Sunday, January 7, 2024  

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Scripture Reading
Genesis 1:1–5

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

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (NRSV)

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Reflection

If you, like me, appreciate the neat and orderly, prepare yourself. I have bad news.

Creation’s start is a mess. Wind blows. Waters rage. Confusion conquers. Disorder reigns. That’s how our scriptures open: in complete chaos. Christian theologians from John Calvin to Billy Graham have long taught that God created out of nothing, but that’s not the story I find in the book of Genesis. I read a story of a God who tamed the chaos; who imposed order upon disorder; who entered the battle between chaos and order, picked a side, and made something wonderful out of something dreadful.

Hebrew scholars have long stated that in the beginning was disorder, wildness, and waste, a time that was threatening and terrible. Upon this turmoil, God imposes order: day and night, dry land and sea, sun and moon, stars and sky. God settles the shifting soils by raising mountains, flattening plains, and planting a garden. God separates the restless sea into rivers and oceans, ponds and marshlands. God affixes purpose to creatures by giving wings to birds, fins to fish, and breath to mortals.

And none of this chaos was quickly ordered. God didn’t snap fingers and bring creation into being; this is not a one-and-done event. It went on for days — and even then God wasn’t done. In the Hebrew scriptures, every time chaos bubbled up again, God sent kings, judges, and prophets to call the people — to call creation — back to order.

Chaos is a perpetual threat, and it is very much part of our contemporary lives. Violence. Injustice. Lies. Confusion. In the absence of peace, stability, truth, and well-being, chaos reigns. And the order that God wants for us is also the order God wants from us. We have a responsibility for this work. Creation is not a finished event of the past, but a live project. And we are invited to join with God as co-creators, taming the chaos of our world with righteousness, peace, and concord.

So, yes, creation is chaotic, but God is not. And in the battle between chaos and order, God will always win.

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Prayer
O God, when the universe was full of chaos and terror, you were at the ready to breathe order and concord to a reeling world. Give me the courage to offer the same to creation today in a life of peace, mercy, and beauty. Amen.

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Written by Shawn Fiedler, Major Gift Officer

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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