July 29 - Genesis 2, 3 - "Can't Get No Satisfaction"

MPC 29th July 2018.

Phil Campbell

When it comes to gardening, I'm with Elton John. Who said, "I cannot bear gardening, but I love gardens."

There's another quote from life coach Jillian Michaels that I resonate with too. "Gardening is not my thing. You're digging in the dirt, and then a couple of months later, something happens."

Although for me more often than not a couple of months later nothing happens. I'm the kind of guy who prefers immediate results. Microwave generation.

My dad on the other hand was a super gardener. Digging in the back yard every afternoon after work, watering, fertilising. Loved the heavy black soil. Loved the dirt on his hands. Loved watching the plants grow and develop a little bit at a time. Dad was a gardener all his life. In fact the week he died he planted 200 onions. Which may have been what did him in?

This morning we're going to look at two stories about men and their gardens. And then two more bonus gardens as well.

That if we're prepared to reflect on together... have got the potential to open up all kinds of questions. About life. And meaning. And satisfaction. And how to live life in a way that counts.

The first gardener is a guy named Adam. You've probably heard of him. In a garden called Eden.

The second gardener; is a teacher. Who speaks from the pages of the book called Ecclesiastes. And he's a king, or at least he says he is, who's trying to find satisfaction by building his own garden paradise. Much, perhaps, like we do.

Then two more gardens. To round things off.

GARDEN 1

But first, Adam. The original man. And his garden. The story the garden that went wrong.

Genesis chapters 2 and 3. It's a garden. That YAHWEH God of Israel has planted. He's taken the man that he's formed from the dust and breathed life into; he's taken his man, and verse 8 of Genesis chapter 2, he's put him there in this garden. Which is a place of delight in every way. It's paradise. Green and lush.

There are trees growing; beautiful to look at. pleasing to the eye and good for food. Which for me would mean no seeds in the grapes and self peeling apples.

And in the centre of the garden, we're told there are two particular trees. The tree of life. And the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Now whether you're a Genesis literalist or whether you're not, you've got to agree, these trees have got to be somehow symbolic. As in they're meant to be telling us something deeper. That we've got to get our heads around.

Because here right in the centre of the garden we've got something that seems to represent the source of life itself. And something else. Somehow the opposite. Another tree. Not an apple tree like you get in the old oil paintings. But a particular kind of knowledge tree.

And the Bible's first mention of anything other than good. The Bible's first mention of there's even the option of knowing evil.

Because in verse 9 it's not, you'll notice, just the tree of knowing good. It's the tree of knowing good and evil.

Here's the thing. If you've ever read Genesis 1, the previous chapter, over and over and over again, everything's good. Verse 31, the end of the six cycles of creating... God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Now let me put it to you, you might have a garden that you love very much; you might even have a palace. You might have the car you want, the job you want, the family you want, the big screen TV you want, every kind of Masterchef food you want.

But you might have noticed no matter how hard you try to avoid it, we're not living in that everything good world now.

And over the next few weeks we're going to be pressing you to think a little deeper. And think through the consequences of what happens next in Genesis chapter 2. Watch it unfold.

Because God takes the man, Genesis 2 verse 15, and he puts him in this garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Which isn't all that hard at this point, in that it's such a fertile garden with a good water supply. And look, the man maybe doesn't realise it at the time, but there's nothing growing there that shouldn't be. There's no need to spray with Roundup™ , because there's nothing to round up. There's no need for gardening gloves because there are no prickles and thorns.

It's easy. It's super satisfying. It's eco friendly and it's sustainable. And there's just one rule. Simple.

Verse 16. The Lord God commands the man, "You're free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For when you eat of it... you will surely die."

What does that even mean, thinks the man to himself. Die? Never even thought of it. And I know what good is, but what's this thing called evil?

They're alien concepts. Evil. And death. But as it turns out, so very appealing.

Verse 18. God makes Adam a helper. Verse 21, A side by side companion to help him with everything he's not good at. Because she's better at it than he is.

And there's a little party at the end of chapter 2, where Adam says how great she is; and we're told in verse 24 that this is why there's marriage. Man and wife united as one.

And everything's great. They're naked in the garden. And there's no shame. Because there's nothing to be ashamed of.

Yet.

Until; chapter 3. A smooth talking snake comes and asks an awkward question. That sows the seed of doubt in the mind of the woman about the goodness of the God who's given them everything. Except the good and evil tree.

