2nd Sunday before Lent
Readings: Proverbs 8: 1, 22-31; Psalm 104: 25-37; Colossians 1: 15-20; John 1: 1-14
19/02/06
Our God was in existence at the beginning of time, his mind conceived a plan,
and his creative spirit gave birth to the world, he spoke and the world came
into being. It was a world designed perfect, in harmony with God and with
itself. A world designed after God’s own heart, full of life and creativity. God
made people in his image to tend the world and have joy in it, and to worship
him and live in a family relationship with him, as his children.
Today’s readings all express that amazing idea in their own way. “When you send
forth your spirit , they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” “In
wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (Psalm
104). “…in him all things in heaven and on earth were created…” (Colossians 1).
“All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into
being.” (John 1).
All of these images are filled with joy and energy. In the reading from the book
of Proverbs, Wisdom tells us that she was “daily (God’s) delight, rejoicing
before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human
race”. In the psalm, “… there is that Leviathan which you have made to play in
the deep.” And “may the Lord rejoice in his works.”
The Lord looked on his creation and saw that it was good, so we can read in the
book of Genesis. God’s intention was that he and his creation would live in
harmony with each other. He took delight in his creation and the whole of
creation should delight in him in return.
In God’s wisdom all the world was created in harmony. But in humanity’s wisdom
that harmony was broken. Adam and Eve grasped after a knowledge they thought
would make them equal to God, but it only served to separate them from his
presence. And yet, even so, God has been working ever since to repair that
damage.
Ultimately, “the Word became flesh”, God was born as a human being, Jesus Christ
“the image of the invisible God… and through him God was pleased to reconcile
all things to himself.”
Jesus came to begin the work of re-creating the world as God intended it to be.
But again, not everyone accepted Jesus and the reconciliation he offered.
However, those who did believe in him as God’s son received “power to become
children of God”. The marred image of God is healed through Jesus Christ, and
when we accept that healing, we repent, turning from being part of the problem to
being part of the solution. We are given the task of showing the image of God in
us, and joining in the work of re-creating God’s kingdom here and now.
We are created in the image of God and have his creative gift. It’s easy to see
this gift in what we call creative arts – we have the choir and gospel singers
who take great joy in leading worship here. We have displays, posters and
flowers decorating the church. We have beautiful, tranquil gardens and well-kept
grounds, which draw people in to have a moment’s peace in a busy day. All of
which show the love and pride we have for our church.
But our mission extends much further. In the way we treat one another, in the
way we reach out to our community, in the way we interact with those we live and
work with, we should aim for all our actions to glorify God and further his
kingdom.
As the psalmist says, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will make
music to my God while I have my being. So shall my song please him while I
rejoice in the Lord.” (Psalm 104).
In all these endeavours we should always be seeking God’s wisdom, as we heard in
today’s collect prayer, to “discern (God’s) hand in all (his) works and (his)
likeness in all (his) children”.
Amen.