Creation Stories

The Five Mighty Acts of God

I. The Creation

Folks keep telling me they wish we had a Bible Study, or that they knew more about the Bible, or that they knew more of the Church’s basic teachings. As our Lenten journey begins this year, let’s do exactly that. Come let us learn together. Please turn in the Book of Common Prayer to page 845. There you have before you “The Outline of Faith” or what is also called “The Catechism”. The word Catechism means “teaching”, the words, catechist means “teacher”, catecheumenate means “those who are learning” and catechesis is the process of teaching and learning together. 

As we think about the Biblical narrative, let me suggest that we organize our thoughts around God’s great plan of salvation under five headings. They are easy to remember as; “The Five Mighty Acts of God”. What are they, class?

Act I. Creation

Act II. The Exodus

Act III. Jesus Christ

Act IV. The Church

Act V. The Christian Hope

Our lives, our pilgrimage toward heaven is woven through and through in this ongoing narrative. The Catechism begins with a section on Human Nature. In other words; “Who are we; In the Beginning?”

But first, let me ask you this; How did the Bible come to be? The Bible did not come to us as we now have it, signed sealed and delivered as a fait accompli. What was the process by which the Bible was transmitted and assembled over thousands of years? How did people of faith bring these stories together? Think about it! Where did it all begin?

The truth is that it all began in an oral tradition that endured over hundred’s of years. But even before that, there were the experiences of God. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Rachael and Leah  and their experiences. Moses and his. Then they told their stories of their experiences of God. The people entrusted the transmission and the preservation of these stories to folks who could read and write; the scribes and the rabbis. These people became the teachers and storytellers of a very special kind. These stories were so precious to the people of God that eventually they were written down. These experiences and the stories they shared became the primary vehicle through which we became The People of God.

Then the stories were woven together by folks who treasured various traditions of understandings. They preserved their traditions and stories in scrolls beginning with the Pentateuch or the Law; the first five books of Moses; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. 

As time went on there was the period of the Judges, the Kings, the Wisdom Literature and the Psalms. They were all were written down by the scribes and eventually there was a whole collection of scrolls carefully preserved for the transmission and the preservation of the stories and traditions of God’s people. This collection of Scrolls began to be called a sacred library. And as you know, the word for library in Greek and Latin is “Biblia” from which we get our modern day word “Bible”, God’s Holy Library. 

Still, few people could read, the scrolls were kept in the synagogues and then the churches. They were heavy and cumbersome and very expensive. Eventually the monks of the church became the publishing society of what historians call “The Dark Ages”. For these monks, especially those in Ireland, they regarded every single word ever written as holy. Thankfully, they preserved the literature of Greeces and Rome and antiquity. As for the Bible they began to assemble these scrolls into books. Their exquisite illuminations, such as the Book of Kells, are a magnificent tribute to western art and spirituality. 

When Christianity arrived in Britain and Ireland between the third and sixth centuries most of the monks and clergy could only carry two books with them; typically John’s Gospel and the Psalms. They were big heavy books. John’s Gospel was regarded then as the most faithful, beautiful,  and exquisite presentation of the person of Jesus Christ. The Psalms of course were carried because they were the Prayer Book of Jesus. After all, as an observant Jew, Jesus would have read the Psalms from beginning to end every month as we still do, those of us who follow the church’s 30 day lectionary for the reading of the Psalms. 

With the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, the Holy Library of Books, became available in a more manageable format as a single book. Literacy spread like wildfire. Everybody wanted a Bible.

But don’t forget how it all began. When you read these sacred pages, they are an invitation for you to remember that God invites you into a living encounter with the Trinity of Persons we see in the Creation itself; God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

Act I The Creation

There are actually three Creation stories if you include the Prologue to John’s Gospel. Listen to how John’s Gospel begins; 

“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, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus was there right in the very beginning. According to the Johannine account of the Creation, Jesus is the Word of God!

In Genesis we read two accounts of how things were in the beginning. By the way, the method of storytelling favored by the rabbis was to give two answers for each question asked. This method of teaching was a way of cultivating dialogue and encouraging critical thought so that we might enter into deeper relationship with the living God. Thus when the people gathered by the campfire and the children asked where we all come from, the rabbis would tell more than one story.

For instance, in the first chapter of Genesis, we read;

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 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. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good;”

Notice the magnificent Hebrew poetry, and the cadences that speak of God bringing order out of chaos, as if all of time and space came into being out of nothing through the power of God. 

