IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN

In the midst of the Garden of Eden there were two options: live by God's authority, or live by one's own. Each option was represented by a tree. Adam and Eve had a choice; they could choose the Tree of Life and live under God's protection and provision, or they could choose the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil... and live under their own.

Adam and Eve were the representation of the whole of humanity. Each individual alive today has the same two options. Most people choose to live by their own authority. Like Adam and Eve, they put more faith in their own autonomy (self) than they put in the will of God. Also like Adam and Eve, each of those individuals comes to the same hard realization: not only have they plucked from the wrong tree, they've also bitten off more than they can chew. 

The story of the Garden of Eden is a parallel to our reality today. We do not dwell in the midst of God's authority because we insist upon our own. We live by our own rules, our own motivations, and our own hand. None of them as capable, productive or selfless as God's law, motivation and Hand. Because our own ways are often misguided, we experience resulting fear, failure and anxiety.

We struggle to do what is effortless for God: sustain our spirit, and maintain order in our lives.

• TEMPTATION IN THE GARDEN

The serpent ignited temptation in Adam and Eve and they chose to forfeit their relationship with God to pursue those desires. Suddenly, starkly, they realized that they were naked. They were shocked by their new state of vulnerability. The realization of their own ineptitude to deal with the knowledge they newly acquired. They took for granted the absolute protection God had provided. For to forfeit our relationship with God is to divest ourselves of the spiritual vestments we need to thrive. To feel safe. To feel whole and covered.

The serpent approaches each of us in the midst of the world, he/it materializes as the voice of pride and fear, greed and lust, anger and selfishness. It lies yet persuades us that we can compensate for our insecurity with popularity; that we can satisfy our desires by futile means; that our anger can be assuaged by hatred and vengeance. Lies. Lies. Lies. Each is a temptation like the serpent, trying to convince us that our own way will yield more results than God's will.

When our own ways fail, we feel the same vulnerability and ineptitude as Adam and Eve. In addition to the emptiness and discontent we feel, we also begin to feel hopelessness, uselessness, impossibility and apathy. Even if that is not quite the extreme of our lives, we will never operate within our lives as efficiently as God is able to. He braids the details of our lives into order; He is so capable that we can actually trust Him not just with our lives but with our day. With our hour and minute. With our lifelong dreams and daily needs. Those minutes, hours, days, dreams and needs... life, will not overwhelm us when we place them into God's hands.

• WITHIN THE WILL OF GOD

The Garden of Eden was a representation of the life God planned for us to live. He chose what surrounded Adam and Eve. He knew specifically what nourishment their bodies and souls needed. Our lives in the midst of the world have become more complex, consequentially because of humanity's subconscious and conscious insistence on separate from the will of God. We separate ourselves from what our bodies and souls truly need. But God possesses the fine motor skills to intricately engineer solutions to the complexity within our lives with divine precision. 

To have access to God's efficient organization, we submit to His will. We discontinue our efforts to force things, situations and people into and out of our lives. We learn to allow Him to lead; we become familiar with the subtle movements He makes that divinely alter, correct and align our life. Through trust in Him, train yourself to accept and appreciate God's "no's" as much as, perhaps more than, His "yes's."

We must learn to disconnect from our temptations. Our emotions and desires should not be the driving force of our life. Faith should be. We must learn to accept what is delivered to us and to pursue, exclusively, the Kingdom of God. The Book of Matthew tells us that when we pursue the Kingdom of God, all things will be added to us (6:33). We are not, therefore, supposed to try to fill our own needs. The serpent convinced Eve that it would be a kind of privilege to control her own life; he said she would be god-like. Yet in the midst of the world, we each quickly learn that freedom in God is more valuable. Submission to God therefore is not a prison but a release. It is a release of the temptation and pressure that humans simply cannot resist on their own. 

• RETURNING AUTONOMY

We may (at times) operate our lives successfully, but we never operate them flawlessly. Adam and Eve were overwhelmed by the consequences of control. So many stumble and blunder their way through life but we do not have to "live" that way. One with dead faith never truly lives at all. We do not have to live an incomplete, chaotic, problematic, purposeless life. To derive the most productive meaning and purpose fulfillment out of each day, we must surrender our lives to the flawless operation of God's will within our lives. We must return our autonomy. We must choose a different tree, the other tree: the tree of Life, God's will.

