The Trajectory of Everything

Message Title: The Trajectory of Everything
Theme: Made to Be
Season: Ordinary Time
Main Text: Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
RCL Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20
Focus: God creates with intention.
Function: To embrace our commission as humans, living in God’s created order and rejecting the status of the fall.
Other Notes:  TRINITY SUNDAY//Communion Sunday

SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 28:16-20 ¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸ Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.”

BEGINNING OF SERIES–Genesis is the first book in the Bible and the first book of the Torah. This book wasn’t intended to be historical facts to memorize BUT a book about the foundational identity of God’s people. This origin story helps us formulate who God made us to be and how we fit into God’s big plans for creation.

INTRODUCTION:

1. AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: if you were told you could win $1mil if you were able to quote a move at least 75% correctly… what movie would you choose?
2. I’d choose Star Wars: A New Hope

TRANSITION: Sometimes we are so confident that we KNOW scripture so intimately we don’t ACTUALLY have to read those words. It is imperative that we take time to see scripture in its context and let God guide our hearts to understand God’s word in new ways. Otherwise, the Living Word of God stops breathing and is reduced to a collection of thoughts we retain for religious clout. The way we interpret the Creation story is at the foundation of our faith and sets a trajectory for the expression of our faith in words and deeds.

MAIN TEXT: Genesis 1:1-2:4a 1 When God began to create^[a] the heavens and the earth— ² the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters— ³ God said, “Let there be light.” And so light appeared. ⁴ God saw how good the light was. God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God named the light Day and the darkness Night. There was evening and there was morning: the first day. ⁶ God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters to separate the waters from each other.” ⁷ God made the dome and separated the waters under the dome from the waters above the dome. And it happened in that way. ⁸ God named the dome Sky. There was evening and there was morning: the second day. ⁹ God said, “Let the waters under the sky come together into one place so that the dry land can appear.” And that’s what happened. ¹⁰ God named the dry land Earth, and he named the gathered waters Seas. God saw how good it was. ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth grow plant life: plants yielding seeds and fruit trees bearing fruit with seeds inside it, each according to its kind throughout the earth.” And that’s what happened. ¹² The earth produced plant life: plants yielding seeds, each according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit with seeds inside it, each according to its kind. God saw how good it was. ¹³ There was evening and there was morning: the third day. ¹⁴ God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will mark events, sacred seasons, days, and years. ¹⁵ They will be lights in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth.” And that’s what happened. ¹⁶ God made the stars and two great lights: the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night. ¹⁷ God put them in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was. ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning: the fourth day. ²⁰ God said, “Let the waters swarm with living things, and let birds fly above the earth up in the dome of the sky.” ²¹ God created the great sea animals and all the tiny living things that swarm in the waters, each according to its kind, and all the winged birds, each according to its kind. God saw how good it was. ²² Then God blessed them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ There was evening and there was morning: the fifth day. ²⁴ God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things, and wildlife.” And that’s what happened. ²⁵ God made every kind of wildlife, every kind of livestock, and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw how good it was. ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.” ²⁷ God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them,^[b] male and female God created them. ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and master it. Take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and everything crawling on the ground.” ²⁹ Then God said, “I now give to you all the plants on the earth that yield seeds and all the trees whose fruit produces its seeds within it. These will be your food. ³⁰ To all wildlife, to all the birds in the sky, and to everything crawling on the ground—to everything that breathes—I give all the green grasses for food.” And that’s what happened. ³¹ God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good. There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day. 2 The heavens and the earth and all who live in them were completed. ² On the sixth ^[c] day God completed all the work that he had done, and on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done. ³ God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation.^[d] 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

EXPLAINATION:

