Morning Has Broken
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle B
Some years ago, popular singer Cat Stevens (who has become a convert to Islam and now spends his time in meditation) popularized Eleanor Farjeon's hymn, "Morning Has Broken." Pop stations played Steven's rendition all over the United States. People found themselves fascinated by the tune and also by the words. The hymn aptly depicts Genesis 1:1-5. Farjeon wrote:
Morning has broken
Like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise for the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them spinning
Fresh from the Word!
Every time the hymn was hummed, played, or sung, the Creation story was being revisited. This hymn simply affirms that in a sense every day recapitulates the dynamics of Genesis 1:1-5. Each day offers us the opportunity to be awakened to the first dawn, the dawn of Creation.
The Bible begins with the simple affirmation that the "creation" sprang from the Word. There are all kinds of questions and issues that can be raised in the twenty-first century regarding the Creation, but the Creation story does not offer answers to the questions that are so often asked. We need to be reminded continually that Genesis 1:1-5 is not a scientific treatise, but that it is a theological picture in narrative form. The simplicity of this passage states that "God did it, and God commanded it."
How does this narrative relate to us today? Is there any meaning or message that we can glean from this Old Testament Lesson. Together, let us see what lessons there might be for us in the twenty-first century from five simple, yet beautiful verses of scripture. The narration informs us that ...
God Brought Creation Out Of Chaos
Chaos is a word that Americans perhaps understand in a way that they have never understood before. In the past few years we have discovered what real chaos is. In horror we have witnessed the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the chaos which followed. Images of Paducah and Columbine will be forever etched in the soul of America.
September 11, 2001, is a date that, to use the words of Franklin Roosevelt, will "live in infamy." The pictures of airplanes deliberately crashing into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will be etched upon the psyche of the United States for years to come. When someone speaks of anthrax, small pox, e. coli, and nuclear warheads, immediately the picture is of the chaos bio-terrorism might bring.
At times it seems we are living in the chaos before God spoke in Genesis 1:1-5. The chaos of our world at the present time can be understood by the story of a couple who had two boys, ages eight and ten. These little guys were very mischievous and were always getting into trouble. The parents knew that if any mischief occurred in their community, these boys were probably involved. They were at wits' end as to what could be done to help the two little rascals. The boys' mother was informed of a pastor who lived nearby who had been successful in helping with the discipline of hard-to-manage children. She contacted the pastor and asked if he would speak to her boys. The pastor agreed, and he visited first with the eight-year-old in the morning and planned to see the ten-year-old in the afternoon. When the younger boy walked into the clergyman's office, he was seated. The pastor who had a booming voice asked him sternly, "Where is God?" The little guy's mouth dropped open, but he was so frightened he could not respond. The question was repeated a second time by the pastor in a louder, sterner voice, "Where is God?" The boy made no attempt to answer; therefore, the pastor raised his voice even louder and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "Where is God?" Frightened out of his wits, the boy screamed and ran from the room straight home and upstairs to his room. He dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. His older brother discovered him in the closet and asked, "What happened?" The younger brother, gasping for breath answered, "We are in big trouble this time, Bud. God is missing, and they think we did it!"
We live in a time of chaos when people are asking, "Where is God?" Did we somehow lose God along the way, and in his place there is now chaos? Our God is a God who brings order and meaning out of chaos. That is the essence of creation which simply confirms that, even in chaos and the way life is, it can be claimed and redeemed by God. Creation out of chaos must be understood as an ongoing work God has begun and continues. It began in the creative mind of God and continues even now as the Creator God works to bring meaning and order out of our chaotic world and lives that can be used by God for his grand purposes. Any time God enters chaos, it is a creative moment that brings the breaking of a new day and offers grace for all that would threaten and destroy his creation.
God brings creation out of chaos, but he also brings ...
Order Out Of Disorder
We read in the Creation narrative that "darkness covered the face of the deep." "How was God to deal with the darkness?" The scripture informs us that "a wind from God swept over the face of the waters." The Hebrew verb which is translated "swept" in the NRSV is elsewhere translated "hovered," as an eagle hovers over its prey. It is a picture of God as a divine observer preparing to do a creative act. This creative act will bring order out of disorder.
