The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” ….But for Adam no suitable helper was found….
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Genesis 2:18, 20b-23
What would it be to live in a world without walls, without physical and social barriers to protect us? It’s very difficult to imagine, yet we are promised that this is what we have to look forward to in eternity. This is the world believers commit to building when we pray the Lord’s prayer:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10
To participate in creating God’s kingdom, we need to go back, before the fall, to the story of Eve’s creation. God created woman as a good partner for man (Genesis 2), yet the fall has so deeply affected human relations that we see this blessing through the lens of brokenness. This brokenness surfaces not only when women are seen as “less than” men, but when qualities more often associated with women — care, nurturing, gentleness — aren’t valued. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, it’s difficult to imagine a world in which gentleness and strength, caring and courage coexist, and yet, that is what we are asked to do.
What do we need to be building right here, right now? First, our lives need to be transformed by Christ:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
Interestingly, the Holy Spirit, like Eve, is described as “helper.”
When I think of what our culture needs right here and now, I’d say the gift of paying attention. In the words of French philosopher Simone Weil: “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity”. We need to invest our time in seeing others for who they really are. This requires tapping into what might be seen as “feminine” qualities of care and patience. God pays close attention to us — He knew us before we were born and knows every hair on our heads. What if we took a step back from building walls, projects, and structures and took the time to pay attention to others, made in the image of God?
Application: Our leaders at South — pastors, elders, and staff, men and women – excel at paying attention as they shepherd this flock. As a congregation, we come into contact with many more people than our leaders reach. Let’s take the time to continually grow in our attentiveness to others and the world around us.
by Sherry Sommer
