Message by Pastor John Culp :  February 6, 2008

“Behold, I Tell You a Mystery – Part 1”

Text – Genesis 3:14-19

Ash Wednesday

      Whom are you going to believe – Thomas Jefferson?  Or Jesus?

     We plan to talk quite a bit about suffering in the weeks ahead, throughout the season of Lent that begins today with Ash Wednesday.  And in that context, there is a real conflict in worldviews between that of the great architect of the American Revolution – and the Jesus whose Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible.

     Consider, on the one hand, the worldview expressed by Jefferson, crystallized so dramatically in these words form the prologue of the Declaration of Independence.  You probably know at least some of the words of the Declaration well.  You may even have portions of it memorized!  And I suspect that most of us recite or even hear those words with something of a lump in our throats – even with something approaching the same reverence we have in the presence of beloved words of the Bible.  In any case, you no doubt know these well:

     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

     They are surely inspiring words!  And in large measure we certainly embrace them.  But consider some of their implications, especially the whole notion of rights.  According to the Declaration of Independence, nobody – not even God! – has the right to deny me happiness.  Mr. Jefferson seems to say that God oversteps His bounds even if He presumes to take my life!

     But as we’ll see, the worldview of the Bible is dramatically different. 

     Now I mention all this in the context of the mystery of suffering.  The fact of the matter is that bad things in life present such vexing questions for Christians that a whole separate branch of theology has sought to grapple with them.  It’s called Theodicy, and the basic question it poses is this: If God is all good, and God is all powerful, why is there sin and why is there suffering in the world?  Some would say, of course, that these evils exist because God cannot prevent them.  Others would go so far as to propose that the fact is, there is a dark side to God – a side that actively creates evil.  But of course neither of those positions fits with our insistence on the omnipotence and the perfect righteousness of God.  So we’re left with a mystery.

     Nor is it a matter for cool, detached academic reflection.  This is the stuff of real life, in all its aching sorrow!  When I’m the one who is hurting, or it’s someone I love, I really want to have answers to this throbbing mystery. 

     More than a quarter of a century ago, Rabbi Harold S. Kushner wrote a best-selling book on the subject.  It was called “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”  The title certainly reflects the common perspective on this besetting mystery.  Most in our culture seem to assume that, while there are surely some very bad folks among us, the run-of-the-mill sort is basically good.  In fact it seems that people assume that most of us are so good that we deserve, for the most part, nothing but good things from God.  I’ve not read the book.  But I can tell you that if the good rabbi comes to that conclusion, he seriously parts company with his Bible! 

     Against the view advanced by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, the Bible insists that we have no right to expect a constant stream of blessing from God.  Far from it!  That is the foundational outlook of the whole of Scripture.  But such a truth claim is especially evident in this story of the Fall.

     But for all of that, it is absolutely crucial for us to note – most especially as we come to grips with the painful mystery of suffering – that there is abundant, glorious Good News right here, in the very midst of this bleak bad news.  So, taking our title from Paul’s writing to the Corinthians on what seems to be the worst news of all – our final enemy, death – we enter the ring to wrestle with this formidable adversary, this perplexing question of suffering: “Behold, I tell you a mystery” (1 Corinthians 15:51).
     We need to start our consideration with an honest look at the bad news.  And for that purpose there’s no better place to begin than by reflecting on the curse recorded in this story of the Fall of humanity.  The narrative clearly tells us that as a direct result of human sin and rebellion, God curses the serpent, the woman and the man, and indeed, all of creation.  This notion of a curse carries with it the implication that it will be not just these individuals who will be affected.  All who will follow after, as long as people inhabit the earth, will clearly feel the effects of the curse.  That curse will entail pain and struggle in life, and the ultimate certainty of death. 

     Christians have historically agreed that this leads us to a clear understanding of what’s called Original Sin.  Now Bible scholars have pointed out that this story alone does not teach the doctrine of Original Sin.  But the succeeding chapters of Genesis certainly make a pretty strong case for it!  After the Fall, we read of a downward spiral of human wickedness, starting with Cain’s murder of his brother Abel (Genesis 4).  It leads to this devastating assessment of the human condition at the time of Noah: “Now the LORD observed the extent of the people’s wickedness, and He saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil” (Genesis 6:5 NLT).

