Connections: Remembering Who We Are

Genesis 2: 18-25

Roger Lynn

October 9, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

In many and various ways we are frequently told that we are separate and alone. And, in fact, we should want to be that way. We should strive for it. Our culture has sayings like “lift yourself up by your bootstraps” and “self-sufficient.” We talk about being independent as if it is a virtue. Many consider “looking out for number one” to be a good thing. Advertisers encourage us to tell our family and friends to get their own box of crackers, because this one belongs to me. Even Mary Tyler Moore, in the opening song from her old self-titled TV show, is told with great hope and promise that she is going to make it on her own. With all of these messages swirling around us, usually just below the surface of our awareness, it is easy to begin believing them. We start living as if “separate and alone” really does define who we are. We begin to do whatever it takes to protect ourselves. We build walls, both literal and metaphoric, and we refuse to let anyone get anywhere close to who we really are, including, most of the time, even ourselves. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In other times and other places there have been people of heart and wisdom who have envisioned a very different reality for what it means to be human. One such understanding is found in the second chapter of the book of Genesis. A part of the second creation story in Genesis, it has received less attention than the “In the beginning...” story of chapter one. But it is filled with wonderful images of connection and wholeness. 

It does, however, require some “unpacking” in order to discover the treasures which await us in this text. Like most treasures worthy of our attention, they are not just lying around on the ground waiting for us to pick them up. A bit of digging is required. For starters, if you have grown up with an understanding that Genesis is basically a science text book, designed to tell us how the world really came into being, you will likely miss much of what it has to offer. It may appear on the surface to be about the “how” question, but it is really concerned with the “who” question. Who is God, and who are we in relation to God and to each other? In other words, what does it mean to be human? And the answer, according to this ancient wisdom, is that we are connected – connected to God, to the earth, and to each other. Being in relationship is what it means to be human. 

Discovering part of this treasure also requires us to dig past the limitations of the English translations we read. In the early part of this story it talks about “the man” and we think it means male. A more accurate translation from the Hebrew might be something like “the human being” or perhaps even “the earth person.” There is no gender separation here (that shows up a little bit later and we will get to that). Remember that this is the one who was formed from the dust of the earth. Deeply rooted in this story is the understanding that from the very beginning, part of what it means to be human is to be of the earth. There is no separation or distinction. 

Further digging is required when we get to the section about naming the animals. It sounds like such a cute story. “Isn’t that sweet – Adam got to decide what to call the aardvark.” But it only sounds like that to us because we don’t have the same understanding about names that the ancient Hebrew people had. For them, as was true for most people in the ancient world, names were deeply and intimately connected with character. To know a name was to have an understanding of essence. And so, set against that background, the story of the human naming the animals becomes a story about participating in the very act of creation – deciding, in effect, what each animal would be like. In this mythic, storytelling way, Genesis is saying that part of what it means to be human is to be co-creators with God. We are connected to God at a primal level.

Digging still further, we come to what is perhaps the most frequently misunderstood part of this story – the separation of the genders. Again because of the English translation, it sounds like woman is made from man. But it’s important to remember that up until this moment in the story it is “the human one” that we are talking about. Only after the business with the rib do we get a distinction of genders. And then it is not a distinction marked by “power over.” Rather it is a relationship marked by mutuality. “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” (Genesis 2:23) And the whole thing is precipitated in the first place because God saw that “it is not good that the human should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) Woven into the very fabric of this story is the understanding that part of what it means to be human is to be connected to each other.

We are relational beings – connected at so many levels we can barely count them all. We are connected to God. We are connected to the earth. We are connected to each other. It is what it means to be human. Contrary to what our culture often seems to be telling us, we are not separate and we are not alone. We cannot be separate and alone any more than we can survive without oxygen. Connected is who we are.

Why does this matter? What do we do with this understanding even if we do believe it? What difference does it make? It makes a great deal of difference because when we forget who we really are it is much easier to get lost along the way. It is much easier to start believing the things we hear about enemies needing to be killed, and fear being the defining principle of the day, and taking care of ourselves because no one else is going to. When we forget who we really are we can find ourselves wandering off into some really dark and unhelpful places. And it doesn’t have to be like that. We are connected people, a part of a far greater whole than we can even begin to imagine. When we begin to remember this basic, fundamental truth, there is simply no telling what else becomes possible. There’s a reason why whenever angels show up in scripture the first thing they say is “be not afraid.” They remember who they are and who we are and who God is. They know something that we very often forget. We don’t have to be afraid when we remember that we are connected. So, my prayer for each of us and all of us this day and every day is that we will start remembering. Amen.