Awesome Beyond Words
Text: Genesis 1:1-2:4a
The first chapter of Genesis may well be the most-read part of the Bible… if for no other reason that it literally is the beginning of the book. Even if our well-intentioned quest to read the Bible from cover-to-cover fails miserably, at least we will have read Genesis Chapter One… but even so, there is so much to this first chapter… this Epic poem that proclaims the glories of the universe, and at the same time is a defiant declaration of God’s power in the face of an oppressive invading power. We get so hung up on it being literal or not literal that we’ve entirely missed the point of the story, and we don’t hear much less learn the real power of what this passage is really saying… what God is really saying to each of us… to you… to me. That we are part of something wondrous and marvelous, that is truly awesome beyond words.
Contrary to what we might conventionally think, the first Chapter of Genesis is not the oldest part of the Bible. Employing a bit of literary archaeology, we know that this opening chapter was added as a foreword, an introduction, some time around the Exile in Babylon between 580 and 500 BC. It was written at a point in time where the people of Israel were questioning the Lord’s power, especially in the light of his apparent lack of ability to stop the Babylonian army from destroying Jerusalem and the Temple. They were asking, “Where is God?” and not getting an answer. The Babylonians claimed that their gods, and not the God of Israel were the true masters of creation.
Genesis chapter one is a powerful, defiant response that begs to differ. It is a song to the majesty of and freedom of God from an imprisoned people who were made to feel small and insignificant. It proclaims the wonders of creation, while at the same time setting the record straight as to who is really in charge… and it does so by playing on and dismantling what would have been well-known stories that the Babylonians told their captives. It does so by showing that God’s power comes not from a powerful sword arm or great cosmic weapon, but from the simple act of speaking a word.
It is those words that are the most powerful. In the beginning the Spirit of God hovers over the great waters that represent chaos. God says “let there be…” and there is. It doesn’t show God picking up materials or using tools to fashion creation with the divine hand… Simply saying “let there be…” God brings order out of the chaos of those primordial waters.
But what is even more powerful than this is how God responds and perceives creation. As this poem unfolds, each day concludes with God seeing the elements of what has come together is “good.”
The Light –Good.
Earth and Seas –Good.
Vegetation and Trees –Good.
Sun and Moon –Good.
Creatures of the Sea and Air –good
Creatures of the Land – Good.
Okay… so it’s all good. So what? Maybe we’re a bit jaded. It’s just “good”? That's it? In English we have a number of words to describe something being “good” –and if anything it’s a bit underwhelming for us. The word in Hebrew is “Tov” –and typical of most words from this ancient Biblical language there is no real way to encompass what it really means. It can be translated into English at least twenty different ways. It is used to describe something that is profoundly right… especially when God is the one that is doing the perceiving. To take it as being simply "good" means we've really underestimating things. When God calls something "good" it's relative term depending on whose saying it. There is a poetic understatement going on here. It's kind of like calling Wayne Gretzky an "okay" hockey player.
For each of these elements of creation God calls them "good." There is something profoundly right about it... When God looks at all that is made, including all of humanity, God calls the sum of all of these parts "Very Good." Nowhere else does God specifically call anything "very good." Really, no amount of words can fully describe how pleased God is with the universe, that all of it is awesome beyond words.
Remember that the world is being called awesome beyond words at a point when everybody else believed that it had all gone horribly wrong. In the midst of disaster, war, political strife, the universe as God intends it is "awesome beyond words." It means that this world that we are a part of is God's world, and it is intended to be good... but it's so much more than that... Genesis Chapter One was written to encourage and support a people who had lost all hope. Whose own world had come collapsing in on itself. Over time, they had built up this notion that no matter what they did, God would always be on their side. They had become arrogant, self-righteous, and had presumed that no matter what decision they made, they did so with God's automatic stamp of approval. The arrival of the Babylonians changed all that, and their world came crashing down. Yet in the midst of that despair, that loss of faith, someone began to realize that maybe it wasn't God who had failed them, but that somehow they had lost their way. Now, in the midst of their exile, God was now beginning to pave the way to bring them home. To rekindle their faith... but in such a way that they saw God in a much more profound way. No longer would God be simply their protective guardian against a host of other deities... they began to see God as the Lord of all creation... who was in control no matter what.
