Origin Story #14.2 of 21:

In the center of the garden (Gn 2:9 & 3:3)

The Woman got it right: “You may freely eat …but not of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, or you shall die”. The edges are boundless—explore and enjoy, rollick about God’s good and beautiful creation. God has set the boundary, not out there, but in the midst of the garden—in the midst of us.

The big universe out there is not the problem. The problem of good and evil enters from the center—from the midst of the garden, from the midst of us. We know this. As much as we try to blame something or someone out there; the line that divides good and evil runs through the midst of us—through the middle of me.

After breaking the boundary that God placed in the center, humanity itself unravels form its own center. We can no longer see the other as simply, only and completely God’s gracious gift. There’s always complications. Something in the center of life has been lost. We have become our own person making our own decisions about our Creator and his creation. We have claimed the center for ourselves. And in this human center, we find ourselves alone—alienated from others, from our Creator, and from creation itself. Our center dies.

It is direr. But, we know the story from this side of Calvary. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not the only tree planted in the midst of the Garden. God choose to plant another tree in the center—the tree of life.

Origin Story 14.1 of 21:

Did God say…? (Gn 3:1)

That’s the way of temptation—to question our trust in God’s Word. That’s what makes this such a cleaver and interesting conversation. The serpent is not an atheist. He’s not questioning the reality of God; or, that God created the heavens and the earth. In our choice of origin stories, between the one we find in the Bible and the one according to “modern science” as told by David C.; the serpent is on our side of the issue. Like us, the serpent believes God created the heavens and the earth. He apparently takes pride, that as creatures go, God created him as “the craftiest of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made.” He’s really something—cleaver and crafty.

He just raises questions about our trust in God’s Word:

Serpent:         Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?

Woman:         We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall

not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”

The serpent overstates what God has forbidden. The woman, no dummy herself, corrects the serpent: No, God didn’t says that; but, he did say we are not to eat of the tree “that is in the middle of the garden”.  It’s a discussion about God—a theological conversation. What exactly did God say? Why did he say it? What do you think God actually meant?  Are you sure God meant that you will die when you eat its fruit? The serpent is something of a theologian. He knows things about: “You will not die,” says the serpent, “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

It’s a pious argument: “You want to be like God, don’t you?” Where did the serpent obtain this knowledge about God? John Milton, in his epic poem Paradise Lost, has a wild and creative explanation about how Satan, having a long antagonist history with God, knows things about God that man does not know. The serpent knows, for example, that maybe you won’t die; at least, not right away—not on that very day you eat of the forbidden fruit.

“God wants you to be like him knowing good and evil,” goes the serpent. Why would God forbid such godly knowledge? To the woman’s credit, she points out that God has given them all sorts of freedom: “We can eat of all sorts of fruit!” There is plenty to eat and enjoy. We are free to explore all the wonders and delights of God’s good and beautiful creation. Why fuss about this one forbidden tree in the midst of the garden?

Did God really say…? There’s something about God’s “No” that grates on us. Just one “No” is one too many. Maybe God says “No” because he wants to deprive us of greater knowledge. Be your own person. Be smart. Take of the forbidden fruit. It is tempting, isn’t it?

Origin Story #14 of 21:

Then they saw the other as naked;

so they sewed fig leaves together

and made coverings for themselves. (Gn 3:7)

What happened? Suddenly, without warning, our origin story moves from “naked and not ashamed” to “covering up”. It’s better read than explained. How do you explain such a thing? A serpent appears out of nowhere: “More crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made;” and, carries on a conversation with the woman. Nothing is said about who this serpent is or represents. We can’t help but suspect that it has to do with Satan’s mischief (Rv 20:2).

What is certain, is that this serpent happens to be a very cleaver conversationalist (Gn 3:1-7):

Serpent:         Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?

Woman:         We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall

not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”

Serpent:         You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes

will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

So, when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was

- good for food and

- pleasing to the eye, and also

- desirable for gaining wisdom,

she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

It turns out the serpent has some truth on his side: 1) The man and the woman will die, but not “in the day that you eat of it”; or, if so, it’s an awfully long day. Adam live nine hundred thirty years before he dies. 2) They come to know something about good and evil that they didn’t know before—something that causes them to “sew fig leaves together to cover themselves.”

