Alienation

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

I always find Adam and Eve’s first action following their disobedient fruit snack intriguing.  I would have imagined that their first major concern would be God’s evening arrival.  However, this does not seem to be the case.  Look at what the text suggests… “At that moment their eye were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.  So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves”.  Cover themselves?  From what?  From who?  From each other, who else.  

I often wonder if masonry was not instantiated in the garden and the first masons, Adam and Eve.  From the moment they ate and their eyes were opened, Adam and Eve began building walls between each other.  Sin is marked by alienation, it destroys our relationships with other humans.  

Notice what Jesus told his disciples during his upper room discourse in John 13:34… “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”  These are the very last words that Jesus has for his followers.  What is Jesus’ master plan for church growth?  Love for each other.  We should recognize that Jesus did not tell his disciples to love all the world in John 13:34, but to love each other.  I am not suggesting that Jesus does not care about the world, rather, that according to Christ, the mark of truly redeemed followers of Christ is the absence of alienating walls.  Yes, true Christian love and fellowship is a reversal of sin’s distortion of humanity.  

Sin always destroys communion, consider Cain and Abel, Sodom and Gomorrah, your own personal interactions.  Recently, I was with a group of youth, I posed the question, “Why do you feel people teach each other so poorly?”  One responded “Sin, the world is just messed up.”  Wow, what a theological statement!  That is exactly what sin does, it “messes up” God’s world.  We were created to love each other in harmonious fellowship, but sin has created a world out of tune, a world in which everyone is singing his/her own song.  Jesus came not only to bring us back into fellowship with the Father, but also to foster sweet communion with each other.  I do not be that Jesus’ last meal with his disciples included a foot washing and the breaking of bread.  Those acts were symbolic and communicated a powerful message, humility and unity.  

Why did Adam and Eve build these walls in the first place?  What inspired such a response?  An attempt at responding to this question will following in my next post, so keep reading.