God: Adam, I know you're a lonely guy. I can give you a woman who will love you, wait on you, obey you and tend to your every need.Adam: What will that cost me?
God: An arm and a leg.
Adam: Hmmm...What can I get for a rib?
Lots of folks like to argue about the creation story. Especially the part about Adam and Eve, and the six days, the apple, the snake and so on. It doesn't make sense to them in light of all we know in this wonderful age in which we live.
In 1996 Baylor University named Bishop Will Willimon one of the Twelve Most Effective Preachers in the English speaking world. Last week Dave and I heard him speak. He's still got it! By the way, he did not tell the story above.
But he did speak on the creation story. I know the creation story. I love the creation story. I once took a class where I had to read it about 20 times.
I have no problem with it. The story sets the scene for how we human beings started out and continue to operate. It tells us who we are and who God is.
Here's one way to look at it. There's a saying in literature: It's the truth even if it didn't happen.
Bishop Willimon told us that the creation story is about Adam and Eve (us) lying and making excuses. He also said something that, to me, was profound. Something I hadn't thought of before. He was talking about the Garden of Eden being a perfect place. As you know, this couple could have anything except the fruit from that one tree. That seems so arbitrary.
The bishop said: Perfection without choice is a contradiction in terms.
Wow, I thought I knew most everything about the creation story. Never thought of that!
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