In the beginning…that’s how it all starts.  Always reminds me of the song “let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…” A great place to start our series on creation, on our place in creation, on our responsibility to and for creation…In the beginning…the first words of the Bible, the holy scripture.  We know this story, right?  One of the first we teach our kids in Sunday School or VBS.  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…

God said, “Let there be light”, God named that light day

God said, “Let there be a dome”. God names the dome the sky

God said, “Let the waters under the sky come together”, God called those seas and the dry land earth

God said, “Let the earth grow plant life” And it did.

God said, “Let there be lights in the dome”.  God called them stars, the sun and the moon.

God said, “Let the waters swarm with living things, Let the bird fly above the earth. And they did.

God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things and wildlife.”  And it did.

Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image”

 

Wait…what?!?  “Let us make humanity in our image” Just a second…. why does this sound so different from the other things God said in the first chapter of Genesis?

 

Before this, God spoke and things happened- light became light, a dome appeared, the earth grew plants, the waters provided space for fish and the earth produced living plants and animals.

 

But when God came to humans, it is God who did the creating…more than speaking humanity into being, God created us.  God crafted us.  God put us together.  God planned us- planned for us to resemble God- did you hear that?  We resemble God.  We often hear that we are created in God’s image.  Imago Dei- Latin for the image of God.  What does this really mean for us, as humans?  What does it mean to be made in the image of or to resemble God?  It means we have a lot in common with God- that we share characteristics with God.  Creativity, compassion, kindness, wisdom, faithfulness, justice, abounding in love, merciful, beautiful, perfect, holy, and set apart.

We use these terms and adjectives to describe God, but God uses those same terms and adjectives to describe us.

 

This is a big deal- God didn’t say chickens were made in God’s image.  God didn’t say apple trees were imago Dei.  God didn’t say rainbow trout resembled God.  God says that all these animals and plants are good, yes.  But humanity holds a precious and unique place in the order of creation.  God’s image in creation.  Can we even comprehend that?

 

Psalm 8 might say what we are thinking- today we read

“I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,

your handmade sky-jewelry,

Moon and stars mounted in their settings.

Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,

Why do you bother with us?

Why take a second look our way?”

 

God made the beauty we see in the sunrises and sunsets, in the star-filled sky and the fullness of the moon, a field of multicolored tulips, the way a mother bird works diligently to feed her babies. We are in awe of those sights.  They stop us in our tracks.  They take our breath away. They are universally amazing.  And then us- humans?  According to God we are more beautiful and more amazing than those.  WOW!  Just WOW!

 

But with that status from God, comes great responsibility.  In our reading from Genesis, we read “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that (here comes the important part) so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”  We are made in God’s image so that we can take charge of the rest of creation.

 

Take charge?  Does that mean boss around?  Does that mean use only for our own good or pleasure? Does that mean take advantage of?  Does that mean use and abuse?  I don’t think so. Remember- we are imago dei- we resemble God- what God loves, we should love, what God cares for and about, we should care for and about, what God names good, we should treat well.

 

With this elevation to Imago Dei comes great responsibility!  God said creation was good!  It is our responsibility to say the same!

 

We live in a time where the conversation about climate change and environmentalism are in the foreground.  We just observed Earth Day on Friday.  The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 and now over 190 countries and over 1 billion people are mobilized on this day to take special care of the earth and to bring awareness to the challenges and possibilities of protecting our beloved earth and all her resources.

 

As Christians, however, we have been called to observe Earth Day every day- every day in the past and every day in the future.  That’s what God meant when God said- take charge of creation.  God said be in relationship with creation- a loving, respectful and reciprocal relationship.

 

In God’s ultimate wisdom, God made all of creation to be in relationship- we use the oxygen the plants give off and they use our carbon dioxide waste as an example.  Animals are created to take care of themselves and to protect other animals from prey.  Bees pollinate flowers allowing them to grow and multiply.  Trees die and become nutrient rich soil where new growth can occur.  Since the beginning, God has been in the business of resurrection!  Creation celebrates Easter every moment! New life always comes!  Death has no power as God has promised to use all things for good…

 

A core component of the United Methodist Church is our Social Principles. The document, which is updated every 4 years, most recently in 2020 expresses The United Methodist Church’s official position on societal issues, casting a vision for a just and equitable world. The principles are organized by issues of the Community of Creation, The Social Community, The Economic Community, and The Political Community.  The UMC’s position on current issues such as food safety, human trafficking, poverty, health care, immigration and refugee responsibility and climate change, for example are included in this document.  I encourage you to take a look- you can find the UMC Social Principles online or you can order a paper copy.

 

Based on our topic for today and the responsibility we have been given to care for God’s creation, let me share directly from the introduction of the Community of Creation section:

 

“We affirm that all creation belongs to God and is a manifestation of God’s goodness and providential care. Human beings, nonhuman animals, plants, and other sentient and non-sentient beings participate in the community of creation, and their flourishing depends on the care of all God’s creation. Rather than treating creation as if it were placed here solely for humanity’s use and consumption, we are called to practice responsible stewardship and to live in right relationship with the Creator and with the whole of God’s creation (Gen. 1:26–31; Matt. 6:26–30; Rom. 8:22–24). We are also called to honor the role of every part of creation in healing the whole; thus, we praise God with the whole of creation (Ps. 148) and recognize that we are part of complex ecosystems, all valued by God. We affirm our sacred calling to be responsible stewards and to lovingly tend all that God has wrought. We recognize the inherent worth of God’s creation, celebrate earth’s abundance and diversity, and, along with the entirety of the cosmos, give praise to its Creator. We recognize we are interconnected members of complex ecosystems, intricate webs of life, all of which have their origins in God’s gracious act of creation.”

 

In the beginning, God created…the span of God’s creation is infinite.  The majesty of God’s creation is spectacular, inspiring, and built on community, relationship, and interdependence. Can you notice all those places of connectedness, all those places of interdependency?  How enmeshed are you in all that God has created?  Take notice as you walk in the park or sit on your porch or gaze out the window.  The last verse we read in Genesis today says, “God saw everything God had made; it was supremely good.” Take notice and recognize the goodness, see God’s love and devotion for all of creation.

 

God said, “Let us create humanity to resemble us so that they can take charge”.  We are called and instructed to manage, develop, and care for all of God’s creation.  God has called us to be God’s representative in the created world.  Are we imago dei as we live within God’s creation?  Do we love the dirt as God does?  Do we care about the air like God does?  Do we pay attention to the cleanliness of the water like God does?  Do we respect the animals and call them good as God does?  Do we tend to the trees with the loving care of God?

 

Take notice and be reminded that you and I are the image bearers of God!  How we treat and care for creation can demonstrate our love for God and show others what God looks like and what God cares about.

 

This is our time! Our time to re-commit to God’s charge for us to care for creation, to dedicate ourselves to preservation, enhancement and faithful use of all God has provided for us!

 

In praise and thanksgiving,

Amen.

 

May we always walk gently upon the Earth, in right relationship, nurtured by your love,

open to the wind of the Spirit, taking only what we need, always open to the needs of others,

making choices that bring wellbeing, living with generosity, striving for justice, honoring all with reverence, reconciling and peacemaking, mindful of those who will come after, recognizing our proper place as part of your creation.

 

Go from this place with the strength and courage to make a radical transformation in the Kingdom of God. Amen.