The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee



The First Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 13, 2011, Christ Church Tracy City

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened…” (Gen. 3:6-7).

The tree of knowledge seems like a pretty good deal for the consumer: it looks good, it tastes good, and it makes you wise. Or so the serpent says. Remember, Eve hasn’t actually tasted the fruit of the tree yet; she’s relying on the serpent’s word. The serpent is cunning, clever; too smart for his own good and for the good of the human race. He’s promised that their eyes will be opened, and in his promise there’s a sting in the tail. They’re going to know good and evil, but not in the way they imagine. They think that this knowledge will make them wise like God, but that’s not the case. Instead, their eyes are opened and they see the fruit of their own disobedience, their own self-will, and their astonishing lack of wisdom or even good sense. The human race has eyes that are bigger than its stomach; in other words, it’s not going to be able to digest what it desires.

You see, desire’s at the heart of this ancient story. When Genesis describes the tree as delightful, it’s using a word that means “intensely desirable”; a word that shades rather quickly into “appetite” and even “lust”. There’s a meditation here in this story on the nature of sin, which is the bad use of a good thing. How can something be delightful and desirable and also bad for you? Well, it’s not hard when human beings get involved, with our outsized appetites and our desires that run amok. What’s good can be abused by the consumer; you might say that this insight pertains not only to the ecology and economy of our planet but also to considerations of human health and personal economy. Our appetites can be overindulged and get the best of us, turning what’s good into something that’s bad. It’s true of all of us, because we’re members of the human race.

The problem is not with the tree or its fruit, but with human motivation, the appetite or desire to be like God. That’s the case of a disordered will, that has lost a sense of proportion and which has broken God’s shalom, God’s peace, which places everything in right relationship to everything else. We human beings don’t like limitations, but we’re not God, and we’re not supposed to be.

God’s word in this situation comes at the end of our Gospel today: “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him” (Deut. 6:13; Matt. 4:10). Jesus is quoting the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments, but he’s making this word his own in the moment at which he is tempted to take over God’s role. The final temptation is to rule the world, to indulge the outsized appetite for power and to seize God’s place. “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” This becomes a Gospel word, a word of shalom or peace where all things are in right relationship to each other, including humanity and God. Jesus gives his life, in fact, to bring about this reconciliation between the human race and God.

The practical program of reconciliation this Lent, here at Christ Church and everywhere else in fact, begins with yet another passage of Scripture, where Jesus is once again quoting the Old Testament. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:37, 39). There’s the antidote to sinful desire, to the disordered will: the love of God and the love of neighbor. God gives us grace so that our disordered desire and love can be transformed. The Church is the place where this love is practiced. This is the community into which we are welcoming those who are coming for baptism and confirmation today. Through baptism we have been given God’s grace so that we can be transformed. We’re counting on those we are welcoming today to be a part of this work of transformation, through these sacraments and through the sacrament we receive at this altar, because we need them as much as they need us. We’re all the heirs of Adam and Eve; we’re all in need of God’s grace, which makes us needy people. And if you’re needy you don’t have time for outsized appetites and desire run amok. Today we say to all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve: welcome to the Church, the place where God’s needy People receive grace from God and are transformed.

- The Rt. Rev’d John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee

Back to Bishop's Forum