Sermon feast of the creator, year A, 2026

When I was younger I noticed that no sunrise or sunset was the same as the one before, each was uniquely beautiful with different clouds and colours.  I envisioned God as an artist, painting each sunset with different colours each and every day for the pure joy of it.

We tend to think of the creation as a one time event.  God created and it was so, and it was good, and it was done.  Yet the Earth and all in it are continually changing and evolving, being created and recreated all the time. The outer layer of our skin for example is completely replaced every month, always new, always changing.  We are all in a continual state of re-creation

Creation.  I think that is the key here.  Creation and creating……

In our readings today we have a couple stories of creation;  the well known intro to the Gospel of John;

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”

We also have a creation story from Genesis, but not the 7 days of creation…we read today of the less known story…the creation story from Genesis 2.  In which Adam was created from the dust of the earth and Eve from Adam’s rib.

We also get to hear of the creation of the animals, birds, fish…but in this creation story there is a significant difference from the ‘on the first day’ version of creation.   We read of humanity’s participation in God’s creation.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it….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”

It is on the surface a bit of a funny scene…All the creatures of the earth birds, cattle, bugs…all parading past this Human as God asks Adam to name each creature and decide if it is a suitable partner for him.   How ‘bout the whale Adam…nah too big…butterfly?...too delicate.  Macaws are pretty, how ‘bout one of them?  Or the orangutan? They’re very clever?’

The part I find most intriguing is that God involved humanity in the formation of creation, in the ordering and care of creation.  Humanity was placed in the garden to till it and keep it, into creation for the caring of creation, of which we are apart.  Western European culture though has too often interpreted this gift of stewardship as a gift of ownership and use for our own, specifically European purposes.  The good ol’ concept of dominion, of property, of exploitation…the idea that God made humanity in His image and so we are God like and superior to creation and can bend it to our will and use.

However, the words in Hebrew for the responsibility that God gave us are more akin to atheology of stewardship…they are more like God put humanity in the garden to keep watch over the garden and help it to flourish, and to do so in partnership.

I’ve always believed that this is what is meant when Genesis 1 tells us that God made humanity in God’s own image.  Not that God is a man and then made a man.  Nor that God necessarily has 2 arms, 2 legs and one head… that is all besides the point.  God is at the center of God’s being an artist.  A creator. 

God is seen in what God creates and God’s creation is a reflection of God.  Humanity, creature, biosphere or atmosphere all creation tells us about it’s creator.  Just like you can learn about a person through what they write, or sew or paint or plant.

Take my garden for instance.  How I have arranged my yard is a reflection of my ideals and my desires.  By noticing that I have replaced lawn with vegetables, planted a variety of pollinator friendly perennials and even that my vegetables are all fenced in and the flowers are not…you can learn about who I am and what I believe.

So, what is it that we can learn about the creator from the creation?  I think that it is key that humanity was involved in creation, this wasn’t necessary, it was God’s choice.  That humanity was placed into creation and given work to do, was also intentional.  That humanity was in need of partnership and mutual relationships.  That creation includes unending of variety.  That creation can evolve, change, adapt and even create, as it’s creator does, is not chance…it reflects who God is.  A supreme being who values beauty, variety, relationship, purpose, imagination, and growth.

In the beginning was the WORD, a word that created all things and itself became a part of its own creation. 

“What has come into being was life, and that life was the light of all people.”  “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God”

We have been named children of God…and like all children we reflect the image of our creator.  We have been made as part of the family…a part of a legacy.  There is a vast inheritance that comes with that gift of belonging and a great responsibility to safeguard creation for the generations to come, and to reconcile with creation for the sins of the past.  Not just because we have the responsibility but because we are continually trying to live up to the image of God within us. 

The image of a creator who has gone to great lengths to help us reconcile with God.  Who has entrusted Creation to our stewardship.  To keep guard over creation and to help it to flourish.  To weed, till, cultivate and harvest …together with creation…in mutual partnership so that all of creation can live to its fullest potential.  All of creation, not just the parts we like or that benefit us, knowing that God also gave us power and ability, the understanding and the choice to do what we will. 

In the micro verse of my garden I can use that power to pull up that which I name weeds.   To change to soil for the benefit of one plant or another.  I have the ability to plant or to pave.  To force creation to bend to my will or to live in mutuality with the other creatures around me…even if the deer eat my beans and the squirels dig up my bulbs.  What I’ve learnt is that it doesn’t mean give up to the weeds and the pests…big and little…it means work in mutuality.

Fencing the vegetables, but knowing the day lillies will be nibbled.  Risking the stares of the neighbours by leaving my spring clean up until the bugs have come out of hibernation.   Providing plants for a variety of pollinators, water for birds and bugs and knowing that this means the extra work of replacing water so as not to breed mosquitoes and having to continually pull up the native plants that spread so quickly.

Creation, humanity included, living in mutuality, caring and providing for each other in imitation of God’s care for his creation..

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being… And the Word became flesh and lived among us,”  

The Creator in creation, and all of Creation responds to that love.

“Praise the Lord from the earth, * you sea-monsters and all deeps;

Fire and hail, snow and fog, * tempestuous wind, doing his will;

Mountains and all hills, *fruit trees and all cedars;

Wild beasts and all cattle, * creeping things and wingèd birds;”

 

Just as humanity responds to the love God has shown us in creation, ultimately coming in person to participate in creation, watching over creation and helping it to flourish, restoring and reconciling the brokenness we have caused.   We are called to do the same, to fulfil our role in creation by tending, caring for and helping creation to flourish. 

Living into the image of God by being in creation, living in mutual relationship, creating and being recreated.  Participating in creation by reconciling and respecting the world around us.  Imitating God by being a part of creation to the benefit of all of creation, not just of ourselves.

To be reflections of the creator in whose image we have all be created.  Amen.