November 15 NOTES FOR REFLECTION Feast of Christ in All Creation*
Texts: Genesis 1:26-2:3; Colossians 1:15-20; John 1:1-14*
[*The Lectionary advises that this Feast may be celebrated on any of 3 Sundays this month, those Sundays falling this year on the 8th, 15th, and 22nd. (Somewhat bizarrely, it tells us in respect of the 15th and 22nd that it can be celebrated "today or last Sunday" – quite what help it is to be told what we could have done "last Sunday" escapes me.) If it is significant enough to be an option on 3 Sundays we might think some suggested readings would not be too much to expect: alas, no such help is provided. Two months ago I chose these readings for St Barnabas, Warrington: as with those for Remembrance Sunday last week, I cannot now recall where I got them from or why I chose them. So your local faith community may not be celebrating this Feast this Sunday, and, if it is, it may be using different readings. This is just a small example of the wonderfully complex web of life that we celebrate this week!]
Theme: The title of the Feast is the obvious choice, perhaps in a more abbreviated form of "Christ in All Things". Because I think there may be value in linking this Feast to the Nicene Creed, I'm going for "Things Seen and Unseen".
Introduction. In the Nicene Creed we affirm our belief that God is "the maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen", and that "through [Jesus Christ, the only Son of God] all things were made". This Feast Day gives us an opportunity to reflect on those beliefs and to celebrate the truth they witness to. The Creed is so easy to recite, without grasping how staggeringly huge our beliefs are, or how often we escape from them into a sort of Walt Disney cuteness when we think of "Nature" (or, worse still, "Mother Nature") when we really mean "Creation".
I shouldn't put all the blame on Walt Disney: a far greater offender was Cecil Frances Alexander, who lived from 1818-1895. In those 77 years he may well have done many praiseworthy things, but he also wrote that dreadful hymn "All things bright and beautiful". Every time I hear it – at weddings, funerals, or Sunday services – I renew my promise to myself that whatever else I do in my retirement years I will write my own version of that trite nonsense. I have already jotted down a few lines, including "the greenfly on the roses", and (in the spirit of Anzac) "the cane toads spreading south". (All contributions gratefully received and future royalties shared.)
For a more realistic (and I would argue, a more spiritually healthy) approach we should turn to that great prophet and saint of the present day, David Attenborough, who shows us what "reality TV" ought to mean. He also shows us what our response to the whole of creation (and not just meerkats and other cute things) should be. His hallmarks are attention, respect and, above all, love. Who but he could do a whole programme on frogs, for instance, and smile with delight at all they do and are? There is never a hint that other creatures are there "for us", to be exploited for their "entertainment value" or turned into export earnings and tourist attractions.
But his programmes do challenge in much the same way as God's "answer" to Job. Recently one of his programmes showed the astonishing challenges the young of many species face in the earliest stages of their lives. There was a species of bird (an albatross?) whose eggs were laid way up on the edge of a very high rocky cliff. The parents fed the chicks for a few weeks, but soon it was time for them to leave the nest. The mother took off with her mighty wingspan making it look easy. But the chicks were months away from being equipped with wings capable of flight. They had to jump off and hope for the best. The best turned out to be a tumbling series of bumps and bounces down the rocky cliff-face. How any of them made it to the ground alive is a mystery to me.
Other examples were given, where the predators knew where and when the young of their prey would be available in large numbers. Then there are those who migrate over vast distances every year – the godwits are a good example. Why on earth do they have to breed in one place and then live in somewhere else, thousands of miles away? Ever heard of wastage in the system? Ever heard of the productivity Council's recommendations? Ever heard of living smarter, of doing more with less? God our Creator is everything an orthodox economist is not. God's approach to everything is found in extravagance and abundance. In terms of human wisdom, not much of what is found in creation makes sense. That's because its central tenet is love. Love rarely makes sense, as another of our hymn writers makes beautifully clear in a poem he wrote in tribute to Mother Teresa.
Sydney Carter wrote the lyrics for "The Lord of the Dance", among others, which is not a bad choice for this Feast Day, incidentally. Here are some extracts from his poem:
No revolution will come in time
to alter this man's life
except the one
surprise of being loved.
He has only twelve more hours to live.
Over this dead loss to society
you pour your precious ointment,
wash the feet
that will not walk tomorrow.
Mother Teresa, Mary Magdalene,
your love is dangerous...
