05-07-21

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
May 7, 2021
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

Thought for the Day: Years ago, I heard Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa preach on this text, and most of the time he focussed on two words. Actually, that would be two words in the ancient Hebrew. We translate them as: “In the beginning, when God…” The Bishop kept on returning to the idea that in the beginning there was God, nothing more. All possibilities were contained within God, but it was just God. Early Christian theology referred to this as Creatio ex nihilo, Creation out of nothing. So often we look into the abyss of grief, suffering, injustice, hopelessness or exploitation and we assume there is nothing positive that could ever emerge. Our perception sees nothing on which a future can be built. We’ve all been there to some degree or another, but faith allows us to glimpse into the formless void and to claim Creatio ex nihilo. It may not necessarily be the exact creation we would expect or want, but God finds a way. Of course, we are often the first components of the new thing God is creating, with the expectation of us doing more than sitting around as some passive block in the first stage of this new thing. We will catch the divine vision and begin our work as co-creators with God. God seems to always be about the work of Creatio ex nihilo, of creating in those places where hopelessness has claimed victory. Once you see life begin emerging from one of those formless voids, you not only begin to believe but desire to participate in what God is doing.

Prayer: Even when I cannot begin to imagine, Lord God, I believe you are already at work in every formless void, seeking to bring forth life and goodness and joy where no such things existed. Amen.

See You Sunday

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