Fourteen billion years ago—that’s when it all began.
Fourteen billion years ago. At a news conference this past Thursday, (May 23,
2002) at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., Dr. Anthony Readhead
reported submission of five papers by himself and his collaborators to the Astrophysical
Journal Letters lending further support to the calculations of the beginnings
of the cosmos. Similar results were being submitted the same day by a team of
European astronomers to the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society. Using the most sophisticated radio telescopes we have, these scientific
teams have captured what the New York Times referred to in one headline as the
“Universe’s Baby Pictures”—a moment only 300,000 years after
the cosmos began in what is described as “a brief spurt of hyperexpansion,
known as inflation, during the first instant of time.”
Fourteen billion years ago—In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth—Fourteen billion years ago. For those of us who measure our lives in hours, days, months and years that is a number beyond our conception.—We define objects as antiques if they are but a century or two old—the greatest of our cultures and civilizations never survived a millennia—a thousand years—Our great religions date back at best 4,000 years—Our best imaginations create scenes back a few million years to primordial earth with dinosaurs and various monsters of the deep. While our national budget now challenges us to embrace numbers in the billions—such thinking shrinks in comparison to the cosmic sweep of time measured in numbers that declare themselves close to eternal when measured against the reality of not just human but all existence. Fourteen billion years ago—In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth—Fourteen billion years ago when light first burst forth into what our best scientists can only call “dark matter”—Here is the moment of creation. Here also—in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible we find the origins of the ancient church’s teachings about the Trinity which gives its name to this day.
Trinity Sunday—the only Sunday of the church year named for a doctrine—Trinity—three in one—a mystery and yet a truth that is at the core of our Christian identity—Christians are Trinitarians. I was having a conversation with a member of the B’hai faith recently at a meeting of the Southeast Lake County Clergy Association—at the end of our conversation he made a comment that is too common today—he said it was good we could work together on issues like world hunger because after all, we all believe in the same God. He was correct that all of the gathered religious leaders of our communities believed in God—but not the same God. That is what the Christian community asserts in its declaration of Trinitarian faith—We who call ourselves Christians know and experience our God differently then others—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—One God in three persons is not the same as others—It is also not better or worse than any other faith—but it is for we who believe and confess it—a more complete and meaningful faith. As early as the second century Christians found in the opening chapter of the Bible evidence of a God revealing the mystery of the Trinity—The wind that sweeps across the primordial waters of the chaos and nothingness in verse 2 of the first chapter of Genesis during the moment of creation is often translated as spirit or breath of God—or if not spirit or breath—then seen as the wind that sweeps forth from the spirit’s wings.—And even more fascinating is the voice of God in the moment of human creation (verse 26)—Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…”
The early church fathers were fascinated by all the plural pronouns—us and our—The language of the “royal-we” used by kings and queens is one explanation—The Rabbis considered the possibility of God conversing with the angels but that suggested the angels had creative powers equal to God.—Instead the church fathers found the hint of something more. The rich personification of humanity in God’s image—in the image of God. The mystery of the Trinity as a doctrine translates into the language of our confirmation studies and the teaching of the church—one God but three persons—three expressions of the divine that are distinct and yet united in one being. The quickly drawn analogy to our human experience provides insight and maybe more. I am one human being and yet I have been and am known through many personas—some of which are quite distinct from each other—I am a Pastor—a father—a husband. Each identity has appropriate forms of being to others around me—and to confuse them could create some unfortunate results. As a husband I know better than to relate to my wife as her pastor and I learned long ago that she definitely already has a father.