How does God propose to bring order out of disorder? He does it by bringing "light out of darkness." The first step that God took then was to create light. Light is absolutely essential to any kind of life. Without light there can be no essential life.
From where does this light come? The only answer can be that this light is from God. In scripture, Light is a symbol for God.
There are various levels of light. Physical light is light which fills a room and enables one to see another person or objects which cannot be seen in the dark. Light can also refer to knowledge or truth. If someone asks you "to shed some light on an issue," they are asking you to explain something to them. Light on the subject occurs on the mental or emotional level, but there is also a third and deeper level of meaning, the spiritual level. On this level we deal with the nature and character of God. The Apostle John helps us understand the nature and character of God as light when he writes in his prologue (John 1) of the "true light coming into the world." In his first epistle, John states that "God is light and in him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5b). Thus, when the Genesis account speaks of light, there is a spiritual meaning that enables us to understand that out of disorder God brings order.
A friend of mine who was attending college had to work late one Christmas Eve and after work was planning to drive with a classmate some 350 miles in order to be home for Christmas. Both individuals were anxious and excited about getting home to celebrate Christmas with their families. Driving through the long night they encountered a sudden snowstorm which caused the roads to be treacherous. Suddenly, the car spun out of control and sped down an embankment. No one was hurt and the car was not damaged, but there was no way they could get the car out of the ditch without help. It was cold, dark, and desolate at 2 a.m. in the morning. There was no light anywhere. My friend and his companion decided to walk the road hoping to find a house from which they could make a phone call for assistance. Struggling in the cold darkness, they walked several miles but could not find a house or see a light. As they rounded a curve in the road, they spotted a glimmer of light in the distant woods. Eventually, they came to a gravel road and followed it to a barn, shed, and house. In the shed were several men who were busy restoring an old car. They warmed themselves by a fire and told the men of their predicament. The men offered assistance by using a truck to pull their car out of the ditch and start them on their way toward home again. The light in the distance which they saw enabled them to bring order out of the disorder which had been caused by inclement weather.
Our Creator God seeks continually to bring order to the disorder of his world that has been caused by sin and rebellion. He is always in the business of separating the light from the darkness. When God, in love, removes the darkness of sin from our lives, morning breaks anew, and we can sing as a new creation, "Morning has broken...."
The text has informed us of how God, the Creator, brought creation out of chaos, brought order out of disorder, but it also reminds us that God moved from ...
Creation To Evaluation
God has created and now steps back to evaluate that which has been created. When God evaluates his creative act of bringing light, the text states, "And God saw that the light was good" (Genesis 1:4). God then proceeds to separate the light from the darkness, defining the light as Day and darkness as Night.
God's evaluation is not one of finality but of an ongoing process within which it is possible to improve. "Good" here does not mean perfect but that what has happened has achieved his divine intentions. The use of "good" also implies that God remains involved with his creation. The Creator sees what he has created and is affected by what is he sees.
God's use of the word "good" to evaluate what he has done begs the question: "What have we done with God's good creation?" Sad to say, humankind, created in God's image, has left his good world an ecological mess by our misuse of natural resources, despoiling of nature, and polluting of our air and water. Our Old Testament text reminds us that God evaluated his creation as good, something to be improved continually. We by our selfishness and greed have made that which God called "good" ugly and useless, almost returning God's creation to a chaotic state.
We have done the same with our own bodies by our gluttony, substance abuse, and misuse of his good things.
Also, because of sexual abuse, child abuse, verbal abuse, and emotional abuse, humankind has distorted God's good plan for life lived in relationship to him and to others. Because of this, that which was good has been diminished and destroyed.
Is there any hope for planet earth? Can God's evaluation of his Creation ever be called good again? Yes, it can, and there is hope; however, it will take a reclamation of creation. This reclamation for humankind came when "the Word became flesh." Jesus Christ is the answer for humankind's deepest needs.
