I must confess that I live in a house divided. My sweetheart, Ryan, loves Star Wars. She has a Star Wars themed sweatshirt, a mug, a tote bag, a clock, socks, pencils… you get the idea… Because I am a loving & supportive partner I surprised her with opening night tickets to 1 of the newer Star Wars movies when it came out. We arrive and get popcorn. We settle in to our seats. I kid you not, 15 minutes in & I am nodding off. At first hoping she doesn’t notice, then eventually openly sleeping through the movie.

Sorry if that offends you Star Wars fans. I don’t mind Star Wars, but I am more of a Star Trek fan myself. I’m not a Trekkie, but I have enjoyed the most recent series of movies. Thankfully Ryan has room in her heart for Star Trek too.

1 of the things I like about Star Trek is it always pushes my imagination upward & outward. What if there really was an Enterprise light years away? What if the next frontier is beyond the Earth? Could I pull off one of those Star Trek uniform mini-dresses? These are the deep questions that keep me up at night…

Do you remember at the beginning of each Star Wars or Star Trek movie or sometimes other epics, there is a scrolling backstory before panning to an exciting opening scene?

“There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic. This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy.”[1]

Our text this morning from Genesis 1 serves a similar purpose. The Creation narrative is 1of many origin stories explaining how we got to be where we are and is intended to set up the rest of the epic in Genesis, maybe even beyond. Those famous opening words, “In the beginning God created” come from the Hebrew bereshit. Scholars have suggested that this phrase could be interpreted up to 12 different ways[2]. For the purposes of this morning, I suggest to you a more helpful reading than the traditional one. Instead of “in the beginning God created”, what about “the beginning of God’s creating”?

This is more than semantics. There is embedded meaning. God has created. God is creating. God will create. We join God as co-creators.

Theology around Creation often uses a Latin term, ex nihilo, out of nothing. God created everything out of nothing. However, verse 2 says, “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters”. If you ever want an interesting exercise in imagination, listen to a song by Moby called God Moving Over the Faces of the Water as a sort of auditory representation of this portion of the story.

While there may have been nothing of clearly defined substance for God to work with, I need to believe that God can begin creating with a formless void and darkness covering the deep because that often describes me. I need God to create something new, something sustainable, out of my incompleteness.

Scholar Carole Crumley writes, “Genesis looks into the heart of darkness and sees something beautiful and hopeful: a creative force, a hovering spirit, and a penetrating light that cannot be overcome”.

If Creation teaches us anything, it is that we are not alone and we are interconnected. Therefore it is not only an act of love for our neighbors, but also an act of love for ourselves & the Creator to care for Creation. It is an act of sacred defiance and part of what it means to be made in the image of God to look around, see formless void & darkness covering the deep, to look around & sometimes even ask ourselves if this dump is worth saving, then to answer yes as we co-create with God.

A lot of people will talk about how humanity is the crown jewel of Creation. This strikes me more as a well-intended cliché rather than a deeply held belief. Come on. Did you see that jerk who cut me off in traffic? Do you know the wounds my mother has inflicted on me? Have you read the president’s Twitter feed? Did you hear about how Capital Pride organizers diminished & disrespected people of color & other minorities within the LGBTQ community?

We are here as people & we are made in God’s image, though we don’t always act like it. To be made in God’s image AND to act like it requires a deep concern for loving our neighbors.

The Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan challenges us to consider, who is my neighbor? Anyone who has passed kindergarten Sunday School knows the answer is: everyone is my neighbor.

But really. Who is my neighbor?

 

Immigrant families who live in fear of deportation.
Women who dare to assert leadership.
Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, and other unarmed Black men killed by police.
Your favorite aunt or uncle.
LGBTQ people who have Bible verses thrown at them.
Muslim women who may or may not wear hijab.
White men who struggle to find new definitions of success when capital gain is challenged.
Senior adults who feel forgotten and disrespected.
Oak trees, polar ice caps, and bees.

 

St. Francis of Assisi felt so connected to all of Creation he gave them familial titles in his famous poetic prayer, Canticle of the Sun: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, and Sister Mother Earth.

Sister and Brother are more familiar titles for people, of course. A higher view of loving one’s human neighbors will increase a higher view of loving one’s non-human neighbors. Understanding the interconnectedness of Creation is essential to holding up one’s end of the delicate ecosystem.