We do not relate to our colleagues at work or school the way we relate to our families—each of our personas fulfill important functions of boundaries and definition. So the church has discovered with God—that experiencing and knowing our God is best understood through three persons of the one God. A mystery of diversity and unity that is echoed in each of us—perhaps hinted at in the decision to make us in the divine image. It is no accident that our vision of God begins in the moment 14 billion years ago as the divine creative moment burst forth. God the Father creates—in power and wonder—There is passion in the truly creative moment—Our human creativity is puny compared to God’s and yet we know creative passion—in the creation of art—the composing of music—the crafting of designs—the conception of a life. Creative energy reveals new order from chaos—the rhythm of times and seasons, harmonies and meanings, rituals and forms that transcend the ordinary. Light into darkness—God the Father in power and majesty beyond the cosmic limits of our understanding and yet opening to we who were created in the divine image the possibility to discern and know moments of insight—creativity —recognizing moments of meaning explained in scientific formula or theory and through intuited poetics. God the Father who creates the structures we call quantum mechanics also creates the whimsical unexpected forms of giraffes and zebras—God the Father who orders the DNA double helix also shatters the silence with a child’s laugh. Let us make…in our image, according to our likeness And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us—that is where creation ultimately takes God and us—Creation by God is not an act of separation but rather cooperation—interaction. The cosmos has a unity—a wholeness created by God—But there is also a freedom that allows for the creative flow of energy to continue—the paradox of light and darkness, unity and entropy, life and death.
All flows through the creation from God and is ultimately destined to return to God. Into this mystery of God’s creative power for good comes the terror of evil—the good God created in human form turns from God toward the evil and darkness of sin—separation from God—loss of divine direction, meaning and life. What makes Christianity different from any other religion? As I would ask the confirmation students—What color was Washington’s white horse? Who is buried in Grant’s tomb? What makes Christianity different is the very thing that is so obvious that we miss its distinctiveness. Jesus the Christ—the incarnate Word—Not just another great prophet or revealer of truths—not just another miracle worker or mystic with magical words—not even a divine revelation but God in human form—fully human and yet divine. A mystery of revelation that goes beyond natural laws or created order—the Son of God who comes to earth in human form to die that we might live—the fulfiller of all laws that we might be set free from sin—the suffering servant who reveals the power of love to be greater than any force in the cosmos—the teacher of truths who taught the unifying force of all creation to be not physical but divine. As God the Father created all that we know so Christ comes as the second person of the Trinity to redeem a fallen creation.
The miracle of life is no longer limited to the mystery of creation but moves us to the eternal through the gift of the sacraments. Baptism—Communion—through God’s created forms of water, wine, bread we discover the miracle of God’s grace creating in and through us new life. —Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…” Fourteen billion years ago the triune God the Father began to create—some two thousand years ago God the Son stepped into time and redeemed humanity bringing forth a new creation—but that is not the end of God’s presence—the Holy Spirit comes to sanctify us. Sanctify—from the Latin word sanctus—“to make holy, to set apart” This is the act of new creation that is given to each of us—to discover the holy in our lives—the gifts that set us apart from all others—the moments in our lives that make us uniquely who we are—holy and special. From the beginning of creation God has been in the business of sanctification—the setting apart of times and places. In the first chapter of Genesis—after six days of creation—on the seventh day God rested—God set aside a time to reflect on the wonder of creation and life—the goodness of it all. From the beginning God intended for us to take time for re-creation and holiness. This weekend signals the beginning of a holiday—a holy day—In the patterns and rituals of our lives we have come to recognize the importance of times set aside—holy moments.
Memorial Day is a time set aside—it will be used in many ways—some maybe not as holy as we might like—but at its root is a recognition that those who fought—those who sacrificed—those who died have by their actions sanctified the meaning of war and peace in a way that we could not do on our own. To discover the holy—that is what this summer—that is what each day should be—moments of the Spirit moving in and around and through us. It is the beginning of summer—life springs forth all around us—The Father God is present with green passion of grass and trees, flowers and promise of harvest—The grace of God revealed in the miracles of Christ’s words and deeds leads us to pray for peace in the midst of ancient conflicts—we cry out for an end to the terrors of our lives and wait for the promised redemption of all creation in the vision of eternal light—resurrection hope sustains us and leads us on—but in the end we are left with the question of the holy—Our openness to the Spirit’s leading—our willingness to admit to the Spirit’s gifts—our responding to the Spirit’s invitation to witness to the holy moments of our lives that would lead others to become disciples—followers of a God who is more then a powerful other—a God who is three in one—fully identified with us through creation, redemption and sanctification.—Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness… And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”
Amen.