Sunday, February 13, 2005

Sun, Feb 13, 2005 - Spritual DNA

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=genesis+2%3A15-17%3B+3%3A1-7

Psalm 32
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=psalm+32

Romans 5:12-19
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=romans+5%3A12-19

Matthew 4:1-11
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=matthew+4%3A1-11


Just after Christmas, my cousin’s wife gave birth to a baby boy, the first baby to be born in my extended family in twenty-odd years. And even though I’m not that close with my cousin, I was really excited that a brand new person had come into the world who had a little bit of my DNA. Of course, the connection isn’t that strong. My cousin and I have the same grandparents, so his new baby only has a quarter of the Driedger family DNA that I have, but still! Somebody who shares one fourth of my genetic material has been born into the world. It’s pretty cool!

In fact, the whole area of genetics and DNA is pretty cool. The genes we inherit from our biological parents affect our height, our hair and eye colour, our skin colour, what kind of diseases we’re likely to develop, our gender, almost everything in our physical make-up. Scientists are discovering that our genes even play a role in our psychological make-up - in our predisposition towards depression or mental illness. It’s fascinating to think how much of our lives are influenced by our DNA.

But we also know that our lives are not completely determined by our genes. We can fight off our genetic predisposition to certain kinds of illnesses, like heart disease or some kinds of cancer, by controlling our diet, getting exercise, taking medication. We can, in some cases, take steps to prevent depression and mental illness from taking hold. Still, though, there are some things we can’t control. We can’t control our height or our natural hair colour. I inherited the DNA for blond hair and for brown hair, and the dominant brown hair gene took over. I have absolutely no choice in the matter. What we inherit, genetically speaking, is unalterable.

Well, today’s readings are about our spiritual DNA. Now, before I go any further, I am compelled to tell you that this idea of spiritual DNA isn’t mine, it comes from something Barbara Brown Taylor, a highly respected American preacher, said. Talking about Adam and Eve and Jesus, she wrote, "We have both sets of genes in us. We are kin to both of them." But I want to flesh that out some more, because I think the idea of spiritual DNA can help us to understand what it means that we are both inheritors of sin through Adam and Eve, and inheritors of righteousness through Jesus Christ. I think it can help us understand ourselves as sinners who’ve been redeemed as saints.

There’s a Simpsons’ episode on TV where the whole Simpson family become suspects in a murder case based on DNA evidence. When the daughter, Lisa, objects that her mother, Marge, can’t possibly be a suspect because she only married into the Simpson family, Marge responds, "No, no, when I took your father’s name, I took everything that came with it - including DNA." [Season 7, Episode 1] The point is, we are in the same position Marge Simpson thinks she’s in when it comes to our spiritual DNA. Although we are not the physically genetic descendants of Adam and Eve, we are their spiritual descendants. We have within us the same tendency to defy God’s authority, to reach for the things that are forbidden, and to listen to that same voice that tells us that there are no consequences - we will not die - for violating the trust that God has placed in us. Augustine, a church father from the fourth century, described this as original sin. Paul talks more about universal sin; "all have sinned" he says over and over in the letter to the Romans. We might call it the "sinner" gene, and we have only to look around us to see that we all have it. Faced with choices at work, at school, and at home, we know how often it is that we choose the path of selfish rebellion over the path of service to others and to God. More than that, we know how often it seems as if there isn’t even any choice about it - how often it seems that we are somehow compelled - predisposed - to make the choices that we do, to behave as sinners.

Fortunately, Adam and Eve aren’t the only ones contributing to our spiritual DNA. Our DNA also comes from Jesus Christ. Just as Marge inherited Simpson DNA when she took on her husband’s name, we inherited Jesus’ DNA when we took on the name of Christians in our baptism. And so along with the sinner gene that predisposes us to behaving like Adam and Eve, we also have within us what you might call the saint gene that enables us to say no to the temptations that are in front of us. We also have within us the tendency to refuse to rely only on ourselves to get by, to refuse to put God to the test, to refuse to make ourselves our own God. We have the innate ability - the spiritual genetics - that gives us the power to say, like Jesus, "Away with you, Satan!" and to turn to God.

So what do we do with these two sets of genes pulling us in opposite directions? Well, just as we have dominant and recessive genes in our physical DNA, it’s the same spiritually. The gene for brown hair is dominant over the gene for blonde hair, and similarly the saint genes of Jesus are dominant over the sinner genes of Adam and Eve. Paul conveys the same idea about Christ’s dominance over evil when he talks about how the free gift of grace through Jesus Christ spreads throughout the world so much more than the judgment of death. "Just as one man’s trespass (meaning Adam) led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness (meaning Jesus) leads to justification and life for all." "For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many." Grace and righteousness are stronger than judgment and death. The saint is stronger than the sinner. Jesus’ DNA is stronger than Adam and Eve’s.

And we see that in the world, too. Christians, including me, often fall into the trap of seeing only evil in the world, of identifying the genetic strains of only Adam and Eve. But Jesus is here, too. When people march in the streets for justice, when they give money and time to relief efforts, when they strive to make their workplace more compassionate, when they’re kind to strangers, we see the dominant DNA of Christ’s love and compassion exerting itself. When you allow the grace of Christ to show through you, you’re letting that saint gene manifest itself.

So does that mean we sit back and let our genetic destiny run our lives? Do we foster the sinner gene knowing that the saint gene will always pull us back? Well, no, of course not. We do have our part to play in helping the Jesus DNA to be the dominant gene in our lives. You may have DNA that predisposes you to having a healthy heart and a cancer-free body, but that doesn’t mean you can eat fast food and smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. You have to take care of your body, and help it to be healthy and do what comes naturally to it. If you choose to put those healthy genes to the test and eat high-fat, high-cholesterol food and watch TV all day, you will probably overcome your body’s natural good health. The choices we make in life can negate the blessings of our DNA. We can, if we try hard enough, suppress the advantage that Jesus’ saint DNA gives us.

On the other hand, though, we can’t completely get rid of it. For all intents and purposes, we can’t deny our God-given DNA. I have no choice about my natural hair colour. I can’t go into my body and take out the dominant gene that makes my hair brown. And neither can we go into ourselves and take out the dominant gene that brings us the grace and righteousness of Christ. I can dye my hair, but that’s only a superficial change. We can make choices that deny our status as saints, but again, when it comes to the power Jesus’ DNA has over us, those will only be superficial changes as well. "For," as Paul writes later on in Romans, "sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

We are genetically predisposed to sin - a legacy from our spiritual ancestors, Adam and Eve. And when we’re not careful, it leads us to rebel against God. But we are also genetically predisposed to be saints - our inheritance from Jesus Christ - leading us to live lives of serving others. And in all ways, the saintly DNA of Christ continues to be dominant over our sinner DNA, leading "to justification and life for all." We are, in the end, descendants - children - of God. So as you journey through this season of Lent, may you fully realize your genetic heritage - your predisposition to sin, but even more, your predisposition to righteousness, freely given to you through Jesus Christ. Amen.

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