Epiphany 1 Year B Sermon Genesis 1
‘In the beginning… God’…in the beginning…
there wasn’t even space……………..Just God. [pause]
Let that sink in for a moment…close your eyes if you need to
and get your head around it…expand your perception of reality …beyond creation…outside creation… [pause………..]
and get your head around it…expand your perception of reality …beyond creation…outside creation… [pause………..]
‘In the beginning…. God’
How long?…irrelevant…Since time didn’t exist yet.
Where?…irrelevant…since space didn’t exist yet…
Where?…irrelevant…since space didn’t exist yet…
Just God………. present…being…and then?
And then what? Creating.
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‘In the beginning God… created’
God created something…what?
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In the beginning God… created the heavens
God creates space…when all there was… was God …
God… creates space for something … makes room…
for something other than God…
God… creates space for something … makes room…
for something other than God…
Space isn’t God…even space… is creation…
space in which stars could exist…
and planets and galaxies and nebula…but not yet…
because…that comes later…
more is needed…more is needed…
space in which stars could exist…
and planets and galaxies and nebula…but not yet…
because…that comes later…
more is needed…more is needed…
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In the beginning God created the heavens…and the earth
But first… where the earth will be there’s…a black hole
a vacuum… in space.
a vacuum… in space.
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Now the earth was formless and empty
Where the earth would be…there’s a black watery depth …and nothing else
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‘and darkness was over… the surface of the deep’
…dark upon dark…
…dark upon dark…
and then… God moves… or at least…a part of God
moves into the space God has created
moves into the space God has created
a part of God… moves into creation!
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‘and the Spirit of God… was hovering over the waters.’
The Spirit of God enters… into creation… and drifts…
over the black watery depths…where the earth will be
over the black watery depths…where the earth will be
And suddenly God speaks …
and the only thing listening… is the darkness.
and the only thing listening… is the darkness.
‘And God says…
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"Let there be light,"…and there was… light’ [pause]
long before the stars and the sun and the moon…
before the earth… before life…
there is light…and light is energy…
once created never destroyed…science has taught us…in the first law of thermodynamics energy can be transformed (changed from one form to another), but cannot be created or destroyed by human kind.
In the beginning…
just God… creating space…
moving into this space…and calling forth light
in all that darkness …and
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‘God saw… that the light was good’ [pause]
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Good.
Then God separates the light from the darkness…
This energy…this light… is separated out…
from the formless black watery void…
and each is named by God …day and night
from the formless black watery void…
and each is named by God …day and night
and time is created…[pause]
Space… energy… time
That's’ enough work for one day…don’t you think.
Babylon slide
Many biblical scholars… believe these verses
were written during Israel's exile in Babylon…
a time of darkness…a time of hopelessness and despair…
were written during Israel's exile in Babylon…
a time of darkness…a time of hopelessness and despair…
Their country has been trashed by a powerful aggressor
who destroys Solomon’s Temple…kills thousands…
and carries off all their leaders…into exile.
And this powerful poetry we read…in the first chapter of Genesis …is sorely needed …to contrast the dark vision of the divine painted by the Babylonians and the horrors
in their captor’s creation story.
in their captor’s creation story.
Their creation story…the Babylonian Enuma elish…
was an official ritual text…recited every April …
on the fourth day of the Festival of the New Year.
Their ceremonial poem…celebrates the god Marduk…
who is raised to the status of chief god…
when Babylon conquers Mesopotamia.
Marduk becomes the official god… and must be exalted by everyone…even foreigners.
who is raised to the status of chief god…
when Babylon conquers Mesopotamia.
Marduk becomes the official god… and must be exalted by everyone…even foreigners.
Marduk's name means "'son-child'… or 'son-of-the-sun'"… or perhaps "bull calf of the sun." Marduk is more powerful than his father…and his physical appearance is impressive: he’s very large, with four huge eyes and four big ears…
the better to see and hear everything.
the better to see and hear everything.
Fire blazes from his mouth when he speaks.
Marduk’s proud and doting grandfather Anu… creates the four winds for Marduk to play with…and soon a group of unnamed gods goes to "their mother" Tiamat to complain about the noise and disorder Marduk is causing.
Marduk’s proud and doting grandfather Anu… creates the four winds for Marduk to play with…and soon a group of unnamed gods goes to "their mother" Tiamat to complain about the noise and disorder Marduk is causing.
In the minds of the Babylonians…many gods are competing for sovereignty…and in the dimension of their gods … there is nothing but dis- order.
Marduk makes bits of creation…
from the bodily parts of enemy gods…
and human beings are created specifically…
to serve the Babylonian gods.