Reclamation for our world will ultimately and finally come when God establishes his Kingdom forever. The Revelation speaks of this:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away ... And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." -- Revelation 21:1-2, 5
Then creation will be "good" again, and true morning will break.
Morning has broken
Like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise for the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them spinning
Fresh from the Word!
Every time the hymn was hummed, played, or sung, the Creation story was being revisited. This hymn simply affirms that in a sense every day recapitulates the dynamics of Genesis 1:1-5. Each day offers us the opportunity to be awakened to the first dawn, the dawn of Creation.
The Bible begins with the simple affirmation that the "creation" sprang from the Word. There are all kinds of questions and issues that can be raised in the twenty-first century regarding the Creation, but the Creation story does not offer answers to the questions that are so often asked. We need to be reminded continually that Genesis 1:1-5 is not a scientific treatise, but that it is a theological picture in narrative form. The simplicity of this passage states that "God did it, and God commanded it."
How does this narrative relate to us today? Is there any meaning or message that we can glean from this Old Testament Lesson. Together, let us see what lessons there might be for us in the twenty-first century from five simple, yet beautiful verses of scripture. The narration informs us that ...
God Brought Creation Out Of Chaos
Chaos is a word that Americans perhaps understand in a way that they have never understood before. In the past few years we have discovered what real chaos is. In horror we have witnessed the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the chaos which followed. Images of Paducah and Columbine will be forever etched in the soul of America.
September 11, 2001, is a date that, to use the words of Franklin Roosevelt, will "live in infamy." The pictures of airplanes deliberately crashing into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will be etched upon the psyche of the United States for years to come. When someone speaks of anthrax, small pox, e. coli, and nuclear warheads, immediately the picture is of the chaos bio-terrorism might bring.
At times it seems we are living in the chaos before God spoke in Genesis 1:1-5. The chaos of our world at the present time can be understood by the story of a couple who had two boys, ages eight and ten. These little guys were very mischievous and were always getting into trouble. The parents knew that if any mischief occurred in their community, these boys were probably involved. They were at wits' end as to what could be done to help the two little rascals. The boys' mother was informed of a pastor who lived nearby who had been successful in helping with the discipline of hard-to-manage children. She contacted the pastor and asked if he would speak to her boys. The pastor agreed, and he visited first with the eight-year-old in the morning and planned to see the ten-year-old in the afternoon. When the younger boy walked into the clergyman's office, he was seated. The pastor who had a booming voice asked him sternly, "Where is God?" The little guy's mouth dropped open, but he was so frightened he could not respond. The question was repeated a second time by the pastor in a louder, sterner voice, "Where is God?" The boy made no attempt to answer; therefore, the pastor raised his voice even louder and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "Where is God?" Frightened out of his wits, the boy screamed and ran from the room straight home and upstairs to his room. He dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. His older brother discovered him in the closet and asked, "What happened?" The younger brother, gasping for breath answered, "We are in big trouble this time, Bud. God is missing, and they think we did it!"
We live in a time of chaos when people are asking, "Where is God?" Did we somehow lose God along the way, and in his place there is now chaos? Our God is a God who brings order and meaning out of chaos. That is the essence of creation which simply confirms that, even in chaos and the way life is, it can be claimed and redeemed by God. Creation out of chaos must be understood as an ongoing work God has begun and continues. It began in the creative mind of God and continues even now as the Creator God works to bring meaning and order out of our chaotic world and lives that can be used by God for his grand purposes. Any time God enters chaos, it is a creative moment that brings the breaking of a new day and offers grace for all that would threaten and destroy his creation.
God brings creation out of chaos, but he also brings ...
Order Out Of Disorder
We read in the Creation narrative that "darkness covered the face of the deep." "How was God to deal with the darkness?" The scripture informs us that "a wind from God swept over the face of the waters." The Hebrew verb which is translated "swept" in the NRSV is elsewhere translated "hovered," as an eagle hovers over its prey. It is a picture of God as a divine observer preparing to do a creative act. This creative act will bring order out of disorder.