And it was good! 

“Then came the canopy of space, the waters above and below the earth,” This was now the second day and what God did was good.

“Then God gathered the land into one place, there was vegetation and fruit trees and so on and this too was good.”

On and one this creation story goes as you know, and all went well.

“Then on the sixth day, God created humankind in God’s image,

   in the image of God he created them;

   male and female he created them. 

God blessed them. Then, God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”

There it is; the first creation story. God made everything that is and it was good. It was very good.

As you know, things did not go so well in the second Creation story. 

There is a very different tone in this story. This is not the same kind of Hebrew poetry. In fact if you know your Hebrew you’ll notice right away that this is a whole linguistic style as if written by a different author. Read it for yourself. It begins with the 4th verse in the second chapter of Genesis

Listen to what it says; 

“In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up…then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the 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.”

You don’t even have to know Hebrew to notice that we’re talking about a different story here. Also this word “Adam” literally means “mud man” because he was made out of the mud that God created from the ground. Then “God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’”

God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam and created Eve. Soon enough there was the business of the snake, the apple, the disobedience, the shame, the hiding,  the blame and the coverup.

I often think that the nakedness of Adam and Eve is not is not so much about a physical nakedness but a metaphorical one.  It was impossible for either one to accept responsibility for what they had done because of their disobedience. They chose rather to “cover up” their responsibility and accountability. Rather Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake. 

What had been that state of satisfaction and goodness in the first creation story now becomes a state of alienation between the man, the woman, the created order, and worst of all God. Then enmity breaks out between the children, Cain murders Abel and the and the social alienation among all humankind enters human history.  God asks this fundamental question “Where is your brother Abel?’ Cain replied, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’” That still statement haunts all of history. 

Notice that there are two narratives for us to consider in our life with God, one in which we walk with God and one another as the redeemed and the forgiven of Christ; and the other in which our alienation takes us far from the goodness of God.

Paul puts it this way in today’s Epistle “As sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, so death spread to all because all have sinned…For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.”

In the wilderness we are confronted with the reality of sin and evil within ourselves.

In today’s Gospel we read of how Jesus faced down the evil one in the greatest temptations of his life. Of course Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread. God knows he could have. But we do not live by bread alone. Besides, as Jesus told Peter, if you love me you will feed my sheep. All of us will feed the hungry. I’m sure Jesus was tempted to do some kind of fancy trick like jumping off the pinnacle of the Temple to prove once and for all that he is God. But Jesus tells the devil; “Don’t tempt me!” Perhaps the greatest temptation of all would be to take all the nations of the earth, claim their power, and impose Christ’s will on everyone. But that would not change the human heart. God’s power is not found in armies or weaponry. God’s power is shown rather in his dying love through which we are finally reconciled to him and to one another. Finally Jesus dispatches the Evil One; “Get away from me Satan.” 

In the Creation story from John the Word becomes flesh. Then there are the two creation stories from Genesis, one in which we walk with God and one another in peace. The other in which guilt, blame, coverup and rage rules the human heart. Those two story lines continue through scripture was we waver between sin and redemption, self will and obedience, blame and forgiveness. These two story lines weave their way through all of human history.  

Imagine that we gather together this day in the rabbinical tradition to reflect on our Creation. Imagine asking how did things came to be the way they are. I might reply let me tell you two stories of how they were in the beginning. On the one hand all was well between us and God. On the other hand, things went very badly in blame coverup and violence. The question is not how it came to be that way. The question is who we will choose to be today! 

In the Name of God, the Most Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

Fr Paul

Bring the Outcasts Here!

“Gather the Blind, the Lame

And those with Child”

~Jeremiah 31

Bartimeaus, the blind beggar comes to Jesus today and calls out; “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Bartimeaus was maimed, unclean, and if he were to get too close to Jesus or to the disciples he could make them unclean as well. The Law was clear about such things, and so he was ordered sternly to “hush up” and “be quiet”. The admonition fell on deaf ears for the blind man, and with that he called out all the more loudly, now I daresay, creating a scene; “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”

At that point, Jesus stood still, perfectly still and commanded the commotion to stop, and he said; “Call him here.”

They viewed Jesus as the Master, and called him so, even though he often surprised them by his teaching. Jesus often confronts the Law with contradiction.