     Original Sin does refer to this historical trespass of God’s will, the sin of Adam and Eve.  But even more, it teaches that there is here an origin of the sin nature in which all succeeding people (with one exception) will be born.  The doctrine of Original Sin teaches that “We’re not sinners because we sin; we sin because we’re sinners.”

     So this story of the Fall has sobering implications for all of life – most especially when we reflect on the mystery of suffering.  It teaches us that what we really deserve is nothing more than suffering, and the death to which our misery-laden lives inexorably lead.  This is something we very much need to remember – particularly when we face the reality of suffering.

     But be assured of this: There is abundant Good News, even in the heart of this story so rife with bad news. 

     The Bible teaches us always that bad news never has the last word!  This story of the Fall is foundational to our understanding of the human predicament.  But it’s not the whole Bible.  It is impossible to finally be a Christian pessimist!

     The Gospel – the Good News – is most fully revealed in Jesus Christ.  But the seed of it is present even here – even in the curse itself!  Theologians call it the proto-euangellion – the ‘first Gospel.’  It comes in what God says to the serpent: The Seed of the woman, God says, “will strike your head, and you will strike His heel” (Genesis 3:15 NLT).

     Now that explains the origin of man’s loathing of snakes.  But it proclaims a truth on a far deeper plane.  The Seed of the woman who is finally in view here is none other than Christ!  At the cross Satan will surely strike His heel.  But at that same cross, the Seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent forever!

     All of this of course has tremendous implication for us in the midst of suffering.  We never have the right in the midst of pain to shake our fists at God.  Even (as happens so often!) when we are not suffering as a direct result of any sin, all pain has its ultimate origin in our sin natures.  None can ever claim that God is unjust when He allows us to pass through the valley of the shadow.

     But beyond all that, we need to remember in midst of suffering that God has promised us ultimate, triumphant Good News.

     Now we should take note of something.  We need to use this great truth with caution!  Certainly when speaking with someone in the pit of pain or sorrow, we should not glibly tell them that either they deserve what they are getting, or casually assure them that there is blessing even in the midst of their pain – true though both may be.  But we do need to remember and use these life-giving truths – in our own lives, and in the lives of those we love.

     On New Year’s Day 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl.  In that game a man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California. Somehow, he became confused and started running in the wrong direction.  One of his teammates, Benny Lom, overtook and downed him sixty-five yards away, just before he scored for the opposing team.  But when the shaken California team attempted to punt, Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, which was the ultimate margin of victory.  And ‘Wrong-Way Riegels’ earned an enduring place in the annals of college football.

     That strange play came in the first half, and everyone who was watching the game was asking the same question: “What will Coach Nibbs Price do with Roy Riegels in the second half?”  At halftime the men filed off the field and went into the dressing room. They sat down on the benches and on the floor – all but Riegels.  He put his blanket around his shoulders, sat down in a corner, put his face in his hands, and cried like a baby.

     If you have played football, you know that a coach usually has a great deal to say to his team during halftime.  That day Coach Price was quiet.  No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels.  Then the timekeeper came in and announced that there were three minutes before playing time.  Coach Price looked at the team and said simply, “Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second.”

     The players got up and started out – again, all but Riegels.  He didn’t budge.  The coach looked back and called to him.  Still he didn’t move.  Coach Price went over to where Riegels sat and said, “Roy, didn’t you hear me?  The same team that played the first half will start the second.”

     Then Roy Riegels looked up and his cheeks were wet with a strong man’s tears. “Coach,” he said, “I can’t do it to save my life.  I’ve ruined you.  I’ve ruined the University of California.  I’ve ruined myself.  I couldn’t face that crowd in the stadium to save my life.”

     Then Coach Price reached out and put his hand on Riegels’ shoulder and said to him: “Roy, get up and go on back; the game is only half over.”  And Roy Riegels went back. Those Tech men will tell you they have never seen a man play football the way Roy Riegels played that second half.

     We take the ball and run in the wrong direction.  We stumble and fall and are so ashamed of ourselves that we never want to try again.  And God comes to us and bends over us in the person of His Son and says, “Get up and go on back; the game is only half over.”  That is the gospel of the grace of God.  It is the gospel of a second chance, of a third chance, of the hundredth chance.

(James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited [Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988], p. 392.)

     Friend, the fact is that we never deserve God’s grace.  But the fact is also that He gives it to us in abundance.  And the fact we need to remember especially in the shadow side of life is this: sin and suffering never have the last word!  Come now to the table where Christ reminds us of those glorious truths.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.