Growing up, my family would visit my great-grandmother’s home near Dallas. There was a large beautiful hand-drawn family tree hanging in the main hallway. There were photographs of everyone from my mother’s generation back to the early 1800s, maybe even 1700s. I remember gazing at this art- the art of family, the art of generations, and the art of chain reactions. I remember wondering what if that couple had not met each other? I also remember being terrified because 1 of the women many generations back was photographed in black & white. I’m told she had fair blue eyes, so the fair blue printed close to white in the black & white picture. Those eyes just stared at you & I’m pretty sure followed me down the hall.

When I speak of family, even in a broad sense, this can be particularly painful and difficult for those in the LGBTQ community who have been rejected or who have been on the receiving end of hostility and religious abuse at the hands of family of origin. The truth is we are God’s beloved and we are an essential part of humanity & Creation. Your presence is part of what makes Creation complete at this moment.

There is a Midrash or Jewish traditional teaching or story that says as Genesis 2 refers to Eve being made from Adam’s rib, this is more than 1 understanding of the Hebrew word tzelah meaning side or rib. The story goes that Adam began as fully male & fully female, then God split him to make Adam & Eve. Sounds to me like Adam was kinda gender-queer. Maybe bisexual? 🙂

There is no other community I know that better exemplifies how meaningful family of choice can be. The Church locally, denominationally. & even globally would do well to take a lesson from the LGBTQ community when it comes to supportive & loving family of choice.

When I speak of family related to Creation I mean family of origin because 1 of the primary goals of the Creation narratives in Genesis & even the larger narrative of Genesis is to establish a shared heritage & origin. I also mean family of choice because each day we choose to remember that we are part of the family of Creation… or not.

To see ourselves as neighbors and family with all of Creation helps move us from an excessively individualistic worldview into one where there is a sense of shared responsibility.  

I prefer the word responsibility more than dominion, because dominion has often been interpreted as dominate. Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori says the word dominion comes from Greek domus and oikos together meaning domestic ecology or caring for the household[3]. We are to be the housewives of the Earth. Schori also says the Bible “subdue the Earth” in Genesis 1 should be interpreted as help it be fruitful. Our current situation is far removed from this interconnected, fruitful, domestic ecology.

It is not enough to feel a personal connection or even to make environmentally responsible decisions in the spirit of Doris Janzen Longacre on an individual, family, or even congregational level. These micro level environmentally responsible decisions paired with macro level advocacy on local, national, and global levels will be what makes a difference and potentially saves the planet from more serious suffering.

The answer is “E”, all of the above- micro and macro informed action.

I don’t know about you, but I struggle sometimes to make sense of the painful reality of living even when I feel like I am making a difference through micro & macro resistance.

Genesis is believed to have been written during a time of exile. 1 of the purposes of the Hebrew people needing to remember & retell the Creation stories is because they were looking for connection to the Creator & certainty of Creation & created order. They needed to remember that the sun will rise & the sun will set. The rain will fall eventually & the seasons will shift.

The sun rises & rain falls on all people, not only those who “deserve” it and not only those whose lives are well managed, but also on people whose lives are falling apart and people with addictions and people in need of God’s spirit or breath entering into them to create thriving life from chaos.

May God awaken us to the beauty of Creation- the beauty of ourselves, the beauty of our neighbors, the beauty of God itself. May we resist apathy and falling asleep in the theatre as the epic story of Creation plays on. May we join God as a co-creating a new Heaven & a new Earth.

Let there be light for our paths. Let there be darkness for resting. May the sky be large enough to make you feel small. May the stars be numerous and bright enough to make you proud to share carbon with them. May the vegetation of the earth be bountiful on your table. When you marvel at a fish or a butterfly or a dog, may you remember that you too are beautifully and wonderfully made. Whatever season you find yourself in, may you know that God is with you at this very moment in that very season too. If you wonder what your life is worth, may you remember that you are made in God’s image- mysterious, complex, lovely, and created for community and co-creating. May you live well and rest well. May we always remember one of our purposes is to be a good neighbor, to more deeply and widely love our relatives on the family tree of Creation. Amen.

[1] http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Opening_crawl

[2] Queer Bible commentary by Michael Carden, p. 26

[3] Schori, Katharine J. “Created for Abundant Life.” Fridays at the Seminary. Virginia Theological Seminary. 6 May 2016. Lecture.