When we
read, or hear, the creation account in Genesis chapter one, what do you think
of?
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Arguments
over creation and evolution?
This story of creation is thought to have been written when the people of Israel were in exile in Babylon. It is from this exile that we get songs asking ‘how can we worship the Lord in a strange land?’
It is
thought that Genesis one was written for use in worship. Notice how the passage
is written like poetry, it has a pattern and repetition.
For the
people in exile it seemed that the Babylonian Gods were in control. This
passage is a theological and pastoral answer to people living in exile; people
who lived with chaos, who felt abandoned by God; which is why this passage
speaks not only to the exiles in 6th century BC Babylon, but to
people throughout the ages, and to people today.
People still
live with chaos, in despair, without hope, with sickness, unemployment, grief,
people are betrayed, or lonely; people who feel overwhelmed by life, this
passage is written to these people.
It may
seem strange to say that a story about the creation is a pastoral and
theological statement, an affirmation of God’s presence and goodness, for those
overwhelmed by life, but that is what we have here.
The people
could remember that God was the one who can bring order out of chaos, just as
in the creation story, and while it may not look like it at the time, being in
exile, they could remind themselves of God’s presence, of God’s power and of
God’s creativity.
Verse 2
tells how the earth was formless; and in God speaking the earth was
transformed. This transformation is what the people in exile were looking for,
and the creation story gives hope to people in despair that there is the
possibility of transformation, that life will not always be chaotic.
This God
is not coercive, but life and permission giving. When God spoke, it doesn’t say
God made, created or built plants and animals, but God said: let there be… and
there was. The relationship between God
and the creation is free and gracious and invitational, God says, ‘ let there
be’ ; and the earth responds.
How do we
respond to God’s invitation ‘to be’, to live, to be transformed?
…
In the
newspapers last weekend I read a few articles about the lack of outdoor activity
by children and young people today. One article was talking about how some people
spend so much time indoors, and walking on smooth surfaces, that they are
unable to walk on rough ground. It seems that that part of their body just
doesn’t develop.
Another
article talked about the increasing rates of short-sightedness as people spend
more time in front of TV, computer, electronic games etc.
I wonder
when did the world, the creation, become something to be avoided?
When we
look at the passage from Genesis
we heard this morning, one phrase that is used over and over is ‘And God saw that it was good’. The
light was good, the separating of land from water, the plants, the animals of
sea, air and land, all are viewed by God as good. God delighted in creation, why does it disgust
us so much?
We live in a society where many
people minimise their contact with the earth, with nature. Now I am not all
that keen on creepy crawlies, and I don’t like camping, but there is something
wonderful about being in nature, about being somewhere away from the noise of
traffic, the closeness of buildings; there is something wonderful about
birdsong, and breezes and sunshine, and wind whooshing through trees. It may
not be as comfortable as sitting in a lounge chair watching a movie, but there
is something amazing and life giving about being close to nature from time to
time.
I wonder why some people avoid this
altogether?
The passage we read from Genesis
one, was to remind and comfort people in exile, people who felt life was out of
control. This passage gave them hope that their life could be transformed, just
as the formless earth was transformed by God’s invitation.
What does
it mean when we avoid creation, when we try and remove ourselves from creation?
I wonder if
we cut ourselves off from God by separating ourselves from creation of which we
are a part?
