This is a LONG message - so I divided the liturgy up into three parts, each part with it's own character. Afterwards, I met with the congregation for a Confab with the Pastor.
Genesis 1; Hebrews 11.3; Colossians 1.15-20
I am forever grateful to my college Bible professor, the Rev. Dr. John Bratt, who introduced me to the term “theistic evolution” ...
Theistic means God … and we know God by faith.
Evolution is the gift of science, and we know science by observation.
What does it mean when we say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and the earth.”
Two things:
First of all, God the Father is the root and source of all things, all things visible and invisible, what we see with the eyes of faith, and what we see with our natural eyes through a microscope and a telescope … in all things, God, and God in all things.
Second, heaven and earth are two peas in a pod - distinct and unique, forever connected … both are reliable, trustworthy, honest, because they’ve been created by a reliable, trustworthy and honest God.
Let’s consider for a few moments the creation story of Genesis 1 …
God said, Let there be light.
God IS the beginning, the source, the foundation … God IS the Big Bang, the author of the material world - from the smallest microbe to the largest star.
And after the light, everything else …
God gives the earth generative powers - soil and water are able to bring forth their own life forms … God gives permission to the earth to be fertile, creative, generative.
Let the land produce …
Let the waters teems with life …
Let the land produce living creatures according to their kind …
God is the author of evolution … by God’s design, the earth brings forth new life-forms.
Scientists call it evolution.
The power of the earth to bring forth life … year after year, century after century … millions and billions of years … older than we can image, more profound than we’ll ever know … the power of life to generate life and even more life.
The fossil record tells a wonderful story … creative and inventive - change and growth … life on the move … jumbled and wild, glorious and good, powerful and beautiful, strange and mysterious … look at Grand Canyon, watch a lunar eclipse, see a child born, watch a loved one die.
Through a telescope: a universe expanding at the speed of light … billions of solar systems and galaxies … stars exploding and stars collapsing, dark holes and quarks.
Evolution - everything on the move … a story found in the sediments of the ocean, in the rocks of the highest mountains … in every leaf, in every bird, in every human being … evolution is the process by which life unfolds, and life generates even more life ... and God made it that way!
The Hebrew Poets give voice to this story …
The glories of creation …
And please remember, when Genesis 1 was written, Israel was in exile, in Babylon - Jerusalem in ruins, the temple a pile of rubble - it would seem that the gods of Babylon had won … and it wouldn’t be long before the children living in Babylon would make the shift - “Why bother with Yahweh; Yahweh lost. Babylonian gods won.”
The Hebrew Poets, theologians they were, preachers and teachers, crafted a story to capture the faith and their hope.
There is no God but God, the Creator heaven and earth.
The moon and the hippo are not gods.
Stars and birds are not gods.
Nor is the sun, the moon, nor anything else.
There is no God but God.
Please notice, the Hebrew Poets do not attack Babylon.
No ranting or raving.
But their faith is firm.
The hope is real.
The love is strong.
That’s what Genesis 1 is all about - faith, hope and love!
The creation stories are a confession of faith.
THEY ARE NOT SCIENCE!
If I want to know HOW the earth and the universe came into being, I read a science book … if I want to read WHY the earth and the universe came into being, I read the Bible.
When the Bible is read well with the eyes of faith, when the earth and the universe are seen honestly and openly with the eyes of science, everything begins to dance, as God intended …
Both the Bible and God’s creation are trustworthy, because God is trustworthy, and God is the creator of both, creator of heaven and earth, the Bible and Science.
Every day, I believe in God.
And every day, I believe in science.
Thank God for science.
The cars we drive, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the medicine that heals us - all of this, from science.
Thank God for scientists … surgeons cut out a tumor with lasers …
Engineers build a rocket to lift tons of hardware into earth orbit …
Physicists probe the mysteries of the universe and smash atoms …
Biologists search our jungles for medicine …
Geologists look for oil …
That some Christians would be distrustful of science, and make bizarre claims for a 6000-year old earth, a literal 7-day creation, flies in the face of reality and makes no sense for those who follow Jesus, who is the Truth.
At a Pepperdine Conference this spring on science and faith, two leading Christian scientists spoke to 600 people, most of whom were clergy.
Dr. Francis Collins, former head of the human genome project and now head of the National Science Foundation … and Dr. John Polkinghorne, British physicist and Anglican Priest.
Both pleaded with the clergy in the audience, “Go home, tell your people the truth. Creationism isn’t science, it’s pseudo-science. The world is billions of years old, not 6000; the seven days of Genesis are a poetic image, a metaphor of completion and beauty, not a literal description. Creationism is bad science at its worst. Creationism isn’t science at all. Creationism is claptrap and deception; it serves no godly purpose whatsoever. Please, go home, and help your congregations get straightened out on this one.”
When giants speak like this, I pay attention.