The only thing we need only to control is our relationship with God, our pursuit of His kingdom. Suddenly we will find ourselves not naked but dressed with the ability to spiritually proceed in any situation or relationship, despite any emotion or temptation. When we wonder how to respond to a specific element of life, our consistent reliance upon the kingdom of God reminds us that the appropriate responses have already been written and demonstrated in scripture. 

To apply this to your life, pursue the kingdom. In every relationship. In every decision. In every conversation and situation. Align every emotion and reaction and response with that which has been modeled by Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Jacob, David, Elijah, Jesus and those in between. For from them we learn that obedience and trust in mandates made by God over our lives result in justice, joy, peace and life. God weaves those precious things into a life of fulfilled purpose. His work is comprehensive. 

Just like He did in the Garden of Eden, God anticipated our needs here in the midst of the world. And offers provision for them all. For us all. And thus life is, from the moment we inevitably choose the wrong tree, a lifelong journey of returning our autonomy to God. Day by day and moment by moment we submit further to His authority since we failed to wield our own. It is our spirit's natural state to exist in the midst of God's authority, His perfect, intricate will.

Let there be a thread throughout your whole life. A prayer, simple but emphatic: for the will of God over your life while you are in the midst of this world.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Moses: through him, God rescued His people from captivity in Egypt, split the Red Sea and led them into freedom and prosperity. But there would be no Moses without the faithful work of the people who protected him immediately after his birth. Moses was sentenced to death before he was born and orphaned before he could walk. If not for the righteous effort of his mother, sister, midwife, adoptive mother and brother, his life would have been over before he took his first breath; he would have been nameless and powerless before he could talk. 

God accomplishes profound work among humanity through humanity. Plural. The Book of Corinthians states that God's family is a many-member body (the heart needs the brain; the brain needs the heart; the heart and brain need the blood; the blood needs the lungs, etc). The efficiency of its operation is due to the work of different but equally important parts and skills. The account of Moses' first days teaches us that we have been intricately placed in skills and positions to make instrumental tweaks and opportunities in the grand scheme. The story of Moses' birth is a prime example of how those who star leading roles in scripture, and in life, are only able to do so because of the good, brave, observation and compassionate work of the people around them: God's children working faithfully behind the scenes.

• GOD NEEDS PEOPLE WHO PUT GOOD THINGS INTO THE WORLD 

In the Old Testament, God's people were named "The Children of Israel." They were a large group of tribes born from the twelve sons of Jacob (who was renamed Israel by God). Jacob's sons, turned into generations and tribes of people, were counted as God's people because they descended from Abraham. Abraham was the first to make a covenant with God. Part of that covenant between God and Abraham was for Abraham's posterity (the Children of Israel) to inherit both land and freedom through God's divine leadership of them. And that's where we come to Moses.

The Children of Israel were on the brink of change; to escape famine, they had been living in Egypt and more importantly... they had been growing in Egypt. Their population became so big and prosperous that the Egyptians started to resent them and fear the growing strength. The children of Israel had once been guests in Egypt but had increased so much that the Egyptians feared they would take over. Several generations back, Egypt had happily hosted the tribes on behalf of Joseph, one of Jacob's sons who had saved Egypt from destruction. But Joseph was long gone and forgotten by the current king. Thus, the Children of Israel became unwelcome. 

To suppress the children of Israel, the king decided to turn them into slaves. He made sure their day's work was hard and long and cruel. But these were people God had made a covenant with, therefore they were strong and resilient. Since harsh slavery did not seem to be thwarting them, the king of Egypt decided to try another route: he decided to kill their male newborns. 

Yet Moses' soon-to-be mother and father, Amram and Jochebad, decided to start a family. They married and Jochebad conceived and birthed Moses. The parents understood that they could not persevere by keeping from producing good things, righteous things. As God's people, it was important that they had a propensity for creation and production. You see, Moses' mother represents more than the women who grow and push precious children into the world. She represents every person, male or female, parent or not, who put, produce and create good things into the world.

