This sermon was prepared using NRSV text from Genesis 1, interspersed with a reflection/ prayer in response to NS wildfires of Spring 2023.
The
Hebrew scripture reading for this morning is the beginning of Genesis – a
creation story. The story is retold as it appears in the New Revised Standard
Version of the Bible, interrupted by reflection and prayer from a world on
fire.
In
the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless
void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept
over the face of the waters.
NOT
from nothing- God creates order from watery chaos; from the deep;
Where
there are tides and currents, rogue waves, a churning power beyond control;
God, create order from fiery chaos;
from walls of flame and smoldering ash.
Wind
from God that moved over the waters;
can it be – please – that you, this
wind that moves, carry water- much needed water?
God,
watery deep and fiery expanse scare us, displace us, unsettle us;
The
deep, the expanse has us cry, ‘enough already!'
Water.
Fire. Inhospitable, uninhabitable –
And
yet, creation stories the world over – repeat, reassure, remind, that within (from
chaos) there is life. Luscious, vibrant, and verdant. We long for this night
and day.
This
account of creation is a confession of faith of the sovereignty of God – the
vastness of the cosmos and beyond, that which we do not understand and over
that which we do not control.
I
suppose that is how hope is too. It is not controlled, and we do not
understand. Hope springs forth, from a place of quiet brooding, in the deep where
it is waiting to be carried on the wind; to be inhaled by plant and animal, by
humans, to mix in with the ashes of life – where it gathers its power in
hearts, minds, and spirits. And when hope manifests it is like the freshness of
rain in a smoke-filled sky. It is God saying, “Let there be.”
Then
God said, “Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light
was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light
Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was
morning, the first day.
The
goodness of creation. ‘and it was good’ ‘and it was good’ and ‘it was very
good’;
It
was good – in the midst of fire – kindness was birthed; compassion, generosity,
gratitude were accelerated;
Dwellings,
rooms, and beds became available, forged in the depths of fire -it took the
sheer devastation of fire to melt hearts and grow hospitality, a hospitality
not extended to the displaced in the already unprecedented housing crisis. Fire
opened doors.
God, why does it take fear first? Emotional
turmoil, devastation beyond understanding –before humans create space, create
home, create commonwealth.
God,
we hear the creation story where creation is accomplished by you separating,
ordering, and naming. Out of the ashes create in us a will to create home- for
every plant, animal, and human- a sacred place that is habitable and hospitable.
And God saw that it was good. And there was evening
and there was morning; every day.
And
God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate
the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that
were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.
God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the
second day.
God
named the dome Sky; Sky with a capital S. A name like yours or mine, given to a
living breathing created entity. Sky- God created with purpose. It is where
winds blow and the Spirit plays. Sky renews, recreates, water from one form to
another. Sky is illumined by sunshine.
Sky is the bearer of messages and warnings: red Sky at night is a sailor’s delight;
green Sky precedes Tornado; and the ominous cloud of wildfire smoke is danger. Sky holds
smog and is increasingly filled with alien particles. And yet, despite human
interference disturbing Sky, Sky to the glory of God is the vessel – the
backdrop- for the brilliant dance of the aurora borealis. So good, so very
good.
And
God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered
together God called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening
and there was morning, the third day.
This
story of creation is liturgical; it is a dance.
It is in the repetition of the phrases, poetry to tell the story, to be
told and passed on from generation to generation. Liturgy literally means ‘work
of the people’ – creation, by the end of this story when dominion is given to
humans and God rests, creation is our work. Creation story told in a liturgical
form is to center us with the sacredness of creation, of creating. The
sacredness of all.
