Deny It? Deny What?

"Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
The man said, "The woman you put with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it."
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me and I ate." Genesis 3:11b-13

Deny It? Deny What?
By Rev. William Dohle

"Not me... Not me!"

I can't tell you how often I hear these two words from my children's lips.

Who spilled the milk on the floor and didn't clean it up??
... Not me!

Who didn't pick up his toys?
...Not me!

Who didn't eat everything on their plate?
...Not me!

These words can drive you up the wall. Not only because they're so prevalent in a young family's home but also because they're never true!

Take this common example. I've asked the boys to put their clothes away. I ask...
"Who didn't put their clothes away?" pointing down at a pile beneath my feet. They both say: "Not me!" Which can't possibly be true since I am looking at a pile that someone didn't put away! Then they both give me a run around, pointing fingers at each other, until, at last, one of them admits in tears that he was the culprit and slumps off into the room to put them away.

What both my sons fail to realize is that if they had just admitted it the fault to begin with, the problem would have been solved. The sin would have been forgiven. The clothes put away. Life would have gone on. But because they failed to admit their mistake, the blame continued to be passed over and over again.

That is the situation here in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve have just both eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now two things can happen...

They can admit they ate from the tree. They can tell God the story of how it happened, how it looked so good and they ate. They can admit that they did God wrong...and God can forgive them!

Or...

They can deny it, point fingers at each other, and never admit to each other or God that they did anything wrong. In which case God can't forgive them...for if they didn't do anything wrong there's nothing to forgive!

What is the real sin here? Is it disobeying God's command? Yes...and no. God did tell them not to eat from the tree they just ate from, but their greater sin is the denial that follows. For in their denial comes their lack of repentance. If they had eaten the apple and admitted their mistake, God, who is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, would forgive them! But when they just keep pointing fingers at each other, God can only stand by and watch, as we parents do, as the blame is passed from one person to another to another to another. Nothing can be solved until denial is overcome.

So... how are you like Adam and Eve here? What have you denied? What is God calling you to admit, to repent of, to turn from and be healed? Is there something in your life that you have passed the blame on? Is there some sin that needs to be addressed, needs to be admitted, and needs to be overcome?

My favorite part of this story isn't the temptation narrative, it's what happens after. After God has pronounced judgement and is escorting Adam and Eve into the world, the Bible says, "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."(v. 21)

That always speaks to me for, even when I am reluctant to take the blame and admit my wrong, God still watches over me. God still cares for me. And God still loves me. No matter what!

Lord God, we are so much like Adam and Eve, quick to point at other's wrong and slow to take blame ourselves, give us faith in your forgiveness that by your Holy Spirit we may be confident in your love for us, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Closer Than You Think

"...the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being." Genesis 2:7

Closer than you think
By Rev. William Dohle

It's been almost twenty years now. Twenty years since I left home. Twenty years since I lived closer than 450 miles away from my parents and siblings.

In that time I've moved to college, to seminary, and into multiple calls. I've lived in California, Colorado, Montana, and Minnesota. And now we're living in Illinois, the farthest east that I've ever lived for any extended period of time.

Distance is a funny thing too for, despite how connected we may feel with the internet and our cell phone services, we still miss feeling close to our family. There's nothing quite like meeting face to face with someone you love. No internet service can ever replace that experience.

Many people might say that God is some distance away from us. As a popular song by Bette Middler said years ago: "God is watching us from a distance."

But the Bible says, quite emphatically, NO! God isn't watching you from a distance! God is here! He's the one who formed you from the ground. He's the one who planted around you that which sustains you. He's the one who breathes into your nostrils the breath of life!

And this God, this crazy God who gets his hands dirty in the dust of this ground. This God doesn't just leave you alone. He never really returns to heaven. Instead this God breathes in you the breath of life each and every day.

Take a breath. Breathe in slowly. Let it out just as slow. That breath was given to you by God who breathes life in you . Like a divine CPR rescuer, our God is continually keeping us alive by his grace and love.

And still he does more. This God surrounds us with good green things. He provides for us animals to care for. A garden called earth to live in. And even helpers(spouses and children) who provide company for us so we are not alone.

