Title: “In the Beginning”
Scripture:
1/12/03 First Sunday after Epiphany (Yr. B)
Rev. Joy Haertig
The Book of Genesis was written later than other Old Testament books, despite its location at the beginning of the Bible. They are a beautiful beginning however - a proclamation about the creative power of God.
To be honest, I have never quite understood the debate between evolution and the Biblical creation stories. I have always believed that the creation stories were not to be understood as scientific fact, but as illustrations of a people seeking to understand their relationship to God from the beginning of time.
As John H. Marks states in The Interpreter's One-volume Commentary”: “The values to be derived from reading Genesis are not scientific or primarily historical; they are religious. The stories of creation do not contain scientific materials of use to geology, biology, or zoology; and the primeval history as a whole contains no historical records of primitive man. Rather this primeval history poses the perennial riddles of humanlife.”
Scholars generally agree that the Genesis creation stories date to the 6th century BCE at the time of the exile of the Hebrew people in Babylon. The stories are theological and mythical. I believe it is possible to hold the findings of natural sciences in one hand and the theology of the creation stories in the other and honestly say, “these are both true”.
This morning we will take a look at this morning's brief excerpt from the first creation story from three perspectives: Theological, Mythic and Pastoral.
First, theology (a very brief glimpse): For one, the Jews who worship one God, Yahweh, were surrounded by others who worship or believe in a variety of gods. There were gods of light and darkness, a god of the sea and a god of the wind. The theology we hear then is a declaration that Yahweh is more powerful than any of them.
You can also see their understanding of who God is in their description of the formless void that was the earth and the darkness that covered the face of the deep represented chaos, lack of order. The darkness of the sea was considered extremely fearful and even evil. God had the power to bring order out of that chaos and to separate the light from the dark. God did not do away with the darkness, but set boundaries around it. By the act of naming Day and Night, God also showed his Lordship, for “naming” is an act of power.
Secondly, the creation story is “mythic”. A mythic story is a style of writing (or oral storytelling) that defines the beliefs of people. Historians have found that many of the Jews in exile found that “exile” was not as bad as they had imagined. Many settled in and found work that was quite economically viable. They started families, not necessarily with a Hebrew spouse, and began to taste success in many arenas of their lives.
It is wondered if in experiencing such success away from their home, that some began to turn their hearts and minds away from Yahweh. Their religious beliefs became less powerful and thus less important. Religious teachers felt it was necessary to begin to write the great oral stories of what the Jews believed, with the hope of reminding the Hebrew people where they came from.
Historians also believe that the exile from temple and homeland not only increased the desire to write the original oral stories of their faith and culture, but it was also an impetus to begin the building of synagogues. Synagogues would help foster identity and meaning, and create a specific place to tell and read the stories of their faith.
Similarly, the Church and the Judeo-Christian scriptures do the same for us today. The church becomes the place where a people gather that are bombarded daily by other “gods”, distractions, chaos and confusion. We gather and hear the stories of our religious ancestors and begin to remember who and whose we are.
Finally, let us consider how these stories might be pastoral words (words of comfort and encouragement) to a people that were misplaced, for though some may have been succeeding well in the midst of the exile, others were not. What is pastoral about God moving across the faces of the deep, separating the light from the dark, naming the light day and the darkness, night? It's just a story, it's just theology, right?
Jerusalem and the temple have been called “the navel of the universe” for the Jew. It was their central place of nourishment, meaning and identity.
The creation stories proclaim that long before there was ever a Jerusalem or a temple - God was moving with purpose and power. God is not only in Jerusalem, is not only in the temple, God is in creation itself.
It was and is a pastoral story of hope. It is a proclamation of faith: God moved then, God still moves with purpose and power, even if our eyes cannot immediately see it or our minds understand it. I believe these words can speak to us today while we search for the light of hope even now as we stand on the brink of war. It is a dark and chaotic time, but our faith proclaims that God is moving with purpose and power!
For an individual believer - perhaps one who is particularly troubled, the story can be a beautiful metaphor for reminding us to hold fast to this God. When our own lives feel chaotic and our choices seem lost in darkness, the story can remind us to put our faith in God, a God that brings order to chaos, guidance for our choices, and a larger purpose to our lives.
I believe that the “goals” of the creation stories were not ultimately scientific but spiritual. When I read this beautiful story, I am not looking for facts about how the sun was created - I am looking for a proclamation of faith that speaks to me of the Light of God that separates the light from the darkness of a confusing world. These great stories are primarily theological (they proclaim who God is), mythic (they explain the beliefs of a people), and pastoral (they offer comfort and hope).
“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.”