Hymn: Thou whose almighty word
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJuqdIVH8VY
Genesis chapter 1.
The story of creation, taken from “The Message” translation
Heaven and Earth
1 1-2 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3-5 God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day One.
6-8 God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;
separate water from water!”
God made sky.
He separated the water under sky
from the water above sky.
And there it was:
he named sky the Heavens;
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Two.
9-10 God spoke: “Separate!
Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
Land, appear!”
And there it was.
God named the land Earth.
He named the pooled water Ocean.
God saw that it was good.
11-13 God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
of seed-bearing plants,
Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”
And there it was.
Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
all varieties,
And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Three.
14-15 God spoke: “Lights! Come out!
Shine in Heaven’s sky!
Separate Day from Night.
Mark seasons and days and years,
Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.”
And there it was.
16-19 God made two big lights, the larger
to take charge of Day,
The smaller to be in charge of Night;
and he made the stars.
God placed them in the heavenly sky
to light up Earth
And oversee Day and Night,
to separate light and dark.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Four.
20-23 God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”
God created the huge whales,
all the swarm of life in the waters,
And every kind and species of flying birds.
God saw that it was good.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
Birds, reproduce on Earth!”
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Five.
24-25 God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”
And there it was:
wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
God saw that it was good.
26-28 God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
29-30 Then God said, “I’ve given you
every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
given them to you for food.
To all animals and all birds,
everything that moves and breathes,
I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.”
And there it was.
31 God looked over everything he had made;
it was so good, so very good!
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Six.
2 Heaven and Earth were finished,
down to the last detail.
2-4 By the seventh day
God had finished his work.
On the seventh day
he rested from all his work.
God blessed the seventh day.
He made it a Holy Day
Because on that day he rested from his work,
all the creating God had done.
This is the story of how it all started,
of Heaven and Earth when they were created.
The Message Translation.
Song: The creation song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-9_lOeaGhs
Ezekiel chapter 37: verses 1 to 10
Hymn: I sing the almighty power of God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms2nlOPD8pc
I sing th’almighty power of God
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command,
And all the stars obey.
I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food:
Who formed the creatures with His Word,
And then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed,
Where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!
There’s not a plant or flower below,
But makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne;
God’s hand is my perpetual guard,
He guides me with His eye:
Why should I then forget the Lord,
Whose love is ever nigh?
Isaac Watts 1674-1748
Zechariah chapter 4: verses 1 to 14
This is a wonderful time of year. I have always loved the autumn. When I had an allotment, this was the time of year when the effort seemed worthwhile. When the bulk of the fruit and vegetables were harvested, and could then be preserved into jam, pickles and bottles. We have rather lost sight of seasonality in our modern world, because we can ship things from all over the world, very few things are only available at certain times of year.
It would be possible to pick a piece of fruit, analyse its composition, and then say exactly, down to the last atom, what it was made from. But noone has ever succeded in assembling these elements and making a piece of fruit.
“What’s it worth?” This is a common question in modern society; either to determine what someone will pay to get something done; or to determine how much a person would have to pay to get an item. Modern society seems to be obsessed with how much things are worth. If you compliment someone on an item of clothing they are wearing, you are likely to get a response “ Oh, £20-00 at Primark” or possibly “£200-00 at Harrods”.
As a chemist, I could tell you that the an average human contains: enough water to wash two blankets; enough sulphur to kill the fleas on a good sized dog; enough iron to make a nail; enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop; At the time that this was determined, these items could be bought for about £1-00. £1-00 to buy a human, and Susannah tells me that I am priceless!
A more detailed analysis tells us that a human weighing 157lbs (about 70kg) contains:
89lbs Oxygen; 2ozs Nitrogen; 15lbs Hydrogen; 45lbs Carbon; 2ozs Iron; 1¾lbs Chlorine; 4½lbs Calcium; 3¾ozs Fluorine; 2lbs Phosphorus; 3ozs Sodium; 2½ozs Potassium; ½oz Manganese; 1¼ozs Silicon; ¼oz Iodine; 3¾ozs Sulphur; 3½ozs Magnesium; a trace of Bromine.
All these ingredients could be bought from a reputable laboratory supplier. They could be placed into a suitable reactor and left. And whilst I would not like to predict exactly what would react with what, and what the outcome would be, but of one thing I am absolutely certain, the result would not be a human!
Those of you who have heard me preach at Mayfield, will have heard the account of creation read many times. There is a great deal which can be got out of this passage, but one thing is very important. Everything that was needed for life was created at the start. But, until the spirit of God hovered over the waters, nothing happened. Without God’s power, nothing happened.
There have been great strides made in the sciences. Many substances which used to be extracted from living matter can now be synthesised, but some things are very difficult, or even impossible to make artificially. If you have ever bought a bottle of “Blackcurrant flavour cordial” will know what I mean. From the first taste, it is apparent that it has never seen a blackcurrant in its life. Life cannot be created synthetically.
Ezekiel needed to be shown this. In his vision of the dry bones, he was told to prophesy to them, and they became covered in flesh, but they were not alive until the Spirit of God went into them. This, Ezekiel was told, was how the people ofIsrael were; they were without God, they were not fully alive. They needed the power of God in their lives.
Zechariah is not an easy book to read. There are dreams and visions, it is full of difficult images. But some bits are easy; “You will succeed, not by military might, nor by your own strength, but by my spirit.” “Obstacles as great as mountains will disappear before you” When you work with God’s Spirit.
But, if we try to do things on our own, then we are going to produce a poor imitation of what we ought to be. Our lives will be like the blackcurrant-flavour cordial. We have lost sight of the place of God in things.
At the present time it can be difficult to focus on God, when there seems to be so much wrong in the world. When a solution to the current crises is offered, remember that God has had a hand in this. He has acted through people, given them the knowledge and insights they needed to produce whatever solution(s) arrive.
Until the Spirit of God moved over the waters (Genesis). Nothing happened.
Until the breath of God breathed into the bodies (Ezekiel). Nothing happened.
Without the Spirit of God, we will not move mountains, we will not rebuild the temple. (Zechariah).
Some years ago I was driving through Bradford and my eye was caught by a poster which said “Why pray when you can worry?” Perhaps we need a reminder which says “Why have God’s Spirit when you can struggle?”
Prayer:
Great God,
You are the first word sounding in the silence of creation;
You are the light which moves over the dark waters.
You are the hidden urge bringing form out of chaos - the cosmic energy which organises the very structure of life.
You are the ground of being from which man grows – to which he must fall and yet may rise again.
You give us pause to wonder.
Help us to become the people you intend and take from you our shape.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Song: You raise me up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJuqdIVH8VY