How does God propose to bring order out of disorder? He does it by bringing "light out of darkness." The first step that God took then was to create light. Light is absolutely essential to any kind of life. Without light there can be no essential life.
From where does this light come? The only answer can be that this light is from God. In scripture, Light is a symbol for God.
There are various levels of light. Physical light is light which fills a room and enables one to see another person or objects which cannot be seen in the dark. Light can also refer to knowledge or truth. If someone asks you "to shed some light on an issue," they are asking you to explain something to them. Light on the subject occurs on the mental or emotional level, but there is also a third and deeper level of meaning, the spiritual level. On this level we deal with the nature and character of God. The Apostle John helps us understand the nature and character of God as light when he writes in his prologue (John 1) of the "true light coming into the world." In his first epistle, John states that "God is light and in him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5b). Thus, when the Genesis account speaks of light, there is a spiritual meaning that enables us to understand that out of disorder God brings order.
A friend of mine who was attending college had to work late one Christmas Eve and after work was planning to drive with a classmate some 350 miles in order to be home for Christmas. Both individuals were anxious and excited about getting home to celebrate Christmas with their families. Driving through the long night they encountered a sudden snowstorm which caused the roads to be treacherous. Suddenly, the car spun out of control and sped down an embankment. No one was hurt and the car was not damaged, but there was no way they could get the car out of the ditch without help. It was cold, dark, and desolate at 2 a.m. in the morning. There was no light anywhere. My friend and his companion decided to walk the road hoping to find a house from which they could make a phone call for assistance. Struggling in the cold darkness, they walked several miles but could not find a house or see a light. As they rounded a curve in the road, they spotted a glimmer of light in the distant woods. Eventually, they came to a gravel road and followed it to a barn, shed, and house. In the shed were several men who were busy restoring an old car. They warmed themselves by a fire and told the men of their predicament. The men offered assistance by using a truck to pull their car out of the ditch and start them on their way toward home again. The light in the distance which they saw enabled them to bring order out of the disorder which had been caused by inclement weather.
Our Creator God seeks continually to bring order to the disorder of his world that has been caused by sin and rebellion. He is always in the business of separating the light from the darkness. When God, in love, removes the darkness of sin from our lives, morning breaks anew, and we can sing as a new creation, "Morning has broken...."
The text has informed us of how God, the Creator, brought creation out of chaos, brought order out of disorder, but it also reminds us that God moved from ...
Creation To Evaluation
God has created and now steps back to evaluate that which has been created. When God evaluates his creative act of bringing light, the text states, "And God saw that the light was good" (Genesis 1:4). God then proceeds to separate the light from the darkness, defining the light as Day and darkness as Night.
God's evaluation is not one of finality but of an ongoing process within which it is possible to improve. "Good" here does not mean perfect but that what has happened has achieved his divine intentions. The use of "good" also implies that God remains involved with his creation. The Creator sees what he has created and is affected by what is he sees.
God's use of the word "good" to evaluate what he has done begs the question: "What have we done with God's good creation?" Sad to say, humankind, created in God's image, has left his good world an ecological mess by our misuse of natural resources, despoiling of nature, and polluting of our air and water. Our Old Testament text reminds us that God evaluated his creation as good, something to be improved continually. We by our selfishness and greed have made that which God called "good" ugly and useless, almost returning God's creation to a chaotic state.
We have done the same with our own bodies by our gluttony, substance abuse, and misuse of his good things.
Also, because of sexual abuse, child abuse, verbal abuse, and emotional abuse, humankind has distorted God's good plan for life lived in relationship to him and to others. Because of this, that which was good has been diminished and destroyed.
Is there any hope for planet earth? Can God's evaluation of his Creation ever be called good again? Yes, it can, and there is hope; however, it will take a reclamation of creation. This reclamation for humankind came when "the Word became flesh." Jesus Christ is the answer for humankind's deepest needs.
Reclamation for our world will ultimately and finally come when God establishes his Kingdom forever. The Revelation speaks of this:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away ... And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." -- Revelation 21:1-2, 5
Then creation will be "good" again, and true morning will break.