Why is such knowledge destructive? Maybe, with this knowledge of what evil is, man is now able to do evil things to others. Animals do savage things—like kill and eat other animals. But we give them a pass. They do it because they are hungry. But humans can kill for other reasons—like power; or spite; or jealousy; or anger: “Why are you angry, Cain?” (4:6).

When we know about how evil hurts, we know something about how we can use evil to harm others. Our awareness of evil weaves its way into our social fabric. Suddenly, we see the other as “naked”—no longer as a gift from God, but as an object to be made use of for our own purposes. With such knowledge, life can no longer be lived freely and innocently. With such knowledge, we need covering.

Origin Story #13.3 of 21:

You may freely… but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

you shall not eat,

for in the day you eat of it you will die. (Gn 2:7)

One more list and we’ll turn the page:

            1.         vocation:         What God has called us to do—our responsibility

            2.         freedom:          Our God given freedom to explore and to name

            3.         prohibition:      God’s “No” placed right in the middle of things.

Freedom and Prohibition… All sorts of freedom, just one prohibition. Seems reasonable. Why this restriction? Why does God plant such a tree right in the middle of things? With such a big “Yes,” why does God have to speak his singular “No”?  Can we trust that God’s “No” is in our best interest? That it’s for our good and the good of God’s good creation?

When we turn the page we will see that man has added a probation of his own just in case: “Don’t even touch the fruit.” We’ll see if this added prohibition on top of God’s big prohibition helps.

Okay, no more lists. I’m ready to turn the page and get on with our origin story. For us to understand our origin—to understand who we are and where we find ourselves in the universe; one thing more must be told.

Origin Story #13.2 of 21:

God made the beasts of the earth… Then God said,

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. (Gn 1:25-27)

Before we move on to what happens next; let’s visit our Hymn of Creation and gather up what it means to be “created in …the image of God”. It happened on the sixth day after “God made the beasts of the earth… Then God created man in his own image…” One has the sense that this “Then” is going to bring forth something special—a creature that is like the animals, but different. One gets the feeling there might be some risk in this. But God is exuberant in his creation work. He likes how things are shaping up, so he goes for it: “Let us make …them in our image.”

Let me try some one, two, threes. I’m hesitant to list stuff, because the story itself is always bigger, wilder, and more real than our lists. That always being said, I’ll risk a list:

            1.         The Image of God marks us as different than all the other animals. As the psalmist puts it: "You have been made a little lower than God, and crowned with glory and honor” (Ps 8). The Image lingers in all humanity. We know we are different. All humanity is, as I recall a novelist saying, “God bothered.” Humans, wherever we find them, wonder about God. We can’t help ourselves. It’s not something we achieved; or, somehow evolved into. It’s just how God decided to create us. It’s what it means to be human.

            2.         The Image of God marks us as social creatures with language and the creative ability to form communities. That’s the “them” that images the “us” of the Godhead. God himself exist in community with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are marked by this community. God knows “it is not good for man to be alone.” The Image of God requires community.

            3.         The Image of God marks us as free, creative and responsible creatures. Like God, we act out of our freedom. This is not absolute freedom, like God’s freedom. It’s a creaturely, human freedom--a freedom to do what God has called us to do.

            4.         What has God called humans to do? This requires another list:

                                    a) “To be fruitful and multiply”

                                    b) “To subdue the earth”

                                    c)  “To have rule” over creation and it’s creatures”

                        And, to do this subduing and ruling in a godlike way—to make things better.

God’s good creation needs our good care. In the Garden, we see man doing

what he was created to do…

                                    a) fruitful and multiply           = “naked and not ashamed”

                                    b) subdue the earth                 = “to till and to keep”

                                    c) rule every living thing        = “gave names to all the animals”

                        That’s our God given vocation—our calling. When we are faithful to our calling,

we keep God’s good creation well-ordered and cared for.

            5.         We do our living and working in communion with our Creator and in

community with all God’s creatures. That’s “Shalom!”