There is a difference between how Leviticus looks at those with blemishes and imperfections and how the prophetic tradition looks at the blind, the lame and those with child. Jesus often tilts to the side of the prophets when human suffering and imperfection comes to the fore.

In fact, the theological view within the Torah is based on the notion that we should be holy as God is holy. There’s nothing wrong with that. Obviously we should all strive for the holiness that God intends for us. 

But if it is the case that it is only those without blemish who may make an offering to God, then what of the rest of us? What of Bartimeaus, the blind beggar?

According to the Law, the blind, the lame, the blemished, the lepers, the sinners and so forth are not welcome to make an offering in the Temple. Because they are blemished, so too are their gifts blemished. And the logic of the Law tells them they may not approach the Throne Room of God. The holy of holies is reserved only for the High Priest, and for him, even, only once a year.

To be fair, the Law also requires us not to put a stumbling block in the way of the blind or the maimed. We are certainly not to revile or insult anyone who is maimed in any way. The Law is clear about that. We are called to remember God’s holiness and to offer nothing but our purest selves to God and to respect every human being.

But the problem is that there is much that is maimed and blind, there are many, many sinners, and for far too many of us, achieving this level of purity is beyond our reach. 

In the heat of an election year, even the word “retarded” is bandied about in a rather casual and uncharitable way. But then in an election season, there are many uncharitable words bandied about. Given the nature of politics, we’re likely to characterize our opponents uncharitably. This too is a part of human nature, and falls somewhat short of God’s intention for us.

But now we take the case of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar in today’s Gospel reading. The fact that he is maimed, supports the admonition that he hold his peace and not approach Jesus. More and more, Jesus is being viewed as the Holy one of God.

But then he often challenges the old ways of looking at things, even if it requires contradiction of the Law. 

So he says; “Tell him to come here”.

Bartimaeus throws off his cloak. Can you imagine the reaction in the crowd? This behavior is scandalous!

He blindly stumbles toward Jesus, Jesus may have had to say, “Over here, Bartimaeus” a time or two as he looked around with his hands.

The Master says; “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Help me see again”, 

Again! Really. Are we talking about seeing, or perceiving, or understanding? Or are we talking about all the above?

Our faith is often wanting. Our blindness and deafness assaults the senses not only in physical ways but in metaphorical ways as well.

Jesus often says; “If you have eyes to see, then look. If you have ears to hear then listen.”

So now, perhaps we are talking about faith. True, blindness is a dreadful condition but I once had a parishioner who was a legally blind teenager who could read the scripture by committing the words to memory and to heart. She brought a much enlarged text with her to help coach her to reading aloud. She is an inspiration. And she loved to read the scripture. It brought her faith.

There are those who are blind, deaf, retarded, lame, and maimed in all sorts of ways in every congregation I’ve served. But they were not so to Jesus. Their gift was precious to him. 

And this became a teaching so important to Jesus, that he spent the majority of his time in healing the sin sick souls of those who followed him. 

For to Jesus, being holy as God is holy, as important as that is, was superseded only by the notion that we are to be compassionate as God is compassionate.

In the Greek, the word compassion is the same as the word gut, or womb. The love that Jesus felt for Bartimaeus and the rest of us, was so deep and so profound, that it paralleled the love of a mother for her child.

So when the prophet says, “gather the blind, the lame, those with child and those in labor”, he may seemingly be contradicting the holiness code. But Jesus came to fulfill the Law, and does so with the compassion of God. 

To Jesus there was nothing unclean, spotted, or blemished about sinners like you and me. Instead it was entirely in keeping with Jesus’ notion of compassion, that he too, like the prophet, would gather the blind, the lame, those with child and those in labor into his circle of friends.

“What would you have me do for you?” It is the question Jesus asks as he stands knocking at the door of every human heart. 

Perhaps you may ask; “Let me see again.”

Or you may say; “Let me perceive and understand again. Let me believe again. Let me give my gift to you.”

As Jesus said to Bartimaeus, so he says to you; “Go your faith has made you well.”

And immediately we go on The Way, the Jesus Way. We have received our sight once again!

Walk the Walk

Walk the Walk

St Gabriel’s is blessed with seven AA groups. Every week scores of people share their stories and help one another work the “Twelve Steps” toward recovery. They learn many lessons together about the nature of human nature. It is easy enough to hear or to speak the Word of God. It is another matter entirely to Do the Word of God.

