Today is Welcome Back Sunday in church. Just as the school year is starting, we are in the beginning of a few things here at Trinity. Sunday school is resuming for young people. The time of our Adult Bible Study has moved to its 8:30 “regular time” slot. And, we resume using our Narrative Lectionary to guide our worship services.
A lectionary is a schedule of Scripture readings that we use in worship and also is used by Christian believers in their personal worship life. Lectionaries have been used by Christians since they were developed in the 4th century. We follow them in our worship life so we can hear many of the important stories from the Bible regularly in worship. We began using a lectionary called the Narrative Lectionary last year – it is a four year cycle of scripture readings that emphasises the stories of the Bible and the ways those stories and events are connected to each other. The Narrative Lectionary follows the school year calendar – each year, the fall readings come from the Old Testament, the Gospel readings are in the Advent and Christmas season, and the readings for the rest of the year focus on Jesus’ life and ministry.
Every year, the first reading of the Fall focuses on Creation. So, this morning, we will turn to Genesis Chapter 1 and read the first of the creation stories in our Bible.
Scripture Genesis 1:1–2:4a
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”
7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.
8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.
10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.
12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. 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 vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,
15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.
16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth,
18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from 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 water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
Amen
Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen
Let us pray…
Message God’s Good Creation
The first chapter of Genesis was not written to be a science textbook. It was not intended by its authors to be a history text either. The men and women scribes who wrote down the poetic words of the book of Genesis were putting on parchment words that were memorized and repeated and passed down from one generation to the next. They were not meant to be a factual recording of an event that exactly happened the way it was written, but were intended to express the faith of a people that believed God created the world and is present in the created world.
Instead of being a history, or a natural science textbook, the Bible is primarily a testimony about God’s relationship with God’s people. The first chapter of Genesis is a summary of how God created the world and us. We believe in God’s creative action in the world….God created the heavens and the earth. There are several creation stories in the Bible – the one we read just now; the story that follows with Adam and Eve in the Garden: the first chapter of John that tells about the Word being in the beginning; and the creation story in Psalm 104, a story that praises God and says: “How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” So, we believe God has been present in creation – and God is still present in creation.
In Genesis 1, after each portion of the heavens and earth were created, God exclaimed that they were good. The light was good. The land and the seas were good. The vegetation was good. Day and night were good. The birds and the sea creatures were good. The creatures who lived on land were good. Verse thirty-one says: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
We, the people, sometimes struggle to see the Good in each other. We, the people, sometimes struggle to see the good in ourselves. But, this story of Creation reminds us that God sees us as inherently good. Yes, we make mistakes. Yes, we are not perfect. Yes, we even sometimes do the wrong things on purpose. But, at our core, we are good. God loves us, warts and all. And, when we interact with other people, it is important to remember they are also good. They are also loved by God, even in their imperfections. It is important for us to work to recognize the good in each other. Even when we are running out of patience, and are frustrated, and are angry, that the people around us are loved by God and are good, and we should love them as well.
The world of the twenty-first century is chaotic. The news is full of strange events and odd political decisions and fear-mongering. When we hear about what is happening in the wider world, it is overwhelming.
But, in the creation story for Genesis 1, God is very logical. God has a plan. God is meticulous. This reminds us that God has a logical plan for us and lives have a God-ordained meaning. We may feel overwhelmed by the chaos and disorder we witness in the world, but the first story of creation reminds us that God has a plan, God has an order, God has a design for us and our lives that is entirely methodical and good.
On the seventh day of creation, God rested. God took a break. God didn’t need to keep busy all of the time and keep working and keep doing. God stopped and rested and relaxed. This reminds us, in our increasingly busy and complex lives, that we also need to take breaks – to take a good look at the wonders God created – take time to appreciate God and appreciate all that God does for us – and breathe. God made us as beings who are capable of doing wondrous and amazing things, and God also created us as beings who need to pause and rest and appreciate the blessings we have received.
God made us as stewards of God’s creation. Stewardship is responsibly planning and managing resources. We are stewards of the created world, and are called to care for each other, care for people who are struggling, care for the created world, and carefully manage the gifts God has passed down to us.
The first story of Genesis, the creation story of Genesis 1, reminds us of several things. All that we have, all that we are, is created and given to us by our loving God. God made this world and declared it Good. God made us and declared us Good. We may not understand why our world seems so unpredictable, but our God has a plan for us and and order for doing things that is logical and good. God created us to care for God’s creation and each other, and as beings who need to pause and appreciate all that we have been blessed to inherit from God in our world and in our lives.
So, let us remember, God made the world and declared it Good. Let us work to bring good into the world as we care for God’s creation and each other. Amen.
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