Five is a good number. It’s enough, though there is always more to the story. The story is always bigger and more real than any list.

A Thanksgiving Word:

Jesus took a loaf of bread,

gave thanks (eucharisteō), broke it and gave it… (Lk 22:19)

It’s hard to think of our word “thanksgiving” without thinking of the Greek New Testament word eucharistia. It’s a word so precious we’ve just brought it over as is into our English language as “Eucharist”. A word used to describe what happens when we gather around our Lord’s Table and hear him “give thanks”.

It’s a big word in the New Testament. Let me break it down. Not that I know a whole lot of Greek, but I do know some:

                        chara:              is at the heart of the word. It’s the word for “joy”

                        charis:             is there too, it’s the word for “grace”

                        charisma:        the “ma” at the end speaks of what happens when joy and grace

land on us. It’s translated as “gift” or “spiritual gift”. It’s the gift of God’s joy and graciousness in our lives. It’s another one of those N.T. words that’s brought over into our English: “charisma” or “charismatic” meaning that one goes about certain task with joy and grace. Like when Steph Curry plays basketball; at his best, there’s joy and grace in it.

                        eucharistia:      by putting the prefix eu in front we get “good” or “beautiful”

grace. When we have received grace, we acknowledge it as beautiful—as a gift for which we return thanks.

Okay, I’ll move on. Maybe Anna will find it interesting.

Thanksgiving Day Reprieve:

I will praise your name,

and sing hymns of thanksgiving.

 (Sirach 51:11)

I’ll leave our creation story behind this morning. It’s Thanksgiving Day. President Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, declared Thanksgiving Day a national holiday.

During our fall to winter national holidays state and church leave their differences and dance about: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. You have to work on it to make such celebrations secular. Can we give thanks without some thoughts about our Creator? And Christmas... there’s no getting around it. It has to do with what happened that night when “certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay, on a cold winter’s night that was so deep;” as the hymn goes. Or, New Year’s Day celebrating two-thousand and some years since when? Even when the powers manage to change AD (Year of our Lord) to CE (Common Era), you can’t help but notice that it’s still two-thousand and some years since something big happened. So, let’s enjoy the holidays. It’s about our origin story.

That first thanksgiving came after the pilgrims endured their first New England winter—a dreadful winter. Of the twenty-six heads of family only twelve survived, and of the eighteen married women only three lived to see the winter snows melt away. They sent the Mayflower back with orders for Ale and women. With new arrivals, and the help of Squanto and his agricultural tips, “the earth brought forth life.” Following a bountiful harvest, Pilgrims and Indians celebrated with a thanksgiving feast.

In a few hours we will celebrate our Thanksgiving Day feast with the Mickelson side of the clan. Like that first thanksgiving, there is loss. Jan died this last year. Ron lost his wife. Pam and Kim lost their mother. The grandchildren lost their grandma; and, Linda lost one of her dearest friends. And yet, something good and beautiful remains (1Tm 4:4-5):

Everything created by God is good,

                  and nothing is to be rejected,

provided it is received with thanksgiving;

                  for it is made holy by God's word and by prayer.

So, let’s gather around the table, sing our hymns and offer our prayers of thanksgiving: “I will praise your name, and sing hymns of thanksgiving.”

Origin Story #13.1 of 21:

The two become one flesh… both naked, and were not ashamed. (Gn 24-25)

Our origin story informs our sexuality. The creation hymn, majestic and worshipful, rejoices in how we are to “be fruitful and multiply”. Now the Garden story, fills in the details: “The two become one flesh… both naked and not ashamed.” In sexual intercourse, two connect into one flesh. If all goes well, this sexual union will result, with the help of the Lord, in the one flesh of a new born child.

In popular culture, it’s thought that the eating of the apple brings about sexual awareness and delight—as if God is prudish and Satan is fun. But in our origin story, this graphic and robust sexuality takes place before sin and sin’s temptations enters the story. There’s nothing prudish about God’s good creation. Adam and Eve were “both naked, and not ashamed.”

