Calgary First Mennonite Church

Meeting God in Creation

Written by Ed Kauffman

Meeting God in Creation

September 4, 2011

Ed Kauffman

Note: Unfortunately, I cannot reproduce on the web site the powerpoint illustrations that go with the Scripture readings.  You will need to imagine scenes from your own experiences.)

Today’s sermon and worship are somewhat autobiographical in that I want to share a bit of my own experience of nurturing my spiritual life and some of the ways I meet God.  As you may have guessed from things I have said previously, for me one of the places and ways I nurture my spiritual life is through meeting God in the wilderness, or in creation.

This is not a worship of creation, but rather seeing the world we live in as a display of God’s creativity and awesomeness.  While I’m told by my mother that my first travel experience was not all that good, travel has been something I have enjoyed since at least my high school years.  Alone, or as a family, we have covered most of the US and Canada, as well as a great deal of Western Europe and one trip to South America – visiting Ecuador and Colombia.

I have seen many magnificent and awe inspiring man-made structures and events. 

• Stonehenge is still a fascinating mystery which I have visited several times.  Archeologists are still discovering things about how and why ancient people built this and other stone circles.
• The Eiffel tower is interesting, especially if you look straight up from underneath.
• The great cathedrals, like Notre Dame in Paris or the Cologne Cathedral in Germany are marvels, especially when you consider when they were built. 
• My favorite cathedral is probably the Wells Cathedral in England with its amazing façade
• and lofty interior
• More recent man-made marvels include the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
• Or the truly awesome sight of the space shuttle as it sits on its launch pad,
• And then roars into space – something that is now history.  The first launch we  saw was perhaps the most awesome as we were close enough that the sound wave actually rocked the boat we were sitting in, several miles from the launch site.

But, all of these dwarf in comparison to God’s handiwork and the natural world created by forces that God put into motion in creation.  Let’s recall the poet’s rendition of creation as we have it in Genesis 1:1 to 2:3.

Reading Genesis 1:1-2:3 (NRSV) (illustrated)

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,²the 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.

³Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.⁵God called the light Day,

 and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”⁷So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.⁸God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so.

¹²The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind,

 and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.¹³And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,¹⁵and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.

¹⁶God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day

and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.¹⁷God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”²¹So God created the great sea monsters

and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm,

and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.²²God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas,

and let birds multiply on the earth.”²³And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so.

²⁵God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind,

and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”²⁷So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

²⁹God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit;

you shall have them for food.

³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.

²And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

I have always enjoyed the outdoors, probably nurtured somewhat by the Sunday afternoon walks to the woods on our farm in Indiana, where, if we were lucky, we might scare up a white-tailed deer, or build a small fire to roast some hotdogs. But in 1988 I took a rather large leap of faith and signed up for an 8-day canoe trip entitled Creation and Renewal in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Northern Minnesota, sponsored by a fledgling camp called Wilderness Wind and led by the director of the camp, Tim Lehman, and a seminary professor, Perry Yoder.  It was a leap of faith because I had never done this type of canoeing or camping before, and I can’t swim worth anything.

But after eight days in the wilderness, I was hooked and this past month’s trip marked the 15^th trip I’ve taken in the Boundary Waters since then.  Located on the border of the US and Canada, Minnesota and Ontario, the Boundary Waters and Quetico are pristine wilderness areas, reserved strictly for canoes.  With hundreds, or perhaps thousands of lakes, rivers, and forest, it presents both a challenge to navigate and negotiate travel, as well as providing a place where God’s presence seems very near.

Throughout the Bible we find wilderness as a place where people go to meet God, and I return to the wilderness again and again to be renewed and reminded of God’s presence and of the lessons the wilderness can teach us.  Two of those lessons are particularly important for me to remember and be reminded of each time I return to the wilderness.

The first is to travel light.  One of the things I learned early on, and a principle that Wilderness Wind has always practiced is that you only travel a portage trail once.  That means everything has to fit into one backpack and you carry everything with you, including the canoe.  Over the years I have accumulated new, lighter equipment.  All my clothes and personal items fit into one dry bag, while my sleeping bag, mattress, pillow and an extra pair of shoes fit in another.   The lesson is always how little one actually needs for five days in the wilderness.  Granted we look a bit rough when we emerge and probably wouldn’t want to live like that for too long, but the lesson is still there.  We live in a very materialistic society, and so I need to be reminded from time to time that Jesus told us not to worry about things, but travel lightly through this life.

The second lesson I am reminded of each time I enter the wilderness is that we are not in control.  As much as we like to think that we are in control, the wilderness always reminds me that there are forces over which I have no control.  If the wind is blowing across a large lake, as it often does, I may be forced to alter my route, or even on occasion stop my journey until the wind dies down.  You quickly learn that you need to work with nature, taking it as it comes to you, rather than fighting nature – which can prove dangerous.  We share the wilderness with animals and we need to act in ways that protect both us, and them.

Since traveling in the wilderness is always in a group, at least for me, it also reminds me that my own need for control must be tempered by the group.  It takes everyone working together to make a trip a success.  Rob enjoys building fires, I enjoy cooking, others are good at getting the bear ropes up, or setting up tents.  And if the weather is bad, it takes the whole group working together to keep going.

For me, the natural world provides a window to the greatness and goodness of God.  It reminds me of lessons I need to remember in my Christian walk, and refreshes my spiritual life in ways that nothing else seems to.  But clearly I’m not alone in that.  The Bible is full of stories and poetry relating to nature and creation.  The Psalms speak over and over of God’s presence in creation and call upon all of creation to worship their creator.

Listen to the words of Psalm 148 (NRSV) (Illustrated)

¹Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! ²Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

³Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!  ⁴Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

⁵Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.  ⁶He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

⁷Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,

⁸fire and hail,

snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹Mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars!

¹⁰Wild animals and all cattle,

creeping things

and flying birds!

¹¹Kings of the earth and all peoples,

princes and all rulers of the earth!

¹²Young men and women alike,

old and young together!

¹³Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;

his glory is above earth and heaven.

¹⁴He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!

A more modern songwriter has also celebrated the music of nature and so I’d like to close with this song entitled, “Lay Down your Weary Tune”  (Bob Dylan, 1964)

I’ve included the words on the screen, and you can feel free to join in the chorus as you wish.

Prayer:

Thank you Creator God, for the gift of your creation, which teaches us many things, and opens our eyes to your wonder. We confess that too often we have taken your creation for granted, or even worse exploited it thinking it was here only for our selfish desires.  Forgive us.  Help us to see all of creation as yours and show us how to be good stewards of all that you have given us.

Through Christ, we pray.  Amen.