We kick off our first season in the Narrative Lectionary, which is a lectionary out of Luther Seminary that works through the Bible narratively between September and June. So this Sunday we begin with one of the Creation narratives, and particularly that pesky piece of fruit Adam and Eve decided to partake of. This story is rich with meaning, and has endless possibilities as to what it could be about, but one thing is for sure: With a culture as polarized and anxious as we are today, this is a more than relevant text for our lives. -Pastor Paul Baudhuin
SCRIPTURE: Genesis 3:1-8 (NRSVUE)
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,[a] knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.