St. John’s Lutheran Church
6 October 2024 + Lectionary 27b
Genesis 2:18-24; Mark 10:2-16
Rev. Josh Evans
We almost know the story by heart:
When God began to create the heavens and the earth…
Over the course of the six days of creation,
God speaks something into existence,
and so it appears:
Let there be light.
And there was light.
Let there be sky and waters
and sun and moon and stars
and animals on the ground and birds of the air and fish in the seas.
And so they are.
And at the end of each day,
God saw that
it was good.
All was good
and, by the sixth day, when creation was nearly finished,
indeed, it was very good.
And then – all of a sudden –
it is not good.
Now, of course,
Genesis 1 & Genesis 2
are two different creation stories,
from two different sources,
but in their final form,
they exist side-by-side,
and I can’t help but wonder
if the writer of Genesis,
in editing the final manuscript as we have it today,
used these parallel phrases on purpose,
as a literary technique to grab our attention.
Even if it is pure speculation,
the repetitive nature of
it was good
it was good
it was very good
on and on for six whole days,
and then, all of a sudden
it is not good
is jarring …
it begs our attention.
Something is not good.
Something is wrong.
It is not good
that the man should be alone.
‘The man’ in English,
adam in Hebrew –
a being without a distinct gender,
as we understand gender,
a creature formed from the dust of the earth … the adamah … the ground,
an earth creature … or ‘earthling,’ if you will.
It is not good
that this earth creature
is alone.
Who will be their helper and their partner?
The cattle? The birds?
No.
Another adam.
Another creature formed from this first one,
from the same earth,
from its rib, from its side.
This is another creature like adam,
formed from adam,
a creature equal to and finally suitable as a helper and a partner for adam.
This is ezer –
not a diminutive, subservient helper who waits on another,
but a partner on equal footing –
and perhaps even stronger or more powerful –
‘My ezer (help) comes from the Lord,’
the psalmist declares.
This ezer, at last,
is a suitable companion for adam,
a co-caretaker of creation,
one like adam,
made in the image of God.
Here, at last,
is community.
It is not good
to be alone.
From the very beginning,
we are created to be in community with one another.
This is what Jesus understood to be true
when he responded to a(nother) trap set by the religious leaders
who posed to him a trick question about divorce.
To be perfectly clear,
this first-century dialogue is not about divorce as we understand it today.
It’s not even about marriage as we understand it today.
This is about God’s intention for human beings
to live in partnership and in community with one another –
and the ways we seek to undermine that community,
and to re-define it for our own self-centered and self-serving purposes.
It’s why Jesus, once again,
plucks out a child from the crowd,
centering one without status or privilege,
in order to reveal what the kingdom of God is all about,
as if to say:
It’s not all about you (singular).
It’s about you (plural) … It’s about y’all.
From the very beginning,
we were created to be a part of a community.
This is what we recognize when we set apart a day
to bless our creaturely companions,
to recognize that these animals are an inextricable part of our lives,
that they too are a part of our community.
From the very beginning,
we are created to be in community with one another,
and with all creation,
to care for another,
to be helpers – ezer – to one another,
partners in the caretaking of our common home.
To be as ‘one flesh’ … one body …
When one part of the body suffers, all suffer with it.
When one part of the body rejoices, all rejoice with it.
None of us exists in isolation,
but always a part of a wider and interconnected community –
the community of all creation.
A community entrusted to our care,
as co-creators with God and with each other.
A community that we honor and bless this day.
A community, together, that God calls very good.