Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Creation in Reverse: This is not good. :(

This sermon was preached at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Holliston, MA on July 15, 2014. 

Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ,
Today, as we celebrate our Triune God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we read about the story of how the world was created.

I started thinking about this, in light of the words from our confession for today:
  We put ourselves first and others last.
  What we think will make us happy
 Leaves us longing for more.

And I thought, what if this story of creation, was reversed. What if, instead of existing as a perfect, loving communion already, our God was in need of companionship, and so created humans.

Or, in other words, I thought of how the story would go if it was up to us humans, and here it is:

God was bored and lazing around, and thought, I need to be productive and not bored. I need some companionship. So, in order to produce some companions, God rested up for a while, so that maximum productivity could be ensured, because being bored, and doing nothing was not good.

So, after God had rested for a while, God made some companions he called people. And, to ensure peak productivity, God gave the humans the people the means to reproduce themselves. Now God knew that he would never be bored, and he was just about to rest, when he noticed something was not good.

The people, were getting hungry, and they had nothing to eat, and so they started fighting and trying to eat each other. Just as fast as the humans could reproduce themselves, they stopped living, and when they were living, they weren’t very good companions for God. This was not good.

So, God decided to make something besides that the humans could eat besides themselves. God made some animals, like cattle, all the way down to creepy crawly things. But, though these animals could reproduce, they needed to eat too. So, while the people were eating the animals, the animals also started eating each other, and everything was dying just as quickly as it had before. In addition, because there weren’t enough of them, the people started fighting over who got to eat the animals. The people weren’t good companions for God, because they spent all their time trying to get food, and, the people who didn’t have enough asked God for something to eat, and the people who had it all asked God not to take any away. This was not good.

So, God made more animals, innovative animals. But no one could eat the birds because they kept flying all the time, as they had nothing to land on, and they didn’t want to be eaten. And the special gills God gave the other creatures just didn’t work at all. And there wasn’t enough, and the people continued to fight, and were not good companions at all. This was not good.

So, God thought a little bit and decided that one problem was that no one could see where they were going. So God, made a star that gave a little brightness, which helped some, but then people started complaining because some had more of the brightness then others. And so God made more stars, and even made a moon, that gave more brightness, but the people still complained.
So, God made a star that was really close to the humans, and it was very bright, and hot, but now everyone had too much brightness. Everyone was cranky and mad and sunburned. This was not good.


God didn’t know what to do next, so God made some food for the animals to eat, so that there would be more animals for the people to eat. God made plants, and they were good for not only the animals, but also the people to eat. But they were scarce, because the bright star wilted them. Besides, the people were so accustomed to eating the animals, especially the ones that made bacon, that they didn’t want to eat the plants. This led God to solve many problems by making water, which fed the plants, gave the creatures with gills a place to live, and even helped the animals and people to quench a thirst they didn’t know they had.

But there were still problems. Not everyone could live next to the water that made the plants grow, which, in turn, made more bacon. As a result, even though there was more, there still wasn’t enough. Plus, some people used the plants called trees to make shaded places for themselves and their animals, while others were wilted, parched, and hungry, because they had no shade from the bright star, no water or plants, and no food. And the people weren’t good companions, some died of hunger, and many more died fighting over the food, and water. This was not good.

Next, God developed a distribution program, and made a sky. The water from the seas would go up into the sky, and make clouds, and then fall down on the people who didn’t live close to the water. But the people who had a lot of animals, wanted more, and they needed more barns for the animals, and more food for them. So they kept cutting down all trees, and growing just the plants the animals could eat. Because of this, the water didn’t stay where it fell, on the people far from the water, but ran to the people who already had enough. The people weren’t good companions, because they kept fighting, and taking the things God had made for everyone to share, for themselves. This was not good.

By this time, God decided that both he and the people could use some rest. So God, took the blazing star away for a little while. This way, the people wouldn’t be able to see very well, and they would stop trying to get more food and just rest. But by this time, the people had learned that the trees could burn, and give them light whenever they wanted. They used this fire light to keep on trying to get food, some just a little to feed their starving bellies, others to get so much that they would never run out. And even though the people had everything they could ever want, they kept fighting and working, never resting. They were always cranky, and not good companions. This was not good.

And so God, took away the light. Everything died. This was really not good.

Thankfully, this is not the real story, the GOOD STORY, the Good News story.

What is good, is that God has given us the Good News of the real creation story. The story where God has created all things, and given them to us to care for, to be stewards of, so that we don’t just reproduce, but so that we can be fruitful, and multiply, along with all that God has created.

The Good News is that even as we continue to sinfully live in a world of scarcity, a world where we fight and hoard rather than share, God comes to us in Jesus Christ, and feeds us with abundant life that never runs out. The life that we share with others, because God has first shared it with us.

The Good News, is that this life is for everyone, and God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, sends us out to sow the seeds of this life, the merciful seeds of peace, justice, and love to all people.

The Good News is that God has looked upon all of creation and said, “It is good!” May we find rest in this promise, and joy in living it out.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Amen