Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Two Tales of Creation, Sabbath & One Tale of Re-Creation

Two Tales of Creation, Sabbath & One Tale of Re-Creation

Reverend Debbie Blane

Nile Theological College Chapel

Wednesday March 10, 2010

Genesis 1:26 – 2:4a

Introduction:

I acknowledge the fact that in this sermon I am projecting back into this Scripture as a Christian. How I am going to examine this passage is not as a Jewish person would see it.

As a Christian I immediately “see” The Trinity in this passage. I will explain this more fully in a minute.

When I was in seminary I studied a man named Gregory of Nazianzus who lived in the 4th century – with Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa the three men were known as The Cappadocian Fathers. As I studied Gregory of Nazianzus and read about his work my life was changed. I wrote a paper about his theology and my life has been informed by what I learned ever since that time.

The Cappadocian Fathers were known for their work that was done around the Triune God – the Trinity. They envisioned the three in one as a community of equal, self-giving members. There was no hierarchy in their Trinity, there was no one person of the Trinity above or below any other. Gregory envisioned and named what he called the Perichoresis, a very special theological term that essentially means the Dance of the Trinity.

By talking about the Triune God in terms of a dance, of sharing and rejoicing together and then inviting humanity to join in this dance we come to understand that the image of God, as seen in the Trinity, is RELATIONSHIP.

2 Tales of Creation:

The first tale of creation is a tale of human beings – made in the image of God.

“Let us make humankind in our image” – God is Triune.

We human beings were created in God’s image –

Male and female together.

In God’s image –

In relationship.

Now – we go to the

Second Tale of Creation in Genesis 2 & 3:

This is the creation story where God created man first and then woman from the man’s rib. The man was Adam, before the woman’s creation he was earth, made from dust. When the woman was created Adam became man and the woman was Eve, woman. Until they were both created they did not have distinct identities.

The second creation story is also the story where the serpent tempted Adam and Eve and they – both – ate from the fruit of the Forbidden Tree.

This is the story of what happens to we human beings when we try to be God in our own lives – our own God’s. We do this, just as Adam and Eve did, by not obeying God’s laws for our lives. God’s laws are designed to allow us to live in Triune Community.

Let’s go back to Genesis 2:3:

Keeping Sabbath requires letting go of control of our world. Each of us has to let go and watch as God does it all. Just like in the original, the first, creation story.

With Jesus’ incarnation and death and resurrection he healed the separation between human beings and between human beings and God. In our lives today it is possible that keeping Sabbath is one of the best reminders for us of the Triune Community we are invited to dance with. This isn’t OUR dance. It is God’s dance, on God’s terms. And WE are invited to participate, not to run things.

No more separation.

No more self will.

But sometimes that can be hard to remember on a daily basis. Sabbath keeping can help to take us back to that.

Finally

a vision of shalom, peace, and complete healing:

lived all the time, every day is Sabbath day!, in Rev. 21:22-27 through Rev. 22:1-5.

We won’t go back to the Triune perfection of creation. Instead we will be in a re-creation—a new creation. All of God’s people will be dancing along in the Dance of Life, in the Dance of the Triune God in a city full of God’s people – we will go from Adam and Eve to a whole city rejoicing, singing, swaying together and holding hands in circle upon circle.

Forever.

Amen.

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