When men of faith, and men of science speak like this, I honor their words.
Why listen to some poor uneducated, misguided preacher, hungry for his own power rather than the glory of God?
Why listen to those who specialize in half-truths and lies?
Why waste our time on those who lead us only into further conflict and turmoil?
As for me and my house, I’ll pay attention to Dr. Francis Collins, and one no less than the Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne.
These men are giants in faith and science.
And they speak the truth.
The truth of God’s love, and the truth of God’s creation.
“Theistic Evolution” my Bible Professor said.
And I will ever be grateful.
My Bible Professor gave to me the framework of understanding - an appreciation for the glories of the natural world as the scientist sees it, and the spiritual world as the eyes of faith see it, and in the simple words, Theistic Evolution, there is no conflict … only harmony between the glories of science the wonders of faith. Amen!
Movement #2 - Fundamentalism ...
I want to shift here to speak about fundamentalism … its condemnation of science and it’s misreading of Genesis.
Fundamentalism is afraid of science.
Research on the fundamentalist mind reveals fearfulness as a primary response to life - fear of strangers, fear of change, fear of god - for the fundamentalist, the world is full of enemies, dangers, and dark forces of Satan.
It’s hard to say whether fundamentalism MAKES people afraid, or whether fear creates fundamentalism … like the chicken and the egg question - what comes first!
But this much we know:
Fundamentalism is a religion of fear.
Be it Muslim, Jewish or Christian, is riddled with fear … where there is fear, faith and love struggle to survive, because faith is all about love …
The Bible says: Their is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.
Science shows us a large and ancient earth, a large and ancient universe … science tells us that we’re tiny, and we haven’t been around very long (even the poetry of Genesis reflects the late arrival of humankind) … after all, we were created last!
With a large universe, we feel small … nothing wrong with that … we are small … mighty, no doubt, but still small.
That’s a problem for fundamentalism.
Fundamentalists don’t like to feel small.
Which makes fundamentalists easy targets for those who preach power!
That’s why fundamentalism is drawn to the violent parts of the Bible - have you noticed that?
Fundamentalists love images of war, conquest, victory, blood and guts, Armageddon, left behind stores, rapture and war, tanks and bombs!
Fundamentalism, furthermore, is a sad religion.
Fundamentalists long for a world when someone had all the answers, folks knew their place, god was on his throne, all was right with the world … a world that never existed, as fundamentalists imagine.
And that’s the problem.
A world imagined that never existed is no help whatsoever to any of us.
The backward glance cripples and stymies progress.
Remember Lot’s wife?
She looked backward to what she was leaving … and she turned into a pillar of salt, forever stuck in time and place, unable to move ahead.
Fundamentalists are very much like Lot’s wife - looking backward … they try to reclaim the past in order to save the future.
Fundamentalists spend a lot of time grieving about what they’ve lost … and like Lot’s wife, are stuck in time and place.
I am not a fundamentalist.
I’ve never been a fundamentalist.
I am a Calvinist - a Calvinist Christian.
And that means Presbyterian … mainstream Presbyterian.
Mainstream Presbyterians have always had a deep respect for science, BECAUSE we believe in the creator God who made heaven and earth.
God is Truthful and honest.
And so is the world God created.
When a scientist looks at the fossil record, when a chemist probes the life of a cancer cell, when a biologist studies ants in the Amazon - they’re dealing with a reliable earth - mysterious and wondrous, for sure - complex and detailed beyond all imagination … but a world reliable and trustworthy and honest.
The fossil record is not a lie, as some fundamentalists have said.
The fossil record is not the Devil’s doing, as some fundamentalists have said.
The world God created is truthful, reliable, honest and trustworthy … available to us for study!
Calvinist Christians are not afraid of science.
We trust God.
We trust the earth God created.
Calvinism is a robust faith.
We welcome change and new ideas … we’re explorers and those who ask questions …
We think, because we love the LORD with our minds.
We’re welcome questions, because our salvation is secure in Jesus Christ.
We let God’s love be bigger than we are.
We keep on growing, going and evolving.
What’s at stake here?
Truth is at stake!
Jesus said, I the way, the truth and the life.
Truth is in the middle of that phrase.
Truth is the fulcrum on which the way and the life are balanced.
Without truth, the way becomes clouded and muddled.
Without truth, life becomes wrangling and strife.
The truth sets us free, says Jesus.
Christ has set us free for freedom, says Paul the Apostle.
And freedom is what’s missing from fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism doesn’t like freedom.
Whether it be Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Christian fundamentalism - there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between any of them, they don’t like freedom - it’s all about control and conformity, rules and laws: fundamentalism makes everyone think alike, behave the same way, believe the same things, sing the same songs, dress alike and never, ever, ask questions or raise doubts.
But questions and doubts are the handmaidens of truth.
Only those who dare to ask question can truly learn.