Neither are ashamed. There’s freedom and mutuality. Though the woman comes out of man, she is not man’s doing. He’s asleep. She is God’s idea. She is God’s doing. She will always remain God’s creature. She must be received as a gift. The only proper response of drowsy man is to break into a love song in praise to the Creator for such a breathtaking gift: “This at last is bone of my bone…”

The next love song we find in the Bible comes outside the Garden where sin is having its way:

Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

you wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say:

I have slain a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

If Cain is avenged sevenfold,

truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold." (Gn 4:23-24)

Sin takes the good things of God’s good creation and bends them away from God and claims them for one’s own purposes. In Lamech’s world, women are no longer seen as God’s gift, but through power and intimidation, women become an object that Lamech claims for himself—for his own use. He takes and uses. Like King David, when he saw Bathsheba bathing: “He took her …and he lay with her.” He’s king, and that’s what kings do.

Maybe circumcision, that strange mark God asked of those who first knew our origin story, has to do with man’s sexual claim to power. In circumcision, this problematic organ that can cause so much trouble, is cut back. Something of that Garden nakedness is to be known within the sanctity of marriage where the other is seen as God’s gift and never as one’s own possession.

Origin Story #13 of 21:

The man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. (Gn 2:25)

That’s how the Paradise part of our origin story concludes: “…naked, and were not ashamed”. It’s assumed that we know something about Paradise from afar—from outside the Garden, from a world that knows shame.

Being ashamed of our nakedness, outside the Garden, may seem a quaint notion to moderns—something they have overcome. But, like most things modern, they tend to overstate their achievements, particularly when it comes to understanding the human condition. Our society makes claim of sexual freedom; but, it seems most every day I hear or see something that reminds me that nakedness has been violated—taken by force or power or deceit. And such violation of one’s nakedness, as the “Me2” movement reminds us, is shameful. Even at our best, the question of our nakedness remains complex and confusing. Somehow we know it’s best we cover up.

Here once again, our two origin stories converge somewhat. David C., in his “modern science origin story,” speaks of the earliest forms of human communities as “Gardens of Eden”.  We know about it from afar. David C. would say about 12,000 years ago, or so, after the last ice age—when rivers started to flow, and the waters found their proper place; when humans began to “till and keep”, and the ground brought forth vegetation. I’ve been told that all humans have some memory of the Garden. Somewhere back there, things were very good and we were not ashamed.

We can imagine this… this goodness, beauty and freedom to roam about without shame. We get glimpses of the Garden. We’ve seen enough, or dreamed enough to know something of Paradise. We long for it yet it eludes us. Maybe that’s why we plant a garden in our backyard. That’s our origin. We make our way through life knowing that we live outside the Garden. It was back there somewhere, long ago.

Origin Story #12.1 of 21:

Therefore… (Gn 2:24)

The “Therefore” in our story tips us off that it has to do with us—about who we are and how we live. David C is right when says that our origin story shapes us. Without it, we don’t know our origin. We don’t know who we are.

What prompts this “Therefore”? It’s the wonder of what our Lord did while Adam slept. It comes right after Adam’s love song, when he awoke and saw what God had done. It has to do with how “the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” It’s such a wonder that it brings us our first “Therefore” (Gn 2:24):

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother

      and cleaves to his wife,

      and they become one flesh.

Those who first knew our origin story lived in a patriarchal society where the father defines the clan. In such a society, the wife leaves her family and is absorbed into the male clan. But this other, who is like but different, causes such a stir that a man will leave even his clan and cleave to his wife. Our origin story frees every married couple to form a new home of their very own.

Jesus makes use of this wonder when he affirms the sanctity of marriage (Mt 19):

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother

      and be joined to his wife,

                              and the two shall become one flesh'?

So they are no longer two but one flesh.

      What therefore God has joined together,

      let no one tear apart.

These are the very words I spoke last week at Kristen van Steenwyk’s wedding ceremony.  “Those whom God has joined together,” I said to the bride and groom after they kissed, “let no one tear apart.” The celebrants cheered and applauded—they would feast and dance. What would a wedding be without our Lord’s words? Jesus himself began his earthly ministry among us by joining a wedding festival at Cana of Galilee. You remember what happened… how Jesus salvaged the merriment by turning water into wine—his first miracle. It all has to do with what God did while the man slept.

