Monday, October 1, 2012

Creation 4 B


Back to the Forest

Introduction
For the last few weeks we have been taking another look at creation. The idea being that we have spent our time re-focussing on the world around us and how we fit in. So we started by saying we need to look around and be amazed at this world we live in. Next we looked at how God was at work in that physical reality, creating a heaven on earth. Then we turned to the spiritual aspect and looked at how creation is also about feelings and emotions and all of the invisible things of life….

In the United Church Creed we start with one simple line: “We Are Not Alone” and then follow it up by saying we live in God’s world. We do not live here alone, we live with God in our midst, and we live with thousands of creatures, and hundreds of thousands of insects, and all species of plant fish, bird and animal. In fact, this world is teeming with life of which we are but a small part.

Although it always struck me as a sad thing to put in a children’s song, the line “God sees the little sparrow fall” reminds us not only that God loves us no matter who or how small we are, but that God loves everything.

And I don’t know about you, but that seems to me to be wonderfully re-assuring.

Genesis 2:4b-25

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones  and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

With the Kids:
Animals - which ones don't you like? But what purpose do they serve? Spiders eat insects, snakes eat rats...

Tilling the Land 
I like to think of the fact that we have two creation stories this way: The first one was written by someone who was a science Geek – all that water and land creating and evolution and everything… the second one was written by a farmer.

Here we see our true connection to the land, we are a part of it, and every single thing in it is related to us in some way. The Lord God planted a Garden, it was filled with plants and animals and flowers and it was our home.

Now, the thing somehow we have come to forget is that it was also their home.

It was a connection we were supposed to maintain – but somewhere along the line humans got isolated, we started to build walls around cities, then we paved everything, then we started making machines to do most of the work for us… and now… well, very few of us are connected to the plants and animals around us in any real way.

Have you ever gone for a walk in the woods, or down by the river, and found yourself all alone with nothing but birdsong and sunlight? Was there ever a time that that did not seem magical, seem sort of soul restoring?
I don’t know about you, but when I do that I feel connected to everything in a way I cannot explain… it is like all of a sudden feeling that I am entering their world – the birds and trees, the animals and flowers… and knowing that somehow I belong.

I can also tell you, from owning a dog, that this idea of being equals, and companions, and helping each other and being there for each other is just as possible with animals as it is with humans.
We are all connected…

Romans 12:3-7                                              

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;

One Body
Ever have that feeling that it is all up to you? That no matter what, no one is going to help you and you are all alone in the world? I am talking about being at work, being at home, having a mid-life crisis, dealing with your family members… it happens everywhere.

The thing is, it’s just not true… It is what they like to call a “First World Problem” which is to say, it is not a real problem, but because of how we live our lives, we think it is a problem… like saying “OMG my electric toothbrush is broken, how am I going to brush my teeth?”

So – true story – you are never in this alone.

Sure, the people around you in that instant might have abandoned you to the task at hand… you might even be physically alone in the woods… but there is never a time in your life where there is no one who would help you, no one who cares… And I am not even talking about God… Think about it… no matter what you are going through there is someone in this church right now who is willing to help you out.  I completely believe that to be true. In fact, I know it to be true… I have never had to go very far to find someone who would be there for me no matter what has happened… and I have had a lot of bad things happen.

We are all connected. We all love each other. Heck, we even love and care about strangers. And that is not the end of it… we are just as connected to the world around us and to everything in it… and the truth is, no matter what we need, what we yearn for, or what we do… there is something, or someone out there with the gifts to help us.

That is what I hear when I read anything Paul writes about the one body but many members… and how we have all been given different gifts, different abilities….

Since I already mentioned my dog Jacob I might as well stay on the theme of our closest companions… We all know that dogs can become eyes for the blind and ears for the deaf. We also know that police dogs help sniff out bombs and drugs. But if you Google dog rescues human and search the internet you will come across thousands of stories about dogs dragging babies from fires, taking bullets from attackers, rescuing people caught in avalanches or earthquakes…  the list goes on and on…

My help cometh from the Lord says the 121st Psalm… but the truth is that help, from God, comes from everywhere.

Mark 4:30-32

He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

God’s Gentle Care
All of what we have talked about has been a little one sided… how it all works out for us, how God put the world here for our amazement; how animals help us… it is a little arrogant to think we are the centre of the whole universe…

I like the hidden stuff in the Bible that shows God’s concern for each and every thing… like this passage which suggests that God takes a little seed and grows it into a home for nesting birds.

Then it says that life is meant to be like that… that God does that for us too.

Ever hear the expression “let go and let God”? I imagine there is not a single Moose out there, or Salmon, or Deer or Porcupine that has a problem with that… and yet, we often do… we do not trust in the general goodness of the world. We do not allow that there are forces in this universe that are looking out for our interests, wishing the best for us, caring for us even when we do not recognize them.

I like to believe that the animals know this… and that is why they live the way they do, one day at a time, in relative peace and harmony…

Back to the Forest

The reason that the Genesis story of Adam and Eve takes up so much of our imagination is that it was a vision of perfection. When Sigmund Freud and the psychology guys started to think about what goes on behind our thinking, they put it this way, we all long to get back to the garden…

We long to get back to a place where everything was good, where peace and harmony were the norm, and where we were all connected to each other and to our animal friends.

Truth is we are not that far away – we are never alone and we are loved and cared for by God. It is up to us to recognize that God’s great love for the whole of creation is also a love of us…

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