1. Fresh Eyes: I fear we, the church, reduce the creation account to a science or history textbook with facts to memorize rather than an origin story for God and creation. Genesis is the beginning of the story of God’s relationship with creation.
   1. Genesis 1-2 is one of the most important scriptures in our Bible. How we read the beginning of Genesis sets a trajectory for our interpretation of Scripture and our relationship with God. No pressure, right? 
2. Back to the Basics: It is basic common knowledge that Genesis is the first book in the Bible. However, our Jewish siblings divide the Old Testament into three sections: Law, Prophets, & Writings. The Law begins with Genesis, which starts out the section of scripture outlining the structure of society and core tenants for God’s people. Genesis was intended to be a foundation for the ordering of society. The Creation account details how God would order things if humans would follow suit.
   1. A story 3 ways:
      1. Version 1: Genesis 1:1 –
      1. Version 2: Genesis 1:2-2: 4a –
      1. Version 3: Genesis 2: 4b-25 –
3. Poetry: Genesis 1-2 is a poem of God’s love pouring out of God’s self as creation’s beginning. Where facts and figures fail, poetry thrives.
4. Restarting the Basics: When we start back at the beginning of this beautiful Hebrew poetry, we learn not just about the beginning of creation but the beginning of a love story between God and creation. When God finished creating, God said creation was “very good.” God’s love overflowed as creating humans, this world, the plants and animals. In verse 31, every part of creation together, not just humans, was summarized as very good. Each part of creation was in its God-designed place and the order was wholly holy goodness.
5. Commission: A less common discussion about the creation account involves God commissioning humanity. Until the commissioning of Adam and Eve, starting in 1:28, we have seen God give the Sun and Moon instructions on when to shine, and God commands the birds and fish to be fruitful and multiply. God gives no commands or instructions to the creatures of land or the plants. Only humanity is given a threefold commissioned to fill the earth, subdue the earth, and have dominion.

INTERPRETATION:

1. Key Definitions: Humans were commissioned to subdue the earth and have dominion, but what exactly does it mean to subdue and have dominion?God did not give us free rein over creation. We have the burden and blessing of responsibility but the plan is God’s design. 
   1. Our goal is not to use up the earth and everything on it for our whims or pleasures. Our commission is to embody God’s intention in the way we carry out our commission. We are called to foster the nourishment and flourishing of creation rather than its exploitation. Yes, these Hebrew words subdue & dominion mean to hold a position as an overseer or manager. BUT we must remember overseers and managers act on behalf of a “higher” authority, not their own. We are not free to use creation for our own whim or fancy. 
   1. Everything we do must fit within God’s design, including the commission to “be fruitful.” How we interpret Genesis 1-3 affects our interpretation of the rest of the Bible and even our role in the Gospel: humans’ commission to care for creation rather than exploit it.
2. Getting back to God’s Design:  God’s design did not include hierarchy or division based on gender, ethnicity, or race. God’s original design did not include favoritism. All humans received the same commission. Even when Abraham was chosen to be the father of God’s people, the intention was to bless others (Genesis 12:1-3).
   1. Favoritism, division and hierarchy are products of the Fall. They are not how God designed creation to be ordered. Why do we continue to choose to live in consequences rather than by God’s design? 

APPLICATION:

1. Rule of Life: Now is the time to put our faith into action in light of our study of the creation story. I invite you to consider creating a Rule of Life. “A rule of life is a commitment to live your life in a particular way. It is meant to be crafted with prayer and discernment, in partnership with God, as you consider the way God made you and the values He has inscribed upon your heart.”
   1. Monks, Sisters, & Priests all have rules (or a covenant on how they intend to live)
2. Writing your own rule of life: https://sacredordinarydays.com/pages/rule-of-life 

1. I invite you to consider practicing the art of subduing dominion in your rule of life: 
   1. How does my faith impact my consumerism?
   1. How does my faith impact my interaction with nature? 
   1. How does my faith impact my understanding of rest for myself and others? 
   1. How does my faith change my interaction with the vulnerable? 

CONCLUSION: We may be celebrating graduates today but all of us have a chance to make plans for our lives.

How can I live out God’s commission as a human and Jesus’ commission as a disciple?

COMMUNION – This table is leveling ground. There are no favorites. There are no super holy. There is no gender roles or divisions. All are welcome at this table. All are loved by God. All are invited into God’s commission.