This Message is the Start of a New Series: Hidden Figures: We will be looking at the stories of an array of people throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). These are some of the women and men that partner with God to advance the story of redemption. They are often overlooked either because of their gender, their ethnicity, their social standing, or because of their mistakes and poor choices.  

What makes Eve a Hidden Figure is not that she's overlooked or forgotten. But that's she's typically remembered for her wrongdoing. How she and Adam broke God's story rather than the ways she advanced that story. In other words, she's remembered for her broken trust and sin, instead of any kind of faithfulness or redeeming qualities.  

But there's more to Eve's story that we often remember. Eve tells the truth. She speaks of both what influenced her choice as well as her own responsibility in making that choice. She’s not just the first person to fail in Scripture, she’s also the first model of repentance in scripture.

Today we proclaim the good news: In God's story the morally comprised are experts of repentance. Those devastated by disappointment and loss are the first to find hope. And those are vilified for their failures become models of faith for everyone. Today beloved, receive your first Mother, no as a pariah, but as a flawed yet faithful example of how God makes good on his promises. Follow in her footsteps, become her children. Learn from Eve and call on the name of the LORD.