Not All Myths Are Created Equal
Part 2: Us
A sermon
delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
January 12, 2014
at Gordonsville
Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia
Genesis 1: 1-27
Matthew 22:
34-40
Let us pray,
Help us to see despite our eyes
Help us to think outside of our minds
Help us to be more than our lives
For your eyes show the way
Your
mind knows the truth
Your
being is the life.
Amen.
Last week we started this crazy journey,
looking at Genesis 1. We started our focus by
looking at God as the creator of the world, looking at what God does
when he creates, looking at how within the tradition nothing else can do what
God does, no other being as the same ability to create as God. We looked at how
God holds back the waters, he brings order where there was chaos, he fills the
void with life, and most importantly he brings darkness to light. He does so on
the first day, and does every day since, in all of our lives just when we need
it most. But to review let's take a look at the text again. . .
1 In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was
without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the
Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. 3 And God
said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw
that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was
evening and there was morning, one day.
6 And God
said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate
the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the firmament and
separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were
above the firmament. And it was so. 8 And God called the firmament
Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 And God
said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry
land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God
saw that it was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth put forth
vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is
their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And it was so. 12
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to
their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according
to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was
evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 And God
said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day
from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and
years, 15 and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to
give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two
great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule
the night; he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the
firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule
over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there
was morning, a fourth day.
20 And God
said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly
above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God
created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which
the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to
its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them,
saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let
birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there
was morning, a fifth day.
24 And God
said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds:
cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.”
And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according
to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that
creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God
said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon
the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created them. [1]
After creating space, the area where
the creation was going to take place, God took great care in setting it up for
humans to live in it. Step by step God fills the world with each detail,
leading toward his creation of us, human beings. The story seems to center
around the creation of human beings, and if that were not enough it centers
around the creation of a special unique and important status for us, it also
says that we are created in the image and likeness of God, one of the
strangest, most talked about, aspects of the Bible. So many people have an
opinion about what it means to be made in the image of God, but most find that,
no matter their specific vision of it, find that it is an important and special
status, one that sets up the rest of the story, why God is upset when Adam and
Eve hide from him, why he makes covenant after covenant, and finally why he
sends his only son in order to redeem us as Children of God, yes made in his
image. It's central to what Christians believe about the world, but it's so
common to us that we take it for granted, and we take for granted that the rest
of the world sees humans in the same way, but outside of the three Abrahamic
religions, which share this creation story, there is a very different view.
I had said last week that this
sermon was originally just the second half of what I talked about last week,
and it is. I finished last week comparing the actions of God in this story, to
the other creation myths and the role of God they saw. It's what gave credence
to the title of my sermon, that not all myths are created equal. And while the
concept, person, and characteristics of God are certainly unique in the Genesis
account of creation, the point I really wanted to make was this one, that other
myths see the value and importance of humans very differently, and that
distinguishes for me greatly why I find the Genesis account of Creation, the
view it depicts, so important, so striking, so valuable, and of course
representing truth as I see it. Humans are important, we are special, each of
us, each of us individually a reflection of God, a special glimpse of the love
that made this world. It is central to our faith, it is central to our vision
of how the world operates, our role in the world, and maybe most importantly it
is central to our hope.
But we take for granted that the
rest of the world thinks this way, sees
humanity this way, sees the individual this way, sees each manifestation
of human life as a loved, important, purposed, unique, blessed reflection of
God. Last week we looked at how some of the other major religions and
philosophies of the world see the role of God in creation, now I want to take a
look at how some of them see the role and import of each human life, you may be
surprised at just how unique the Genesis view of humankind is.
We can start with the Greeks, they
seem to be such humanists, but their view of the place of humans in the world
is really interesting. Their Creation myth has one of the Titans, Prometheus
making people, just to spite, Zeus, so Zeus, the king of all the gods, is
hostile towards humans on most days. The end result is that human beings are
merely a tool for the gods, a pawn in their game. Humans then are left to try
to find their own way through a world of conflict. This negative view of
humanity lends itself to philosophies of hopelessness and manipulation. You'll
find that Greek and other Pagan religions are very much about people trying to
manipulate the forces of the world to benefit themselves. There is no
benevolent and loving god, rather just a bunch of hostile, conflicting, callous
forces that can be manipulated and controlled. The place of humans in the world
is actually very similar to the atheist view that we are simply a cosmic
accident, a mistake, a fluke occurrence, with no real unified purpose, no sense
of identity, no responsibility towards life or each other, just here existing,
scratching, clawing, fighting, to simply exist and live. . . how often is the
role of science in today's world not to study the natural world and the way it
works, but to change it, to control it, to make it work the way that we want. .
. not a perfect haven created especially for each and every human to thrive,
but a world that the strong shape to their own control, leaving the weak to
serve at best, wither and starve at worst. . . it really is a bleak view when
you think of it, isn't it, false freedom, self made chains.
In the East it's similar. In the
Taoist myth about creation, Pangu and the creation of the world, humans have no
elevated status, but are simply, like everything else a piece of the unity of
the connected universe. Actually in some versions of the story humans are the
parasites living on the giant who dies to make up the world. Also bleak.
Hindus and Buddhists do value the
individual to some extent, but with reincarnation, it's not each unique
manifestation of life that is important but the infinite cycle. Each individual
life is regarded just as clothes to be tossed aside, each life is not important,
but rather the path itself, individuality is something to be thrown aside,
rather than to be celebrated.
So there is a uniqueness to the
worldview that does say that each human being is made in the image of God.
That's what the story says. . . but what does life tell you? If we had to look
at how society, our society answers this question, what do we believe? How do
we show it? What does it mean real time? What does it mean for how we treat
each other? What does it mean for how we see each other? Can statistics really
ever serve us? Can demographics ever paint a worthy picture? Can systems that
protect a majority while allowing some to fall through the cracks be considered
good? What does it mean for policy decisions? What should be our central focus
as children of God made in His image? How are we doing with that focus? They
are all good questions to ask. If we were writing the myth today based on how
we see the world. . . where would we put human kind? All humans? Each human?
Every human? It would probably be easier to lower the status, lower the
pressure, ease up on ourselves a bit, pretend that each one doesn't really
matter. It would be easier, maybe more efficient, maybe more conducive to
business. It would be easier on ourselves if we didn't have to rise to the
level of image of God. It would be easier in our relationships if we didn't
have to value each other as brothers and sisters made in the image of God. It
would make life simpler if we were just cosmic mistakes, or parasites, or if we
were just made out of spite in some cosmic game we don't know how to play.
But instead we are made in the image
of God. It means something different to all of us. There are probably different
levels of understanding, but it is hard to deny that it is an elevated status,
it's hard to deny that it is a status of love, its hard to deny that it doesn't
mean anything. It's hard to deny that the world, the 6 days leading up to our
creation, doesn't seem to just fall in place, each detail, leading to, and
taking care of our needs. All of it together is pretty awesome, pretty amazing,
full of love, and then you add Jesus to it.
It is hard to see the world that way
and not be grateful. Is it possible that seeing the world another way, one of
those other ways misses that gratitude part, and perhaps there is the simple
place where the world view starts to get skewed. Gratitude, it is the beginning
isn't it. In the beginning God created, the heavens and the earth, the light,
the sky, the stars, the land, the rivers and the trees, the birds, the bees,
the wonders that surround us and then even us, even you and even me, special,
unique, each and every one of us. May we see the world that way, may we see
ourselves that way, may we see each other that way, and may we be grateful, for
in that gratitude is the start, the beginning of faith, and as we will see as the story unfolds the
beginning of love beyond our imagination.
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