Genesis 2:4-8, 18, 21-25
Genesis 2:4-8, 18, 21-25
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; 6 but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken.”
24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Screaming is the last thing I would do if I could not catch my breath. Breath is a gift from God. We are given life when the breath of God is breathed into us. Just think of the pregnant pause after a birth but before a child takes her first breath. All wait in silence, hoping to hear the precious sound of life, the sound of hope, the sound that all is well. Then Mom breathes easier, Dad relaxes just a bit. This first breath is the beginning of a lifetime of breaths, gasps of joy, sighs of frustration, exhales in deep meditation. Day in and day out, moment by moment we breathe. Our lungs expand, air invades, split second transfer and we are blessed with oxygen to sustain our mind and body. We will each breath about 1,000 times during this worship service and not give it one thought.
How does your faith effect your life, not just your thinking, not just your feeling, but our very life? Lyle asked if we could do a collaboration sermon and I was excited to say YES. Our Enrichment committee has been working on having more opportunities to share the witness of our faith within worship. Knowing we dive deep into the pool of life-giving love and hope when we hear firsthand witness to Jesus Christ and the life-giving faith.
A faith we all share.
We each have a faith story.
Moments when we have felt the Holy Spirit in a way that takes our breath away. Or a way that God restores our breath, as in Lyle’s case. My hope is that we get better at sharing these stories with our faith community and maybe even beyond.
Many of us know Lyle as a jokester, always with a witty story to tell. But Lyle is a miracle. There is no other way to understand the many ways his body continues to move through this world. He has been tested like Job and his faith remains strong. (I would guess Lyle has had moments of doubts because he is human, yet he perseveres in his abiding faith and trust in the Almighty God.) Doctors nicked his heart, external pump actually delivering blood to his brain and body. More surgeries than I care to count and yet Lyle’s faith is strong. He shares his faith with so many blessed people. He sponsors men in AA so they can have new life in sobriety, he served our nation as a Navy veteran so that we can all rest easy at night. But his greatest witness is to his faith in Jesus Christ.
I visited Lyle and Patsy at Stanford shortly after the doctors said, “We can do nothing else for you.” He had a blood clot in his pump, but there was no more treatment available. So 6 weeks ago Patsy brought Lyle home. Now on oxygen 24/7, Lyle was trying to climb the stairs to get to his room, much like he is walking down the aisle now.
Scream he did, when he could not breathe, when his life-giving breath was not enough. Fighting for breath, he is living the words from Job, “If God should take back his spirit and gather to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and all mortals return to dust” (34:14-15). Terrifying right? Not being able to breathe. But instead of giving up or panicking, Lyle repeated his mantra of hope, his mantra of gratitude for those who have blessed him. (settling in after exerting, go through your process and use your words that come naturally)
Lyle-I trust you Jesus, I trust you Patsy, I trust you Father
I trust you Jesus, I trust you Patsy, I trust you ABBA Father
He bears witness to his faith like it says in Job, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). When he does this, his breathing calms, he starts to slowly catch his breath. He finds his way back to God, allowing God to breathe the breath of life back into him once again.
Lyle-I thank you God, for giving me air.
I thank you Pasty, for teaching me to breathe.
I thank you Jesus for helping me to use air.
Breath is a matter of life and death- it animates, invigorates, enlivens and sustains.
Faith is a matter of life and death as well. Literally for Lyle, faith calms him so he can breathe.
Faith is a matter of life and death for us. Our faith literally gives us eternal life right now.
Did you hear his witness to faith? Right after the gift of breath from God, Lyle offers prayers of gratitude. Thank you God, Thank you Patsy, Thank you Jesus. That is exactly how the creation story goes. God and Jesus create the world and say that it is good in the first creation story. Then the gift of life-giving breath is given in the second story. Before day and night, before plants and animals, in this the first written creation story, God starts with breathing life into Adam, the human made from the dust of the earth. Such a powerful image. It is why we say from dust we were made and from dust we shall return. It also bears witness to the partnership of husband and wife, leaning on each other much like we lean on God.
God breathed life at the beginning and God breathes life now.
Jesus also breathed new life on the disciples. Afraid and locked in the room after Jesus’ death, the disciples needed courage and strength. They needed hope and renewed faith. They needed their risen Jesus. So Jesus came to them in their time of need and gave them peace. If we kept reading this is when Thomas wants to touch Jesus’ hands and side, because he did not see Jesus. Isn’t that so often the case. We want proof, we want assurances. But faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). As God’s Son, Jesus breathed spiritual life, breathed the Holy Spirit, into his scared disciples. JESUS offered peace and breathed on the Holy Spirit. God’s life-giving breath animates, activates and invigorates the disciples for all that lies ahead. Yes, they still had fears, but they moved through them. This breath from Jesus empowered their very faith. Not simply a faith that says I believe, but a faith that trusts, a faith that breathes in God, a faith that transforms lives.
Sharing faith stories can go one of two ways. You hear the story and think I don’t have that kind of faith and you get discouraged. Or you hear Lyle’s witness to faith, his utter dependence on Jesus when he struggles to breathe and you are inspired, with your own faith deepened. When we talk about faith, we sometimes mean belief, like “I believe in God” or “I believe that Jesus died for my sins.” Faith as belief is good. It helps us understand and talk about what Jesus does in our lives. However, this kind of faith can be an intellectual exercise, or an academic process. Saying “I believe” starts with words, but may or may not change our lives. In other words, we talk the talk. But faith can also mean trust. Faith as trust in God for your very life, means we walk the walk. Much like when Lyle has to trust God in order to calm his breath and continue breathing, continue living. That is not an academic exercise, it is life and death. It is living, trusting faith.
We all have trials, things that we struggle with and need to trust in Jesus to get through. A diagnosis that just turned your world upside down, a struggle with a family member who is making your life difficult, a financial crisis we never saw coming, a relationship that is conflicted, a job that is stressing you to the edge.
Is your mantra I trust you Jesus, I trust you God? Or is it I believe there is a God and I will handle this on my own? The difference here is that belief is a noun, we can have it but it really does not do anything for us. Or we have faith that is trusting and deep and we give our situation to God. We hand our problem over to God, with the powerful mantra, I trust you Jesus, I trust you God.
That is dependent trust, that is deep faith. Much like Lyle calling on God, Patsy and Jesus for breath. He leans into God’s care, he affirms his dependence on Jesus and Patsy and he is calmed, his breath is restored. Our concerns might not be a matter of life or death, but the solution is the same. Lean into God, trust in Jesus and have faith that whatever you lay at Jesus’ feet, will have new life breathed into it.
God breathed life into Adam. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples. With deep and abiding trust and faith in Jesus, God breathes life and breath into us! Amen!