Thank God for his continual, eternal, awesome presence among us that never leaves us, never lets go, and never lets any distance come between us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Creator God, you formed us from the ground with your hands and have been keeping us alive by your breath. May we sense and know your presence among us that we may see that nothing can separate us from your love, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Through New Eyes

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31

Through New Eyes
By Rev. William Dohle

They say that familiarity breeds contempt...and they might be right. Often I have noticed the things I am most familiar with are the things I take for granted. Even worse sometimes I have learned that the things that I am most familiar with are the things I hold most in contempt.

Take my home for instance. I grew up in the mountains of Northern Utah, with large peaks surrounding my little house. How often did I stare up at them? How often did I wonder what was happening on them? How often did I appreciate their beauty?

Not often enough.

Now, having moved thousands of miles from them(and being quite a bit older than I was back then), I have found my eyes are open in new ways. True there are no mountains to appreciate here. But there is plenty of green trees. There are lightning bugs like you've never seen before. And new experiences and sights I've never seen. And people. Especially people.

Being a newcomer in this land I've been able to appreciate and truly find the good all around me. And its everywhere! It's in the greeters that so warmly welcome people to the church. It's in the insight and vision congregational leaders as they pave the way into the future. It's in the ushers and the worship band. It's in those who have welcomed us here.

And goodness is found outside the church walls too. I have found goodness in the eyes of a cashier at the grocery store. Found in the hands of a librarian at the local library. And Found in the many faces surrounding us who move in and out of this place.

Today God invites you to find that goodness around you. It's there! Sin can't blot out what God created! He has declared his creation(including humanity) "very good" in the words of Genesis 1. Not just good. Not okay or mediocre. VERY good! That's saying something.

Perhaps we too should look around our world and share God's judgement. Perhaps we should look around us with God's eyes, hearing God's declaration that this world and everything in it is "very good!" God loved this world so much that he sent Jesus to us! His only Son! If this world weren't something special God would have disposed of it a LONG time ago...but He didn't! He loves the world! Even now!

Almighty God, give me Your eyes today that I might see the world and find its goodness. May my judgement on this world be like yours: This world is very good! Thank you for all you have given us, especially Jesus! In His Name. Amen.

In The New Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3

In the New Beginning!
By Rev. William Dohle

In the beginning...the house was a mess! Boxes had just arrived and everything was out of place. The beds hadn't even been put up and the movers were just moving the last of the things in.

And God said... Let there be order!
And there was order!

But the order took a while to come to pass. Slowly things started happening. Beds and dressers were covered and filled. Books started moving to the shelves. Pictures to the walls. Slowly the chaos that had first overcome the little house and the lives of the pastor and his family started to subside...and order came upon them all.

I love these first verses from Genesis because it reminds me that things don't start out all in order. In the beginning there is chaos! But also in the beginning there is God! Chaos is seen in the waters of the deep. But God is present moving over those waters. Organizing in his mind what will soon become an ordered and structured universe.

Then God speaks to the chaos: "Let there be light!" And the chaos responds! Light comes from darkness. A dome appears in the midst of the waters, separating them from each other. Earth appears. Land! The land itself starts to generate life! God speaks to the earth and the earth responds! And all of a sudden...life and order come from chaos!

Our lives are filled with endings...and beginnings. Endings come and things become a mess. Our possessions are thrown literally into boxes at times. Everything is out of place. Endings come and our lives literally fall apart at times. Our things...our families...our health is ripped away from us. And we're left wondering what we should do with all this chaotic mess.

But then God speaks to that chaos. God speaks to it...and miracles happen! Life is put back together in a new and a different order. Light appears out of darkness. A new hope is born. And suddenly we realize that God has been with us this whole time. Through the ending that was, at times, painful. And now as this new beginning takes birth. God is with us, hovering over our chaotic waters, putting right that once went wrong, and giving us a hope and a future.

He did it at the beginning. And God will do the same in every single one of our beginnings now and forever! Amen!

Almighty God, your Spirit hovered over the chaotic waters and breathed life and order into what was death and chaos. Give us that same Spirit that our beginnings might be like the beginning and we might hear our voice speaking life into all our darkness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.