And the snake says, "I hear a rumour God won't let you eat any fruit in the garden. None at all. That's terrible." And the woman says, "Yeah, Nah, it's not that bad. We can eat anything we like. Except he did say don't eat from the tree right in the middle of the garden. Don't even touch it. Or you'll be double dead. In the original Hebrew."

And the serpent disagrees. "You won't be dead dead; God's just spoiling your fun. God's just protecting his turf. He just knows that when you eat it. (When. Not if.) When you eat from it your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

And instead of saying, "No thanks, we're like God already because he just made us in his image;" and instead of saying "No thanks, we'll leave knowing good and evil up to him and we'll just go along with it... " she has another look. And it looks so pleasing to the eye. And it's so good for food. And it's so desirable for gaining wisdom. That she grabs some and she eats it. And she gives some to her dumb husband. Who's been with her all along. And he eats it as well.

And just like the serpent said. Their eyes are open. And they see everything in a whole new way. Whole new vistas open up before them. A whole new world. Of evil and shame. And suddenly they realise they're naked. And everything's different. And the cover up starts that's been going on ever since.

And then God comes, verse 8, in the cool of the evening in the garden. And they hide. Or at least they try to.

Now can I just break into the story for a minute to say no matter what you think of an ancient text like Genesis. And you might be here as an absolute sceptic about that. But can you see there's something profound being said here about the nature of the relationship between god and mankind. Maybe even between God and you.

And the point being made is that when you've decided to run life your own way and be the arbiter of right and wrong for yourself; when you've set out to be God in your own little universe; then you can run from the real God of the universe. But there's ultimately nowhere to hide.

The way the Genesis 3 unfolds, it's hard to know if it's tragic or if it's comic. God saying, hey, where are you?

And the guy coming up with all the lame sounding excuses; "The woman you put here with me; it's your fault. She gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. It's her fault."

And the woman says, the serpent deceived me. And I ate.

And so now come the consequences. And again, loaded with a lot more meaning that you might think.

To the woman. Verse 16. Her labour. Is going to be painful and hard. The labour of childbearing. Along with the pain of conflicted relationship with the man. A hard phrase to translate; your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. In an ugly power struggle that's been there right from the garden until now and the fourth wave of feminism.

And to Adam. And his easy fertile garden. Now painful labour for him as well. And the futility that comes from planting your seeds and harvesting almost as many prickles and weeds as tomatoes. Of planting your wheat crop and for the fifth year in a row harvesting nothing but dust. Of writing your software app and launching your start-up and putting in 80 hour weeks for three years. And then going under. Because the market you thought was there just wasn't there. Or someone else develops something just marginally better. Of rehearsing your band and launching your album and it only gets 137 downloads on Spotify. Which only pays you $13.70 in revenue.

In a world that wants to do its own thing without god, there are going to be thorns and weeds everywhere. Of every possible kind you can imagine. That are going to make your work; seem endless. Your labour painful and laborious. And frustrating. And tainted at every point with by-products of that fundamental decision to chase the seductive wisdom of being like God and arbitrating right and wrong for ourselves.

That's how work is, that's how life is. And then you're dust.

That's the curse. Read it from verse 17.

Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

See, above all else, over and above the thorns and the thistles, over and above all the frustrations of just making A buck and putting food on the table, fundamentally there's a dust problem. That's where you came from. And that's where you're heading.

And so in verse 22, God says, now that the man knows good and evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live for ever;

And so it all plays out. banished from the Garden, verse 23, to work the hard ground he was taken from, east of Eden. The way back blocked forever by angels with flaming swords. Banned. From the tree of life. Sentenced to dust.

GARDEN 2

Time to come with me to garden number 2. Because if we're smart enough, surely we can fix things. Or at least give it a crack.

I mentioned earlier, we're going to be spending time in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, which is a strange name for a strange book by a guy who calls himself the teacher.

It's a book of thought experiments.

And the thought is, surely if we're strong enough, smart enough, fast enough; surely we can outwit and outlast and outplay the system. The teacher is a guy on a search for meaning. We'll see what he finds in detail over the next few weeks. The teacher asks the question, in a world that's so vaporous; where it's all just gone like a puff of mist in the breeze... how are you going to find satisfaction?

And look, he's going to try everything. But one of the first thing he tries, is he builds gardens. Kind of symbolic. Especially when you read that the word we've got translated as park in the original Hebrew is a paradise of trees. Where he can wander in the cool of the evening sipping on champagne.

Follow his words on the screen. Because maybe this is your life too. We're picking up in Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 3. He's been trying to find what makes life work. And he says,

3I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly-my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 4I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.