The real rub for us… for you and I, is this powerful reminder that the world and universe into which you and I were born is profoundly good… awesome beyond words. God of Hebrew Scriptures is no different than the God of the New Testament... expressed in the Holy Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The world that God created, that we live in together, –no matter what the process was –is awesome beyond words. You and I are part of something that is awesome beyond words.The challenge is actually seeing it. Sometimes it's pretty obvious, like the feeling of being so tiny next to the massive old-growth trees in Cathedral Grove near my in-law's place on Vancouver island... or being on top of Haleakala, the big dormant volcano on the island of Maui... or seeing the great oceanic swells smashing into the rocks at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia... You've had your own experiences of that... but it doesn't have to be big and spectacular either. While I was doing some work on our front lawn this past Friday, planting some new seed, my daughter was happily playing in the sand and dirt in a playground out behind our townhouse. She gleefully played there for an hour, getting up close and personal with the very earth, and having a blast. This is something that most adults would rather not stoop to... and yet here she was happily playing and enjoying the world around her. I have to admit that I learned to see my own shoveling of dirt in a different way. Our children and grandchildren still have so much to teach us. No matter how large or small, all of this is being a part of God's creation, and realizing that we're part of something wonderful.
To a group of people in despair and in exile this text proclaimed 'trust in the power of God to bring you to life in all of its abundance'. This passage depicts a very humane God who playfully yet methodically goes about the task of creating and then rests... but does not stop there. God has a special on-going relationship with creation. God does not create and then abandon. Even in the midst of the chaos in Burma and China, this is true - God's Spirit is at work through agencies such as the Red Cross, etc. giving comfort and hope... and at the same time revealing to us of our own shortcomings. God creates for a purpose, for God's purpose... and then continues to be there to support, to nurture, to guide. In other words, God has a purpose, still... for all of us... even here in this place... a purpose to be a part of something awesome beyond words.
Amen.
The first chapter of Genesis may well be the most-read part of the Bible… if for no other reason that it literally is the beginning of the book. Even if our well-intentioned quest to read the Bible from cover-to-cover fails miserably, at least we will have read Genesis Chapter One… but even so, there is so much to this first chapter… this Epic poem that proclaims the glories of the universe, and at the same time is a defiant declaration of God’s power in the face of an oppressive invading power. We get so hung up on it being literal or not literal that we’ve entirely missed the point of the story, and we don’t hear much less learn the real power of what this passage is really saying… what God is really saying to each of us… to you… to me. That we are part of something wondrous and marvelous, that is truly awesome beyond words.
Contrary to what we might conventionally think, the first Chapter of Genesis is not the oldest part of the Bible. Employing a bit of literary archaeology, we know that this opening chapter was added as a foreword, an introduction, some time around the Exile in Babylon between 580 and 500 BC. It was written at a point in time where the people of Israel were questioning the Lord’s power, especially in the light of his apparent lack of ability to stop the Babylonian army from destroying Jerusalem and the Temple. They were asking, “Where is God?” and not getting an answer. The Babylonians claimed that their gods, and not the God of Israel were the true masters of creation.
Genesis chapter one is a powerful, defiant response that begs to differ. It is a song to the majesty of and freedom of God from an imprisoned people who were made to feel small and insignificant. It proclaims the wonders of creation, while at the same time setting the record straight as to who is really in charge… and it does so by playing on and dismantling what would have been well-known stories that the Babylonians told their captives. It does so by showing that God’s power comes not from a powerful sword arm or great cosmic weapon, but from the simple act of speaking a word.
It is those words that are the most powerful. In the beginning the Spirit of God hovers over the great waters that represent chaos. God says “let there be…” and there is. It doesn’t show God picking up materials or using tools to fashion creation with the divine hand… Simply saying “let there be…” God brings order out of the chaos of those primordial waters.
But what is even more powerful than this is how God responds and perceives creation. As this poem unfolds, each day concludes with God seeing the elements of what has come together is “good.”