As we used to say in the Old Neighborhood; "Talk is cheap". To talk the talk is one thing. To walk the walk is entirely something else. The sacrifice of living the life is one built on the notion of compassion and love. Living that way will cost you. It is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "The Cost of Discipleship". 

This way of life, while it will cost you, is the way of God. It is the way that leads to eternal life. Such a life is built on our care and concern for the poor and the vulnerable. It is built on truth within and a fearless inventory within ourselves.

There is goodness within. There is also much that needs our attention. For without a constant "weeding" of the soul, things "rank and gross in nature possess it merely". (Hamlet Act 1 Scene II line 136)

A Biblically ordered life is a life that builds itself on an awareness of the kingdom of God within.

These words from today’s Epistle speak volumes. They come at an especially helpful moment. There is lots of talk coming from Tampa this past week. There is more to come in a few days from Charlotte, North Carolina. Lets hold these words up to the Truth.

That's the acid test.

Here are the words without comment.

James 1:17-27

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

May I live the words.

May we all live the words.

May truth dwell within us.

May we too dare to "care for the orphans and widows in their distress and keep ourselves unstained by the world". There are so many others to care for too! And to keep ourselves unstained in the process! How in the world can we do such a thing without the help of God.

Jesus’s disciples were challenged because they did not observe the kosher codes of cleanliness. They were thought to be stained. Is it only reasonable that we wash our hands and clean the pots and pans? Even my grandmother would say that cleanliness is next to godliness. But the question was of a deeper kind of cleanliness. Then Jesus responded that the dialectic of righteousness and cleanliness had more to do with what comes out of a human being more than what goes into one.

As Jesus said in today’s Gospel lesson: “For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

You may notice that all these evil intentions are bountiful in the world we live in.  It is clear that we have much to learn as we seek to honor one another as Jesus encouraged us to do; indeed as the scripture requires us to do. 

Today’s Psalm (Psalm 15, Book of Common Prayer, page 599) is worth listening to again especially when we consider how we treat one another in our political relationships

1

LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *

who may abide upon your holy hill?

2

Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *

who speaks the truth from his heart.

3

There is no guile upon his tongue;

he does no evil to his friend; *

he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.

6

He does not give his money in hope of gain, *

nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

7

Whoever does these things *

shall never be overthrown.

These are some sobering words. Heaping contempt is a national pass time, it seems to me. And the money that goes around in any election is astounding! If we are seeking to lead a biblically ordered life as so many of our political representatives claim to do, then there are significant portions of scripture that many seem to ignore.

Moses, the “Law Giver” speaks wisdom to the nations of the world with these words. They are no mere suggestions of humankind; they are the direct command of God.

“You must observe these laws diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!" For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?”

The fact that I read these words into the record today is not by any stretch likely to have much impact on how we conduct the remainder of this year’s election. Mutual contempt and diatribe are very much likely to continue and indeed likely to intensify as the hurricane season also often does. Much wind I’m afraid but little wisdom! It is the way of the world.

But we the people can conduct ourselves in a kinder, gentler way. God know’s I’m capable of being an outspoken advocate for my point of view. But isn’t it interesting how often God speaks into the midst of human life...right into the heart of things?

When that happens, the preacher is bound to be faithful to God and proclaim the word as it is, not as s/he might prefer it to be. I thank God that we as Episcopalians are bound to live by the Whole Word of God. I thank God that we follow a lectionary, a three year cycle of assigned readings. The preacher is not free, in our tradition, to select a passage of Scripture s/he likes or tickles his/her fancy. S/he is bound to preach on those passages assigned to her or him on any particular day.

We do pray for this nation. Yes this election is important. They all are. For it is in our discernment of God’s will that the Commonwealth of the nation rests. If nothing else may the Wisdom of God’s Word guide us to that sacred space that we have been given through years of sacrifice: the sacred space we know as the Voter’s Booth. This Labor day may Business learn to honor Labor. Without Labor there is no Business. And may Labor learn to honor Business. Without Business there can be no Labor. After all we are two wings of the same bird. Without the use of both wings no bird can fly. It is compelling me to remember that one of the symbols of this great nation is the Eagle. The Eagle must use both the Left Wing and the Right Wing to fly and then to soar. When shall we learn this Truth with itself is also self evident?

In the meantime, We the People come to the Altar of God week by week. Our AA meetings continue unabated. We seek the Wisdom of God together. We build a strong nation from within. May God prosper our Prayer our words and above all our actions.

God bless you today. God bless you always.

Fr. Paul