Top Ten Reasons God Created Eve

If you missed church on Sunday, or just wanted to remember the opening joke, here it is:

Top Ten Reasons Eve Was Created

10. God was worried that Adam would frequently become lost in the
    garden because he would not ask for directions.

 9. God knew that one day Adam would require someone to locate
    and hand him the remote.

 8. God knew Adam would never go out and buy himself a new fig leaf
    when his wore out and would therefore need Eve to buy one for him.

 7. God knew Adam would never be able to make a doctor's, dentist, or
    haircut appointment for himself.

 6. God knew Adam would never remember which night to put the garbage
    on the curb.

 5. God knew if the world was to be populated, men would never be 
    able to handle the pain and discomfort of childbearing.

 4. As the Keeper of the Garden, Adam would never remember where he
    left his tools.

 3. Apparently, Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on when 
    God caught him hiding in the garden.

 2. As the Bible says, It is not good for man to be alone!

 1.  When God finished the creation of Adam, He stepped back, 
     scratched his head, and said, "I can do better than that!"

From http://www.yuksrus.com/religion_adam_and_eve.html

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, continued

As I prepared to preach on this passage of scripture last Sunday, I began thinking about Bill.  Bill started coming to church shortly after I started my second stint at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, the church I now serve.  I knew his name and knew he was on the rolls, but had never met him until he showed up one Sunday.  He was a friendly man, very pleasurable to visit with, and seemed to have a good faith.  He owned a car dealership right across from the Boys & Girls Club I worked at, so one morning I walked over to visit and have a cup of coffee. Bill informed me that he had stopped going to church because he and a former minister did not get along.  But he was back, now, not because there was a new minister, but because he decided that he needed his church home more then he needed to be in a disagreement with the minister.  Part of me, honestly, was nervous about someone who had left the church over a conflict with a minister, though Bill came across as very sincere and genuine, and his like-ability far outweighed my concerns.

Within the past year, I believe, Bill has been diagnosed with cancer of the lungs and throat.  I've visited with him at church and after church several times since his diagnosis, and have always been amazed at how positive he is about life.  After a few visits, I asked him what his prognosis was, and Bill told me that his doctor told him he could have as much as 2 years to live.  He did not cry, shake or show much emotion about the news, though it was obvious that he was aware of what he was saying.  He immediately started talking about what had been good in his life.  He talked about his children and his grandchildren.  He spoke of friends, including one he had invited to the church and who had become quite active.  He would speak of his illness when I asked him questions about it, but his illness was not what was most important in his life.  And in all the conversations, Bill would talk about God and the church.

I look forward to my visits with Bill.  With each time I see him, he helps me to grow in my faith.  He is more of a spiritual leader for his minister then his minister is for him, and for that I give thanks to God.

In 22 years of ministry, I've been around many people who have received news that they were dying.  I say dying instead of terminally ill, because as Christian people, I feel we need to claim death--that is the only way we can enter into the next life.  In that time, I've noticed that there are 3 typical responses to news that one is dying.  The first is to give up.  This is typically the response from people who are at best weak in their faith, and at worst have no faith at all.  Their feeling seems to be that God has inflicted them and is punishing them, and they chose to simply quit living.  Their deaths are often quick, and also often painful, both physically and spiritually.

The second response tends to be from those who know about faith, even pronounce their faith, but really do not know how to live their faith.  The response of this group tends to be a belief that they can beat the illness and cheat death.  They live like they are not sick, and often their positive attitude even extends their lives beyond that doctors' prognosis.  However, in the vast majority of cases they still succumb to death in the end, and even question why God did not take their suffering away.  Their deaths can cause them to be spiritually alone and isolated, wondering why God did not save them from death.

Then there are people like Bill, who know that death is a part of life, and that it is a necessary part if we want to participate in the resurrection and entrance into God's kingdom.  He does not ignore his death, nor does he linger on it.  Instead, he remembers the life he has lived, continues to live life to the fullest he is able, and he inspires others to grow in their faith.

When the people of Judah were taken into exile, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, telling the people they would be captives for a long time.  In fact, they would be in exile for at least 2 generations, according to God.  In other words, many would not live to see a return to Judah.  But Got spoke in a positive way, not focusing on how they would die in Babylon, but instead focusing on how they should live in this foreign land.  He talked about them growing gardens and eating their produce.  He spoke of finding wives and husbands.  He challenged them to have children and grandchildren.  And God told them to seek the welfare of these foreigners, and to pray for them to God, that in their welfare would be Judah's welfare.