But the point I want to make here…is that in the Babylonian creation story there’s chaos and disorder.
from the bodily parts of enemy gods…
and human beings are created specifically…
to serve the Babylonian gods.
But the point I want to make here…is that in the Babylonian creation story there’s chaos and disorder.
And the Jewish exiles are grieving for the order and stability they’ve lost…
their world is chaotic…and their culture
is under threat from a conqueror
more powerful than they ever dreamed.
their world is chaotic…and their culture
is under threat from a conqueror
more powerful than they ever dreamed.
What the Hebrew people need most at this time of disorder is reassurance comfort and consolation…
they need reminding…
that their God… brings order out of chaos…
and creates light out of darkness… [pause]
they need reminding…
that their God… brings order out of chaos…
and creates light out of darkness… [pause]
Today as we watch with horror the unfolding of yet more darkness and chaos in the world …today its every bit as good for us to hear these words…
as it was for the exiles. For just last Thursday ninety kilometres from the rivers of Babylon…a suicide bomb killed seventy people…
as it was for the exiles. For just last Thursday ninety kilometres from the rivers of Babylon…a suicide bomb killed seventy people…
When we hear the words "Formless void" we can almost see our own world in peril.[i]
But when others are tempted to despair…
you and I can proclaim in full throated joy …against the powers and principalities who claim
that everything is hopeless and in chaos.
We can say…"In the beginning, when there was nothing but a formless void… God said,
But when others are tempted to despair…
you and I can proclaim in full throated joy …against the powers and principalities who claim
that everything is hopeless and in chaos.
We can say…"In the beginning, when there was nothing but a formless void… God said,
Slide words
‘Let there be light!' And there was."’[pause]
God’s first word isn’t violent or threatening or vengeful Our God’s first word is…‘Let there be light!' [pause]
You know when darkness threatens to overwhelm us…
it’s very hard to say these words for ourselves.
These are words which must be overheard by us…
as we listen
to God's conversation with the formless void.
it’s very hard to say these words for ourselves.
These are words which must be overheard by us…
as we listen
to God's conversation with the formless void.
No human utterance can help us…
when the mountains tremble… and the earth shakes…
no word can help…when we see the chaos and disorder
in our world… except a word spoken from outside creation.
when the mountains tremble… and the earth shakes…
no word can help…when we see the chaos and disorder
in our world… except a word spoken from outside creation.
And just when the night is at its darkest…we hear that word
and it is… a sovereign command…it is a promise…
and it is… a sovereign command…it is a promise…
and it is a creative act…"Let there be light in this darkness!"
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Just like the quivering exiles in Babylon…when darkness threatens us…we fear the void…we fear the emptiness…
and when fear gives way to panic and despair…
just like the exiles…
we forget all about… our creative…order bringing God
who brings light out of darkness…
we forget that the perfect love of our God...can cast out …our fear…
and when fear gives way to panic and despair…
just like the exiles…
we forget all about… our creative…order bringing God
who brings light out of darkness…
we forget that the perfect love of our God...can cast out …our fear…
We forget that our God…‘The creative lover…
[who] has the first word… shall also have the last.
We forget that all evidence to the contrary, God's love is stronger…’ than what we fear.[ii] Even death…
[who] has the first word… shall also have the last.
We forget that all evidence to the contrary, God's love is stronger…’ than what we fear.[ii] Even death…
One of the world’s greatest preachers…
William Willemon… reminds us that ‘In life and death, in life beyond death, there is only one word. At the end, it's the same word… as at the beginning…God’s Word:
‘A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’
Hands slide
Over the Advent season…
we immersed ourselves in the event of the Word made flesh…the light of the world …in the coming of the Christ. And in this season of epiphany we remember not only
do we have a creating and loving God…who brings light out of darkness…but we have the very fullness of our God
in time and space… in the person of Jesus Christ.
we immersed ourselves in the event of the Word made flesh…the light of the world …in the coming of the Christ. And in this season of epiphany we remember not only
do we have a creating and loving God…who brings light out of darkness…but we have the very fullness of our God
in time and space… in the person of Jesus Christ.
And we recall another time of great darkness
seventy years after the birth of Jesus
when once again the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed … this time by the Romans...
seventy years after the birth of Jesus
when once again the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed … this time by the Romans...
and how Matthew’s gospel
calls all the people out of despair
to faith in Jesus…
with these words:
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‘the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death…
light has dawned.’
light has dawned.’
My prayer is that whenever you are tempted to lose heart …when your own darkness or the darkness caused by others threatens to overwhelm you…
you will remember God’s sovereign command…
let there be light…may it shine for you…
you will remember God’s sovereign command…
let there be light…may it shine for you…
and may you carry that light… for others.
