2nd Sunday of Lent Sermon: “For Our Benefit”

How many of you have heard today’s scripture passage before?  Everyone!  Even if you never set foot in a church or synagogue you would probably know the outline of this story and its most common interpretation.  

What were many of us taught?

Since St. Augustine, the standard interpretation of today’s scripture passage – a literal reading – is that sin came through Adam and Eve and is passed on to all of us. Eve is blamed; and faith based misogyny (hatred of women) condemns women to second class status.

The argument continues that the only way to be rescued from the sin of Adam and Eve is through Jesus. From an Augustinian perspective, the world is sharply divided between Christians (who have been rescued and saved by Jesus) and all other humans (who are unredeemed sinners condemned to an eternity in hell). 

Unfortunately, It is hard to believe that in 2026, we are still paying the price for the bad theology of the 5th century – from sexism to White Christian Nationalism. 

But, from a Jewish perspective, though sin is a major theme of the Torah, rabbinic commentators over the centuries never propose that the story of Adam and Eve suggests a fundamental estrangement between God and humanity. Instead, Adam’s sin is understood to be representative rather than determinative of human experience.  From a Jewish perspective, this text affirms the importance of personal responsibility to choose rightly according to God’s Law.

Just last week, someone in emotional distress paid a visit to me.  She had received a letter from an old, dear friend that suggested that if she wasn’t saved from sin by Jesus, they would not be together in heaven.  After receiving the letter, this beloved church member had a hard time sleeping.  She worried that she didn’t understand the Bible well enough, like her friend seemed to. 

Was she doing something wrong? Would she not get to heaven? 

Because her well-meaning friend understood scripture literally, and likely internalized the 5th century interpretation of today’s scripture, he could not see a wider perspective.  

We need to understand that there are a variety of genres of literature in the Bible. The story of Adam, Eve, and the serpent is not history or science or poetry – it is folklore. And should be interpreted as such.

Contemporary Christian scholars  – who recognize that the Bible is not intended to be read literally – understand that the central aim of Genesis 3 is not to explain the origin of sin, as if there were a historical Adam and Eve, but to describe the conundrum of what it means to be human. The truth of Genesis isn’t historical or factual; the truth is in how it reveals the nature of the human/Divine relationship.  

So, what is the message of today’s reading? Again and again, we humans  place our trust where it doesn’t belong, rather than where it does belong, with God.

Adam and Eve represent a persistent struggle within human consciousness.  We can’t seem to grasp that the way the creation is ordered, including inherent boundaries, is for our benefit.  We humans are rarely satisfied for long;  we struggle to see and appreciate all that God has given us, and instead often think we need something more or different… 

In the allegory of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve have everything they need to live well in the present moment.  

But, the serpent suggests there is more to enjoy and know.  The serpent plants the idea of dissatisfaction in Eve and Adam’s hearts. Could there be a more human frailty? While we are digging out from more snow, even though our refrigerators are stocked, our homes are heated, and we have all we need for the day, when we hear about family or friends basking in the sun somewhere warm we are disgruntled. (At least I am!) On any given day, how often does the thought pass through our minds that we want something other than what we have, something more or different?

When doubt is cast on the goodness of God, when doubt is cast on the goodness of others, when doubt is cast on our own goodness, or our lives, where we turn will make all the difference.

When the serpent sowed doubt, neither Eve nor Adam turned to God.

It seems that it is a nettlesome part of our human nature to accept and appreciate our lives as they are, gifts from God. To recognize that we have enough and are enough. In a world where there are the overhoused and the underhoused; the overfed and the underfed, a world where expediency is often valued over sustainability, it can be difficult for us to see when the metaphorical serpent is goading us. It can be difficult for us to appreciate how important it is to live in a way that God wants us to live, a way that works for all. From Round-up to plastics to gas-guzzling vehicles that overheat our planet and more, we humans struggle to live within the boundaries of natural world as given to us for our benefit.  

The same choice Adam and Eve faced in the Garden is before us, each and every day.

Notice that when the serpent challenges the woman to disobey God, she doesn’t pause.  She doesn’t say “Heh, wait a minute.  Let me talk this over with God.  Let me talk this over with Adam.” For reasons we don’t know, the woman acts impulsively and impatiently.

Isn’t that how we often get into trouble too?  When something looks good to us, we don’t often think through the consequences of following our desires.  When we are vulnerable, when we are hungry, or in a felt sense of need and we are offered a quick fix, it is very difficult for us to slow down and think through the consequences of our choices.

We don’t always consult with our partners. Even when we sense that what we desire looks too good to be true, we don’t always consult with God  and patiently wait for an answer.  

Matthew Root writes, “Real temptation is never an offer to fall, but instead it comes as an offer to rise. Notice: the question was not, “Do you wish to be like the serpent?” but instead, “Do you want to be like God?” The truest forms of temptation are indications of strength, not weakness. We are not tempted to do what we cannot do, but what is within our power.”

Following Saturday’s attack on Iran, today’s scripture begs a question – just because we can do something, should we?  It is a question at the heart of every moral dilemma – just because we can do something, should we? 

Adam and Eve trusted a serpent before they trusted God.  They could eat the apple, so they did – even though it ruptured their relationship with God. 

It’s not always easy for us to recognize the serpents in our midst – especially when they are offering something we want.  It’s not always easy for us to recognize which choices we are making that will create a sense of distance from God. 

Lent is a time for us to try and recognize the serpents in our midst.  

More importantly, Lent is a time for us to turn to God in trust. When we are feeling dissatisfied, when we are doubting the goodness of God or others, when we are doubting the goodness of ourselves or our lives, we don’t need to just wallow in those feelings.  We don’t need stew in our feelings.  We can bring every feeling of dissatisfaction, every doubt we have in God’s goodness or in the goodness of life to God.  

You are invited to take a moment and bring to mind something in your life that is dissatisfying or you are doubting the goodness of God…

Now repeat after me… I trust in God. (3x). Amen.

“Creation: Take 2” by Matthew Root (and other articles in the series on Genesis 1-11).