Looking Forward to September 21, 2025 -- Creation 3

The Scripture Reading this week is Psalm 104:10-28

Source

The Sermon title is God's Great Web

Early Thoughts: Touch one strand and another vibrates. Tear open one section and the whole structure is weakened. 

This is not only true about the spider web, it is true of a much bigger web, a web of which we are all a part. In the masterful weaving of God's creation we are all attached, all interconnected, What we do impacts every thing else. We forget these links at our own peril.

Source

As I was typing that paragraph I reminded myself of something called the Butterfly effect. In Chaos theory the Butterfly effect reminds us that seemingly minor things can have massive impacts. The most well known formulation is to suggest that a butterfly flapping its wings in one area can spawn a tornado hundreds or thousands of miles away. That might seem a little outlandish but the fact remains that given the interconnectedness of life, the universe, and everything, we can not be sure what ripples our actions might have. If we take seriously our call to live with respect in creation then we have to think about all the impacts our choices might have.

It is possible to read the Creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2 and decide that creation is there to serve humanity. Form much of human history we appear to have lived with that impression, that human needs/wants are of first importance and the impacts on the world are secondary. Some cultures are more guilty of this than others, with industrialized Western European and North American arguably being the worst of the lot. I am not sure that is a good reading of the Creation accounts, particularly Genesis 1 where humanity is created last and everything created before us is called good in and of its own accord. Then a passage like Psalm 104 comes up and reminds us that is really is not about us.

Image Source

These verses from Psalm 104 remind me that God is out there caring for all of creation, the entire web. We humans are, in the grand sweep of billions of years, a tiny point on that web. We have punched above our weight so to speak. We have made an impact that has helped to reshape the earth, the climate, the creation itself. We may have forgotten that it may not actually be all about us.

AS a part of the web, and remembering that when one strand vibrates everything else feels is we may want to ask what vibrations we are creating. Remembering that the stone falling into a lake can, if the ripples are big enough, flood the far shore we might stop to ask what is at risk way over there. Remembering that if part of the web is damaged or destroyed the strength of the whole thing is impacted we might remember we have a duty to help keep the web strong and resilient.

I think it is what we mean when we say that we are called to live with respect in creation...
--Gord