And
God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from
the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
and let there be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth. And
it was so. God made the two great lights --- the greater light to rule the day
and the lesser light to rule the night --- and the stars. God set them in the
dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the
night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was
good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
On
the fourth day, we enter the dance of creation. One could say God’s creative
dance where each piece is interwoven into relationship with that which proceeds
it. We hear the relationship in the symmetry of the story. The heavenly lights
on day 4 take us back to light, the night and day of day 1;
On
the fifth day the creatures that fly and swim are placed in God created habitat,
which returns us to the separating of waters on day 2;
On
the sixth day the creation of land dwellers, animals, and humans, connects back to
day three’s corresponding creation of land and edible plants.
And
God said, “let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds
fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea
monsters, and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the
waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was
good.
God
blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the
seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was
morning, the fifth day.
God,
bless the birds, the bees, the swarms of living creatures – rabbits, mice, weasels,
deer, worms, foxes and so many more. They too have lost their habitats, their
homes – their nests and eggs, their dens and cubs; their spaces to creep, and
soil to burrow in. We speak words of blessing, ‘Peace be with all creatures.’
God breath over the waters; breath over the fire scarred Earth and continue
creation, provide home – sacred dwelling.
And
God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and
creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so.
God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every
kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that
it was good.
With
a word Mother Earth brings forth life!
Oh,
glorious life – I hear the cacophony of sound – like Vivaldi’s violin concerto ‘Spring.”
I
see all the colours of the rainbow. I smell that pleasant smell – petrichor-
the smell of the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather. I am
filled with that waiting anticipation of Earth inexhaustibly blooming.
Then
God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
God,
you took a grand risk. Dominion in the hands of humankind, no financial advisor
or board of directors would have sanctioned such an action. You have such hope
and faith in creatures that cause so much destruction – creatures that can be
blamed for the world being on fire. Yet, there you are moving over the face of
the waters – in humanity’s tears, in the depth of their being.
You
told the prophet Isaiah who told us,
When
you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they
shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you. – Is.43: 2
Our
experience – this mini-apocalypse of fire -let it refine us, our hearts, our
capacity for hospitality, our passion for creating habitable and relational
place – so that dominion is not acting with power, but, understood as living
the sacred.
So
God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God, God created them;
male and female God created them.
God
blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
God
said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of
all the earth, and every tree with see in its fruit; you shall have them for
food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to
everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I
have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that
God had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was
morning, the sixth day.
Creation
liturgy has the refrain: ‘and God saw that it was good.” For every day the individual
elements are good. Just -good. But on that last day, when all is complete and
all is together - the whole is VERY good. Relationship, connectivity, reliance
on the elements of the day before, dependence, the web of life --- together as
a whole--- is VERY good.
Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the
seventh day God finished the work that God had done, and God rested on the
seventh day from all the work that God had done. So God blessed the seventh day
and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done
in creation.
Sabbath
-a day to step aside, rest, gather – in this story it is not commanded; rather
God just rests and blesses the day.
Stepping
aside -to rest, breathe, cry, lament, pray, meditate – whatever we need to do to
find comfort and healing, we are blessed this morning because we have gathered,
not relying on our own strength, not pretending to be in control of our
feelings, just coming to be together – to create a new head and heart space by
walking and praying through liturgy.
We
remember that God – Creator of the universe- risked everything, including life
itself- out of love for a humanity that is good, but broken. Liturgy is a
continual living of life, death, and life – enacted in baptism, shared in
communion. Baptism – yes water is creation story in the church – and the
beginning for many of us.
This
time Creation story begins not in water but in fire.
Fire
–
It
stimulates growth, maintains ecological systems; creates mosaic patches in the
landscape that allows a greater number of species to exist and thrive;
fire
in its consuming expanse- obliterated what was- and in the same breath holds an
endless myriad of creative possibility.
And
with this sacred thought and creative task at hand, we gather to write a new Creation
story:
In
this beginning God created the heavens and Earth. Earth was a world on fire; a
hopeless void were brokenness covered the face of the deep, while a life-filled
wind from God swept over the scarred Earth and over the face of the waters.
And God said: ‘Let there Be.’
… and there was…
and it was good.
After many days…
it was VERY good.
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