1Lent2008 - Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, Los Alamos, NM

On Ash Wednesday, we asked the question, “Where is your heart?” From our Gospel reading on that night, we heard Jesus say, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”(Matt. 6:21 ESV). To help us to learn to put our treasure in the right place, we put ashes upon our heads as a symbol of our repentance. We heard the words, “Remember that you dust and to dust you shall return.” These words remind us that the wages of sin is death. As we were marked with the sign of the cross, we set our eyes upon Jesus who died upon the cross for our sins. During this season of Lent, we learn to put our treasure in heaven.

These words are also used at the grave site committal of the body to the earth. We commit the body back to the ground from which it came with the hope of the resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The pastor sprinkles dirt on the casket as he says, “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Without the Gospel promise, there is no hope. But our hope is not in our own bodies that are plagued with sin.

Our hope is Jesus who took upon a body free from sin. Through faith in Jesus our hearts we are right with God. As we begin the season of Lent, we go back to the beginning of creation. It was Adam who came from the dust, and because of sin brings us all back to the dust. But, it is Jesus who came from heaven, and because of His death brings us to heaven.

Today we focus on another question. “Where are you?” This is the question that God asked Adam after the fall into sin. We hear these words from our Old Testament text, And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9 ESV) As we share with Adam in our sinful condition, we know the feeling. It’s the sensation you feel when you’re doing something wrong, and suddenly you hear someone coming. You jump and are afraid. You know that you weren’t supposed to be engaging in this or that activity like Adam, you try to cover up your shame and guilt. Like Adam, you run from God and hide.

This is a very fundamental question. It is learned in introductory courses to foreign languages. Right away students learning Spanish are taught to say, “Doñde esta?” Student learning German are taught to say, “Wo bist du?” It is a basic question used in every day life. “Where are you?” It is a game that children play. We call it peek-a-boo or hide-and-go-seek. We say, “Where’s the baby?” or “Come out come out where ever you are?”

But here in our text today, this is no child’s game. The Lord’s Word is not about games, it’s about reality. The Lord God is not looking for Adam as if he couldn’t be found. God placed Adam in the garden and it was Adam who hid himself from God when he fell into sin. The Lord knew exactly where Adam was and He knew exactly what Adam had done. This is a matter of life and death. This is not a basic language question. No, this is a message of law and judgment. This is a theological question.

God calls out to Adam saying, “Where are you?” These words strike terror deep down in Adam’s heart. Adam’s conscience bears witness against himself. Adam had rejected God’s Word. Previously, God’s voice was pleasing to Adam’s ears, but now, he is startled by it. Adam said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10 ESV) The crazy thing is that Adam was created naked. Now all of a sudden, Adam flees from God rather than running to Him. Adam saw His nakedness as bad and he tried to fix his problem.

For you see, there is really only two things you can do with your sin. Either you can attempt to cover it up in vain with a man made system. This is the way of Adam, who took fig leaves and tried to cover his guilt before the Lord. He tried to justify his sin. He even tried to blame God. Or you can be covered up by God. It was the Lord God who covered Adam and Eve with the skins of slaughter animals. He covers us with Jesus who is the Lamb of God. So, “Where are you?” Either you are abiding with God through faith in Christ or you are hiding from God in unbelief.

Adam disguised his actions of hiding as if it were God’s fault. In other words, he wouldn’t have hid if he hadn’t heard God’s voice. If God wouldn’t have said anything, everything would have been just fine. Adam even tried to put the blame back upon God declaring, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12 ESV) In other words, Adam would have been just fine if God wouldn’t have burdened him the gift of the woman. Adam points to Eve. Eve in turn blames the devil saying, “The serpent made me do it.” Oh what a tangled web that sin becomes. This is the condition of the sinful heart, always falling deeper into sin and denial and always making excuses.

Does this sound familiar? People blame God and say, “Well God made me this way. I can’t help it.” This is the deception of the gay and lesbian propaganda. Or people try to justify our actions and say, “Well it looks good, it feels good, therefore it must be good.” This is the allurement of enthusiasm. Or people say, “The devil made me do it.” This is the easy way out. All of these excuses come from a rejection of God’s Word. It is the desire of the devil to take the Word of God away from us and extinguish faith. This is the sly trick of the devil, who caused Adam and Eve to doubt the Word of God and to live in unbelief.

For this reason, we gather once again to learn how depraved the human nature is. Unless we fully grasp the depths of despair that our sin leaves us in, we cannot fully grasp the heights of hope that Jesus brings to us. Until we realize that we fall for the same tricks of the devil as Adam and Eve did, we cannot recognize our need for help.

Now this is no child’s game. This is not about eating the wrong kind of fruit. Oh, the devil would love for us to lose focus and call into question God’s good intentions and His Word. For you see that is exactly what he did with Eve. The devil didn’t come to Eve and boldly hand her the fruit and say, “Give it a try. You’ll like it.” No, he is much more subtle. He uses what appears to be God’s Word. But he puts a new spin on it. He twists it this way and that way. He adds a little bit here and a little bit there. He takes out this and that. The devil uses God’s Word to undermine God’s Word. The devil toys with faith in order to destroy faith. He says, “Did God really say that?” The devil quotes Scripture in order to mislead us into unbelief.

The devil sets his lies before us like a fishing lure or spinner. He spins the Word before our eyes. In the water that fishing lure looks like something good to eat. It moves like a smaller fish. As it spins by, a fish is tricked into thinking that it is the real thing. It lures the fish away from safety. When the fish bites, he gets stuck and is pulled out of the water. When we get stuck on the devil’s lure our only hope is for Jesus to come and cut the line in order to free us.

For this reason, we must be on guard that we are not led astray by the false words of the devil. For this reason, we must continue to study, ponder, and meditate upon God’s Word, so that we can spot a lure. God gives us His Word for our benefits. He gives us His Word to be believed. After God delivers the punishment to Adam and Eve on behalf of their sins, He gave them another word. It is the Word of promise. This is the Word of hope.

It is the promise that the woman’s seed would come and crush the serpent’s head. Adam rejoiced in this promise and he responded by naming Eve the mother of all the living. All though they brought death into the world, God gave to them the hope of life in the promised seed. Jesus is the promised seed. Where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus is victorious. It is Jesus alone who defeats the devil and is not deceived. He has crushed the serpent’s head. Jesus has conquered death and the grave. Jesus told the devil to be gone.

When the law comes to ask, “Where are you?” set your hope in God’s promises. Through faith you are in Jesus. As God covered Adam and Eve in their guilt and shame with animal skins, He covers you with Jesus. In Jesus, you are covered. Your sins are hidden. In faith, take refuge in God. Listen to the loving Voice of God in which there is life. When we hear His voice it brings hope to our lives. He breathes life into our dusty bodies. Amen.

The First Sunday in Lent, 2008