The Apostle also affirms the sanctity of marriage with our same “Therefore”. First, by warning us against infidelity (God’s “No”):

When you join yourself to a prostitute

      you become one body with her

for, as it is written

      “The two shall become one flesh” (1Cor 6).

And second, by affirming the wonder of marriage (God’s “Yes’):

Husbands love your wives…

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

     and be joined to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh."

This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband. (Eph 5)

That’s quite a “Therefore”. It gets us, by way of a “profound mystery,” to Christ and his Church. The mystery stretches all the way into Eternity when we will feast forever at the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (Rv 19).

Origin Story #12 of 21:

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good …” (Gn 2:18)

Creation is not quite right. We can’t have man all by himself. Paradise isn’t paradise without the joys and wonders of sharing it with others. Man alone isn’t good. The creator himself notices it. So the Creator goes back to work to bring his creation to a better place.

For things to be right, Adam needs company. “So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air.” Man’s vocation expands to giving all the animals their proper name. Up to now, God has done the naming as when “God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas” (Gn 1:10). But now, God hands this task of naming things over to the man.

The Lord himself seems interested in how Adam will do: “The Lord God brought the animals to the man to see what he would call them.”  God “looks on” to see how Adam does. It’s a  task that requires intelligence and speech. God seems happy with man’s work: “Whatever the man called every living creature that was its name.” No second guessing or corrections made on God’s part. It’s totally man’s doing and man’s responsibility.

Adam does good. But still, things are not good. Man can give names to God’s creative work, but man can’t create something that isn’t. So the Lord, once again, goes back to his creative work. Man, with all his power and intellect, has nothing to do with it. He’s asleep, completely out of it. This is totally God’s work. God does what only God can do: “While man slept God took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.” When Adam sees her, he does what man does. He breaks into a love song:

This at last is bone of my bones

        and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

        because she was taken out of Man.

What a wonder. She’s human with flesh and bones just like Adam only breathtakingly different. She not only gets a name, but a song. A song not unlike Johnny Cash singing "Flesh and blood needs flesh and blood and you’re the one for me.” Now things are good. Paradise becomes paradise.

Origin Story #11 of 21:

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens…
The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground,

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;

and 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. (Gn 2:4-7)

It looked like our origin story was over—“finished” (Gn 2:1-2). The hymn is finished with the seventh stanza, but our origin story continues. To know something of our individual origin, we need a story with plot, interesting characters, suspense, and resolution. Hymn (poetry), and story (narrative) is how the Bible goes. The Exodus story can’t be told without the songs of Mariam and Moses. Songs weave their way through our Christmas story: “The Song of Mary”; or, “the heavenly host praising God and singing ‘Glory to God in the highest…’” (Lk 1-2). That’s how we worship. We gather to sing our hymns of praise; and then, someone will tell a story about God and his way with us. So too with our origin story. It’s worshipful.

The story part takes place “in the day when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Not “days” as the hymn goes; but “in the day” singular. Like we use the phrase “in the day” meaning a span of time; or, an epic of time during which something memorable happens. Our majestic God who speaks from a distance and calls creation into existence; now comes close forming man from the ground and breathing the breath of life into his nostrils. This is the God we know as Lord—his divine name given to Moses at the burning bush: “I am” for short; or “I am who I am”. A name so precious—so sacred that worshipers just whisper, “Lord.” God is the Creator worshipers have come to know as Lord.

In the story part that follows the hymn, the Lord God plants “a garden in Eden, in the east”; a place suited for “the man whom he had formed.” Not the great expanses of our Hymn; but, a particular garden in the east. Not big like “Let the earth bring forth”; but particular: Out of Eden’s 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.” Not chaotic waters separated and put into their proper place so that the earth could bring forth vegetation; but, particular water from particular rivers: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers”—rivers with names, two of which we know to this day: Tigris and Euphrates.

