Looking Ahead to September 15, 2024 -- Creation 2

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Genesis 2:4b-22
• Psalm 104:14-23

From Hamlet Act 2,Sc. 2 Image Source

The Sermon title is How Important Are We?

Early Thoughts: Is humanity the apex of God's creation? Or are we just another part?

It is easy to read Scripture and think that humanity is indeed the apex, the pinnacle of God's creation. It the hymn to creation we find in Genesis 1 humanity is created last. In the second creation story, the one we find in Genesis 2, humanity is created first and then helps God name all the other creatures. In both stories one could get the sense that the rest of the creation, the flora and fauna in particular, are there for humanity to use.

Then there is Psalm 8 which says (in a passage a later writer would refer to in Hebrews 2):

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
⁴ what are humans that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

 That seems a clear statement about humanity's importance (at least according to humanity).

But is that a true representation? From a another point of view humanity is, at best, a mere blip in the history of the planet and the cosmos. Even if humanity manages to make the planet uninhabitable for humans life and the planet will continue. We might have a lot of ability to manage and alter the world around us but still the world would continue if we were suddenly gone. [Some might say the world would continue better if we were suddenly gone but I am not sure the equation is that simple.]

When I consider our relationship to the rest of creation I have to wonder if seeing ourselves as the pinnacle, the apex of creation has been healthy for us or for the wider world. Seeing the rest of creation as being there to serve us has maybe made us, as a species, a little arrogant. It has maybe given us a 'me first' attitude towards our brothers and sisters. If, as many cultures in history have done, we refer to earth as our Mother does our care for the earth match how we would actually care for a parent?

I don't think our relationship with the rest of creation has always been as it is now. I do think that earlier iterations of human society have had a different sense of inter-relationship than has developed since (largely) the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe. At the same time I think we can sometimes romanticize how those other understandings might have looked in practice. Human activity has always impacted the world around them. Part of the issue is that we have developed the ability to make more of an impact and not always paused to consider the ramifications of that ability.

What happens if we try to see ourselves not as the top of the pyramid but part of an inter-connected web of relationships? Does that help us be more faithful followers of God who we name as Creator? If we see those other things that God has created (particularly flora and fauna) not as our tools or servants but as siblings how might we act differently?

As a species, and certainly as individuals at times, we can get an elevated view of how important we are. That can lead us to do wonderful things. It can also lead us to be really selfish. According to our faith stories God created humanity as a part of the larger world. We are told to care for the earth, maybe to subdue it or maybe to be stewards -- caring for something placed in our care by the one whom we follow. I suspect that to be faithful to the God who has created and is creating, the God who calls us to care for the earth means we need to stop and re-evaluate how important we are (positively or negatively) in shaping the world into the Good Creation that God first called into being.

Humanity is an important part of the equation (for now at least). That does not mean we are so important we get first billing. But we are important -- so are our siblings in God's creation.
--Gord