UnStuck - From Guilt & Shame
Genesis 3:1-21
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraidbecause I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve, ] because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Video for this Sunday’s service can be viewed on our Facebook page - Sunday, September 4, 2022
“Because of the joy awaiting him, Jesus endured the cross,
disregarding its shame.
Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people;
then you won’t become weary and give up.”
Hebrews 12:2-3
Shame is often playing a pretty powerful role in our lives. Whether we want to admit it or not, many of us struggle with shame. It has the ability to controls our lives, dictates our actions, and dominates our thoughts. Unless you take the time to name it and deal with it, you will find yourself becoming trapped by the toll it will take on you.
Think for a moment about Adam and Eve in the garden completely free from shame yet consistently aware of the temptation to eat of the fruit of the tree that was off limits to them. When they eventually gave in to the voice of desire the shame and loss that flooded in had to be overwhelming. They lost the beauty of the garden and the joy of walking with God unhindered. On top of that they would now had the consequence of suffering they did not have to endure before. We know Adam lived to the ripe old age of 930 years old. It appears the fall certainly happened somewhere in the first 100 years of his life. That means for over 800 years he would have to learn how to deal with the shame of that mistake (and effect it had on his family)!
Shame is a debilitating feeling that takes over the mind and body. It can make you feel small and incomplete while building walls around you to keep out compassion. Despite wanting to be seen and known, shame causes people to hide behind masks instead.
How about you? How long has some kind of shame been reaching out to take you down?
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Shame doesn’t have to control our lives and hijack our stories. There’s a better way, a better path, a better story. Shame doesn’t have to rule us. Jesus walked in our shoes and dealt with the reality of shame. He knows what it takes to heal from it.
This Sunday we will look at what it takes to overcome shame and guilt. It will be a great start to find freedom again as we enter this fall season.
Grateful to be on this journey with you,
Pastor John