10/06/2024 ~ Proper 22 ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost ~ Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1017932946

From the Earth

“…Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the ad-am-ah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” — Genesis 2:18.

As I have perhaps too often said here, I was a professional writer involved with theater related projects. Even outside the pulpit I will occasionally let people know I’m a writer. Sometimes someone tell me their impression of writers is they are… loners— isolated introverts. That impression is not far fetched.

Even I, a writer, think most writers are loners. As a practice they go off to their towers (very few of them are ivory these days) and they scribble, scribble, scribble— or these days type, type, type on a computer— pages and pages and pages.

Then a writer emerges, finalized copy in hand, ready to share it with the world. Unless a writer works with a good editor— a scarce commodity these days— unless a good editor, the writer only rarely allows for the change of a single letter or word or comma or paragraph, thank you.

As a writer for theater I need to say there’s something which sets theater writers apart. Theater is a collaborative art.

It takes many, many people of great talent— actors, directors, producers, musicians, composers, set, sound and lighting designers, sometimes even other writers, multiple writers— to present a stage play or musical. And all of these collaborators will bring change to what was originally written.

The demand that the theater makes is to embrace change within the process of creation. Theater is an art which incorporates change because of the process of creation.

While a theater writer may initially find some tower in which to write, upon emerging theater writers know change, collaboration, working with others, is a part of the process. No theater writer nor anyone who works in theater can be a loner since the art does not allow for that. As for me, personally, theater taught me how to collaborate. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Genesis. “…Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the ad-am-ah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” (Slight pause.)

You probably know this reading is the second of two segments concerned with creation, two understandings of creation in Genesis. The initial one is in the first chapter of Genesis.

Please note, I did not call these creation stories. Why? Neither of these two chapters in Genesis are descriptions of creation, concerned with how creation came about or humanity came to be.

In short, the Bible is not a science textbook. So if these first two chapters in Genesis are not a story about how creation happened and this passage is not about how humanity came to be, what is it about? (Slight pause.)

A bunch of things jump out here, so let’s start with the obvious. I hope the translation [1] we heard today made it clear the word ‘a-dam’ [2] is not a name.

Our clue to this is in the fact that ad-am-ah is the earth, the dust of the ground. A-dam is, therefore, an earth creature, made out of the dust of the ground, from the ground. In Hebrew this is a play on words, a pun— earth and earth creature.

Equally, Eve— ish in Hebrew— is not a name but a word which means giver of life. It is also clear that Yahweh, God, has made these earth creatures. And it should be evident God loves what God has made. How do I know that?

In words which came before the section of Scripture we heard today God acted as a bellows, breathes life into the a-dam. This “breath of life” is God’s own living breath, a divine act of love.

This “breath of life” is the only distinction between the creation of humans and the creation of the animals. God does not breathe breath into the animals. Instead they are simply created out of the ad-am-ah, out of the earth.

So the a-dam, this earth creature, is a combination of the substance of the earth and the breath of God. It seems clear this passage constitutes a profound theological statement about our human identity, about who we are.

Now, having breathed life into the a-dam, what happens? Together, with this a-dam, this earth person, Yahweh, God, sets to a task, begins a collaboration. Yahweh and the a-dam commence on the work on naming things. Indeed, these words describe both a developing relationship and a sense of collaboration as it happens.

The motive of God is stated quite clearly. God seeks a companion for the a-dam, the earth creature. Then yet another level of collaboration happens.

God does not take this next step in isolation from the earth creature. God creates ish— this name which means giver of life— God creates ish out of the earth creature, out of the a-dam.

Thereby, the collaboration deepens and becomes richer as it becomes inclusive of yet another earth creature made out of the a-dam, who was made out of the ground and out of the breath of God. Hence, the very nature of this event, this act, instructs humanity about what we should be doing, what we need to be doing. Just as the God of covenant— covenant something which insists on collaboration— just as the God of covenant collaborates with us, we need to collaborate with God and with one another, rely on one another, support one another. (Slight pause.)

Let me again state the obvious. This story is not concerned with how earth creatures, human beings came about. This is a story about relationships— a relationship with God and a relationship with other earth creatures, other humans.

And yes, you may get tired of hearing me use the word ‘covenant.’ But this is a story about covenant because it is a story about relationship with God and relationship with other humans. (Slight pause.)

I made this next point last week. Something we need to realize is covenants are not contracts. Contracts do not change. They are static.

Covenants by their nature renew, animate, revive, regenerate, create, re-create, alter, live, breathe. And yes, covenants demand change because covenants are not static. I probably don’t even need to say this but I shall: covenants are about collaboration.

The art called covenant makes a demand on us to embrace change, incorporate change, include change. Covenant is about the process of creating with God and the process of creating with others. The process called covenant demands change.

Why does covenant demand change? Because covenant is about growing in love, in peace, in wisdom, in knowledge, in understanding— growth— a process.

That, my friends, is what the real story of creation is about— a story about an invitation to relationships. We are invited by God to grow— to grow in love, in peace, in wisdom, in knowledge, in understanding. Amen.

10/06/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “One Thought for Meditation today was from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. That is a work of science fiction comedy— yes, science fiction comedy. As a theater person let me define comedy for you. Comedy seeks to uncover deep truth. We laugh because comedy helps us see deep truth. In Hebrew a-dam and ad-am-ah reads as a comedic word play and points to a deep truth. And so let me offer another quote from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s not particularly funny but it’s true. ‘There is a moment in every dawn when light floats and there is the possibility of magic. Creation holds its breath.’”

BENEDICTION: The work and the will of God is placed before us. We are called to be faithful and seek to do God’s will and work. In so doing, may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

[1]
This is the translation used and the introduction the reading which preceded the reading of Genesis 2:18-23 [Inclusive Language Version]

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

Because we do not read the passages from Scripture in their original languages this places us at a severe disadvantage when it come to understanding what many words mean. In the passage I am about to read what we take to be simply names are actually words with meanings hidden from us because of this. The translation used today attempts to address what the passage means since it is translated in a way which helps us hear some of the meanings behind the words which we often take as names. Needless to say, the meaning behind the words indicate something richer is happening here than mere naming.

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE TORAH — Genesis 2:18-23 [ILV]

[18] …Yahweh, God, said, “It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.” [19] So also out of the ground, from the soil, out of the adamah, Yahweh, God, formed all the animals, every wild beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the earth creature, the adam, so these could be named. Whatever the earth creature, the adam, called every living one, that became its name. [20] The earth creature gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, all the wild animals.

But none of them proved to be a fitting companion, a partner for the adam, the earth creature. [21] So Yahweh, God, caused a deep sleep to fall on the earth creature. While it slept God divided the earth creature in two and then closed up the flesh from its side. [22] Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another.
[23] The earth creature realized what had happened and said,
“This time this is the one!
Bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
Now this one will be called ish” —
ish a word which means source of life
“and I shall be called adam”—
adam— a word which means from the ground
“for out of me was this one taken.”

Here ends this reading from Scripture.

[2] Adam is pronounced a-dam. Adamah is pronounced a-dam-ah.