10/07/2012 ~ Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Proper 22) ~ Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16 ~ World Wide Communion Sunday.
Out of the Ground
“Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another. / The male realized what had happened and said, / ‘This time, this is the one! / Bone of my bone / and flesh of my flesh; / Now she will be called ish’ — ish a word which means source of life / ‘and I shall be called adam’— adam— a word which means from the ground / ‘for out of me was this one taken.’” — Genesis 2:22-23
As you may know, last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was away at the YMCA Camp and Conference Center at Silver Bay on Lake George, about 20 minutes south of Ticonderoga. The Clergy of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ were meeting with 23 pastors from the Evangelical Church of Hesse and Nassau. Cathy let me try this now— that’s the Evangelische Kirche auf Hessen und Nassau— pretty close— you see, she speaks German. [1] And this is our partner denomination in Germany.
The pastors with whom we met had a broad range of responsibilities. One, for instance, is assigned to the World Cup soccer stadium in Frankfort. Yes, there is a chapel in the stadium and they have hosted everything from world cup soccer games to a Bruce Springsteen Concert, a couple of months ago. Some of the pastors were supervisors in specific geographical areas. Some were pastors assigned to large and small local churches.
Among the differences between how we operate and how they operate is staffing and building functions are paid for by a national tax. Each pastor is paid about the same, no matter what their assignment, with more for seniority. [2] Pay scales are comparable to what we pay teachers and the pastors do teach religion in the local schools.
Events like this meeting with pastors from Germany are not just a chance to meet with people who live in other cultures. It is also a chance for our pastors to renew acquaintances from around the New York Conference. In fact, enough cross pollination has now gone on between the German church and our church that some of our folks know the pastors from Germany fairly well. Indeed, one German pastor is now serving an American church.
One of my friends who was not there is the Rev. Michael Caine, now serving a church in Philadelphia. Since he is down in Pennsylvania and this was for New York, so that twain didn’t meet. Being with this group reminded me of Michael because when he comes to a lectern or a pulpit— and this is what he does on a Sunday morning— Michael comes to the pulpit and starts by saying, “Hello, Church!”
He is, of course, right. As I am sure you all know, in our Congregational tradition, the building in which we meet for worship is not called a church. This building should never be called a church. It is a Meeting House. We, the people, are the church.
And we, the people, are the church in whatever setting we’re gathered in. We, the people, are the church when we gather on a Sunday morning. We, the people, are the church when we gather for Bible Study. We, the people, are the church when the Association is gathered.
We, the people, are the church when we pray at the bedside of someone who is dying. We, the people, are the church when we are gathered with pastors from foreign lands. We, the people, are the church.
So, let’s try something: I’ll say, “Hello, Church” and you say, “Hello, Church!” also, since it’s greeting one another, not just greeting me. O.K. Ready?
“Hello, Church!” (“Hello, Church!”)
Oh! I was expecting I was going to have to have you repeat that. That was very good! I figure saying, “Hello, Church!” is a simple reminder that we are in covenant with God and God calls us to be in covenant with one another. God calls us to be in covenant with people not just from this country but from all countries— not just Germany, all countries. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the Torah in the section commonly called Genesis: “Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another. / The male realized what had happened and said, / ‘This time, this is the one! / Bone of my bone / and flesh of my flesh; / Now she will be called ish’ — ish a word which means source of life / ‘and I shall be called adam’— adam— a word which means from the ground / ‘for out of me was this one taken.’” (Slight pause.)
I hope, because of the translation I used, the meanings in this story from Genesis were clearer for you than they would have been had I used a typical translation. [3] I would like to briefly review some of those words, in order to highlight a couple of aspects.
Adam, indeed, means from the earth or from the dust, as does the word adamah which means, more directly, from the soil. In short, adam is not a name but a word used for the material out of which Yahweh, God, has made this creature, hence ‘earth creature.’ Neither is the word ish, which we often translate as Eve, a name. Ish a is word which means source of life.
You probably noticed when God causes a deep sleep to fall over the earth creature it is divided in two. No rib is removed. Now, none of what I have just said is a revisionist history, a way of looking at this story which has never been broached before.
