Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

In the beginning

Sunday, February 17, 2002

Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man (and soon after the woman) he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...
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'?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 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.'"
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
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. 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.

In saying "yes" to the serpent, Eve was saying "no" to God. When Adam and Eve decided the means justified the end they went into a self-awareness tailspin that we are intimately familiar with still.

I want to tell you the story 'bout a girl named Anne...Anne is the third main character in Eric Coble's New Morality play, "Virtual Devotion."

Six thousand years or so after Eve's fall, Anne is born to a powerful, charismatic evangelist and his strong-willed, creative wife. Their family is not marked by clear communication or appropriate responsibility-taking. Her parents fly apart finally, one of them taking to the air waves, the other watching and waiting for a miracle.

Anne does not reject her parents' religion. Indeed, she embraces it with her whole being. It is the only thing that can save her. She is young, trusting, idealistic. She takes a job fund-raising from her apartment telephone, given the task of raising $75,000 to send Bibles to poor children in Rwanda.

Out of her lack of success, out of her problems, out of her prayers, two opportunities arise. When her phone number is mistaken on television for a 900-confession line, she takes a call from a cynical money trader smitten with guilt. Anne's idealism and certainty convinces the broker to give her a futures' contract on gold, which could be worth much more than $75,000 if the price of gold goes up.

For that to happen there must be a national crisis. A few minutes later, another confessor calls in. He has AIDS, third or fourth generation AIDS, transmitted through the air, a "mystery plague" that marks its victims and sends them without doubt to the trash heap. No one will touch or talk to or love a person with "mystery plague." Those people have been cursed by God.

She recognizes the caller's voice, not only from the television but from her childhood. "Dad?"

"Anne?!!!?" The evangelist, Reverend Pete, has told no one about his disease. He certainly doesn't want his daughter to know. He tries to back away, from the words already out of his mouth. Too late.

The stage is set for Anne's second opportunity. Her boss is busy and gives her a chance to do the children's story hour on television that very day. The props and script arrive just in time, along with the mobile mini-camera that beams its signal to the transmitters, sending the story around the world...Radio-Free-Earth grown all up.

Cute Adam and Eve puppets, a long red stuffed snake, and a short script give Anne lots of room for ad-libs. The story turns a corner when Anne's "Good puppet, bad snake!" becomes personal. Anne hates Satan, she hates evil. Her eyes fill up with tears, she begins to beat the snake. She shouts at him, she hates him, she shakes him up and down and smashes his red swollen body on the desk and on the floor and tells him to die, and...then the beeper goes off, children's story hour is over, the TV station has undoubtedly gone to commercial. No time for Anne to recap the moral of this Bible story.

The viewers loved it. Their calls have her boss reeling with joy. Anne is a new celebrity. In the flush of victory an idea pops into her head. She calls CNN and anonymously reports her father's illness. Reverend Pete! The sweet savior of the most popular show on TV, "Mature Christians for Christ," with the mystery plague! Is nothing sacred, nothing secure? What better way to send the price of gold heavenward!

With this revelation Reverend Pete is cast out to the street, one more scapegoat for an irresponsible world. Anne rushes toward success. That same night she gets the religious hour on Home Shopping Network. As she sells screensavers and mousepads, her father finds his way to the camera and makes a final bid for the people's acceptance. Callers jam the lines, insisting that she cut herself off from him. "Yes," or "No," the callers demand an answer. Her mother Ruth, estranged from both of them for years, awakens from her slumber, tries to push her call through, determined to keep the family together. She wants to donate $500,000 to Reverend Pete, hoping to turn the public tide. She stays on hold.

In the chaos Jesus, unmistakable to the audience in his sandals, white robe, sky blue sash and beautiful hands, walks on camera, looks at Anne, looks at the camera, raises his arms ... "Don't you know me?"

She does not. Forced to act with little forethought, knowing the end will justify the means, she rejects her father. "No!" she wails. "I do not know him."

The caller is pleased. "In that case, I'll have the mousepad," she says.

Despite a short electrical blackout, the world returns quickly to normal. Except for Anne. She is on a roll. Later that night, waking up her boss, she is strung out rushing into plans for the future. There is nothing gonna stop them, already making plans for a half-hour Super Bowl spot. She shivers with excitement, redolent with power, ready for anything. Beating up that snake was just the thing.

Lord, you said "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." You have shown me the end. Let me also see the means.

Devotions Archive

In the beginning

Sunday, February 17, 2002