Creation 1 B

Radical Amazement

(with a nod to the fabulous Rev. Ali Smith who did all the leg work for her sermon and let me pilfer it to create mine)

Introduction 

A few years back there was a movement to try and create a new church season – it would happen in the fall, and it would focus us on creation, on the world around us, and try to root us in the place where we all live.

And what better time than fall to remind us of our relationship to the earth… all the plants are being harvested, the leaves are falling, thanksgiving is just around the corner… as leaves and grass start to mould and the fields are tilled under there is just such an… earthy… feel to everything.

But there can also be such a sense of excitement. Like, when my girls first went apple picking and realized apples grow on trees, or how sweet they were… I remember when I was a kid I always used to go salamander hunting; turning over rocks and looking for the little lizards…. There were lots in point pleasant park in Halifax…

At different times along the way I have lost that sense of wonder. Bits and pieces creep back in, like when I see a beautiful sunset, or a fabulous waterfall… then I am reminded that I really should be amazed by the world around me…

So as we begin not only the fall, but the season of creation, I invite you to try, for the next five weeks, to look at the world around us, the plants and the animals, with a sense of wonder and awe…

Try to think about how it was when you first noticed things… like how a grasshopper actually flies when it jumps…

Yesterday my youngest daughter spent half an hour looking for a four leaf clover…

We need that back.

In the Beginning

(with kids?)

What is your favourite part of the planet we live on? What is your favourite fruit? What about vegetable? Animal?

In the activity of creation, we can see God at work. In the jumping of the fish, in the blooming of the flowers, in the call of a deer, in the taste of a crisp apple, in the kindness of a person's eyes, God is there.

When we closely witness these things, we are truly amazed.

Think of how it feels to watch the bright yellows and rich oranges of the sun as it dips below the horizon on a warm summer's evening.

Have you ever watched a spider spin a web? Isn't it amazing to see this little creature create this beautiful, functional work of art with great speed and determination?

What about smelling a flower? How does it feel to breathe in the intoxicating scent of a rose-- a natural, pure fragrance that brings such pleasure.

There is a reason that in our story about God creating the world each day ends with God saying, “It is good!”

It truly is, good and magical and beautiful and everything that gives us joy…

Birth Pangs

Did you ever hear that the earth was ending? You realize since the very beginning when someone lit a campfire some other caveman said, “This will be the end of everything” I honestly think sometimes that we thrive off doom and gloom… I grew up on the tail end of the nuclear arms race, and at any moment we were all going to die from a missile bombardment.

Now I can’t go a day without hearing about how we will be underwater when the ice caps melt.

Don’t get me wrong, both things could probably still happen any day now… it is just, why do we not live in hope of something better? Why are we focusing on the doom and gloom?

Paul gives me hope when he compares creation to a pregnant woman. He says that we must remember that the best is yet to come. Creation is merely experiencing the pangs of labour right now.

The creation we experience today isn't a finished product.

Through the principles of science, God is always creating. The world is always preparing to birth something new and incredible.

That's not to say that we stick our heads in the sand and don't recognize the real problems that plague this earth and our lives. It means that we change our approach, we change the lens through which we look at those problems.

I am suggesting radical amazement. I am suggesting joy. I am suggesting looking around at the world and seeing God.

Creation is God at Work

In today’s parable Jesus gives us the example of the fig tree to make this point. He says that as soon as the branches on the tree become green and tender and shoot forth leaves, you know that great change is about to happen; you know that God is at work. A new season is about to unfold.

Jesus said that all of these little bits of creation that we see around us are signs of God's presence; they are signs that change and growth continually happen in the world. Whether we are talking about the sprouts of new life in the spring or the falling leaves as the weather turns colder, God is visible in the world around us.

We can look for these same signs in our lives, to prepare for the transformations that constantly take place. When we look at creation, we begin to understand more about our own lives and about how God works in them. But first we have to appreciate creation and recognize in every moment that we are immersed in it.

Abraham J. Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi. He became one of the leading Jewish theologians and philosophers of the 20^th century.  And although he died in 1972, his work still fills bookshelves… he is someone that a lot of people read as they study religion… and the reason is that it is filled with wisdom.

He made many insightful observations about God and the world but there's one little gem that speaks to the theme of Creation Time perfectly. And I want to share that with you today.

Heschel said:

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. . . [G]et up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

It's the term “radical amazement” that I love – the thought that if you take the time and open yourself up God's world will knock your socks off.

Unfortunately, it seems easier to embody “radical fear” than “radical amazement.”

Human beings are worriers by nature. We worry about what we don't know; we worry about what we do know; we worry about what we see; we worry about what we don't see.  At least I know I do.

Heschel talks, though, about how real knowledge and deep wisdom come not from fear or doubt but from awe and wonder of creation.

So radical amazement can move us forward. Thoughts like this give me hope. They help me to know what I can do. I can get up every morning and walk through my day amazed. And that will change the way I interact with creation. If everyone was radically amazed, the problems would disappear.

Heck, they wouldn't have existed in the first place.

Conclusion

So, if we live in radical amazement for what we have already seen, smelled, heard, felt, and tasted, then we can joyfully expect what is to come.

And that's helpful for our own lives too. We are a piece of creation after all, and incredible things are waiting to be born into our lives. Our lives are always full of possibility for wonderful transformation. We always await springtime for when our flowers and a sea of colour will burst forth.

Embrace radical amazement… be curious… enjoy the world and all it has to offer… and you will find God in the midst of it.