As with the hymn, man is given a vocation. He has responsibilities. Only here, his responsibilities are not so vast as being fruitful and multiplying, and filling the earth and subduing and ruling it. Now, our origin story speaks of a particular vocation suited for a particular place: to care for the garden. For the garden to be the garden, it needs our tilling and keeping. All is well; or is it? There’s more to the story.

Origin Story #10 of 21:

God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,

because on it he rested from all his creating and making work. (Gn 2:1-3)

At the completion of all his creating and making, the Creator rests. It’s been a wild and turbulent journey creating space for life to flourish. And now, the seventh day God sets apart for us to delight in all the wonders of creation. With its cadence, rhythms and repeated refrains, our origin story sounds like a hymn of praise to our Creator:    

                        God said …let there be

                        And it was so…

                        And God made…

                        And God saw that it was good.

It’s a majestic hymn of the faithful who “by faith understand that the world was created by the word of God” (Hb 11:3). When we enter into this hymn, we prepare ourselves for the hymns we will one day sing before the Throne of God (Rev 4:11):

You are worthy, our Lord and God,

      to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

      and by your will they existed and were created.

God works on creation by his Word—his speech carries weight. It makes things happen. God cares about it all—that’s why he speaks into the void. Yet God remains different from it all. He’s not an object of creation. He is the uncreated ONE. We would not expect to discover God through scientific investigation of the universe. He’s not there as other objects are there. So David C is not wrong when he says, “Modern science can find no direct evidence for a god.” (p. 25) That’s not where God is found. God Almighty, creator or heaven and earth, “is high and lifted up” above his creation, though “his glory fills the whole earth”. (Isa 6:1-3) If one is attentive and open to such possibilities, there is a good chance one will see something of God’s glory in his creation. It’s the stuff of poetry and song—of art and wonder.

To our surprise, this majestic hymn of creation is not the whole of our origin story. Genesis one hymn of creation will now be followed by a more intimate story of creation. That’s how worship works (Lk 2:14):

Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!

From “God in the highest” to “peace on earth”. From God big and removed, to God moving close and intimate. Our origin story moves on to tell of our “high and lifted up” Creator moving in close to his creation and his creature. A love story unfolds between God and his creation. It will be a stormy love story. Sometimes we wonder if God really cares. Will he stick with his creation? That’s the Gospel Story.

Origin Story #9 of 21:

And God blessed them, and God said to them…

"Behold, I have given …every green plant for food.” (Gn 1:20-31)

The abundant vegetation of grains and fruits the “earth brought forth” on the third day provides enough food to feed all living creatures of sea, sky and land. We share the blessing with “All Creatures of our God and King”, as the hymn goes. For now, humans along with all the other animals, are vegetarians. There are no predators or fear of predators. That’s Shalom—to live in peace and wellbeing with one’s Creator, and with creation, and with all living creatures. To know such peace is to be blessed.

It tells us something about God’s intent for humankind’s power to subdue and rule. It’s a power and rule that does not threaten, but like God, nourishes and cares for creation and its creatures. For God’s people, it remains our hope for a redeemed creation (Isa 11:6-9):

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

      and the leopard shall lie down with the goats,

and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

      and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall feed;

      their young shall lie down together;

      and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The sucking child shall play with the cobra,

      and the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper’s den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;

      for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD

      as the waters cover the sea.

In the closing chapters, Isaiah will speak again of this renewed creation (Isa 65:25):

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,

      the lion shall eat straw like the ox;

      and dust shall be the serpent's food.

They shall not hurt or destroy

      in all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

What happens if we remove our Creator’s blessing? What happens when we come up with an origin story of our own—a story told without our Creator’s blessing? What happens when we no longer see the other as God’s creature? What happens when humans use their unique powers to subdue and rule without any knowledge or care about their Creator? It’s here, at the point of blessing and goodness, that David Cs story fails us. What reason can science give us to care for “All creatures of our God and King”? Natural selection knows nothing of goodness, beauty, or blessing.

As believers, we are often reminded of how religion has caused all sorts of horrors in the name of God. It’s true. We, as best I can see, have owed up to it. Maybe even repented of it. Bad things happen when the church lays claim to Caesar’s Sword (Rm 13). However, does science have clean hands? Have horrors been committed in the name of science? The French Revolution, Communism and Nazism come to mind—ideologies that dismiss God at the altar of science.

