Celebrating creation

[ video ]

St Paul’s Church, Ipswich
Creation Sunday
1 September 2024

---

Today we switch from winter to spring, despite the last few weeks seeming like summer.

Today we begin the Season of Creation, which will run from today until early October. More about that in a moment.

Today we also begin two new sets of readings: with the first reading each Sunday coming from the Wisdom literature of the Jewish Scriptures (what Christians call the Old Testament) and the second reading coming from the Letter of James. James is the NT document most deeply grounded in the Jewish wisdom traditions. More about that in a moment as well.

On top of all that, today is also Fathers’ Day!

The wisdom tradition

There are various streams of literature to be found in the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament:

Epic Narrative: an extended and essentially continuous story of the covenant people stretching from the creation of the world to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.

Laws: Interwoven with the first part of the epic story of ancient Israel we have materials about the laws that would govern the public and private lives, and especially the religious lives, of the covenant people. The famous Ten Commandments are the classic expression of this stream.

Prophets: Another major stream within the Bible is found in the prophetic writings which essentially call Israel to account for their failure to observe the laws and keep the covenant with God. They were not foretelling events in the distant future, but describing what is about to happen in the cycle of punishment and restoration. There is passion for justice running through these books, and a vision of Israel having a role as a light to the nations.

Songs of the Temple: the Psalms form a major stream in their own right, as they gather up the prayer songs of God’s people over several centuries. We now know that not very long before the birth of Jesus the collection of Psalms was still incomplete. From the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1948 we see that up to Psalm 109 was pretty well fixed, but the final 40 or so psalms had not yet been chosen.

Wisdom Literature: this includes books such as Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. Within the OT Apocrypha we have additional wisdom works, including the Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sira.

It is this final stream from the biblical tradition that we shall be listening to during the next few weeks as we go observe the Season of Creation.

It offers some different perspectives on meaning and truth, and invites us to embrace wisdom wherever it is found rather than sticking to our own religious community.

This may prove to be a very important insight for all humans as we seek to grapple with the climate changes that are reshaping our lives and transforming our futures.

Season of Creation

As mentioned already, from this Sunday until early October we shall be observing the Season of Creation. 

This is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together. During the Season of Creation, we join our sisters and brothers across the ecumenical family in prayer and action for our common home.

This ecumenical and international celebration originated in 1989 when Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed 1 September as a day of prayer for creation within the Orthodox churches. 

The World Council of Churches soon adopted the idea for an extended season, extending through September. 

Since then, Christians worldwide have embraced the season as part of their annual calendar. In recent years, statements from religious leaders around the world have also encouraged the faithful to take time to care for creation during the month-long celebration.

The season starts 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations.

Throughout this month-long celebration, the world’s 2.2 billion Christians come together to care for our common home.

Caring for our common home.

We look after our own homes and tend our own gardens, but we have a shared responsibility for the care of all creation.

Both the stories of creation with which the Bible opens agree that humans exist under the providence of God to tend creation.

This commission to be custodians of the planet has mostly been misunderstood as the grant of sovereignty over the plant. This is to misunderstand the meaning of Scripture. The authority bestowed on humans within creation—like the authority exercised by parents—is not power to dominate and exploit, but responsibility to nurture and protect. Like responsible parents duty-bound to care for their children, humans have a responsibility for the wellbeing of creation, not a licence to control, dominate or exploit.

For Anglicans this is expressed in the fifth of our five marks of mission:

To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, 
and sustain and renew the life of the earth

In our parish life and in our homes we are called to do all we can to preserve, sustain and renew this fragile planet we call home.

This is not a distraction from the Gospel, but rather a core element of the Good News.

We are not offering free tickets to escape this world, but rather recruiting people to work with God to restore and protect creation.

We shall be reflecting on this call during these Sundays in the Season of Creation.

As we do that, we shall be encouraged by the Wisdom texts each week to look deeper and to look farther afield for the wisdom we need to care for creation.

Wisdom calls us to her table. If only we have the ears to listen:

Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. She has sent out her servant girls, she calls from the highest places in the town, “You that are simple, turn in here!” To those without sense she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” [Proverbs 9:1-6 NRSV]