This sermon was delivered on June 6th, 2021 for the weekly worship service at the Kensington in Gelesburg, IL.
I first heard the poem “Applesauce for Eve” when I was a bright eyed seminary student. The poem, by Marge Piercy, discusses the ways we’ve been taught to characterize Eve as dangerous, curious, tempted, and fallen.
We’ve been taught that the fall is Eve’s fault, and thus women are inferior and untrustworthy. Eve is often reduced to one of two roles- temptress or helpmate. Instead, Applesauce for Eve turns that notion on its head. Eve becomes a mother of invention- a scientist- a student. Someone who hungers for knowledge and longs to share that knowledge with her partner. A stretch? Perhaps. But also, maybe not.
First let's start with the understanding that this story is one of many versions of creation stories that are told around the world by various religions and people. Almost all of these stories have commonalities- the creation of the world, the creation of animals, the creation of people. This story is one of two versions of the creation story told in Genesis.
Creation stories are an attempt to create meaning in the world and to make things make sense- that’s why in some cultures the stories are explicitly tied to features of the land, or to sacred animals, or to catastrophic events such as a flood. In this case we get a very intimate picture of the creation of humans, with an intentional emphasis on how connected we all are.
We’ve already had the basics of creation- light, darkness, one human, and some animals which have been named by that human. But none of those animals are suitable companions, so God takes part of the first human to create the second. There is some debate here as to if the hebrew word used here means rib or side, but that’s less important here. What’s important is realizing that the goal here was companionship- not marriage, not procreation, not some sort of hierarchy- but companionship.
And it’s all pretty darn great- beautiful garden, companionship, the world all coming to bloom and the humans are welcome to any and all of it, as long as they don’t eat from one tree.
The bible is full of stories of God saying “don’t do the thing” and then humans going right ahead and doing that thing anyway- and that’s what happened here as well. God was clear- the humans weren’t to eat from the tree of knowledge. So what happened?
Enter the serpent. There is no mention in the Bible or in the original hebrew that the serpent was the devil or satan in any way- it was in fact, just another creature sharing the garden. There is no indication that the serpent intended to tempt or persuade Eve into doing something.
Somewhere in their conversation, the serpent reveals that eating of the fruit won’t instantly kill humans, but will instead give them the same amount of knowledge as God. With that new information in mind, of course Eve eats the fruit and hands some to Adam who was STANDING RIGHT THERE the whole time.
I want to pause there for a second, because I think it’s really important that we remember that Adam was right there the whole time. You know- Adam who was created first and knew the rules first? Adam who named the animals? That guy? He’s RIGHT THERE the whole time. And he says nothing. He doesn’t argue, interject, or even try to convince Eve of anything different.
He is 100% complicit at this moment. Eve did not tempt him or pull him into sin or any of those things we were somehow taught about Eve. She wasn’t some wild and dangerous temptress and didn’t “succumb to sin” all by herself. Make no bones about it, this was a team effort. If you take nothing else from this whole sermon today, I want you to remember that Adam was there the whole time. Because that little bit of knowledge kind of changes the picture, right? They were totally in this mess together from the moment the serpent showed up.
So why has this story gotten so twisted? Why do art images and stories about Eve isolate her from Adam and portray her as a temptress? Why does Eve get the blame? It was Adam who had explicitly been told not to eat of the tree- those instructions were set down before Eve was created.
Do we even know if Adam shared that little tidbit of information with her? Do we know if the rule even applied to her? We don’t know. But what we DO know is that Adam knew the rules and Adam was standing right there.
And what happens next is what I like to call an “ohnosecond”- that second where you realize you’ve done or said something wrong, but you’re powerless to fix it. Oh NO!
This is one giant oops- because now the humans have the full knowledge that God has. And well, God ain’t happy.
But God doesn’t really blame Eve -Adam and the serpent receive the harsher punishments, and whenever this story gets referenced elsewhere in the bible, the blame falls back on Adam. He was in full knowledge of the rules and expectations and messed up anyway and then he goes on and blames Eve for handing him the fruit. But again, at the end of the day? God told Adam not to eat the fruit and Adam is the one who ate it.
And when he gets caught? He first blames God and then blames the woman- The woman YOU GAVE ME gave me the fruit. He isn’t willing to take any of the responsibility in this situation. The woman says, The serpent tricked me and I ate. She acknowledges that she ate the fruit herself- it wasn’t handed to her or forced upon her. She messed up, but she takes responsibility. Not Adam though- and I think that’s why he ends up getting the harsher punishment.
And that’s what really strikes me in this story. The difference between the man and the woman in the way they react to getting caught. One is honest and takes responsibility. The other tries to blame everyone but himself.
Even without the presence of the serpent, Eve’s consumption of the fruit is an experiment- one where she is testing the limits of what she knows and what she has or has not been told. It’s an experiment that has consequences. But the bigger consequences fall on the one who knew the rules, had been told explicitly not to disobey, disobeyed, and then tried to pass blame. The biggest sin here is the failure to take responsibility.
So where’s the good news in all of that? It’s that God hears us when we take responsibility- that repentance and honesty matter to God. And I think that’s a pretty big takeaway- God doesn’t stop loving us when we make mistakes (even when we make huge ones like Adam), but instead God is there beside us as we deal with the consequences of our actions.
Remember, God may have cast Adam and Eve out of the garden- but God didn’t strike them dead or condemn them for eternity. God is there with them- both in and out of the Garden. And God is with us, too.