These are the real meanings of the original words in the original language. They are the meanings with which those who first heard this story would have grappled.
Last, early in the passage God brings everything to the earth creature be named. And, indeed, when God presents these two creatures to one another, having formed them from one, what happens is another naming.
In the Hebrew it is clear this section is a poem and not just a poem but a naming poem. And in this naming there is a clear recognition that one is divided into two but the two are still one. (Slight pause.)
All of which is to say, if you read this in Hebrew, it is hard to miss that this passage is not about the creation of the first humans. It is hard to miss that this passage is not about the differences between male and female. It is hard to miss that this passage is not about sexuality of any kind. This passage is about the covenant of God with all humanity.
That brings me back to the pastors from Germany. In our dialogue we were often reminded of Martin Luther and the roots of the Reformation in Germany. Of course, one of Luther’s basic beliefs was that we are all a priesthood of believers. The phrase ‘priesthood of believers’ was repeated numerous times in those three days.
What does ‘priesthood of believers’ mean? We may have different duties or different callings in the Dominion of God but none of us is more or less important in the eyes of God. None of us should consider ourselves more or less important in the eyes of our neighbors. This concept is central in the covenant. This concept is central with the covenant. This concept is central to the covenant.
So, to bring this back to the story from Genesis, what this passage addresses is the story of our covenant with God. We are all adam, creatures made out of the ground.
And when we forget that we are all creatures made out of the ground by denying basic human rights to others— rights like food, clothing, housing, healthcare, freedom— I am sure you’re sharp enough to continue to name a myriad of rights. When we deny basic human rights to others, then we have broken the covenant.
And we, all of us— we, the people, we, the church— we need to count ourselves among the faithful who are in covenant with God and each other. In the words of Martin Luther we are a ‘priesthood of believers,’ striving to do the will of God, striving to do the work of God. Amen.
10/07/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I sometimes say ‘I don’t take the Bible literally. I take the Bible seriously.’ There are 5,600 manuscripts of the New Testament available which scholars rate as authoritative. In no two of those manuscripts are any one sentence exactly the same. In short, what we read in translation is a scholarly guess. Indeed, serious scholars on the right may insist the Bible is inerrant but will tell you the Scripture is inerrant only in its original manuscript form. When asked if the original manuscripts are available, they will say ‘no.’ I don’t take the Bible literally. I take the Bible seriously.”
BENEDICTION: The love of God lasts for an eternity. The reign of God is in the present tense, not the future when we acknowledge and participate in the work of God’s will. So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1] The pastor spoke directly to Cathy Hammons who is an ESL teacher and is fluent in German.
[2] This is an interesting article from the NY Times on the taxation of Germans for the maintenance of their churches.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/world/europe/german-church-ties-tax-to-sacraments-after-court-ruling.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y#h[]
[3] This was the passage as read and its introduction:
Genesis 2:18-24 [ILV] ~ Because we do not read the passages from Scripture in their original languages this does place us at a severe disadvantage when it come to understanding what the words mean. What we take to be simply names are actually words with hidden meanings. This translation attempts to recreate what the passage might have meant since it is translated in a way which helps us hear some of the meanings behind the words we often take as names rather than metaphors indicating something deeper. Hear now this reading as it is found in the work known as Genesis.
Then Yahweh, God, said, “It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adam, out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.” [19] So also out of the ground, from the soil, out of the adamah, Yahweh, God, formed all the animals, every wild beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the earth creature, the adam, to be named. Whatever the earth creature called every living one, that became its name. [20] The earth creature gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, all the wild animals.
But none of them proved to be a fitting companion, a partner for the adam, the earth creature. [21] So Yahweh, God, caused a deep sleep to fall on the earth creature. While it slept God divided the earth creature in two and then closed up the flesh from its side. [22] Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another.
[23] The male realized what had happened and said,
“This time, this is the one!
Bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
Now she will be called ish” —
ish a word which means source of life
“and I shall be called adam”—
adam— a word which means from the ground
“for out of me was this one taken.”
[24] This is why people leave their parents and become bonded to one another and the two become one flesh, yet again.
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