But if love cannot do it, then I see
no future for this dying man or me.
So blow the world to glory,
crack the clock. Let love be dangerous.
Okay, I confess that I have wandered rather a long way off theme here. But this has been a terrible week in the news media, with the appalling mess around "Christmas Island" (and just think about the name of that place for a moment!) and our own Parliament sinking to depths not plumbed since the darkest days of Muldoon's descent into personal abuse and vilification. Sometimes it's hard to remember, even in this month, that God our Creator IS working his purposes out, that the Kingdom Jesus proclaims IS coming on earth as in heaven, and that the Spirit IS still hovering over the whole of creation, making all things new. We began this month celebrating all the saints whose lives and examples remind us of these great truths. You won't find their names in any Church calendar or list of saints' days, but on my list David Attenborough and Sydney Carter are definitely included.
Genesis 1:26-2:3. There is no getting away from the fact that this, the first of our two creation stories, is problematic in what it says about the relationship between our species and all the others. Words like "dominion" and "subdue" certainly support a more utilitarian or exploitative theology than the one I have attributed to David Attenborough. But even in this account there is a clear recognition of the "rights" of other creatures – see verse 30 in particular. Furthermore, the second creation story, centred on the creation of humankind in the context of the Garden supports a very different theology. Here the key verse is 2:15 where the calling of humankind is "to till and keep it". Perhaps the most important theme from all this is to hold in balance the undoubted uniqueness of humankind in God's eyes – we alone are made in God's own image and likeness – without in any way de-valuing other creatures, all of whom are made by God and all of whom are "good" in his eyes.
Taking It Personally.
· Imagine God holding a creature (of your choice) in his hand, looking at it with
attention, respect and love, smiling at it, and declaring it "good".
· Now repeat the exercise with God holding in his hand the person you most dislike at this time. After some time with this image, pray for that person.
· Reflect on the notion of gift in verses 29 and 30. Do you experience creation as a gift? How often do you express that in prayers of praise and thanksgiving?
· This Saturday (or Sunday if it's easier) reflect on 2:3. Is Sabbath rest a blessing to you?
Colossians 1:15-20. I come back to this passage time and time again because of its power to transcend all thoughts, words, and reason. It is pure vision – its true source can only be the Holy Spirit. Not even St Paul could have written this in his own strength. Remember that he was writing this within 30 years, perhaps less, after Jesus' death on the cross. To claim him as a great teacher, a man of compassion, as selfless, and as a man of supreme courage in the face of torture and death is one thing. But to see this man in the terms St Paul summarises in this passage is truly mind-blowing. We might say of someone today, "he/she if the most God-like or Christ-like person I have ever seen". That would be a pretty powerful claim. But Paul is saying far more than that here. It is impossible to paraphrase this passage in any way that would do it justice; but notice at least three things. First, Christ is the one in whom all things were made (v. 16); secondly, he is the one in whom all things hold together (v. 17); and thirdly, he is the one in whom "all the fullness of God" was pleased to dwell. Christ is the biology of life, the physics of life, and the incarnation of God! What more need we say?
Taking It Personally.
· Take time for prayers of adoration and praise. (And give thanks for St Paul.)
· Read the passage several times during the week, slowly and prayerfully.
· Read or recite the first few clauses of the Nicene Creed. Notice how they pick up much of the language of this passage. Bringing it to mind when you are next reciting the Creed in church.
· Reflect on verse 19. Notice how it is a perfect summary of the Incarnation, as we approach Advent and Christmas.
· Pray for all those caught up in the Christmas Island tragedy. Pray for reconciliation, guided by this passage.
John 1:1-14. Remember that this beautiful passage is thought to be the author's meditation on the Genesis creation story in the light of Christ. The key terms here are life and light, as they are in the Genesis story. Whether we envisage creation as taking place through evolution or otherwise, our Scriptures tell us that life is indivisible – one life that is manifested in countless forms – and has but one source. Similarly there is a sense in which we might speak of one light – not a thing or many things – but one source of illumination in the fullest sense of that word. Christ is the manifestation of both that one life and that one light. That is why we celebrate in this Feast his presence in all things, seen and unseen.
Taking It Personally.
· Physicists tell us that in everything that has substance there are atoms, molecules, and so on. This week's readings say the same is true of Christ. Ponder.
· Christ is the source of all life and light. What does that mean to you?
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