The Imag(ination) of God -- Sunday, September 14

Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”

God created humanity in God’s own image,
        in the divine image God created them,
            male and female God created them.

 (Genesis 1:26-28, CEB)

Right in the midst of the creation poem in Genesis, God creates humanity in God's image. As God imagines and then breathes life into all of creation, God creates humanity. And, with a purpose -- to participate in the work that God is in the middle of doing  -- imagining and sustaining life.

Some things to ponder and discuss . . .

(Drawing of a child in Ecuador praying for families in New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy.)
We as humans have the gift of imagination. God calls us participate in God's imagination with our own. So what does God's hope or imagination for creation look like? How do we imagine ourselves in that hope? Jesus called that hope or vision or imagination "The Kingdom of God." God's hope or imagination for the world fulfilled with humanity's participation in it. Have you ever experienced a moment that seemed like everyone and everything was just as God imagined? 

In this story, God talks to Godself in the plural - a curious thing. Yes I know some think it is a remnant from an ancient polytheistic creation myth. And, some say it is the trinity -- this is a "proto-trinity" moment. One thing we know for sure is that we are created in the image of a relational God. We experience God in relationships -- with the rest of humanity. God created humanity -- not a single human. When did you experience God through and with others? An act of love? A moment of shared peace? Forgiveness? A word of comfort and hope?

 If we think about the image of God as all of humanity -- not just us individually -- how does that change how think about our friends and how we treat those that don't act like our friends? Do we grab a camera and say, "How beautiful!" like we do with a gorgeous sunset? Bruxy Cavey from The Meeting House says it this way:

Our Sunday School classes this week are considering how we are made in the image of God. We'll be thinking about our gifts of imagination and how we can be a part of God's imagination for creation. Here is the "Hop on Home" take home for families. 

Grow · Proclaim · Serve