They see the Genesis account of Creation
as a scientific document
about the formation and population of the earth,
and a primary litmus test of orthodoxy.
"Believe this, or suffer that."

When, actually, Orthodoxy means not being right,
but being in a right relationship.
That is very different.

I am very glad to be an Anglican,
for it gives me permission and warrant
to see this reading, and others,
quite differently.

I, in fact, in this reading
see the God of life and love and joy
sitting in a sand box
having a wonderful time!
At least one other Anglican Priest,
if not most,
agrees with me.

Phil Gilman writes via e-mail from Australia,
"God had worked for some time on this piddly job,
and had finally succeeding in separating
light from dark.
One of his heavenly host saw all this and commented,
'Say, God, that is really neat.
What are you going to do now?'
Whereupon, God said,
'I think I'm going to call it a day.'"

Likewise, some would suggest
that Genesis was written by Moses
as the foundational book of rules
of their Creator God.

The book probably came much later,
when people very much needed
a reminder of the presence of their God
and a sign of just what he is like.

The year was sometime in the 6th Century, BC.
The People were desolate!

Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebucanazer
Their temple, the one Solomon had built,
had been razed to the ground.
The kingdom had fallen to the Babylonians
and the people had been made slaves,
isolated, dehumanized,
over on the far side of the trackless desert,
by the rivers of the Tigress
and the Euphrates.

They had lost their homes
They had lost their freedom
They had lost their wealth
They had lost their very identity,
and many were beginning to die
in that alien land.

At the right time,
a man, probably an immediate predecessor
of Ezra, the priest,
was inspired by God to collect these stories,
the foundational mythology of the people,

and deliver the texts to them
in their places of loss and despair.

It was your God, O my people
and not those of Babylon,
who presided over the formation of the earth.

It was your God, O my people
and not those of Babylon,
who separated light from dark
and made room in this universe for his beloved.
It is your God, O my people
and not those of Babylon,
who breathes life into humankind
and gives it potential for God-like-ness.

This is your God;
and this is His sand box.

It is easy to assume
that such a view of God is deficient
and that it remained for Jesus
and the Holy Spirit of Pentecost
adequately to express the fullness of God;
and, I guess that is correct
as far as perceptions go;
but Genesis contains very sophisticated
theological stories and concepts.

Even there
God did not exist in a vacuum,
or for nothing.

He did not create the universe
and let it kill us off.

He was present in love and relationships
for all his people
and breathed life into them
again and again.

Our observance of this Sunday
of the Holy Trinity
celebrates God's reality and activity
in creation, in Jesus the redeeming son
and in the Holy Spirit.

Yet, beyond our limitations and perceptions
these persons of God (they are called)
existed from before time
and demonstrate one nature.
They are present even in the Book of Genesis.

The prime metaphor of the Holy Spirit
is the life-giving breath of God,
which makes it's debut
in the first verse of Genesis.

and, the stories make it clear
that God chooses to exist
for and within
a right relationship with his creature.
and that is what the Creation Story in Genesis
is all about.
It is what the Holy Trinity is all about.
It is what our call to faithful living is all about.

In a sense,
we - today - here in this place
are exiles in Babylon.
We find ourselves in a time of transition.
Change is everywhere.

We have discovered that the land of our youth
is pretty much a memory.
The wealth and prosperity we had assumed
was our birthright,
might now be attained only
by the sweat of our brow.

We have been rocked to learn
that the whole world does not love and respect us
as we had presumed.

We live in Babylon, O my people.

We think all these things are serious,
but, closer to home,
we have the potential for deep spiritual failure.
We grasp for things that will surely fail us;
and we fail to grasp the things,
the God and the People
that surely will not.

God's stories apply;
They are the stuff of the Abundant Life.
God's life abounds
if we open ourselves to it.

A Wind from God
sweeps over the face of the primeval chaos
on this Trinity Sunday
with re-creating, redeeming power,
reminding us that his power
works by being in relationship with us,

and that in seeking to live
faithfully to that relationship
- joining God and one another
in God's sand box -
we can discover that which is truly fulfilling
and worthy of God.

All these things,
These tornadoes and these terrorists
these job losses and these market crashes
even these illnesses
are just what is.

They are not the measure of God's love or presence
in our lives.

What is the measure of life
is how we respond,
how we discover and live life
faithfully and well, together,
on this unfinished, uncertain planet.

Paul also worked with the people
of a culture in the process of change and threat.

he told them the stories of Jesus
and of God's redeeming love;

And, Paul expected them to be changed
and have a new quality of life
as a result.

It is the end of the letter.
Paul is taking his leave.
"Farewell," he says,
"put things in order,
listen to my appeal,
agree with one another,
live in peace;
and the God of love and peace
will be with you."

Remember, it is your God, O my People,
and not those of Babylon,
who gathers us in his love.