In the beginning…

These are words that spark a variety of responses from different folks. Some might hear the beginning of a story. Others might think about their family and how it started. For those of the Judaeo-Christian camp we know where this phrase leads, “…God created the heavens and the earth.” But sometimes we don’t think about the way the rest of the story goes and how it applies to the way in which we live today. The story continues: God separates the light from darkness, the sky from water and the land from the sea. He then fills in the spaces He has created and after He has filled in these spaces He says that it is good. The crown of creation after all of this is God’s selem; His image. He creates mankind in His image as a reflection of Himself and then God stops. We often refer to this stopping as the Sabbath rest but literally God is allowing space for creation and Creator to pause, breathe, reflect and it is called good.

I want to return to that idea of mankind being made in God’s image. Because I believe that there is something in this story that we miss if we simply try to break this down to a line by line account of how and not necessarily why. On days one through three God creates space. On days four through six God fills in that space and on day seven He pauses to look at all that has been done. If we are made in that same image, then how does our life reflect the life of a creator God? Do we make space in our lives for God’s creative Spirit to blow through us and allow new and good things to be created? Or are we so busy filling our lives with our own concerns that there is no space for His Spirit to work? The writer of Genesis understood that there was a rhythm to life. The seventh day was necessary to allow one to reorient, to recast the vision of how one leads their lives and then to move on from there. But if that rhythm is missing, can we be a complete selem?

The writer of the Psalms knew a little about this idea when he penned the words, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;“- Psalm 46:10. All too often in today’s world we are so busy going and doing and acquiring and earning that we don’t even realize we have taken up all the creative space inside of our selves and left no room for the Spirit of God to work. I belong to a tradition where we consider ourselves to be people who live by the presence of the Spirit of God. But if we don’t make space in our lives for God to work, can He? One last thought came from my reading this morning from Dennis Kinlaw today and I want to share it with you. “This personal character [creativity and love] of God and the personal character of Christianity, along with its emphasis on faith, means that God does not desire primarily obedience from us. If He wanted servile obedience, he could force it. What He really desires from us is that we should love Him so much that He is our joy, our delight, and our fulfillment” Are you making space for God to be all He can be in you today?