As a youth minister I despised the annual Lock-In. Every year it was the same: everything is fine; kids are enjoying themselves until the clock strikes 3 am. At the 3 am, all the Red Bull and energy drinks have worn off, the novelty of the games have worn off, and the kids are in danger mode. They’re looking for something to break, something to get into, and someone to sneak off with, all because they do not want to fall asleep. At 3 am I am fighting the devil, which is sleep, saying to myself, “I just have to hold on for 4 more hours.” At 3 am the darkness of the Lock-In sets in and I am desperately clinging to the hope of daylight and getting some sleep.
Genesis 1 asserts that the world is ordered, good, belongs to God, and is therefore reliable. No matter if the earth was void and darkness covered the face of the deep, the wind from God swept over the face of the waters. The darkness is given away to light and God separates the light from the darkness. God does not remove the darkness. The darkness stays. While the light becomes Day, the darkness becomes Night. The text asserts that God is both in light and in darkness.
According to critical study, these first few verses were written in Babylon during the exile. During a people’s darkest hour, the text asserts that the world belongs to God not Babylon. Against this setting, we see creation as a reminder of God’s presence in both the light of day and the dark of night1. They are reminded that chaos and darkness do not go away. Light is formed within darkness. God tell us that light is good but God does not remove darkness. Instead God names the darkness. God gives the darkness a place in the world but God gives the people hope in the light. As Harvey Dent told the people of Gotham, “The night is darkest before the dawn. And I promise the dawn is coming.”
In the setting of a people in exile, the creation narrative takes on a greater meaning. To speak of creation, then, is to state that the cosmos do not simply exist; it was created by God. More so it outlines the creative activity of God, including the work originating, continuing, and completing creation. Creation then becomes a statement that this world is not our world and all that is in it do belong to us. No matter how silly it sounds, this exilic setting reminds us that God has the whole world in his hands.
Creation does not end in the darkness; it begins. The light is a part of the darkness. God is in the midst of both Israel’s golden eras and her darkest nights. God is in the positive and in the negative. All belongs to God and all comes from God. In calling the light good, the people are given a great sense of hope. With each new day brings with it a new hope. There is no evaluation of the darkness. It is not called good or bad. It is what it is. The separation of the light and dark into day and night remind us in creation is difference, separation, and distinction, but always in relationship. Difference, separation, and distinction do not deny, negate, or compromise relationships. There is night (darkness) and there is morning (light).
Unlike the other days of creation, which are summed up by reference to their place in sequence, the first day has no meaning until there are more days. Before there is a second day, in other words, this day is not the first day, but simply day—evening and morning, a day; that day; this day; any day2.
Under the setting of exile the creation story becomes a gift of freedom to the nation of Israel. They do not need to be anxious or frantic to become secure or please the Babylonians, but rest assure of God’s sure rule. Thus, the text offers a world of well-ordered stability in which Israel is invited to live in. That well-ordered stability is not neutral but is a countercultural invitation that invites Israel to break with seductive Babylonian offers of stability that cannot be true because the world does not belong to them3. The world belongs to God and Israel is given the freedom to live outside the Babylonian definitions of reality. By act of imagination, the text then gives them the creative freedom of civil disobedience.
But what does this part of the creation story mean for us in our setting?
“Why does evil exist” is a question that both Christians and non-Christians like to ask. For the Christian, the question is usually posed when tragedy strikes or when they are wrestling with their faith or they generally want to know why evil is in the world. For the non-Christian the question is posed when, like the Christian, tragedy strikes or when they want to disprove God’s existence* or they too, like the Christian, genuinely want to know why evil is in the world.
As a minister and youth minister, I have been asked the question by teenagers and adults alike. During my third semester in seminary I discussed St. Augustine’s the Problem of Evil in the five classes I took. By the time final papers came due I had written on the same subject 8 or 9 different times in 5 different classes. My response on the subject is this: I do not know.
The scriptures do not give us a clear picture of why evil exists in our world. Over time we have developed theological reasons for evil’s existent, ranging from the fall of man to the devil to there being a rock so heavy that God couldn’t lift it. For me, there is not a theological reason that satisfies me, at least in the defined realities of the ones I’ve mentioned.
While the creation narrative does not give us reasons, the relationship between light and dark remind us that our brightest days are followed by our blackest nights. The light comes out of the darkness. Without the darkness God is unable to speak light into the world. God is not absent in humanity’s struggles. God is fully present in the void of life and in the deepest despairs of our world. What matters is what the scriptures teach us, this earth and all that is in it belongs to God. In other words, our blackest night will give way to our brightest day.
This leads me into the other meaning for us in our setting: We are not bound to the realities of our world.
The freedom that is given to the Israelites is the same freedom that is given to us. We can choose to define our lives by a different reality. We have the freedom to choose to live in reality that is defined by the character and nature of God. We have the freedom to break from the definition of reality that America offers. By act of imagination we have the freedom to live outside the realities defined by America and her government. We have the same invitation of the Israelites, the invitation to break free from the seductive American offers of stability that are not true because the world does not belong to America; the world belongs to God.
The scriptures tell us that we are to be a part of this world but we are not of this world. The Christian reality is not defined by governments but instead by the commandments of our God through Christ Jesus. We have the power to change the lives of our neighbors, not because of who we elect, but because of who we are. We do not have to wait on the government to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, care for the sick, or give to the poor. We have the freedom to do so ourselves. We have been given the freedom to live a sacrificial life because this world belongs to God. This freedom allows for civil disobedience. So I say, freely pray where you wish to pray. Freely give to those who are without. Freely feed those who are hungry. You have the freedom to do this without legislation and without the permission of authorities.
The creation narrative reminds us, all that is on earth and in heaven belong to God. Because of such a reminder, we no longer have to live in fear. Our lives are invited to be lived with a sense of great peace and great hope because our blackest night will be followed by our brightest day. Because of such, from life to death our lives have the ability to be a beacon of great light to the hurting, the lost, the forsaken, the abused, and the lonely, that will lead them all to the light which the darkness could not overcome, Christ Jesus. Amen.
2 John Ballenger (p12)
3 Brueggemann (p101)
*Note: Non-Christian in this context refers to those who lean towards a more atheistic view of God.
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