THE CREATIVE BEING
Genesis 1:26-31
Romans 8:18-25
"Then
God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our
likeness.'"
Someone asked me the other day why I took up woodworking as
a hobby. My answer, a little facetious I
admit, was that I did so because I try to follow Jesus, and he was, as far as
we know, a carpenter. But, then, we
might ask, why don't all Christians become woodworkers? Or do you have to be a
woodworker to be a follower of Jesus? So
there must be a better answer to the question why did I take up woodworking.. I suggest it has to do with the biblical
claim that human beings are made in the "image of God." A statement
that comes as the climax to the first story about creation in Genesis. "Then
God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our
likeness.'" The meaning of these
words has been discussed and debated many times over the centuries, and there
are several plausible understandings of what they mean. One is that human beings have a
self-conscious relationship with their Creator.
But another has to do with the creativity of God, to God as artist,. For if the creation story says anything about
the mystery we name God, it says that the creation is an inspired work of a
creative and even playful mind. Therefore
being in the "image of God" we are created to be stewards of creation
and co-creators in the unfolding drama of the earth.
In the beginning before the universe was born, there was
nothing, emptiness, a void, a blank canvas if you like. All was dark, there was no light, no beauty,
no colour, no movement. But gradually
the canvas was filled in as the Spirit of creativity got to work inspiring each
step towards the emerging, evolving masterpiece full of wonderful forms and
shapes, full of life, colour and movement. All of this revealed the splendour of God, for
"the world was alive with the glory of God" as Gerald Manley Hopkins
so aptly said. And yet, as God stepped
back from the canvas to take a look, there was something missing, a final but
significant addition was needed to make the painting complete. It was, of course, God's personal signature. "Then
God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our
likeness.'" Like many a great
painting, the artist includes a resemblance of himself or herself. There in the corner, we say, is surely a
self-portrait or selfie if you like, of Rembrandt or Michelangelo. That signature is us! As the Psalmist puts it:
You have made human beings just a little lower
than God,
and crowned them with glory and honour.
Today we have welcomed the first cohort of the Volmoed Youth
Leadership Training Programme to our weekly Eucharist. And because VLYTP is such a mouthful, we have
baptised the group as the
"voeltjies" or "little birds." So if you hear many fresh and vibrant sounds
breaking the Volmoed silence over the next nine weeks, it is the song of the
"voeltjies" adding sound and colour to creation. What led to this naming was that someone
misspelt Volmoed recently, writing instead "Voelmoed!" So "voeltjies" it is. And, what is more, the "voeltjies"
will sing each Thursday here at the Eucharist!
This is not singing for their last supper. but singing with joy and
thanksgiving for the gift of life and the wonder of creation.
Each week the "voeltjies" focus on a different
theme related to those in the Volmoed Prayer Book. Last week it was on building community, next
week on healing and wholeness, the fourth on justice and peace, and the fifth
week on reconciliation. Then the cycle
repeats itself. But this week it has
been on creation. We have not spent
precious time on the silly debate about whether the creation narratives in the
Bible are literally true, or whether believing in creation contradicts
evolution. That debate misses the point
of the story. The creation narrative not
history or science, but "myth" which simply means a story that is
profoundly true.
To believe that God created the universe does not mean that
evolution is wrong, but that there is meaning and purpose to the universe. It is an affirmation that we "live, move
and have our being" in the mystery we name God. The Creation story probes what that meaning
is all about and where we humans fit into the picture s painted in the opening
chapters of the Bible. What emerges is
that we are part of the animal kingdom interconnected with all other forms of
life, and yet we have a special place within this remarkably diverse creation
that is still in process. We are the
gardeners, we are the workers, we are the sculptors and actors. For creation does not end on the sixth day in
reality. God may take a break to step
back and admire what he has created, but come the eighth day and God is back at
work. Creation is a work in progress. And we human beings have the awesome responsibility to care for and nurture what has come into
being. In other words, we are called to
be creative artisans, adding to the canvas of which we are a part. Imagining fresh possibilities, inventing new artefacts,
building bridges of reconciliation and making peace when conflicts arise.
St. Paul tells us that the whole creation is groaning as it
awaits to be set free from its own travail by those who have already come to
know the redemption of God, those who have recovered their humanity as being
"in the image of God" and therefore stewards and co-creators. That is why we have to imagine fresh
possibilities in anticipation of the birth of a renewed earth in which everyone
will find a home, have sufficient for their needs, and make peace instead of
war. As Archbishop Tutu said to the "voëltjies" when he met them in
Cape Town last week, "make the world beautiful, especially for the
poor."
John
de Gruchy
Volmoed 2 June 2016
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