7-31-2020

Good Morning All, 

    Genesis 3: 19a; “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground”

     We all know what sweat is.  Perspiration is what happens when it is warm or humid and the moisture forms on the body.  Sweat is the result of exertion.  It means that somewhere along the line, it was hard, arduous work.  It was a labor that caused us to groan as we did it and ache when we were done.  Part of that ache was knowing that tomorrow; it would happen again.  It was the price we paid.

    When God first placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, work wasn’t really work.  Tending was more of watching and enjoying.  He didn’t have weeds to pull or thorns to fight.  There was no need for Roundup or 2, 4D.  He didn’t need a hoe or a tiller to clean up the weedy spots.  What he ate was all around him; plentiful, tasty, and fresh.  He had it all, literally; until sin stepped in.

    From that point on human existence was changed.  Cracks began to form, problems arose.  When man sinned, creation also paid the price.  Weeds, thorns, droughts, storms and the like appeared.  Suddenly, eating became a job.  Finding food took work, often extensive work.  It took time as well sometimes meaning food was lacking for a day or two.  It became a lot of work just to eat and survive.  The painful part was that often that sweat, that aching labor would go for naught.  The painstaking planting was destroyed by animals or weather or other people who were stronger and took it away.  Life got tough in a hurry and stayed that way.

    Yet God had a plan from the beginning.  It was to send his Son into the world to sweat for you.  There is a certain symmetry when we read in Luke that as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “His sweat became like great drops of blood.”  Jesus did all the hard labor for our salvation.  Jesus did the painstakingly agonizing work of our salvation.  He received the lashes that carried the life blood from his body.  He carried the cross, laboring under its weight until he could carry it no more.  He hung on the cross with the weight of the sins of the world on his shoulders making the labor excruciating.  He died as he could sweat no more as there was nothing left to give.

   Yet in his mercy, he paid that price so you would not have to.  Through his grace, he gives the victory won, the price paid, the promised mercy delivered so that you might be healed.  He did this so the rip in the relationship with God might be healed.  He poured all the sweat that goes into making a relationship work in so that we might be restored before God.  Through his love, his sweat, we are made whole again.

Father of grace, our life is difficult and hard because of our own sin.  Yet you wonderfully restore us through the love that is Jesus.  Give us the wisdom to trust in your love and in your love alone.  Be with those who are struggling with the battles of life.  As they sweat and struggle send them your Spirit of comfort and hope.  Give to them the certainty of your love.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret