Sermon Library
“Do-It-Yourself Religion”
Gregg Anderson
January 09, 2005
Service Theme: Epiphany I-2005
Source: Acts 10: 34 – 43
On the first day, God created the cow. God said, “You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of 60 years.” The cow said, “That’s a kind of tough life you want me to live for 60 years. Let me have 20 years and I’ll give you back the other 40.” And God agreed. On the second day, God created the dog. God said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of 20 years.” The dog said, “That’s too long to be barking. Give me 10 years and I will give you back the other 10.” So God agreed. On the third day, God created the monkey. God said, “Entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh. I’ll give you a 20 year life span.” The monkey said, “How boring. Monkey tricks for 20 years? I don’t think so. The dog gave you back 10, so that’s what I’ll do, too. Okay?” Again God agreed. On the fourth day, God created man. God said, “Eat, sleep, play, have sex, enjoy. Do nothing, just enjoy, enjoy. “I’ll give you 20 years.” Man said, “What? Only 20 years! No way, man! Tell you what. I’ll take my 20, the 40 the cow gave back, plus the 10 the dog gave back and the 10 the monkey gave back. That makes 80 years. Okay?” “Okay,” said God. “You’ve got a deal.” So this is why for the first 20 years of our life we eat, sleep, play, learn sex, enjoy and do nothing. For the next 40 years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next 10 years we do monkey tricks to entertain our grandchildren, and for the last 10 years we sit in front of the house and bark at everyone.
There a number of lessons we can learn from this alternative creation story. One of the points for the purpose this morning is that if man could design his own world, he would probably do so, and by the way, this would apply to women as well. In a way, this newer version of the creation story is not that different from the original. In the original story, Adam and Eve were given everything and everything was perfect. They only had one rule, and how long can human nature be obedient with only one rule, especially if that rule is to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 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, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. It seems that men and women are always wanting something more, even when they have everything. It is human nature to have knowledge and to know truth. Knowledge is power. If you know something that someone else doesn’t know, but they eventually need to know, then you can charge them a fee to become informed. The “Tree of Knowledge” is an incredible desire and temptation.
Think about it. Most young people find their niche and interest in life and pursue a major in school to specialize in a certain field. They graduate and real life confronts them in the face and they decide that their interest in college, which their parents paid for, is different now that they actually have to start earning money on their own. So young people’s major in theoretical college becomes redirected to become young adult’s reality check in the make-money work-a-day world. After a few adjustments, these college graduates yield to fulfilling a need in society which may or may not come close to their “choose a major” form when they were freshmen. After a few years, they find their real niche, fill a specific need with the information they have now accumulated, gain an income, commission or salary based on the fact that other people need to acquire their particular expertise. Knowledge is survival. Knowledge is sustenance. Knowledge is necessary. Knowledge is purpose. Knowledge is pleasure. Knowledge is power.
How could Adam and Eve resist the temptation to gain knowledge, especially the knowledge of good and evil? It may very well have been easier to become celibate than to become illiterate. Our need to know it all may be equal to our need to have it all. We want to be in control of our lives and our destiny and if we could really have our way, control of the weather as well. As in both stories, the original creation story and this unheard of before alternative creation story, men and women will bargain to get the best deal for themselves, even when it turns out not to be the best deal.
The Adam and Eve Story is mostly a story about the inherent conflict between the ways of God and the ways of people. So much of the Bible is filled with similar variations of the “so called” ways of God and the ways of people. There are moments when God and people are in perfect harmony and there are moments when God and people are in conflict. Why that is - is a great mystery. We have had a pretty good sense of our own imperfection, guilt and sin. This has become such a debilitating feeling that we have looked for a sacrificial lamb or savior to make us right.
Many religions, particularly the Greco-Roman religions and the Christian religion has provided such sacrifices to make us right again with the gods or God. Christianity has called Jesus the second Adam who rights the wrong of the first Adam and thus making us all okay again. This feeling seems to work for millions of Christians, while there are still millions of other Christians today who say that perspective seems a little outdated in this day and age. Do we still need a sacrifice to make us okay with God? Millions say yes while millions are now saying no. Don’t blame me. I don’t invent this stuff. I would prefer to be like Bill Moyers, a reporter and journalist. The fact is, I just happen to think that Bill Moyers, who once said “Ideas are great arrows, but there has to be a bow,” has done a great deal for the world of religion and spirituality. I put him right up there with Billy Graham and the Dali Lama. Is it okay to include Billy Graham and the Dali Lama in the same sentence? I would like to think so.
