All God’s Creation
Summer Series I
June 28, 2009
David Brubacher
TEXT: Genesis I
Psalm 8
Revelations 22:1-5
As a finish carpenter I put a lot of myself into my work. In the end my work says something about me. The name of my business is Made to Fit Carpentry. I chose that name in conversation with Brent, our son-in-law. We were discussing the values I bring to my work. Making sure things actually fit is important to me. I find little pleasure in cutting things to almost fit and then filling the gap with wood filler. At one point in the conversation Brent said, “Well then your business name likely will not be, ‘Good Enough’ or ‘It Almost Fits Carpentry.’” We looked at each other and said Made to Fit Carpentry.
I take great pride in my work and in the end see it as something of a personal signature. To see my signature covered with a blotchy or streaky paint job is disappointing for me. So I wonder how God feels about the way we are treating God’s creation? A lot of God’s self is woven into creation. From beginning to end the Bible reflects oneness in all God’s creation: between humanity and the rest of creation, within humanity and between all aspects of creation. Humanity, created in the image of God, is given a special role as stewards of all creation. Seeing we have just come through report card season, I wonder if God would give us a passing or failing grade.
Our worship theme at TUMC this summer is, All God’s Creation. It started with the worship committee thinking about the Mennonite World Conference being held in Paraguay in July. The MWC is a gathering of many peoples in Anabaptist congregations around the world to celebrate being one people though many. We started to think of All God’s People as a theme. We also considered that summer is a time of travel and encounter with many aspects of God’s creation. We broadened the theme to All God’s Creation to allow a variety of speakers to address various topics related to creation and being part of God’s creation.
How then might we think about creation? With the children, Irene Krahn drew attention to the activity of God in the act of creation. In the Judeo-Christian tradition the first chapters of Genesis affirm God as creator from a faith perspective. In today’s world, creation also raises many philosophical and theological questions.
Long before I had any awareness of these questions my grade eight teacher set a course for me. He began a class on the theory of evolution like this, “As a Christian, I believe if human beings came to be in this way, God was behind it.” The valid philosophical and theological questions asked about creation have never been an issue for me. “In the beginning God created…” or, “In the beginning when God created…” as modern translations say, for me is a statement of faith. When and how are not important for me.
For today I begin by thinking about creation in the wider context of the biblical narrative. If we think of the creation story of Genesis 1 and 2 only as one of the many stories in Genesis, we miss the role it plays in the wider drama unfolding in Genesis, let alone the entire Bible. The creation story like all the stories of Genesis are part of a larger narrative shaped by each story. “Genesis,” the word, refers to beginnings. We make a mistake if we think of creation, or the beginning, only as the past. Creation, or the beginning, is also very much a part of the narrative that continues to unfold today.
As human beings we are a part of God’s continuing creation narrative. We too are part of a much larger whole. What happens in some distant corner of th
e world will have some impact on us. The attitudes we foster within our own being and express outwardly will have an impact for good or ill on others. In some roundabout way our actions often come back to impact ourselves for good or ill. No one is an island onto themselves.
The opening verses of Genesis, along with the first eleven chapters, show God creating order out of chaos. God is creating a livable world. The theme continues beyond the Garden of Eden, through God’s restoring initiatives of the entire biblical text and remains in the final vision of Revelation 22. The creating and recreating acts of God do not take place within a closed system. Even while celebrating the order of God’s creation there is an expectation that we remain open to new things God continues to do. In God’s creation there is a rhythm of life which makes the world livable. While God is the creator of this rhythm, God also stands beyond the rhythm. The creation of the world, including you and I, belongs to God. In the same way, the world being created belongs to God. All creation is God’s.
Traveling through God’s creation often draws into deep awe and wonder. Thirty six years ago this summer I traveled through the Canadian Rockies for the first time. I was moved by the unique beauty. Some issues of faith and Christian behaviour were not yet firmly established in my life at that time. Seeing the beauty in God’s creation I began to ponder the desirability of a more committed relationship with God. The journey continues today.
Poetically, Psalm 8 draws us into profound wondering, “O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” We are caused to wonder about the expanse and intricacy of the universe, the apparent insignificance of humanity and yet how God has given humanity governance over the earth. The psalm begins and ends with a call to praise, not the glory of humanity, but the Lord God who is beyond all things. If I were God I would question the effectiveness of human governance over the earth. I am sure it must feel like someone did a sloppy painting job on finally crafted handiwork.
One commentator poses the question this way, “considering the contemporary rape of the earth, what does dominion, having governance over, mean?” How do we think of our God given responsibility to exercise governance in the livable world God created? Psalm 8 frames human governance with praise for God. Copernican astronomy should cause us to be humbled regarding our place in the unfolding of God’s creation. Five hundred years ago Copernicus revolutionized the world with his discovery that the sun, not the earth is the centre of the universe. Neither is humanity the centre of God’s creation. In the livable world of God’s creation humanity is a significant part but not the centre to which all else bows.
What Copernicus discovered five hundred years ago is today affirmed as scientific fact. I often wonder how that pertains to other aspects of life; for example matters of sexuality, in particular same sex attractions. Later today, the events of Pride Week will conclude with the annual Pride Parade. While these events stir various emotions I wonder how we keep focused on the unfolding of God’s creation among us. What might someday be confirmed that today rests in mixed emotion?
One of the advertisements for the Pride events concludes with the words, “You belong!” Finding a place of belonging is something we all need. Since my youngest brother “came out” I have agonized over has painful struggle to belong. It’s been hard to hear him talk of wondering about life itself, wondering about staying in a wider church that does not want him. At the same time it is purely delightful to see the place of belonging he has with his children as well as the place of belonging he is given in his particular Mennonite congregation. When I sat with him at the annual event for families of LGBT persons at the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly last summer, I stated that I long for the day that I can sit beside my brother in church and know that we are both equally welcome, that we both belong. Along with the promoters of the Pride Events let us agree that all belong as part of All God’s Creation.
In today’s world, human disregard for the livable world God created is immediately evident. Yet the prophet Isaiah holds the vision that someday, “The wolf shall live with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid…” From beginning to the end of the Bible, God’s creating and recreating actions are evident. Revelation 22 is seen by many not only as the climax to the book of Revelation but to the whole story of creation told in the Bible. It is difficult to picture the imagery of Revelation 22. The writer speaks of a river of the water of life flowing down the middle of the street in the city of New Jerusalem. The river flows from the throne of God. On either sides of the river is the tree of life. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Whatever the writer saw in this vision, the meaning is clear: in the city eternal life is central and available for all. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from the tree of life for fear they would become like God
and live forever. In the New Jerusalem all are given access to the tree of life that indeed they might live forever. Life giving water, a tree of life; the last things are like the beginning, but the end surpasses creation.
In the beginning when God created, the end already existed, if only by implication. In what is perceived as the end of time, the new heaven and the new earth reflect a restoration of the beginning. In between, among and above all these times is God; the God of All God’s Creation.
I believe these things by faith, but I still wonder how God feels when someone does a messy paint over a beautiful creation. I wonder how God views our exclusion of some because they are of another sexual orientation. I wonder how God feels when we continue to rape the earth of its resources, thinking they are for our consumption. I wonder if God wonders whether we will ever get it – get that we are all part of a much larger story where each act impacts the story in some way. I wonder how we can more fully live into the reality that indeed we are All God’s Creation. Amen!