Humanity can only ever progress and excel if we, as individuals, are willing to continue to produce and create in the midst of uncertainty and fear. In the face of opposition, we must multiply our efforts not reduce them. Just as Amram and Jochebad ended up producing a prophet who would deliver their people from the very oppression they were living under, so too can we each end up changing the landscape of the world with what we create. God needs people who are willing to put good things into the world because there are many people who are willing to put bad ones. Every good thing, and person, is an agent of righteousness, and one sorely needed by the world.

• GOD NEEDS PEOPLE WHO ARE BRAVE 

Jochebad decided to have a child, but that child was still sentenced to death by the government. If the baby were to live, someone would have to intervene. Someone who have to be brave enough to oppose the law in order to uphold justice. That someone was a midwife, in fact, many of them, who chose not to kill the Israelite newborns despite a direct order from their king. This is not a promotion of anarchy but an encouragement to uphold justice by confronting injustice. 

Shiphrah and Puah, the midwives charged by the Pharaoh to kill the children were called back to the king; he was enraged that they had defied his order. In explanation of their disobedience to him (but not to God) they told the pharaoh the the Israelite women were so strong and healthy that they gave birth before the midwives could get to them. In response, God supported the midwives brave and righteous efforts; He provided households for them, to support them and their work.

God is grateful for brave work; He supports it. He supports you, when you decide to be a proponent for justice, especially in the face of fear. Moses and his mother would have been thwarted without them. Think of how many people, ideas, causes, and institutions in the world would fold or be reduced to rubble without the brave, protective work of children of God. You may not be the figurehead, as Moses was; you may not be the creator/producer, as Jochebad was, but you just may be the person with courage enough to protect those people. You might be the person with the gumption enough to disallow law, fear and enemy from thwarting what is meant to be in the world to promote and establish justice.

• GOD NEEDS PEOPLE WHO OBSERVE IN THE WORLD 

So Moses was born and kept alive, but he was not yet safe. Jochebad hid Moses for three months before he became too difficult to hide. She decided to build a basket that would float on the river, place Moses inside, and gently push him off into chance. With her, he had no chance at survival; the children of Israel's babies were targeted and sentenced to death. In the river, his mother hoped he would have a chance to survive.

Moses' elder sister, Miriam, watched her baby brother's basket in the river. She observed his course. Because of her keen observation, she was able to if not ensure, than at least steer his course. Moses' baby basket was discovered by Pharaoh's daughter; she sent her maid to retrieve the baby. Miriam's observation provided her with a chance: she came from her watch-place and offered to find a nurse for the baby. Pharaoh's daughter seemed to have the intention of keeping the infant, but would need a woman to nurse him. Miriam knew just the woman: Moses' mother. Moses would no longer behold to her, but his life would be saved and Jochebad would have the chance to nurse her own child. 

Miriam was not simply in the right place at the right time; she made sure to be in the right place in case a time came where she could make a crucial change and impact. We should all be so concerned with what is "coming down the river" so to speak. We should care about the course of our world and of the people around us. We should observe and listen; analyze and position ourselves in places where we can restore and change and steer the direction of our families, relationships and societies.

• GOD NEEDS PEOPLE WHO ARE COMPASSIONATE 

Pharaoh's daughter promptly fell in love with baby Moses. More specifically, Exodus 2 states that she had compassion on him. She found an infant and her wholehearted instinct was to nourish, protect and save him. She used her resources to ensure his survival and success. She adopted the baby as her own, even though she had no responsibility to do so. She made him her moral responsibility, and one she took on with willingness and joy. 

We each have a role to fill. We each have some resource that some need requires: money or friendship, time or support, love or laughter; wisdom or direction. Likely you will not find an infant in a basket but at some point in your life you will stumble upon a person or cause or idea or institution that could greatly benefit from your compassion. What if the pharaoh's daughter kept walking? What if you do? It would be a detriment to humanity for you to withhold your compassion. 

