Created for Communion--Genesis 1--6.1.08--Fowler, CO

Created for Communion

Have you ever had one of those moments? Maybe you were on a mountain, or in a canyon, or in the rolling hills full of golden fields of prairie grass that seemed to go on forever. You could have even been in the middle of a desert. All of the sudden, in the middle of all that beauty, and in the middle of all that nature you realized that this was all bigger than you. There you were…maybe all alone, maybe with a few friends with you…but probably in your own little world inside your mind…moved by the beauty of the ocean or by the colors in a sunset.


And, while you were in that moment, surrounded by nature, you came to the realization that God was present in that place at that time. He had been at work in that place long before you came into it, and he would be in that place long after you left it. Then, somehow, you came to the realization that God was not just at work there, but everywhere, but somehow you just noticed it now.



One such moment for me was when I was taking a road trip to visit family through Four Corners and down to Pheonix in the middle of the summer. Now, I had been raised with rivers in my backyard and mountains visible out my front window. Yet, at this moment, I was driving through arid flatland. At the time, my life and my ministry felt like an arid flat land too. I was tired and frustrated. I was wondering if maybe I should quit ministry. And for some strange reason, I kept noticing these strange flowers in the middle of the desert. Many of them growing on the top of cactus. All of the sudden I started noticing all sorts of flowers and life in the middle of the desert. In a place that seemed devoid of life, there was life nonetheless. And I drove. And I listened to my music. And I knew that even in the desert God was at work. And I knew that God was bigger than my present circumstances and my current situation. And somehow, deep down in the pit of my gut, that all would be well. Even if I didn’t see how.



Many of you have had God meet you the same way.



It does not come as a big surprise then, as we open our Bibles to its first words that we find that Genesis 1 is a poem and a song. That is right. A poem and a song.
The Bible does not begin with an argument, a sales pitch, a theological treatise, or a preface. It begins with worship. It begins with praise.

This worship song is also informative. It tells us what happened as the earth began. As we dig in we can learn a lot about what this song is trying to communicate to us, what it is trying to teach our souls.

If we were one of the original hearers of this story, we would notice that the Biblical understanding of creation is unique. First of all, we would notice that God created the world with clear intent. This is not true with the Pantheon of Gods in the Middle East. In many of the Near Eastern accounts, like in Babylon, people were created due to some sort of accident of the gods.

Or, to be more specific, Ancient Near Eastern thought held that this world was the result of conflict between the gods. That somehow we came to be here because we were simply the byproduct of two gods having a huge argument, and as they struggled, the parts of them flung off and part of the blood and the guts and the sweat that flew everywhere from the fight became us. Or at least our universe or something.
When God reveals himself, he tells us something different. Right from the start, God tells us that this this world was created with a purpose. With a passion for beauty. With hope and with joy from a loving, joyful and creative being who just could not keep that love, that beauty, that joy to Himself.Even more, God starts out by saying that you are not an accident. This world is not accident. You have a point. You have a place.

So God created. Or better said. God began creation. He began it with spoken words.
All that is here on this earth, from day to night, to you and me is here because God spoke it into existence. Because he called the sun and earth, the skies and the waters, the birds and the fish, the animals and the plants into being. You are here because God spoke humanity into existence. Male and female in the image of God.
The Scripture is clear on this point, all that is here is here because God spoke it into existence. That includes you. You are made on purpose by God. You are not something off the cosmic refuse dump. You are a beautiful creation. You were made by a God who loves you. This is how God begins telling us about life and the world around us. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. It begins with his loving words. Those words are the foundation for all that comes later. All that was and is and is to come exists by his will. I don’t quite understand how all of that works. But I believe it because I read it here. In the beginning….God created.

How amazing. No wonder Scripture starts with a song.

I must admit, I often find these words of good news hard to believe in my personal life. I am a perfectionist. I see failure before I see the good in myself. I go through my day and I wonder just how God can use someone like me. Ornery. Overweight. Spacy. Selfish. Stubborn. I wonder how God has some kind of purpose for something like me. Yet, over and over again, God shows me I have value and I am not an accident, often by using my weaknesses and the things I feel most insecure about for his glory.

Furthermore, it says what God has created is good. It is good. Despite all that we have done to ruin things creation is still good. God’s work in creation is still good.

What else does it say about us and how God created us? God’s word tells us that we were created in his image. What does that mean?

Well theologians have thought about this, argued about this, wrestled with this, and discussed this for centuries. Some come up with neat little ideas. Some come up with weird ideas. Some even write books about their ideas.

Some say it is our free will that makes us in the image of God. Some say it is our ability to be self-conscious. Others say it is our ability to reason that makes us like God.

Here is what I think the Scripture tells us—although I will admit it is a little simplistic:
1. I think Scripture tells us that we have a unique role to play. God made us with specific calls on our lives and specific things that we are do in this world on his behalf. It has to do with a lot of things, but most of all it has to do with being his hands and feet, his representative to others on earth. In the New Testament we call those who choose to claim their role as image-bearers disciples. Paul said, “Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children”

2. I think much of what is said about us being made in the image of God is also about simply being in right relationship with God. About being a friend with God. From the beginning of creation, he created people like you and me to be in relationship with him. To love him. To obey him. To be his friend. This is why he blesses us. This is why he brings us in on what he is doing in creation. Caring for what he made.

3. At the same time being told we are made in the image of God confers us with great honor and favor and great importance, being made in the image of God reminds us that all of this, this world, this creation, this work we do, is not about us. When we are truly living our lives as were created to live, we are simply reflecting God’s glory.

I don’t know about you, but I am tempted to think it is all about me. I am tempted to twist my faith to be about making myself happy, making myself fulfilled, alieviating my fears, building my SELF IMAGE.I don’t know about you, but I am tempted to come to God with a sense of entitlement. I want to tell God the way that he should do things. And when it does not work out quite the way I want it to, I am tempted to get frustrated and angry.

And I read this first chapter of Genesis 1 I hear a song. But it is not a song that is being sung to me. It is a song of praise that I should sing. Praise to a God whose love surrounds me. Who created the air I breathe and the food I eat, and the sun that lights my days and land my feet walk on. And who in the midst of that, wants me to be his friend. Who gives me purpose and meaning, hope and acceptance.

This word communion is strange. It comes from the same word as community, but it talks about intimate relationship. It talks about a connection. It is appropriate for how God made us to be. We are made to be in relationship with him. It is an appropriate word as we come to the Lord’s Table as well.

As we come to the cross, we remember too, that this table is not about us. It is about Jesus.

We come not to force our agenda, but to surrender to God’s. We come not to justify ourselves, but to accept that we are only justified through trusting in Christ’s saving work on the cross.

It is about Christ’s love. It is about Jesus being wanting to be in relationship with us. Let us sing on.