So live your lives, even when you have cause to suffer.  Follow Bill's example.  Know that yes, the suffering will pass, but how you live determines whether this suffering makes you spiritually live or die.  Be people of faith, not just saying you have it, but living it.  And in all things, seek the joy of God.  After all, when death finally does set in, it leads us to new and everlasting life through Jesus Christ.  Live your faith, and show others how we can overcome suffering by seeing the good, that is, the presence of God all around us.

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

29:1 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

29:4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

29:5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.

29:6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.

29:7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.


Growing up on the Delaware River in Titusville, New Jersey, I remember hearing the story of the Presbyterian minister who lived in the manse on River Drive.  Once, the rains came hard and the river swelled, filling, then overfilling its banks.  The waters came to the porch of the manse, and the fire department drove by, telling the old minister that he needed to evacuate.  However, the man would not leave, saying, "The Lord will provide, the Lord will provide."  Hours later, a rescue boat greeted the man at his second story window as the flood waters continued to rise rapidly.  "Come with us to safety, reverend."  Yet again he replied, "The Lord will provide.  The Lord will provide."  The last the man was seen, he was on the roof of the house, ankle deep in water, holding on to the chimney for dear life.  This time the rescuers came via helicopter, but he refused to go, saying "The Lord will provide.  The Lord will provide."


Now the man found himself at the entrance to the pearly gates, much to his surprise.  He was met by the Lord, himself.  Indignant, the preacher rebuked God, saying, "Where were you?  I had faith you would save me?  How could you turn your back on me?  Why didn't you help me?"  God looked at the old man and said, "I tried!  I sent a fire truck, a boat and a helicopter!"


Sometimes we are so focused on the idea of God that we miss the truth of God.  The people in Jeremiah's time had been warned that their lack of sincerity in worship would lead to the fall of their nation, that they would become exiles in a foreign land.  Yet they continued on through their selfish ways, continuing to have the form of religion without the function of faith.  Babylon was knocking at their door, and had destroyed everything in her path.  As this fierce nation began its siege on Judah, only part of the city fell.  Some of the people were hopeful, believing that God had caused the aggressor to stumble.  Those who were not displaced by the attack felt that God was pleased with them and had delivered them. 


Yet Jeremiah knew better.  He knew the stopped attack was only temporary.  God had been speaking through him for some time, warning Judah to turn from her ways, warning that a foreign power would destroy her.  So he spoke again, hoping the people would understand the veracity of their situation.  He told them to build gardens in this foreign land, to marry and have children here, then to marry off their children in the land of Babylon.  In other words, he told the people they were going to be there for a long time.


However, prophets also offer hope.  He told the people that despite the fact they would be foreigners in a foreign land, the time would come when they would be able to return home.  While their action brought them into this situation, God's act would deliver them at the right time.


I like this.  Too many times people think they can just pray away a situation.  We all have been where the people of Israel were at one time or another, whether it was self-induced or the result of actions beyond our control.  It might have been the death of a child or a spouse, or the destruction of a relationship.  It might have been the result of losing contact with God or turning to additions to fill our spiritual voids.  Whatever it is, though, this much is true:  when we keep our eyes on God, God brings us home.  It may not happen right away, but it does happen.  God's desire is for the creation to be good.  God does not want for us to suffer.  God wants us to have life, and to have it abundantly.


Now, in this world, sometimes we do not have that abundant life.  But in God, through faith in Jesus Christ, we know that there is a life to come where we cannot suffer, where we have that abundant life.  In that place, there are no more Babylons, no more sins, no more suffering.  Like the people of Israel who were in Babylon for the long haul, we are in this life for the long haul.  We need to make the most of it.  We need to live for the good that is here, and fight against the injustices that are around us.  We need to live life focused on God, rather then focused on the suffering that sometimes separates us from God.  We must do this because, like the people of Israel, we are going to be returned home.  We just need to live our faith.


Don't be like the people of Israel or the minister who fell victim to the flood waters.  Believe in God, believe in his Son, Jesus Christ.  Through this belief, you will find that God will bring you home.  Thanks be to God!