We live somewhere between these two worlds—the world of God’s good and blessed creation, and the renewed world that the prophet prophesied. In between, with God’s permission (Gn 9), we are free to eat meat. Maybe, those of us who don’t mind a good steak, should at least feel a little uneasy about it. The closer we are to animals the less comfortable we are with eating them==like pet dogs and cats. Not only dogs and cats, but now that the Taylors have chickens, the children don’t want to eat Steve’s state of the art barbecued chicken. Some choose to be vegetarians, like some choose to be pacifist; choosing to live in this world as if it were the redeemed and renewed world that awaits us. Some of us choose to live in this world as is, yet not all together at ease about it; knowing of God’s blessing on “All Creatures of our God and King”, as the hymn goes.

Origin Story #8 of 21:

Be fruitful and multiply,

and fill the earth and subdue it;

and have dominion over… every living thing. (Gn 1:28)

We are spending a few days with the Bilinskis in their new home at Lake Wildwood. It’s beautiful. They did a wonderful job situating their home in such a way that the wonders of God’s wild creation are all about. As I write, I look out at the sun rising above the forested trees. What a view. What a wonder. What a delightful morning.

The very existence of Lake Wildwood has to do with, as our origin story goes, subduing nature and exercises dominion over it. Boise Cascade developed the property in the 1960s damming up a couple of creeks to form the lake, and around the lake they developed over 2,000 lots for folks like the Bilinskis to purchase and build. A half-century ago, humans brought their own will to bear on this forested valley in the Sierra Foothills, making of it something they had imagined, discussed and planned. With big machinery, science and technology; humans made a lake where there was no lake. Like God, out of our own imagination, we make things.

We aren’t altogether comfortable with this. Should humans have such power over nature? Is this “speciesism”? Would nature be better off if God had stuck to a five day work week? But God decides creation needs sixth-day creatures like us to manage things. It’s our responsibility. God doesn’t tell us how we are to manage things. There are no “how-tos”. We are created with the intelligence to figure out what needs to be done. Our power to subdue and rule is given to us for purposes of preserving order and life in God’s good creation. God has granted his blessing upon all life—even the sea monsters and those creeping things. Our task, with imagination, intelligence and language, is to see to it that “all creatures” flourish on God’s beautiful green earth.

Jim just pointed out a buck following a doe. It’s mating season he tells me. There’s a heavy human footprint about Lake Wildwood. Yet they see to it that nature flourishes. Creation’s robust fecundity on display.

Origin Story #7 of 21:

So God created humankind in his image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them. (Gn 1:27)

Since the first sentence of our origin story, “created”, that big word for God’s unique doing has been lying low. Instead, we get a rather human word: “made” as in “God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night” (vs 16). This making has the sense of God working with the dark, chaotic watery brew to make something out of it—to bring it into an order that is fitting for the wonders of living creatures. It’s the work of his Word. His speaking forth has a way of bending the chaotic void into his will and purposes. It’s the work of putting into place a world that is fit for abundant life. When life comes forth, our big God word “created” comes back into play. When humankind makes its appearance God’s big word is repeated three times in rapid succession:

            God created humankind in his image,

            In the image of God he created them;

            Male and female he created them. (vs 27)

The Creator creates a creature that bears his image. The sudden barrage of these “created” words gives us a sense that something extraordinary is taking place. A unique creature that bears the Image of God.

There’s much to surprise us here. Let’s start with “image”: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” is the first commandment. And yet, God creates an image of himself. As if God knows we need some image—some hint of who he is and what he is like. It’s not the real thing, but a clue to the Eternal. This is God’s idea of how he is to be imaged. This is that singular part of creation which best discloses something of the Creator. Any graven, fixed image of this Creator is a fraud. God is not imaged in anything fixed. The Creator’s image is best seen in the voice and freedom of the human person. Eventually, further along in our Gospel Story, we come to Christmas morning, when we celebrate the One who is “The Image of the invisible God”.