Perhaps you are not about to rescue the next great prophet, but to God, each person is irreplaceable, highly valued and deeply loved. You do a great service to the Kingdom of God when you have compassion on its members. Luke 15:7 states that there is more joy in heaven over one saved sinner than one hundred righteous persons; and Matthew 18:12-14 tells us that even God chases after the one, the individual, who is lost. Pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses and changed the course of history; unwittingly, she provided the children of Israel the leader they needed to be rescued and directed. Your compassionate intervention changes the course of your generation as well. 

• GOD NEEDS PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT AND PROJECT THE MEEK AND HUMBLE

Moses was chosen by God to lead the children of Israel into freedom. He balked at the prospect; he felt wholly inadequate. He the opposite of an orator. He needed help. He requested help, and help came in the form of his brother, Aaron. Moses was chosen for great purpose but still, even as an adult, he could not do it alone. Aaron supported Moses; he received delegation from Moses as Moses received delegation from God. 

No matter who you are, you have a strength and you have a weakness. Supplement others' weaknesses and God will ensure that others supplement yours. As mentioned in scripture (Corinthians 12), God supplies each individual with a spiritual gifts. They differ from person to person. Used together, they make a whole, functioning piece. Someone else might have the idea, but you might have the means or the knowledge to bring it into fruition. You might have the vision but not the courage or eloquence to present it. 

Project people toward fulfillment. Support. Nourish. Encourage. Moses and Aaron worked as a team, united under God's direction. People are not meant to be steps, they are meant to be pillars. They are not meant to be stepped on but supported, supporters. The faithful work of so many people before Aaron put Moses into a position of leadership; yet without Aaron, it all might have come to nothing. 

Take courage from the story of Moses' birth. You have important behind the scenes work... but also, God is ensuring that the people around you have behind the scenes work in your life as well. God is actively bringing your fulfillment into fruition. The Kingdom of God is operating for you, for your eternal establishment in life and justice and love. 

ENABLING GOD

Lately it seems the entire world battles some form or degree of anxiety and depression. The demands of our society, the complexity of relationships, the opinions, needs and actions of the people around all us all contribute to the reason why so many struggle with so much. To escape the pressure and desperation we do not need to actually step back; we do not need to step aside. We need to step into the grace God outlined for us. God anticipated that we would battle these emotional, societal, familial and physical pressures. We need only look into scripture to discover how He prepares us to endure them, to evade them even.

This sermon comprises just two verses: Acts of the Apostles 2:46-47

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

For within these two verses, the apostles exemplified for us what it means to live with day-to-day purpose, contentment and happiness. Although there were many elements of life the apostles experienced that we likely never will, the nature of life was the same. They experienced fear and vulnerability, pressure and demand, weakness and fear, injustice and disruption. Yet they persevered; they lived and loved and changed the landscape of their generation and our own. Here's how they did it.

• CONTINUED DAILY WITH ONE ACCORD

Determine and establish your values and principles and pursue them exclusively. Let your every decision and behavior reflect what you have chosen. It isn't always easy to remain adhered to specific ideals but steadfast effort will prevent the down-spiral that results in emotional chaos and spiritual turmoil.

The apostles woke up everyday with a mission; to uphold their faith and to establish it in the world. God distributed different gifts and assignments to each of His children; you may not be an apostle but whatever your field is, do it well, consistently. Perhaps you're thinking: "that's well and good for the apostles, they knew what they wanted, that at least makes it easier to pursue." But essentially their mission was widely open-ended. There we no clear or ordered steps to follow. Like us, they had to strip their overall purpose down to something daily achievable. Stripped down, their purpose in life was to live each day learning to love people well. No matter what our job or profession is, a child of God has that same baseline: to learn to love people well. With our words, with our work and with our will. 

• HOUSE TO HOUSE EATING BREAD WITH GLADNESS

No matter what house they were in, they disciples were consuming bread. Think not of literal bread but of the bread of life: the word of God, the life of Jesus. Think not of a literal house, no matter what roof your are under, bring your faith into that place. Bring your gratitude for the people within in, for the God surrounding it. 

Every relationship, friendship, and encounter with another person is a house, a place to break bread. A place to unite faith and life. God's word teaches us how to cultivate the conditions of life we hope to live within. The apostles ate bread with gladness everywhere they went not for the sake of eating but for the purpose of exercising their faith everywhere they went. No matter where they were or who they with, they invited God and subsequently His grace into that space. 

