In the beginning, when God created Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, the area was a formless void of chaos, and darkness covered the deep pit called, Towanda. Then a wind from God, God’s Spirit, moved as God said, “Let there be light,” and there was a light on the hill. It was a stone fortress with people in it. And God called it Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, and it was good.
In the church God separated the families into pews, by pews on opposite sides of the church did God separate the families, and there was peace and there was harmony, and God saw that it was good. God said, "Let there be a space for David Fortney under the 'judgment window,'" and it was so. Forever will that space be named, “David Forney’s pew.” Though Cathy Smith or Gert May or Janet Buchta may try to sit there, it will always be known as “David Fortney’s Pew,” and it was good.
And God said, "Let the choir always sit in the front of the church just off to the side and let them sing only after the prayer of the day, or during the offering, but preferably after the prayer of the day," and it was so, and God saw that it was good.
Then God created the pastor. The pastor did God create, and God said, "May the Pastor stand at the pulpit and preach to the people…no shorter than three minutes and no longer than fifteen minutes, but preferably more on the three minute side," and it was so, sometimes. And, God heard the pastor’s sermons and God said, “They are very good…sometimes.” And God said, "Let us create something to laugh at," and God created Dave Estelle. Dave Estelle along with his jokes did God create and they were very good…sometimes.
So, after God had created the places in the pews for each family, a space at the organ for Kay, and the order of worship to be followed without fail, God rested because it was good and it was all written on stone for eternity.
You already know what’s wrong with this retelling of the creation story I’m sure. Number one, it is self-centered. God cares about more than just Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. There was no mention that the people reach out to the community in any creative sort of way in this creation story. Further, the story was about separating and thereby keeping peace between families and said nothing of loving the enemy or even of the love found between all of us in our community. The story made the creation of our church seem final, set in stone, immovable, stuck, unable to breath in a new breath from God’s creative Spirit. The entire thing was a caricature of our congregation that rung only a small hint of truth, but failed to look at the real congregation and the real movement of the Spirit.
Sometimes I fear that the creation story in Genesis exists the same way in people’s minds. It is an imperfect caricature of the real creation story. The false creation story that we remember has a ring of truth to it, but it fails to see God’s real creative power.
One way to get at this is to ask people to retell the creation story from memory, see the details they remember, and notice the details that they have left out. Now, when Americans are asked to retell this story, we get a retelling that goes something like this: “God, who is all powerful, created the universe and everything in it out of nothing. It was done in an orderly fashion, done in seven days, and when God saw it, God said that it was very good. And, the pinnacle of all creation is the human being who has dominion over everything created.” Some astute American Bible students will alter things a little by noting that God actually created out of a murky pool of chaos and not out of nothing. He or she may also note that seven days does not have to be literal. However, this is generally how it is read by Americans.
Now, listen to some of the things that a Namibian student I knew lifted up in their retelling that was not heard in the American retelling: The Namibian recounted God’s Spirit ordering of the world out of chaos like the astute Americans, and also noted that God asked the waters and the earth to help in the creation. God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures,” and God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures.” In addition, the animals and humans are also asked to help create. “God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply…’” He further noted that God asks the heavenly court for help in creating humankind in their image. Just look at the text closely and you will read it there, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” What the Namibian remembered in their retelling, above all, is that creation is an ongoing, shared effort. Creation is an ongoing, shared effort.
We Americans have long overlooked the fact that creation is ongoing. The Bible clearly states that creation is not a one time event. It is constantly continuing to develop. In addition, we Americans and our cowboy riding into the sunset attitude do not always see that creation is the act of “us” not “me.” Creation is an ongoing, shared effort between our Triune God, creation, and especially humankind, those set aside by God to ensure the creative process does not come to an end.
I could rightly launch into a sermon about the need for the world to work together in an effort to find creative ways to allow all creation to thrive without destroying it. You know that sermon though. I will not preach to the choir, so to speak, instead I will ask the choir to preach. You are the people of God. Please leave from here and preach it. It needs to be preached.
Instead, I want to go back to talking about the creation of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. My caricature in the beginning was wrong. This congregation is not static. Just as the creation of the world was not a one-time event, so too the creation of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was not a one-time event. Just as new people sit in Dave Fortney’s pew, God continues to create new life in this congregation. The congregation’s shape continues to grow and change and be new. And, that sort of creative ministry is good. And, it is not done alone. It is done as a community. Together we work to create, shape, and form our ministry so that God’s love in Jesus Christ truly may make this church a light that can be seen by all those around us.
In this reflection I simply want to remind you, the people of God right here, that we are alive with God’s Spirit, we are creative, and we have the gift of each other. With those gifts, we can decide together how to create a ministry that will be effective in sharing God’s love and God’s passion for life. Creation is ongoing and it is a shared effort, and it is an effort coming directly from Jesus the Christ whom we gladly join.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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