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Transcript

Creator And Creature · The Holy Pause

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: A reading from scripture, Genesis chapter 2, verses 15 through 20.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord commanded the human,
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: eat your fill from all of the garden's tree,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: but don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: because on the day you eat from it, you will die.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord God said, it's not good that the human is alone.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I will make him a helper that is perfect for him.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: So the Lord God formed from the fertile land all the wild animals and all the birds
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: in the sky and brought them to the human to see what he would name them.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: The human gave each living being its name.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: The human named all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: But a helper perfect for him was nowhere to be found.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine for a moment the creator of all the universe who contains all wisdom,
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: is all loving,
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: all powerful,
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: and who can create things simply from a divine breath,
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: crafts a garden for you to dwell in.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now that would be special.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: If I was Adam in the garden,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think I would be very excited to be given the important task of caring and tending
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: to the garden while simultaneously being told all of my needs would be met.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And yet we see here Adam is not quite satisfied.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: There is no partner for him among all the animals.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I can relate to Adam.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Often I have been blessed with wonderful moments in my life,
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: enjoying that great feeling for a short time,
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: only to find myself already daydreaming about the next step in my life.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Have you met someone like that?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Someone who gets the newest phone, only to find themselves yearning for next year's release?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it's thinking about that next stage of life,
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: the next house, the next degree, the next car.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't seem to matter what the last thing I got was or how long I spent yearning for it.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Once I have it for a few weeks, days,
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: or hopefully at least a couple hours, my desire seems to shift on to something else.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think in one sense, this is what the fruit represents for Adam.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: He was told he could have any fruit he wanted and yet he is still not satisfied.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: God gave him a direct purpose of caring for the garden and naming the animals,
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: and he still isn't satisfied.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually,
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: he will be given a partner to walk alongside him,
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: and even then, Adam looks to the fruit.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: This reveals an often neglected truth about our anthropology.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: We are creatures, and creatures want us.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: We could have all of our needs met,
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: a grand purpose,
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: and maybe even a friend or a spouse at our side,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: but that wanting creeps into our hearts.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So if Adam could manage it in a curated garden where there was only one tree
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: to resist, how are we supposed to make it?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: imagine how fast Adam would have caved if there were advertisements and commercials
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: for the forbidden fruit plastered on every wall.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Despite our seemingly never-ending pursuit of objects,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: recognition, success, or the
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: new phone,
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: God is always in pursuit of us.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: We are always searching.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: But the long story the Bible tells us is that God wants to dwell with us right here
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: and now and for the rest of eternity.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: We are creatures who yearn.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: We are being chased down by a creator who calls us to dwell in the gentleness of
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: the divine hand.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: God, in the end, is what our hearts long for.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: We must remember Augustine's words.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment to consider.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: What have you been chasing?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: How can you dwell a bit more and yearn a bit less?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Join me in prayer.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Lord of all the kind places, watch us and keep us.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Shine the warm light of your face upon us.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Give us gentleness and kindness for the hard times around us.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to listen, wait, and dwell in you, Lord.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast was written by Katherine Piper and recorded
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: by Reverend Elizabeth Troyer with audio engineering and editing assistance
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: from Jermaine Taylor.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast will always be free.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: But if you would like to donate to our online ministry,
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: you can do so at wakeforestpress.org slash give.