Those who are willing to challenge the status quo find a way to a better day.
Remember, Christ set us free, but it took his crucifixion and death to make it so … freedom of thought and life is never easy to win!
There was a time when Christians believed and taught that the earth was flat and the sun revolved around the earth.
There was a time when Christians called Jews Christ-killers and believed that it was all right for marauding soldiers to kill Jews now and then.
There was a time when European Christians believed and taught that people of color were less than human - that people of color could be chained and sold as slaves, because they were the condemned race of Ham, Genesis 9.
There was a time when Christian men believed and taught that women were a man’s property, that a women had no place in the world other than to give birth and stand by a stove - women couldn’t vote, couldn’t preach, couldn’t go to school and couldn’t have a public life.
All of these ideas were defended by Bible quotes.
Popes and Preachers proclaimed these ideas as God’s eternal truth, and woe to the one who would disobey any of them.
We have to clear - Christians haven’t always been on the forefront of thought and change.
We’ve been like Lot’s wife, dragging our feet, looking backward, when we should have been looking ahead.
Moses out front.
Joshua crossing the river.
Elijah ahead of the chariot.
Jesus going on ahead of us.
Thank God for those who truly read the Bible.
Thank God for those who ask big questions.
Thank God for for those who help us all find a better day.
Let’s take a quick trip back to Victorian England.
The mid 1800s.
Darwin’s Origen of the Species, 1859.
Two years before the American Civil War.
Opposition exploded against Darwin.
And we might well ask why?
Victorian England, a world of nobility and high-church clergy.
The nobility and the clergy feared the idea of evolution in nature, because they feared, even more, social evolution.
The nobility and the clergy lived in luxury.
They believed they were entitled:
“It is god’s will for us to rule, to live a life of privilege and leisure, while God condemns others to lives of cruel labor.”
An interesting side-note here: Darwin and his family, for generations, had been engaged in the struggle to end Britain’s slave trade.
When Darwin looked at the world, Darwin saw a changing world, and evolving world.
Plants and animals, and all of humanity, a common life.
For Darwin, we’re all in this together - red and yellow, black and white - we’re all sisters and brothers in the great family of God.
Darwin was a man of faith.
He believed in God.
But also a scientist who wanted to the know the truth of the world.
When Darwin saw the patterns of evolution, Darwin saw hope … hope for the world … hope for a better social condition.
Darwin believed that things could change … change for the better.
And that’s what we need, change for the better.
Something better than the strife and conflict of fundamentalism.
Something better than dragging our heels and clinging to the past.
Something better than fear and violence.
Something better than a fear of learning and a fear of change!
We need something much better.
And we have it.
We have it all in Jesus Christ our LORD.
His love and his truth.
The truth that sets us free! Amen!
Movement #3
What kind of a world does God hold before us?
But a world of love and freedom.
Freedom of conscience and freedom of expression.
Freedom of choice.
Freedom for scientists to study the world without fear … freedom for teachers to teach the best that science offers, and freedom for students to learn.
Freedom to make mistakes, and freedom to be dumb!
Freedom to grow and freedom experiment.
Freedom to venture far away into the fields of the LORD.
Freedom to be a Prodigal Son, or a tempestuous Peter.
Freedom explore and enjoy the world God created.
I want to live in God’s world.
A world of glorious freedom and beauty.
A world of forgiveness and welcome.
A world so large, there’s room for all of us.
Room for love and room for hope.
A world filled with mystery and delight and wonder.
A world big enough to keep us in our place.
A world kind enough so we can all feel at home!
We worship a God who encourages us to take chances, run risks, think deeply … dance with all of our might, and love one another profoundly.
We worship a God with whom science and faith are never at odds, because God is the source of both.
Because of my faith in God and what the Bible says, I accept what science says about the age of the earth and the universe … it makes sense, and it’s reasonable … because God makes sense, and God is reasonable, and the Bible is trustworthy and reliable …
Because of my faith in God and what the Bible says,, I accept Darwin’s premise - that life evolves, and continues to evolve, over millions and billions of years. I thrill in this big world, and I rejoice in God’s wonder and mystery and love … because it’s all created by a loving God … it’s really neat what science sees and finds … age up age, eon upon eon … millions and billions of years - what a wonderful story; what a wonderful God.
Because of my faith in God and what the Bible says, there is no conflict between faith and science.
We can rightly say.
And rightly believe.
What my Bible Professor taught me so many years ago - the wonder and the glory, Theistic Evolution … in all things, God, and God in all things!
Glory be to God.
One God, one world, constantly on the move.
One God, one humanity, bound together in common cause.
Christ at the center, holding it all together.
Moving it along to the great gettin’ up mornin’, when all things are brought together, things in heaven and things on earth.
With a great love that casts out all fear.
With a pure and loving truth that sets us free.
That’s the world God holds before.
Amen and Amen!
