go back to the root so that nothing
will be lost. The root is the vexing human will, and its Eve-like propensity to
not listen carefully or respond faithfully. God can’t just start over again,
because too much would be wasted. We have to go back in order to mend the whole
thing. To vary the metaphor, it’s a matter of “rebooting” the human system
instead of throwing the metaphorical “machine” out the window. There’s a
recovery program in place, if we can stretch this computer image. So God goes
back to the root of the problem; he looks for human obedience, faithful
listening and faithful response, in order to bring to birth the Savior. In the
end, the story of humanity is not tragic, but the exact opposite.
So where do you figure in the complex genealogy of this crime story, between the
human will and listening and responding faithfully? Place your own story
alongside the others. I suspect you’re like everyone else. We are sons and
daughters of Eve, knowing good and evil, and also Jesus’ brothers and sisters,
made so by grace. We’re going to have to exercise our own program of faithful
listening in order to respond faithfully to God. There will be points where our
wills have been stubborn and thoughtless; where we have not listened carefully
or only listened to ourselves. We’ll have to go back, back to the place where
the disaster happened, our own battered and selfish wills, and discover within
ourselves the person of Christ, his presence being formed within us. Mary found
within herself the power and presence of God; literally, within the womb. By
God’s grace, we will discover the same thing, within our hearts and within each
other.
John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.
Home | About Christ Church | Schedule of Services | Newcomers | Sermons | Clergy & Staff | Vestry | Contact Us