Rev. George Miller
September 12, 2021
Genesis 1:1-5
Question- when is a disaster more than a disaster? When life still goes on and you’ve learned something
new.
Case in point- last week’s Stump the Pastor.
Some smart, smooth, scripturally aware scholar selected a series of
sentences that I could not decode,
leaving me to babble in the rabble, trying to make sense of something so out
there.
Thank God you did, because we often grow when introduced to something
brand new.
Whoever selected Zechariah 4- bravo! You not only Stumped the Pastor, you
Taught the Pastor, and you perfectly set up to today’s sermon.
The Holy Spirit is strong with you.
A recap of last week. Zechariah 4
features a vision of an angel, 2 olive trees, and a lampstand with 7 lights.
An angel says to the prophet “This is the word of the Lord: not by might,
nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord.”
What did this vision mean? It was
a vision of rebuilding after a time of trauma, a vision of a new creation after
a lengthy time of chaos.
Building and creation; trauma and chaos.
Is God is trying to tell us something…
What had happened was that the people have returned to their homes after
being away for 50 years in Exile.
The Exile was when the enemy attacked the people, destroyed their Temple,
their land, their economy, and kidnapped them away.
We thought being closed for 5 months was difficult; imagine being gone
for 5 decades!
When the Exile ended and the people went back to their town, they saw
that nothing was left, not a store, not a field, not a pew to sit upon.
So, they rebuild their lives…everything but the Temple. Nothing seems to go right- their fields, their
finances, all fail.
A prophet named Haggai speaks up. “Hey!”
he says, “How can you expect God to bless you if you aren’t willing to bless
God and rebuild God’s House?”
“No wonder your life is in shambles- you’ve literally allowed God’s Home
to lie in shambles upon the hill!”
Zechariah is in agreement. He has
a series of visions about rebuilding the Temple. Acting as their cheerleader, Zechariah encourages
the folk to not feel disenfrachised.
His vision is one of hope.
Zechariah 4 is an image of creating out of chaos.
The lampstand? It illuminates the night
with the burning of 7 lights, interrupting the darkness.
The light represents God. 7
represents perfection, and light represents God being ever present and all
seeing.
The olive trees represent those who were anointed to lead God’s
people. Oil also represented new
beginnings.
So, this vision of Zechariah 4 is the gift of hope and possibility to the
people.
It is a message that says even in the darkest of moments, God sees, and
God is there; even in the darkest of moments, God has prepared anointed ones to
lead us into a new beginning.
But…because there is often a but, there are 2 more parts of the message.
“That mess you left over there, all the rubble from the Temple, you need
to clear it all away and get rid of it if you expect to build God a new Home.”
“Second, it will not be by your might alone that this new beginning will
be achieved, it will be by my Holy Spirit.”
Hence, last week’s scripture is God telling the people that after a
traumatic event in their shared experiences, it’ll be by clearing the chaos and
trusting in God’s presence that the people will experience a new beginning and
a return of blessings.
God is soooo ready to bring the people from darkness into light, from
emptiness into fullness.
So, for you who selected Zechariah 4- respect and admiration, because you
have joined the likes of prophets like Zechariah, Haggai, and Isaiah.
You have given us, in a culture of COVID, a new paradigm to rebuild.
After all, THAT’S exactly what Genesis 1 is about.
Genesis 1 is often a misunderstood and weaponized portion of the Bible.
People see this as a scientific account of how the world came to be. They use it to condone the abuse of Mother Nature,
or to condemn homosexuality.
There are those who swear by
this account, and yet violate its most vital teaching, which is that the
Sabbath is to be honored.
There is another way of understanding Gensis 1- that it is not about
scientific fact, but it is about life’s truth.
Remember we talked about the Exile?
The enemy destroyed the land, kidnapped the people and held them hostage
for 50 years?
Genesis 1 was most likely written during that time. Genesis 1 was told by and for people who had
undergone trauma and had lost everything.
Genesis 1 was a way to assure people that God was still present, God was
still seeing, and God was still acting.
That’s why the opening to Genesis is so beautiful-
“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.
The God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.”
Did you hear the words-?
Formless void.
Darkness.
Face of the deep.
Face of the waters.
Do you hear how foreboding that sounds?
How bleak the image is?
No form. No light.
Deep, dark waters.
In ancient days, water was something to fear; something to respect.
Deep waters are where
sea monsters dwell; Jaws swims
Tsunamis take place
This is not blissful waters as in a day at the beach, but the waters of Titanic,
Poseidon Adventure, The Perfect Storm.
Genesis 1 is saying that in the beginning there was chaos,
there was destruction,
there was death,
deep depression,
dankness.
But…
But amidst the chaotic darkness,
God spoke.
God disrupted.
God brought forth light.
And it was good.
This is not just about God creating the world, this is a story about how
again and again and again and again, God takes that which seems dark and gives
it light, and life, and meaning.
God can take that which seems to be formless and give it shape.
God can take that which seems empty and bring forth life.
In Christological terms, we call this “Resurrection.”
Today’s reading I not about a 1-time event in which God created the world
in 6 days and then took a siesta.
It’s a story about how no matter what, no matter how, no matter who, God
has a way to take that which seems chaotic, that which seems to be messy, that
which seems impossible,
And God makes it orderly, makes it new, makes it possible.
Genesis 1 is a blueprint for anyone who is going through a difficult time. Genesis 1 is for any organization that is asking
“What now?”
Genesis 1 is a perfect post-traumatic text for any church wondering “How
do we resume after returning from exile?”
The answer that both Zechariah and Genesis 1 gives- You rebuild.
You clear the rubble. You seek
out and welcome the presence of the Spirit.
You resume fellowship. You take great
care of God’s Holy House.
You redo the outdated carpets that are stained and unwelcoming. You paint the walls a vibrant blue.
You increase the items you give to the hungry. You grow a garden. You clean the roof and shine the steeple.
You let go of the things that no longer work, you release that which has
died, you welcome in the new.
You come together as one, knowing that the lights of God are burning bright,
the oil of God is ready to anoint,
and that it is not by our might,
or by our power alone,
but it is by the Spirit of the Lord
that WE co-create new beginnings.
Zechariah 4 and Gensis 1 are the ways in which our ancient, ancient scripture
speaks to us today, and says
“Hey! Here is how to take the chaos
of COVID and turn it into new ways to shine God’s light.”
It is up to us to believe, to hear, and to act like the anointed ones
that we are.
For that, we can say “Amen.”
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