Ending/Beginnings; Jan 7, 2018 sermon on Genesis 1:1-5

Rev. George Miller
Jan 7, 2018
Genesis 1:1-5

This holiday season was a pleasing one. Phenomenal Christmas Eve worship thanks to our musicians, singers, and worship leaders.

Time with family, friends, plenty of activities to do, and thankfully, plenty of down-time with weather that said “Stay in, chill out, and relax.”

A highlight was having my ‘Lil Brother Cornelius in town. We’ve known each other since he was 9 years old and able to sit on my shoulders.

Well, Cornelius is now 14. His voice is deeper, his legs are hairy, he walks around with headphones connected to an IPad, and he has the funk of a teenager who’s going through hormonal changes.

One day we went to Disney Springs. Of course, I dragged him to the Christmas Shop to get an ornament, then to another cartoon themed store; then to the main Disney store.

We walked into this large expansive building filled with room after room of Disney stuff, and I had an “a-ha” moment.

First, was the realization that I was making Cornelius go with me so I could recapture fleeting memories from my childhood.

Second, was the realization that Cornelius is no longer a child.

He is no longer 9 years old, with a peanut shaped head, able to sit on my shoulders and be carried around all day.

Cornelius went on ahead of me as I stopped in my tracks, having that moment all parents have when they realize their child is no longer a child.

I literally felt like I was in a movie, standing still in the middle of the store, as people passed by…

…10 minutes later Cornelius returned, saying “Next time I come here I’m gonna bring money so I can buy a sweater.”

We left the store and continued walking around.

It felt different.

It was different.

We went to another store, with more high-end, adult items. Inspiration hit:

“Tell you what- let’s get you one of those sweaters as a Christmas present.”

Cornelius found just what he wanted- a grey sweater with a classic Mickey Mouse.

We left the store, and feeling the need to sit, I went to the brick island in the middle of the pathway, and sat down, processing this new reality.

And that’s when it happened-

Cornelius took off his blue headphones and placed them over my ears so I could hear one of his favorite songs.

For the second time, time stood still.

He took the tags off the sweater and put it on, and I sat on the brick island, quietly listening to his music, as families once again passed by.

I completely understood this gesture- as an act of gratitude, Cornelius was now sharing something that mattered to him.

And like most14 year olds, music is often the most deeply meaningful.

Tears of many meanings filled my eyes, as Cornelius sat down next to me, and the song started over on repeat.

Earlier I was mourning the end of Cornelius as a child, but now, now I was experiencing the beginning of what a relationship with Cornelius, the teenager, would be like.

Like any teenager, Cornelius is now different, and yet the same; the same and yet very very different. So therefore our relationship will change, evolving out of what was in the past…

New beginnings are very much the theme of today’s Scripture.

The author tells us through poetry how the world began, how God’s relationship with humanity got its start.

But the story is not as simple and straightforward as some may think.

For the author states “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while God’s breathe swept over the face of the waters.”

Wait.

There were waters? There was undifferentiated mass? There was already something mysterious there?

How can that be?

If this is the beginning, how can there already be something in existence?

Where did it come from?

How did it get there?

What does this mean for our faith or claim that God created the world?

Here we have the first mystery of the Bible.

Deep, dark, formless waters that God’s Spirit moves across.

What are they?

Where did they come from?

How did they get there?

Were these waters from something else? Did they come from somewhere before?

Had something else ended, leaving behind these waters so that God could create, once again?

Like a good UCC pastor, I am not going to give you an answer or tell you what to believe, but instead invite you to step in and wade in the questions.

Maybe, maybe this scripture is swimming in the timey-whimey metaphysical, quantum mechanics that says time does not exist, time has no beginning, and no end, and everything that is happening has happened before and everything that has ever happened is happening at the same exact time.

Maybe, maybe this scripture is a submersion in the idea that our God is a God who is all about transformations and re-creations.

Meaning that God can take anything and use it to bring forth new life.

For example, a manger can become the earthly throne of the Messiah.

Meaning that God can take materials that already exist, that may be worn or broken or stained and do something fresh.

For example, how Psalm 51:10 says “Create in me a clean heart…and put a new and right spirit within me.”

Meaning that God can move over something dark and empty to bring fullness and light.

For example, the tomb on Easter morning.

Meaning how God can take the rawest, most basic of things and create from them fresh beginnings.

For example, Communion. Think about what Communion is- the last meal Jesus would share with his friends while in human form, marking the end of his ministry.

To say goodbye to their time together he used bread and juice, every day items made from the most basic of materials-

Grain from the field and fruit from the vine.

And yet, somehow, someway God worked through these most basic of elements to establish something new.

Though Jesus died, in his place the church began.

A meal meant to signal the end becomes a means to a new beginning, allowing us 2,000 years later to continue his ministry, doing his work, sharing his light to an often dark and formless world.

Today’s scripture doesn’t just tell us that God creates, but it is a reminder that God moves, God speaks, God acts, and God is able to take the most mysterious, most basic materials and do something new, something unexpected, and something fantastic.

Today’s scripture is a reminder that as things come to an end, things also start a new beginning; that transformation and acts of re-creation are elemental to just who God is.

In closing, I’d like to share another story about Cornelius.

Two days after Disney Springs, we journeyed together to Fort Pierce. This time, Cornelius was the DJ, sharing the music he liked over the car speakers.

He had a say in the car temperature, adjusting the heat and direction of the vents.

This new Cornelius was actually quite cool. His music included Japanese pop, alternative rap, and 70’s soul.

Our conversation was a bit more advanced. I found myself less guarded and freer with what words I used.

Cornelius was more apt to express his needs, letting me know when it got too cold to be outside, or when the pizza place options did not please him.

…This new, teenage Cornelius creation that was before me…

…and then, as we drove back to Sebring, before we even hit the city limits of Fort Pierce, teenage Cornelius did just what he has always done after an all day excursion-

-he fell fast, fast asleep, his head titled to the right as if he would never, ever wake up again.

It was another moment, a moment that I needed, because although Cornelius is now a full blown teenager, in his sleeping face was still the presence of the peanut headed, shoulder sitting child I thought was gone forever.

Just like we always had for the past 5 years, I drove home in contentment while Cornelius snoozed away.

Things come to an end. Things have a beginning. Often time’s endings and beginnings, beginning and endings are intrinsically connected.

The same, yet different; different, yet the same.

If we look closely, we can see God active in those events, relationships, and experiences.

With this knowledge we can celebrate that in God the future stands genuinely open (Terence Fretheim, The New Interpreter’s Bible, pp354-357) and that God continues even when endings seems imminent.

For that we can say amen and amen.