Reimagining the Story of Jesus | Crisis
An Invitation to Brave Space
by Micky Scott Bey Jones
Together we will create brave space
Because there is no such thing as a “safe space”
We exist in the real world
We all carry scars and we have all caused wounds.
In this space
We seek to turn down the volume of the outside world,
We amplify voices that fight to be heard elsewhere,
We call each other to more truth and love
We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.
We have the responsibility to examine what we think we know.
We will not be perfect.
This space will not be perfect.
It will not always be what we wish it to be
But
It will be our brave space together,
And, we will work on it side by side.
Reading | Genesis 3*
Narrator: Of all the wild creatures the Eternal God had created, the serpent was the craftiest.
Serpent (to the woman): Is it true that God has forbidden you to eat fruits from the trees of the garden?
Eve: No, serpent. God said we are free to eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. We are granted access to any variety and all amounts of fruit with one exception: the fruit from the tree found in the center of the garden. God instructed us not to eat or touch the fruit of that tree or we would die.
Serpent: Die? No, you’ll not die. God is playing games with you. The truth is that God knows the day you eat the fruit from that tree you will awaken something powerful in you and become like Him: possessing knowledge of both good and evil.
Narrator: The woman approached the tree, eyed its fruit, and coveted its mouth-watering, wisdom-granting beauty. She plucked a fruit from the tree and ate. She then offered the fruit to her husband who was close by, and he ate as well. Suddenly their eyes were opened to a reality previously unknown. For the first time, they sensed their vulnerability and rushed to hide their naked bodies, stitching fig leaves into crude loincloths. Then they heard the sound of the Eternal God walking in the cool misting shadows of the garden. The man and his wife took cover among the trees and hid from the Eternal God.
God (calling to Adam): Where are you?
Adam: When I heard the sound of You coming in the garden, I was afraid because I am naked. So I hid from You.
God: Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree in the center of the garden, the very one I commanded you not to eat from?
Adam (pointing at the woman): It was she! The woman You gave me as a companion put the fruit in my hands, and I ate it.
God (to the woman): What have you done?
Eve: It was the serpent! He tricked me, and I ate.
God (to the serpent): What you have done carries great consequences.
Now you are cursed more than cattle or wild beasts.
You will writhe on your belly forever, consuming the dust out of which man was made.
I will make you and your brood enemies of the woman and all her children; The woman’s child will stomp your head,and you will strike his heel.
God (to the woman): As a consequence of your actions, I will increase your suffering—the pain of childbirth and the sorrow of bringing forth the next generation.
You will desire your husband; but rather than a companion, He will be the dominant you.
God (to the man): Because you followed your wife’s advice instead of My command and ate of the tree from which I had forbidden you to eat, cursed is the ground.
For the rest of your life, you will fight for every crumb of food from the crusty clump of clay I made you from. As you labor, the ground will produce thorns and thistles, and you will eat the plants of the field.
Your brow will sweat for your mouth to taste even a morsel of bread until the day you return to the very ground I made you from.
From dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.
Narrator: The man named his wife Eve because she was destined to become the mother of all living. The Eternal God pieced together the skins of animals and made clothes for Adam and Eve to wear.
God: Look, the human has become like one of Us, possessing the knowledge of good and evil. If We don’t do something, he will reach out his hand and take some of the fruit from the tree of life, eat it, and live forever.
Narrator: So the Eternal God banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and exiled humanity from paradise, sentencing humans to laborious lives working the very ground man came from. After driving them out, God stationed winged guardians at the east end of the garden of Eden and set up a sword of flames which alertly turned back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
*The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Rules of the Table
It’s Christ’s table, and we are all guests; a good guest helps make room for everyone present to stay at the table.
This is a place to process together. Questions rooted in curiosity and process are encouraged, rather than questions intended to force agreement or coerce a specific answer.
Keep answers to 1-2 minutes so there is room for everyone to share.
The facilitator will interject when the conversation moves too far away from our explicit topic. All questions are good, but they are not all useful for this specific time.
We commit to hold Brave Space with one another, meaning that we can disagree without being disagreeable; we own both our intentions and our impact; we allow ourselves to be challenged by what others share without immediately needing to defend our own position; we show respect to one another; and we never attack someone else.
Conversation
Openinging Question
What stood out to you as we explored a moment of crisis and heard Genesis 3 through two different images of God tonight? What is one phrase, moment, question, or curiosity that has stayed with you or keeps stirring?
Head | Insight & Understanding
What changes when we read Genesis 3 not only as a story about a rule being broken, but as a story about believing a disreputable storyteller? How might the stories we believe about God shape the worlds, relationships, and communities we fashion together?
Heart | Emotion & Experience
When you consider the image of God you inherited, what feelings arise? Does God feel punitive, distant, disappointed, protective, tender, attentive, or something else? What experiences or stories helped form that image?
Where have fear, shame, or brokenness made it difficult for you to imagine God covering rather than exposing you, correcting rather than condemning you, or loving rather than despising you?
Hands | Embodied Practice
What story about God, yourself, or someone else might you need to notice this week? What small action could help you live from a story that cultivates the good and beautiful, fostering greater wholeness rather than brokenness?