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Genesis 1:1-2:4 – New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 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. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 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. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together God called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 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, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 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.” 21 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. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 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. 25 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.

26 Then God said, “Let us make humans 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.”

27 So God created humans in Their image, in the image of God They created them; male and female They created them.

28 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.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 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. 31 God saw everything that They had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude. 2 On the sixth day God finished the work that They had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that They had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that They had done in creation.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the beginning God created – and it was good.

Why are we talking about beginnings at this point in our calendar year, or more precisely, our church year? Our church calendar is divided into two roughly comparable parts. This week we conclude approximately six months ensconced in the mysteries of our faith; Jesus’ birth, his death, his resurrection, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and finally this concept of a 3-in-1 and 1-in-3 God. After this morning we step out into Ordinary Time although there is nothing ordinary about this created world that we live in. For this purpose, think of ordinary perhaps as Jesus walking and talking and being, in much the same ways that we experience life. The next six months of assigned scripture take us on the journey of Jesus’ earthly life.

This Genesis scripture paints a picture of who God is and who we are in relation to God. Before we had the scientific knowledge that we now possess, mythology was one common attempt to answer the most basic questions of our existence; early attempts to understand not only the world but our place in the world. These were big questions… the why? the what? and the how? of life.

Now that we have science we no longer need mythology or religion, right? That is one view but it is certainly not my view.

There are two Creation narratives nestled back to back in the opening two chapters of Genesis, the first book of our Holy Scriptures. It was understood then, and for some of us now, that the truth is too big to be contained in one story. Not only that; the truth is too big to be contained in one genre. It helps me to understand the truth of Creation in both poetic terms and biological terms. They can and do co-exist peaceably within Christian hearts and minds across the globe. Religion and science are not mutually exclusive.

The poetic license taken when this creation narrative was spoken into existence paints a picture that helps me to fall in love with the world that we live in. It helps me to see the world from the vantage point of our Creator. It helps me to want to love the world in the same way that the Creator loves the world.

At first blush this creation narrative is about the how. However, the powerful overstory of this scripture is about the why. We are created to be in relationship; with God, with others, with all created life forms.

In order to be in right relationship with God and all that God created, I find myself needing to unlearn much of what I was taught, overtly and covertly about the Bible… this week, particularly about dominion.

What we hear repeatedly in these verses is God spoke and it was so. What we hear repeatedly in these verses is that God created and God saw that it was good.

Once and only once do we hear the word dominion in this scripture and yet many have grasped onto that and twisted its meaning away from love of creation toward power over creation.

In the Merriam-Webster dictionary dominion is defined as supreme authority. We share dominion of our precious world with God. With dominion comes responsibility to be God-like… to care for, to love, to respect. We have been entrusted with dominion of what God called good.

Many of us are painfully aware of the ways that we and our fellow earthlings are out of relationship with our Creator and Creation.

It was not long after God created the world and all living things that humans fell out of right relationship with God, with other two and four legged creatures, and with the air and water and minerals that were ours to steward.

My segue to the Trinity happens here… or what should be a segue… here we go…

This scripture passage is not overtly Trinitarian. God is not overtly Trinitarian. God is God. And God wants us to be in relationship; with God, with each other, with all things God created.

Trinity is one way to understand relationship with God. It is not how you believe, or what you believe but that you be in relationship with God. Again, that is the why of our creation – to be in relationship(s).

In the decades and centuries after Jesus lived and died and rose again there were questions. And there was a desire to not lose hold of the miraculous way that he touched lives, the myriad ordinary ways that Jesus forged relationships with everyone and everything in this world.

Our church elders wrestled with the questions of who God was. They wanted answers to the questions of who Jesus was. They wanted to make sense of the mystery that surrounded Jesus; the mystery of how one could die and come back to life. They wanted concrete answers where I am content with ambiguity.

There was no Trinitarian theology when the Hebrew Scriptures were written, or when our Gospels were written for that matter. Christian theology has evolved over time. Later generations sometimes grow to deeper understanding than even the original author could know.

Generations after our scriptures were written people of faith began to see the hints of a pattern.

They discerned three ways to be in relationship with God. Three ways that God is present and available to us.

I will share a practical vision of the Trinity from C.S. Lewis, in his book, Mere Christianity. Imagine a person at prayer. Their prayer is directed toward God—but it is also prompted by God within them. And at the same time, as they pray they stand with and within the Body of Christ. As this person prays, God is three things for them: (1) the goal they are trying to reach, (2) the impetus within themselves, (3) and a beloved companion along the way.

Ideally, we all spend time reflecting on our relationship with God, trying to make meaning out of our experiences of the Holy, trying to put into words or music or visual art what may be out of our sight, or beyond our reach.

I believe in the person of Christ, as an individual and as a member of the Trinity. I also believe that each of us are in relationship with our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer and thus are also of the Trinity. We are meant to be as Jesus was/is. God is in each and every one of us at birth, as God is in all of Creation. We are human and we have the Divine within us. Jesus was able to cultivate the Divine within. I believe we are to do the same.

In the beginning God created – and it was good. All of it. All of us. Let us get back in right relationship with creation and our Creator. We have so much to learn by reading and studying our ancient scriptures. Our scriptures are alive. They spoke to our ancestors in their time and they speak to us in this time. As we say in the United Church of Christ, God is still speaking… Let us listen. Let us listen and learn from the plants, the animals, the children, the elders—our teachers are everywhere.

Amen

Rev. TJ Mack – June 4, 2023