Lesson 0611 Reflections

The Lesson

Genesis 1:1-2:4a

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to 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 wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

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On this Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, we read the creation account.  There are a few things that need to be said of this reading from an Anglican perspective.  Chief among them is the fact that as Anglican Catholic Christians, we believe that this passage of Scripture answers the questions of "who" but not "how."  We are not Biblical literalists.  Remember that we are dealing with God's time, not human time.  Recall that elsewhere in the Scriptures we hear that for God "a thousand years are as a day and a day as a thousand years."  So when we hear the creation proclaimed, remember two things.  The first is that it is God who announces the creation.  And in like manner, then, lay aside any temptations to think that God is speaking of a literal 24-hour day when God announces the bringing forth of creation in six days, along with the creation of the Sabbath, the seventh day.  That said, keep in mind also that we are not saying that God could not have brought creation into being and created the Sabbath in a literal week of seven actual 24-hour days.  To be truthful, God, being God, could have brought creation into being in far less time than this.

So why do we read this in the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Trinity?  We do so because this creation is the work of God.  This feast speaks of the fullness of God.  We worship a God that is one-in-three and three-in-one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Remember that the Son is the eternal incarnate Word of God.  Observe that it is the Word of God spoken that brings forth creation.  Recall that the Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of Life, the very breath of life, the very Wind of God that moves among us as the one who breathes life into being.  Observe the movement of the Wind of God, the Spirit of God, who carries the Word and brings forth life.  And having done so, be attentive to the fact that God, the fullness of God, the Holy Trinity, is at work in creation.  This is a fact that we cannot fully observe or appreciate until we recall the descent of the Holy Spirit that completes the work of the Christ in the world.

God's creative work is by no means done.  This creation is a living gift of God.  But there is more.  We have from God the promise of a new heaven and a new earth.  We hjave seen only a portion of God's creative gifts.  By faith we believe we will see far more.  And the wonder of what is yet unseen is that it is to be an everlasting gift and home for the children of God, of whom we are but a portion.

Father Tim+