Pentecost 15A (NL2)
September 10, 2023
Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN
Genesis 2.4b-25; Mark 10.6-8
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”
Dick and Anne were members of a congregation we plugged into while I was in seminary at Gettysburg, PA. Our two young daughters were particularly close to Anne, who was the children’s choir director. That is until Anne was tragically killed in an automobile accident, which devastated all of us. Anne was a beloved member of both church and community. Not long after Anne’s death, I encountered Dick at an event. As he discussed his life without Anne he casually said, “You know I’ll get married again. I’m not meant to be alone.” Those words startled me because they seemed premature and rather cold. But as I thought about that comment, I realized it was not a slight to Anne, rather a tribute to the life they had together.
God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” We begin this second year of the Narrative Lectionary that takes us on a whirlwind tour through the biblical story. Starting with Creation in Genesis we survey the Old Testament this fall that takes us to the Jesus story at Christmas. We then continue with Jesus’ life through his passion and death in Lent and resurrection at Easter. In the time of Easter and following we’ll hear about the experiences of the early church as they try to figure out what Jesus’ message means. This year, we will hear readings from the Gospel of Mark, either as the central text or in support of the Old Testament readings.
Prior to this morning’s reading from Genesis 2, God has created everything and pronounces it good. Today, the narrator goes “back to the future” by being more specific about the creation of a garden and humans to care for it, including an apparent miscalculation by God to provide Adam with a partner. Now, I need to say something about this text: though I believe this story expresses a deep truth about humanity and or relationship to God, I don’t think it is true in the way many people think of it as true. For example, I can say that I love my wife with my whole heart, and that would be a true statement, but it would not be factual. I cannot take my heart out of my body and love my wife with it in some physical way. So, one of the consequences of understanding this kind of truth is that this reading is not meant to be a proof text for the exclusivity of heterosexual relationships. We intuitively know that there are other important relationships. Besides, the Hebrew word for “helper” is often applied to God in the Old Testament, as in “God is a very present help in times of trouble.”
At the heart of the text is the truth that God created us to be in relationship with God and each other. And these relationships are meant to be mutual, even with God, as we are, theologian Phil Hefner said, “created co-creators.” To be “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” is to realize that we are interdependent with one another. To paraphrase the poet John Donne, “No one is an island; everyone is a piece of the continent, a part of the main,” ending with, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
Unfortunately, we know what happens next and it’s not pretty: the cooperative and collaborative interdependence gets broken as humanity distrusts God and places blame upon each other. Work becomes difficult, brother kills brother, nations are scattered, and the earth is flooded. Yet through it all, we’ll hear the rest of the story as God works tirelessly to reconcile God’s self to humanity and humanity to each other and the promise that God never, ever gives up.
A story is told about a visitor who visits a friend on a cold, blustery day. The friend invites the visitor in and they settle before a roaring fire. After pleasantries have been exchanged, the friend says to the visitor, “I know why you’re here. It’s because I haven’t been to church lately.” The friend then relates to the visitor all of the slights, hurts, and offenses he has experienced from the church, mostly real and some imagined. The visitor doesn’t say much, nodding to indicate he is listening. When the friend is finished, they sit silently for a moment and then the visitor rises and silently takes a glowing ember from the fire and places it to the side of the hearth where it loses its heat. Presently, the visitor gets up and places it back in the fire again, where it quickly heats up. The visitor again wordlessly sits down. After a few moments, the friend says to the visitor, “I understand. I’ll be in church Sunday.”
I think that Our Savior’s is a “fireplace church” where even in our brokenness we depend upon God and each other and the heat of God’s grace and mercy carry us through. Chris told me this morning that today is the third anniversary of his son, Aaron’s, death, something that understandably is still painful and leaves a hole in his heart. But he also said how important the grief group here is to him. I’ve heard other stories about the importance of this place, that no matter the brokenness we experience, God’s love sustains us. For it is not good that we should be alone, for God has made us helpers and partners. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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