They were glad because they traveled daily within the spirit of God. God's presence in a place changes the whole atmosphere. God's will in a relationship changes its trajectory. God's authority over a situation changes its outcome. So the apostles brought that bread, gladly, from house to house. 

Whenever we find ourselves in a distressing emotional state, we must ask ourselves whether we are consuming the bread or neglecting it. Because the bread of life is hope. The bread of life is peace. The bread of life sustains us, perseveres us, strengthens us. Sometimes it doesn't change the place or situation but it always changes us. It always changes how to look at it, how we deal with it. It always shifts the balance of power to our side. 

• SIMPLICITY OF HEART

Discover the value in the simple but fundamental elements of life. Your relationship with God is itself a marvel. A blessing. A reason for elation and wonder and peace. Focus your effort on the acquisition of compassion and love, wisdom and honesty. Pursue perspective rather than power, for perspective is power. Pursue wisdom rather than wealth, for wisdom is wealth. 

Life is riddled with jewels others ignore and pass by in order to obtain lesser things. The apostles had simplicity of heart; their pursuit was one of obtainable things: friendship, encouragement, compassion. A simple heart is a good heart, a fair heart, a free heart. The complications of life come when the heart is no longer simple; the complications arrive then the heart desires things not good or right or meant for it. Complications arise when the heart plots and hates and hurts. 

Life really is as simple as trusting God. He leads, we follow. He plans, we allow those plans to unfold in our life. He decides and our lives benefit from His decisions. The simple hearts knows that God is working the details into its favor, and it therefore stresses not.

• PRAISING GOD

We actually are the ones who benefit most from consistent acknowledgement of the majesty of God. He is present and active in every minute of our lives but we must take the time to perceive that. If we do not designate time to perceive Him, that time passes by ignorant of His presence, of His instruction specific that that time. What occurs during those times are consequently affected by the absence of our faith and exultation of our Father. 

So much of life distracts us from the most important relationship of our lives: our relationship with God. We pass right over Him; we remain ignorant of His instruction, opinion and comfort if we focus constantly on external things. Material things. Societal things. We give our attention and awe to things and people, objects of our desire or hate. But that time and attention can be devoted to God; the one who deserves it. With our life and mind focused on Him, on righteousness and spirit, we build a new framework for our day. A more constructive framework. We set up the kingdom within that day. 

• FAVOR WITH ALL PEOPLE

Of all that the disciples exemplified, this is likely the most difficult. It's easy if people seem to deserve our favor. But when people are harsh or unfair, we have to rely on God to settle that score. Your attention serves better elsewhere. Hebrews 10:30 reiterates the statement God made in Deuteronomy, He is the avenger. Our avenger. 

The apostles lived with an effort to relate to people, to understand people, to appreciate people. God wants each of us to endeavor to do the same. Even-temperament is a process; our emotions are not invulnerable to meanness and therefore our reactions will never be perfect. But it changes a life to wake up each day within that life with a valiant effort to be kind. 

People hurt us, sometimes. It is not God's command that we surround ourselves with hurtful people; but it is His hope that we will not succumb to their behavior. Sometimes the favor we give the people who've hurt us the most is to resist the urge to retaliate. We are not commanded to associate with people who have corrupt principles (indeed separate from evil!); we are not commanded to trust everyone... but we are commanded not to be like them when their behavior is cruel.

• ENABLING GOD

The most important decision we can make each day is to decide to enable God throughout each of those 24 hours. In every interaction, conversation, action, and thought enable God. Volunteer yourself to be an instrument of His will that day; in prayerful conversation invite Him to position you in situations where you can serve. Enable God to reach and gather with your arms and your hands, through your compassion.

Do you believe in God? Do you love God? If so, you must realize that you are not subject to anxiety and depression. They have no permanent hold on you. No claim on your life. You belong to God; His power is your power over fear and sadness. He has a daily plan to draw you out of darkness and ever deeper into the light. Proclaim God's authority over whatever evil thinks it has a hold on you.