June 14, 2015 Sermon

Messiah Lutheran Church Podcasts

"Are You Hiding From God?"

My guess is you’ve been there before. You’ve been in that situation when there comes a moment of truth. It was a beautiful day outside. The kids were outside playing and having a blast. In fact, they were having so much fun mom was inside and could hear all the giggling and laughing that was taking place. But then that giggling and laughing stopped. You see, the kids were outside playing and enjoying each other’s company and doing exactly as mom asked them to do – staying out of mom’s hair so she could get some things done around the house. But as they were outside, they noticed there were a few things enticing to them. A few things mom and dad told them – “Don’t play with it b/c you will get hurt.”

You’ve been there before. You’ve done the thing mom and dad told you not to do – the thing you’re not supposed to do. How did it end up for those children who were playing outside? Not very well. B/c what happened is they were having all sorts of fun, but it all came down with a loud crash. Maybe it was a broken window as they were throwing a baseball up against the house or the roof – and they probably shouldn’t have done that. Or they were outside playing with the bb gun and they thought it would be cool to shoot the windows on the barn 35 ft up in the air. Not a good idea. And then, the fun came to an end.

Mom handled the situation. But she gave the kids a reminder – “Wait until your dad comes home.” And those were the words any kid did not want to hear. B/c when dad came home you knew you really were in trouble.

How do you think Adam and Eve faired in our lesson this morning when they heard the words from the Lord, “Where are you?” They knew they were in a great deal of trouble. In the verses that precede our text this morning, Adam and Eve and the fall into sin. They were created into a perfect world without sin. God gave Adam and Eve a simple command, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17) God gave them a simple command and asked them to follow it.

Then along came the devil. The devil tempted Adam and Eve – “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:4-5)

“Where are you?” My guess is that Adam had all of these things on his mind as he was hiding from God. That’s not a good situation to be in, is it?