The Light –Good.
Earth and Seas –Good.
Vegetation and Trees –Good.
Sun and Moon –Good.
Creatures of the Sea and Air –good
Creatures of the Land – Good.
Okay… so it’s all good. So what? Maybe we’re a bit jaded. It’s just “good”? That's it? In English we have a number of words to describe something being “good” –and if anything it’s a bit underwhelming for us. The word in Hebrew is “Tov” –and typical of most words from this ancient Biblical language there is no real way to encompass what it really means. It can be translated into English at least twenty different ways. It is used to describe something that is profoundly right… especially when God is the one that is doing the perceiving. To take it as being simply "good" means we've really underestimating things. When God calls something "good" it's relative term depending on whose saying it. There is a poetic understatement going on here. It's kind of like calling Wayne Gretzky an "okay" hockey player.
For each of these elements of creation God calls them "good." There is something profoundly right about it... When God looks at all that is made, including all of humanity, God calls the sum of all of these parts "Very Good." Nowhere else does God specifically call anything "very good." Really, no amount of words can fully describe how pleased God is with the universe, that all of it is awesome beyond words.
Remember that the world is being called awesome beyond words at a point when everybody else believed that it had all gone horribly wrong. In the midst of disaster, war, political strife, the universe as God intends it is "awesome beyond words." It means that this world that we are a part of is God's world, and it is intended to be good... but it's so much more than that... Genesis Chapter One was written to encourage and support a people who had lost all hope. Whose own world had come collapsing in on itself. Over time, they had built up this notion that no matter what they did, God would always be on their side. They had become arrogant, self-righteous, and had presumed that no matter what decision they made, they did so with God's automatic stamp of approval. The arrival of the Babylonians changed all that, and their world came crashing down. Yet in the midst of that despair, that loss of faith, someone began to realize that maybe it wasn't God who had failed them, but that somehow they had lost their way. Now, in the midst of their exile, God was now beginning to pave the way to bring them home. To rekindle their faith... but in such a way that they saw God in a much more profound way. No longer would God be simply their protective guardian against a host of other deities... they began to see God as the Lord of all creation... who was in control no matter what.
The real rub for us… for you and I, is this powerful reminder that the world and universe into which you and I were born is profoundly good… awesome beyond words. God of Hebrew Scriptures is no different than the God of the New Testament... expressed in the Holy Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The world that God created, that we live in together, –no matter what the process was –is awesome beyond words. You and I are part of something that is awesome beyond words.The challenge is actually seeing it. Sometimes it's pretty obvious, like the feeling of being so tiny next to the massive old-growth trees in Cathedral Grove near my in-law's place on Vancouver island... or being on top of Haleakala, the big dormant volcano on the island of Maui... or seeing the great oceanic swells smashing into the rocks at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia... You've had your own experiences of that... but it doesn't have to be big and spectacular either. While I was doing some work on our front lawn this past Friday, planting some new seed, my daughter was happily playing in the sand and dirt in a playground out behind our townhouse. She gleefully played there for an hour, getting up close and personal with the very earth, and having a blast. This is something that most adults would rather not stoop to... and yet here she was happily playing and enjoying the world around her. I have to admit that I learned to see my own shoveling of dirt in a different way. Our children and grandchildren still have so much to teach us. No matter how large or small, all of this is being a part of God's creation, and realizing that we're part of something wonderful.
To a group of people in despair and in exile this text proclaimed 'trust in the power of God to bring you to life in all of its abundance'. This passage depicts a very humane God who playfully yet methodically goes about the task of creating and then rests... but does not stop there. God has a special on-going relationship with creation. God does not create and then abandon. Even in the midst of the chaos in Burma and China, this is true - God's Spirit is at work through agencies such as the Red Cross, etc. giving comfort and hope... and at the same time revealing to us of our own shortcomings. God creates for a purpose, for God's purpose... and then continues to be there to support, to nurture, to guide. In other words, God has a purpose, still... for all of us... even here in this place... a purpose to be a part of something awesome beyond words.
Amen.
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