Genesis 3: 8-15 and Mark 3: 20-27
The reading difficulty of this sermon is such that it can be read by a ten year old. It was preached at one of our Family Communion services which take place at 10am every second Sunday of the month.
People often ask ‘Why does God let bad things happen?’
And sometimes they say the church is silly because they say we believe in a God that will make sure nothing bad ever happens.
But that is not what we believe.
We believe in a God who loves us even though the world is bad sometimes.
The story of Adam and Eve, the snake and the apple explains this.
God only wants good things for us.
He created a beautiful world for us to live in.
He created us in such a way that we would love each other and live together.
But he wants us to truly live. He wants us to shape our world.
We are not animals. Animals do not shape the world. They cope with the way the world is.
We are not robots. We are not programmed always to do the same thing. We can think for ourselves. We can shape the world and make decisions about how we live.
And so in the world God created there is the apple and the snake.
The apple is knowledge and the snake is temptation. The snake tempted Eve and Adam to eat the apple.
And with knowledge and understanding Adam and Eve took on the job of struggling to work out how to live and how to order the world.
This struggle is what makes us alive as human beings. It is the difference between humans and animals, humans and robots.
The struggle is not easy.
After Adam and Eve took the apple they found themselves living in the world that we know. The world that has some bad things in it.
The story of Adam and eve mentions some of these bad things: snakes that want to attack us; women not being treated fairly; women giving birth to children in pain; all the hard work we have to do so we have enough to eat, illnesses, war and death.
But the world still has good things in it. It is a beautiful world. There is enough for everybody to eat if only we will share it. And we have each other. We can love each other.
And God is with us while we struggle in this world where there are good things and bad things. He is with us all the way. His spirit is working alongside us. His Spirit reminds us of what Jesus showed us. Jesus showed us what the good things were and what the bad things were.
Sometimes people wonder whether God tricked us?
They say that God created a beautiful world but then he put a snake in it and an apple in it and he knew the snake would trick us into eating the apple and then all the bad things would start so we would need his help and we would have to love him and do what he said. To some people the story of Adam and Eve sounds like that.
I don’t believe that is how it is. I don’t believe that God tricked us.
I believe God is with us. I believe that he blessed us when he created a beautiful world for us and ways for us to love each other.
He blesses us and he trusts us. He trusts that we will learn the difference between what is good and what is bad.
He trusts us and he is alongside us. He has created us to be truly alive, trusting us to find our own path and he walks along that path with us and he saves us.
As we walk along the path of life we have to choose between good and evil.
It is important to remember that the world is not full of good people and bad people. The line between what is good and what is bad doesn’t run between people with some people on one side of the line and some people on the other side.
The line actually runs right through us. Sometimes we are good and do what God wants us to do and sometimes we are bad and do what God does not want us to do. And it is the same with all the other people in the world.
So the line between good and evil does not run between people it runs through people. But there is a line. There is good and bad.
God blesses us, trusts us and saves us and he saves us by sending his Son, Jesus.
Jesus comes to show us the way and to show us the line between what is good in us and what is bad in us.
And he casts out what is bad in us.
In our Gospel reading this morning we heard how Jesus cast demons out of people.
Some of the people who saw this couldn’t believe it. ‘Are you really coming to save us?’ they asked. ‘How do we know you are not coming to trick us like the snake in the story of Adam and Eve?’
Jesus basically answered these people by saying, ‘Use your common sense’. Use your judgement. You have knowledge. You know the difference between good and evil. Look at what I am doing. I am casting out demons. I am casting out what is evil in people. I wouldn’t be doing that if I was working for evil.
So the message that Jesus gives us is this.
God trusts you. He is alongside you. Join him. Work with him. Evil will come to an end.