Let us pray: O God, temper my words in the places where they need tempering, sharpen my words in the places where they need to be sharp, and help us all to discern. Amen.

If there wasn't so much at stake in the telling of the story about the Garden of Eden, it would be a great story. After all, doesn't it answer the question that most people ask at some point in their lives? In fact, it might be said that the question of why people do bad things, make bad choices, and treat others unjustly is the beginning of self-awareness for children moving towards adulthood, and it could be offered as the question which separates human beings from other living species. The story puts it in quite simple terms. Created innocent, humanity – in the form of the original woman and man – Adam and Eve can cultivate and tend the bountiful creation without worry, except for one restriction. Don't eat from the Tree-of-knowledge-of-good-and-evil. Except that the curious humans with the clever and conniving assistance of the serpent do exactly what they are told not to do, and that's the end of it for all time. A fascinating story is it not? With interesting explanations for why we are the way we are. But in one fell swoop it also creates lasting and unhelpful prototypes for women, men and serpents. If only we could accept it as a story – a contribution in a compendium of different descriptions of how we came to be who are as human beings on this planet earth and how the basic building blocks of intellect and self-consciousness help distinguish human life from other forms of life. But because it is in the bible with all the weight and power that the bible represents I believe it is given more than its due as an explanation. Instead of being taken as a story, it becomes the story and thus it becomes much more difficult to consider other stories that give a different perspective on who we are as God's creation, and how we came to be the way we are. It is just so frustrating, especially when engaged in discussion with other members of the Christian community who are unwilling to consider other perspectives From their point of view, this is the way it has to be because the bible says so.

Don't get me wrong. I love the story because it makes me think about the issues it addresses. That's what the Bible should always do – make us think. Unfortunately, for many in the Christian community, their approach to the Bible is that it saves them from having to think. Once they've made their mind up about something in the scriptural record – even if it might be contradicted somewhere else, or should be understood in a much different way because of the context that lies behind the story, principle or event, they don't have to worry any more. In their mind the answer is clear, no use thinking about it anymore, shut the door on any other possible alternatives.

You see I happen to like women and it bugs me to think that a story written long ago – yes, with an interesting perspective on the question of good and evil, but also with a patriarchal and misogynistic attitude towards women should be considered germinal in the story of what it means to be human. By the way, I also don't mind snakes and serpents – I used to catch them when I was a kid (after getting over my initial phobia) and I've had pretty big ones wrapped around my neck without fear. I like men too, and I'm not keen on the way the story casts them as undiscerning followers. So, I like the story because of the way it helps me to reflect philosophically on the question of being human, but a literary analysis of the story also outlines some of the problems with it – revealing an attitude which has proven to be suspect in a time when we are more open to justice and equality and fewer cut and dried answers to the big questions about life.

It might sound as if this is turning into a rant. I guess in part it is. I have a “Google Alert” on the term “The United Church of Canada” and one of the links it sent me this week was to a YouTube video prepared by a young man who created his own rant against the United Church, basically labelling it as being non-Christian. Interestingly enough, the epithets he used against the church were generally regarded as attractions for a group of people at Wondercafe – the United Church web site which encourages open minded discussion on issues of spirituality and religion. In other words, the very things he said that were wrong or non-Christian with our denomination were things that drew others to give the United Church some consideration. I am also still reacting to the film that a number of us stayed to watch after worship a few weeks ago: “For the bible tells me so.” which also offered the perspective that there is no set way to interpret scripture, that what seem to be even the most clear statements are subject to the context in which they were written, subject to modern day understandings of how and why the world works as it does and subject to the working of the spirit in and among us. In other words, as a source book for lively discussion, the raising of issues, the story of the relationship of humanity and God, the troubled journey of people toward faithful living – the bible is a much to be cherished and valuable resource.

We began the journey of Lent this week. That beginning is in part the theme of the readings this week. As we've already seen, the reading from Genesis offers a perspective on how evil or sin began as a part of the human condition. Enough said about that for today. The reading from the gospel is also about beginnings. This is the story of the temptation of Jesus – which was a seemingly necessary part of the beginning of Jesus ministry of teaching and preaching. We read of the turmoil Jesus faced as he anticipated the challenges and troubles that his message would stir up as he began public witness to the presence of God and introduced people to what it means to be part of the community of God's people.

This turmoil is described as being a time in the wilderness – fasting for forty days and nights – which of course is the genesis for our season of Lent – forty days (not counting Sundays) leading up to Good Friday and then Easter., and the self-denial (fasting) which has been part of the Lenten journey as well.

As I reflected on what this story had to say to us this day – the first Sunday in Lent, I found myself re-interpreting the story. Our bulletin cover today offers a connection with the wilderness that is in today's gospel story. For Jesus the wilderness was a place of temptation and hardship. He fasted for a long time. He was encouraged to break his relationship with God by thinking more about himself than God's desire for him. But is wilderness the same for us? As I hear stories of times of spiritual strengthening for Canadians in particular but especially for northerners it is in the wilderness where this happens. How many times have I heard of the importance of going out on the land as a time of healing and strengthening relationship with Creator. In my own life, and the mountain terrain depicted on the bulletin cover reinforces this, mountain wilderness has done the same – it has been a source of strength and renewal – not a time when I was tempted by other desires or powers. In other words, I think we have a problem with definition here. For Jesus, the wilderness was a place where he faced fear and hardship, but for many of us, the wilderness is a place of refuge and comfort. Certainly the wilderness as we know it can also represent the other, but it's not the scary place that the gospel story wants to portray. That insight led me to the title for this reflection, replacing “wilderness” in the phrase from the bulletin cover with a blank and an invitation to fill in that blank. Where is our place of temptation and fear? It could be wilderness and despite my having characterised Canadians as being wilderness seekers, the increasing urbanization of the Canadian population might suggest that wilderness is a helpful metaphor, but for others of us, I think we need to spend some time thinking about other places (either literal or metaphorical) where our relationship with God is strained or challenged. In part that is what Lent is about – a time of reflection, a time of relinquishment, a time to shed the shell we form around ourselves, a time to go to the inner place where we find connection with our spirit – the spirit. Where is the place where we will be tested? What are the powers, what is the brokenness that attracts us? These are questions which the Lenten journey invites us to consider.

That's where I am drawn to leave things this morning – a rant about an all-too-narrow approach to the interpretation of scripture, and an invitation to consider the blank I left in the title for this reflection. Where is the place of fear and challenge for you? Where might you be tested? What resources will you need to draw closer to God and to heal or strengthen your relationship with God in this time of Lent? What is the spirit saying to you about brokenness and evil? What questions can you place before God with a readiness to be still and listen? Amen.