If I am getting too far out there, let me clarify. I have chosen to come under the influence of the majority of religious and biblical scholars who state over and over again that the story of Adam and Eve is a story of great symbolism. In Hebraic etymology Adam is understood as “everyman” and the Hebrew word for Eve is “beginning.” Thus the story of Adam and Eve is a story about the beginning of every person. It is a story which very accurately depicts our harmony and disharmony between God and humanity. We do not have original sin because of Adam and Eve. Rather, we are human beings who wane in and out of grace and Adam and Eve are simply a story of our human journey.
We live in a beautiful garden with all our needs abundantly supplied, but for reasons both known and unknown, too many of us simply want more. I have had Kimo’s rules on the door of my refrigerator for years until I remodeled and now have a wooden refrigerator door. But I still remember them. Let me mention a few. The best things in life aren’t things. He who dies with the most toys still dies. Beauty is internal, looks mean nothing. “No rain – no rainbows. After learning the tricks of the trade, don’t think you know the trade. Don’t get too serious. If you hit the bulls-eye every time, then the target is too near.” And the one I like the most, “There are two ways to be rich, make more or desire less.” I think the task is to modify our wants. I believe one of the most widely read passages in the Bible begins, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”
Do-it-yourself religion is about creating our own world, even our own religion. The term “Do-it-yourself religion” can seem suspicious, but it can also be productive. If we are really out to create our own world and our own religion, we are invariably going to fall short of the mark. Another rule by Kimo is, “It is difficult to see the whole picture when you are inside the frame.” On the other hand, Do-it-yourself religion can be good when we realize that we must pursue and activate our own spiritual path. We may not be able to create our own world and religion, but we can and must live out our faith and our purpose. Our mission is not to have more, but to live in peace within the garden. We cannot simply wait for Jesus. Jesus’ last words were, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” In our text this morning, Peter is again commissioning a much broader group of people to do their part in sharing the good news of Jesus. We have a mission. We have a part.
One answer to all of this, I believe, is to understand ourselves as co-creators with God. God has given us a glorious creation which is still the garden. We have done much damage to the garden, but its resiliency still seems to be greater than the damage we have caused so far. Many scientists and ecologists warn us that we are on the brink of permanent damage, but if we all do our part we can still heal the earth. The earth has been given to us, but we must care for it and for one another. We must be co-creators with God.
Some people are waiting for Jesus to return and save the world, but actually it was Jesus who told people not to wait, but to be active and do our part now and if he does come again, it is going to be a complete surprise. Don’t wait – do, is what I hear Jesus saying. Do it yourself and God will be with you. As grace abounds, so shall we serve. We are not earning our living, rather, we are living our earning. It has all been given, now go forth with your gift and share.
Stephen Leacock once wrote, “How strange is our little procession called life. The child says, ‘When I am big . . .’ and then, grown up, he or she says, ‘When I am married.’ But then the thought turns to ‘When I am able to retire.’ Then when retirement comes, we look back over the landscape traversed. A cold wind blows over it. Somehow we have missed it all, and it is gone. Life, we learn too late, is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.”
This is the beginning of a new year. Will it be a year of grace? Situations will occur which are out of our control, both good and bad. Our response and participation is up to us. As Shakespeare put onto the lips of Cassius, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” There is a great ad on TV that I have now seen twice. The camera is peering into a window which shows an adult man dancing around the room as though no one is watching. He is having a great time without a care in the world. The camera enters the room and pulls back, showing a little girl dancing in the same carefree way right along side him. Then a voice comes in and says, “The smallest moments can have the biggest impact. It takes a real man to be a dad.”
Do-it-yourself religion means that we take what God has revealed to us and immediately apply it to life itself. The Adam and Eve story is about connections and disconnections. Let us reconnect with God and one another. God provides the inspiration. Jesus provides the example. The hands-on work is up to us. Bishop Warner of the United Methodist Church in Colorado quoted King George the Sixth in his Christmas email last week. “I said to the man at the gate of the year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ He replied, ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. For God shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.’” God is with us, but does not do everything for us. We are in this world together. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson, Chaplain
Aspen Chapel
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