Words for Worship
Ministry Today
Genesis 1.26-31
Psalm 8
I remember it well.
It was in second year biochemistry.
The lecturer plonked down
a beaker of chemicals
about the size
of a kilogram of sugar.
Next, he pulled up a series
of huge balloon flasks
full of water.
He then said –
that is what makes
each of your bodies.
Of course a car
is more than
thee blocks of steel,
plastic and rubber.
But surely the human being
is far more than that.
Surely you are not
a load of chemicals
sitting listening to to me –
a similar bag of chemicals.
How then
is our physical sum considerably less
than the whole?
How indeed
are you a living,
thinking and unique entity
just as I am?
Well the answer
is in that passage
from Genesis.
We are not just
of the inanimate world.
We are not even
of the animal world.
We are something different.
Because, we have been created in the image of God.
Now many take that
to mean
a whole shed load of things.
Usually they pick
the meaning that helps
what they are
harping on about.
And you know that’s Ok.
For being made
in the image of God
does indeed
have a whole shed load
of implications.
But I just now want
to focus on one.
One that allows us
to have the aim
of glorifying God
and enjoying him for ever.
And that is the idea of us
being God’s image
as creative beings.
Creative that is
in an artistic, scientific
and spiritual sense.
For in all spheres
of human creativity
we truly glorify God.
More importantly,
in our creations
we give to others
the enjoyment
of God of forever.
Now the earliest creativity shown by man
was in the arts.
And it was these skills
that have glorified
the universal mind
since time in memorial.
From early cave man drawings through
to the great works
of medieval artists.
Music has been
a particular tribute
to God’s son Jesus Christ.
Indeed, word-smithing also
has spoken up for God.
For example,
the King James Version
of the Bible,
albeit not very accurate,
is a great work
of 17th Century
English literature.
Even today
in these secular times
creative words,
colours and sounds
beautifies our lives.
They prod us
to feel beyond mere existence.
Moreover, they cause us
to ask questions.
Because the ongoing gift
of artistic creativity
is proof positive
that we are not just biochemical automatons.
Rather we create
to express
the image inside us.
We use art
to give the answers
that soulless equations cannot.
And in other’s creativity
we are offered clues
to what is beyond us.
Ultimately then
in the arts,
we see the smallest glimpse
of the beauty of God himself.
For as Dorothy Sayers,
the detective story author wrote:
Art is not he –
we must not substitute art
for God;
yet this also is he,
for Art is one of images
and therefore
reveals his nature.
Before the industrial revelation, machinery of any size
was rare on earth.
In fact, for many centuries
the most complex machines
in existence
were used to glorify God.
And what were
these medieval space shuttle wonders – they were
church organ.
Of course,
now we are blasé
of the engineering wonders
of jumbo jets,
space stations,
the internet
and nuclear submarines.
But even more wonderful
are the human minds
behind these.
The sort of creative minds
that are epitomised
by Professor Steven Hawking.
Utterly paralysed
and unable to speak,
he still explores
the universe in his brain.
He still is discovering
the breath-taking creativity
that lies behind it.
For, of course technology,
is improving our lives daily
and science informing them.
Yet these have
a more profound capacity.
They can point
to the ingenuity of God.
And it this divine revelation
of what
a gifted mind is capable of
that particularly speaks
to the young.
To prove it,
let me take you
on an action replay
of a short talk
I gave
to a Grove assembly recently.
This is what I said.
Good morning
Even today
We hear people talking
about the British Isles.
Of course
since 1991
it’s all nonsense.
Now
Britain
for the first time
in 8000 years
is no longer an island.
You can if want
drive all the way
to France.
Of course you would have to use
A most amazing engineering miracle
The channel tunnel.
And actually
the system has
least three tunnels
running under
the English Channel –
Each 31 miles long
and 26 miles of it
under water.
It took 7 years
to build
and cost 9 billion pounds
.
These tunnels were
cut out
by massive machines.
Not only did these
bore the tunnels
but they also
lined the walls.
Each digger
was 800 feet long
and even has a canteen
and infirmary
onboard.
The trains that supported them
did enough miles
to run from the earth to the moon
5 times.
And the chalk taken out
added 73 acres to the English coast.
Not only that
but if the tunnels
where 1 yard out
they would have been useless.
In fact, in the end
they were only
3 inches out.
Just shows
how clever
we humans can be
if we want.
Now everyday we hear people
moaning away –
or we cannot help children
dying of AIDS
in Africa.
Actually I don’t see
any reason
to believe them
Do you?
Well the party conference season
has come to an end.
We have been treated
to a spectrum
of policies
some good –
others duff.
But when we hear
of a mob egging
on a teenager
to commit suicide
as happened last weekend,
we feel that
politicians are out
of their depth.
This was brought home
to me
just last week.
For a programme
showed a teenage girl
who had attended
a play in Glasgow.
After it,
she said
it made her realise
why her anger
at her family’s problems
made her violent
and destructive.
That shocked me
to realise that
no political policy
will help here.
Only a deep change of heart
and mind
by a gamut of people
can do that.
Up until now
you may consider
that you have
no artistic
or scientific creativity
to offer to God’s glory.
But you do have
the greatest creativity of all.
And that will always be
spiritual creativity.
We often try
to tell Christ’s message creatively
because it opens
personal salvation.
We are tempted
by the Christian advertising gurus
to imaginatively explain
our faith
to help others
with their personal problems.
And all of these are fine
and good.
But what about
the global change of society?
What about the beautifying
of all humanity
and re-engineering
of our entire community.
That calls on all for
believers
to be creative and ingenious
in our spiritual expression.
For only then
will the Father pierce hearts.
Only then will the
son of man capture minds.
Only then will
the spirit of spirituality profoundly alter the situation.
Honestly, only then
will humans be returned
to their untarnished image
by imagination.
One time there was a village
in the mountains of Italy
where the people grew grapes.
The mountain sides
were covered with vineyards and each family
in the community
contributed
to the making of wine.
It was some of the finest wine in the world.
Each family would bring
their wine
and pour it into one large keg.
As a result, the wine
was a mixture
of many recipes
which made it unique.
One particular year
the vineyards
did not produce
an abundance of grapes.
One of the wine makers decided that
since things would be tight
he would sell his wine elsewhere.
He then filled his barrel
with water
and poured it
into the town keg,
thinking that
one barrel of water
in the gigantic keg
would go unnoticed.
The wine in the keg
aged for seven years.
At the end of that period
the merchants came
from all over the world
to buy the wine.
As the entire community depended
on the sale of their wine,
the villagers
gathered around
the giant keg
and it was tapped.
A jug was placed
at the tap a
nd out came nothing
but pure water.
It seemed that everyone
in the village
those seven years back
had the same idea
and none had put in wine.
Since everyone held back
there was no wine to sell.
Here then is a warning to us all.
And it is that none
can hold back
their creativity from God.
None can hold
onto their ingenuity
from God.
None can withhold
their expressivity
about God.
For, it is in
the beautiful use
of all our artistic,
technological and spiritual gifts that bring enjoyment to all.
More importantly,
their use glories God
as his creativity,
imagination
and revelation deserves.
In truth,
their use holds
mirror up to mirror.
Because essentially,
divine creativity
does not belittle man
nor human creativity
dwarf God.
They simply reflect
a divine image
upon his handiwork.
They make
our handiwork blessed.
And that in turn
makes us
mindful of our high place
in the heavens.
Amen
Offering
HYMN………………..
In God’s Image?