Zion Lutheran Church

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth… (Genesis 1:1)

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? (Matthew 6:30)

These two verses both deal with God’s creativity and oversight of creation. On the surface they are very different.

The Genesis text is past tense. God “created.” This is the most common way that we understand creation. It is something God did and it is done. The arguments between fundamentalists who believe in a literal six twenty-four days creation versus people who think it could have taken a lot longer emphasizes this historic dimension. This can impact school curriculums and all sorts of things. But sadly, this big focus is all about the past. It’s interesting but the biggest issue is not how or how long creation took to happen. The focus of the Bible is WHO created and the attention is given to God.

The Matthew lesson points to another, equally or even more important reality. Jesus doesn’t care how long creation took or how long ago it was. Jesus’ real concern is that people trust that God is still working. It isn’t enough to believe that God did something a long time ago. God is active and present in our world today and Jesus’ deepest desire is to help people see that, trust that, and live out of that promise.

This week we begin a series for three weeks that will unpack each person of the Trinity. The goal is not to gain some esoteric understanding of the Trinity and the metaphysics of the “Three in one.” The goal is to spend time exploring a God whose essence is too big for any one person to contain, whose core identity is a loving relationship, and who is active and at work in our lives.

The lessons we share this week point to a God who was active, is active and who will always be active in our world and in our lives. Knowing that and trusting that stands at the core of Jesus’ teaching. Knowing that and trusting that provides the core for us to live faithfully and confidently today. The God who made the world, has come to us in Jesus and the risen Christ keeps us alert and connected to God who works in the world today.