3rd Sunday after Pentecost

Have you ever gone to the doctor, or to the dentist:
And lied just a little bit?

Seriously:
Maybe you said you exercise more than you really do.
Or that you that you floss every day (even if you don’t).
I for one, am terrified to admit that I’m a miserable flosser.

Maybe you said that you hardly ever have ice-cream or chocolate late at night
(when really that’s a little bit of a lie).

Or maybe you aren’t quite honest about how many beers you drink in a week.

Maybe you just don’t want to admit or disclose all of your symptoms.

But here’s the thing:
The doctor, the nurse, or the hygienist asks you these questions for YOUR sake.

The doctor doesn’t ask about these things because he or she wants you to feel
bad about yourself.
Or so that they can laugh at you, and gloat about how poorly you’re taking care of
yourself.

The nurses and doctors and hygienists ask you these questions so that they can
get the fullest picture of your health and habits:
So that they can ultimately help you be you best and healthiest self.

Now, I know you’re wondering why I’m bringing this up.
Because I’m the first one to admit that I’m FAR From a doctor or a nurse.

But stay with me.
I thought about all of this after reflecting on our first reading from the book of
Genesis:

We know this story well. It’s one of the first stories that kids learn about in
Sunday school.

But there are some details in the story that we don’t think about.

After eating from the forbidden tree, Adam and Eve hear God walking in the
garden (at the time of the evening breeze)

When they hear this sound of the Lord God walking,
they hide from God amid some trees.

But God calls to Adam and says “Where are you?”
Do you ever think about THAT part of the story?
It’s nuts!!

God asks Adam a question:
But God doesn’t actually need to ask,
Because God KNOWS the answer.

And God asks the question anyway:
Not for God’s sake,
But for ADAM’s sake.

Let’s continue to recap this story: with all of it’s details:

Adam responds to God’s question by saying, “I heard the sound of you in the
garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

God responds with two more questions that don’t really need to be answered:
“Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I
commanded you not to eat?”

And Adam doesn’t TOTALLY answer the question.
He says, “the woman whom you gave to be with me, SHE gave me fruit from the
tree and I ate.”

God then turns to Eve and asks a question that AGAIN God already knows the
answer to:
“What is this that you have done?”

And just like Adam, Eve doesn’t TOTALLY answer the question:
She says: “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”

God didn’t need to ask any of these questions.
God already knew the answers to all of them.

Like your doctor or nurse or hygienist:
God doesn’t ask these questions to gloat, or to point fingers, or to bring shame.

God asks these questions for Adam and Eve’s SAKE:
In order to get them to think about who they really are.
What they’ve really done:
And to accept the full truth and reality of the mess that they’ve made:
And that there’s a way OUT of that mess.

Neither Adam and Eve are willing to fully answer God’s question and admit what
they’ve done.
Both of them want to blame someone else.
Neither of them want to take responsibility.

And God KNOWS this:
And asks them anyway.
Because God wants them to be honest with themselves:
In order to help them become their fullest, best, and healthiest selves.

God wants them to tell the truth for THEIR sakes,
Not for his.

Because it’s only when we tell the truth:
About our mistakes,
About our failures,
About our fears:
That we can move past them into a life of joy.

How often have we too lied about what we’ve done?
(And I don’t just mean lies about how often you floss your teeth)

When we lie (to others or to ourselves) about what we’ve done: or DIDN’T DO:
It doesn’t feel good.
There’s always a lingering bit of shame.
Of fear.
Of regret.

And maybe even the belief that we aren’t worthy of love or forgiveness.

Lying about what we’ve done (or didn’t do)
Also doesn’t change the reality.

If you lie to your doctor about how much you exercise,
It doesn’t make you more fit.

It only makes you feel doubly shamed:
First: For not doing what you know you should’ve done,
And then: Secondly shamed: for trying to cover it up.

But when it comes to God:
Lying is particularly useless:
As God already knows the answer to every question.

God’s questions are for OUR sakes.
Admitting our sins and wrongdoings are for OUR SAKES:
Not for making us feel worse:
But to release us from the hold that sin can have upon us.

The Psalmist today totally gets it.
The Psalmist says:
“Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;
Lord hear my voice; let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.”

The Psalmist is telling the truth!
The truth from the depths of his or her being:
Begging God to hear the angry, desperate, maybe even sin-filled cries of truth
telling.

The Psalmist continues:

“If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand?”

Notice,
When God walks through the garden,
Already KNOWING what happened:
God still asks the questions of Adam and Eve.

God does not (as the psalmist puts it)
NOTE the very big mistakes that Adam and Eve made:
Instead, God hopes that they will answer honestly:
Fully admitting to God and themselves what has taken place.

And finally, the Psalmist proclaims:
“For there is forgiveness with you; therefore you shall be feared.”

Isn’t that fascinating?
FEARING forgiveness?

Scripture, the tradition of the church, and many liturgies point to the fact that
forgiveness is offered to those who are “truly penitent”

In other words:
We are forgiven only when we fully admit our wrongdoings:
We are forgiven when we quit lying to our doctors and nurses,
When we quit lying to God and to ourselves.

And that is a SCARY thing to do.
To dig deep into our selves,
Into our hearts,
And notice and admit the places where we’ve gone astray.

But I can promise you,
That no matter how far you have strayed:
No matter how big your sins,
No matter how many lies:

God is still walking in the garden:
Calling out to you:
And asking a question that he already knows the answer to:

It’s your job to answer the question honestly:
As God continually calls out to you saying:
“where are you?”

Amen.