He's rebuilding Eden. Or trying to. Here's a guy who loves his garden. A paradise. With all kinds of trees.

There's only one problem. One tree missing. There's no tree of life.

We'll look in more detail over the next few weeks. But see the words on the screen that come a few verses later. No matter how good the garden.Ecclesiastes 2 v 11:

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was vapour, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

In fact a few verses later, he puts it this way. It's the dust problem.

No matter how good the garden, no matter how much you think you can control the forces of chaos that eat away at your profit margin and ruin your business and fracture your friendships. No matter how glorious your garden... here's what he says, v. 20:

Everything is vapour. 20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

That's the problem. Whatever we work at. Turns to dust. Glum picture, isn't it?

Cindy McGarvie, who some of you know, she's the CEO of Youth For Christ. She's writing a book. And in it she interviews some typical teenagers. She says that the default philosophy of teenagers these days is nihilism. What's the point of even living.

And so she asks them the question, why are we here?

One teenage boy, says, "We're here to reproduce." Well, he's hoping so anyway.

Another guy says, "We're here to pursue happiness and live life to the fullest."

The third, a girl, says, "There's no purpose as such - we're here to make our own purpose."

No wonder there's so much depression around. And let me tell you, if you're struggling with depression yourself, you need to listen carefully. And you need to meet our third gardner.

GARDEN 3

We've been to the Garden of Eden. And we're locked out of it. We've seen the teacher's garden. Which in the end can't solve the dust problem. All he can say is who knows? What happens to the human spirit when we die? Who can know?

It's fascinating when you turn to the New Testament in John's gospel. You might have missed him. But there's a very significant gardener. Right after the account of the resurrection. It's the cemetery garden. A sombre garden. Outside a tomb. That over the last couple of days was occupied by a body. And now it's not.

Mary's there to anoint the body of Jesus. And now he's gone. And she's distressed. Listen to what happens. John 20:14-15:

14At this, she turns around and she sees Jesus standing there, but she doesn't realise that it's Jesus. 15He asks her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you're looking for?"

And look at the words. "Thinking he was the gardener, she says, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.'"

John loves picking up in his gospel when people say more than they know. And here's a classic case. Double meaning on double meaning. Because he's not the gardener who gets paid to sweep up the cemetery pathway at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning. He's something way better.

And most of all, he's the way to the final resolution of the dust problem. The relentless death problem. And the beginning of the real answer to our drift into nihilism. That nothing matters. Because nothing lasts.

Here's the garden where death finally turns into life. And as the Bible's story unfolds, it's this resurrection that opens up the way to meaning and purpose. And this gardener who's much more than a gardener; is the one who, if you'll trust him, opens the gates to the bible's final garden where the tree of life is.

GARDEN 4

Which John gives us just a glimpse of in the final chapter of the bible, Revelation 22. He says,

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse.

Now there's a garden. And as we head into these next few weeks of Ecclesiastes, if the going gets tough, if it all seems bleak... keep your eyes there. Up ahead.

If life's tough for you now. If you're tempted to say what's the point? Keep your eyes there. Up ahead. Because there's a river of life flowing from the throne of that gardener who stepped out of the tomb once and for all. The tree of life. Bounteous crops. Even the leaves are good. And no more curse. All of it a gift from god. Through the work of Jesus on our behalf. Enough to heal the nations as well. Us.

We live in a world that's in despair. The next few weeks, we're going to see Ecclesiastes describes it well. Where nihilism is maybe the only option that makes sense. The post modern philosopher Bruce Grierson puts it this way. He says,

We humans are stuck in a permanent crisis of meaning, a dark room from which we can never escape.

Is that your experience? Is that how you're feeling? First of all, if you're trapped in that, talk to me later. Tell someone. If you're on the edge of it, if you're thinking about it, make sure you're here for the series the next few weeks. Because there is light. At the end of the tunnel. And we're going to see there's meaning. That Jesus brings. In that instead of grabbing for vapour, we can focus on things that will last. That we can enjoy God's good gifts without grasping for them. And live life with a thankfulness that lasts.

So for today, let me finish with a warmer word from the pastor and author Tim Keller. Who says this.

Christians have, through their hope in God's story of redemption for the world he created, a deep consolation that enables them to work with all their being and never be ultimately discouraged by the frustrating present reality of this world, where thorns grow up when they are trying to coax up other things. We accept the fact that in this world our work will always fall short... because we know that our work in this life is not the final word." (Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavour, p96)

Table of Contents

GARDEN 1

GARDEN 2

GARDEN 3

GARDEN 4