Companions with creation: Week Four
God creates humans to be priests (caretakers) of the earth, God's temple
Genesis 2:4–8, 18–23
Story
Today's story is about God making Adam and Eve.
Message
Remember last week we talked about creation as a good gift from God. We also talked about how we can be gifts to creation, and to each other. Do you remember? That's right, we can be gifts in the ways we love and care for the earth.
Like Adam and Eve, we are chosen by God to be caretakers of creation. From the creation story in the book of Genesis we are given an image of creation that is likened to God's temple. In the Jewish tradition, the temple is a sacred place of prayer and worship, similar to that of a church in the Christian tradition. Though there are many people who look after the maintenance or the cleanliness of the church space, priests play a particular role in taking care of the church.
What do you know about priests?
Unlike other types of caretakers, priests have the privilege of praying for others and leading them closer to God. They wholly devote their lives to listening well to God, gifting God's truth and love to other people, and proclaiming God's goodness wherever they see it. They connect people to God, earth to heaven. Not only this, but they open up opportunities for humans to connect with each other. So even if we are not priests of a church, we can still be priests of creation. This metaphor may become clearer when we imagine the earth as God's church, or in the context of the Jewish bible, the earth is God's temple.
I wonder how we can be priests of creation?
Think about the Bible story of Noah (Genesis 6). What does God ask of Noah?
God asked a huge favour of Noah to protect the diversity of creation. God asks Noah to sacrifice his plans and his desires for his life, and to take a risk in trusting God's plan to restore goodness in the earth. Noah accepts the invitation to protect and care for God's creation. He obeys by gathering his family, two of every kind of creature, and lots of food onto an ark on which everyone lives together for forty days and forty nights until the earth is restored to its true goodness. Noah is priest within the ark.
Where do we often find priests? Yes, in churches! In churches, priests help us to feel more closely connected to God and to help us see what heaven is like. So in a sense, priests help bring heaven to earth.
I wonder what other spaces, like the church, bring heaven to earth?
Another example of a church-like space might be the garden. In the garden we learn to cooperate with plants and worms and rain and sun and grow food that then might feed hungry creatures. This shows us another one of God's churches: the table. At the table we can share a meal with food we have grown and people who are also deeply loved by God.
I wonder what other reasons God asks us to be priests of creation?
One big reason is because of love. God created all of us humans in God's own image. God can look like different things to different people, but we can all agree that God's main image is one of LOVE. If we are made in God's image and asked to be priests of creation, then we are made to express our actions through love - by loving God, by loving each other, by loving all of God's creation, and by loving ourselves. Through love we choose to take care of this earth that God has given us - we choose to satisfy thirsty plants, fill the hungry bellies of animals, and clean our streets from loose rubbish.
I wonder if you can think of living things that God has created?
“There's dirt and leaves, trees and water. Have you ever thought that the earth is covered with God's love? Imagine all of the beautiful places in the world. Blue oceans with colorful fish. Big mountains covered with snow and trees. Now imagine the hand of God covering all of these things with his love. Where are you standing? Are you covered in God's love too? You bet you are!”
A Rocha USA
Games
Encouraging connections
Purpose of this game, in relation to the message, is to emphasise how we can unite heaven and earth, by sharing God's love and truth to one another, which also unites us to one another in the family of God.
Gather everyone sitting together in a circle. Instruct one person to take the start of a ball of string and to choose a person to say one encouraging thing to. Once the starting person has finished talking they roll the string to the person they complemented. This receiving person then holds onto the string (keeping it taut between person to person), chooses a person to encourage and then rolls the string to them. This goes on until everyone has been encouraged and is holding onto some bit of the string (make sure you have enough string!!). The aim of the game is for everyone to receive the string at some point and to see at the end of the game how we connect to each other.
Random connections
Purpose of this game, in relation to the message, is to emphasise how God is creative in the way God connects all things to each other and that, that, creativity is purposeful.
In this game, create teams of 4-5. Provide a list of unrelated items that have been paired up. Ask all teams to write down any connections they can think of between the two seemingly unrelated objects. Once enough time has passed, ask teams to volunteer to share some of the connections they discovered.
Activities
Creating altars / sacred spaces
Create a diorama or a set-up. Encourage participants to include whatever items remind them of their role as priests, caring for creation.
- Scissors
- Coloured paper
- Colouring implements
- Glue
- Small objects found in nature
Drawing or collaging
Create the most extraordinary garden you can imagine using coloured pencils, felts, paint, magazine cut-outs, pieces of nature found outside, etc. Alternatively, provide garden or nature-abundant colouring sheets. Visit the Wellington Anglican Diocese Young Person's Pinterest page for options.
Practice gardening!
Is there a bit of green space at your church on which you can establish a small garden? If not at your church, try somewhere else in the community. Perhaps there is a nearby community garden or pre-established gardening initiative you can encourage the children and their families to support as a church collective. Alternatively, join a bush regeneration working bee.
Takeaway for families
Priests are very good at praying for the people around them. Prayer provides an opportunity for us to express God's love and truth to each other. It also encourages us to imagine how we can orient our behaviour in a better expression of God's love towards everything around us. This week, with your family, spend some time praying for each other and for creation. As you pray, consider asking God to reveal images or words that God would like members of your family to hear. Perhaps write your prayers on pieces of paper and display in a prominent place in your house so each person can be reminded of the encouragement gifted to them. See the Pinterest page for more ideas.
We can also be priests of creation by acknowledging our deep connection to all other created things. In the Genesis story, we learn that everything was created by the same one God and from the same place - the dust of the earth. Therefore, we conclude that we are all part of one family. God is the Creator of all and has created each thing to live in harmony and at peace with each other. Like our own families, we choose to love and look out for each other. How can you be a priest to your family this week? Share with your family how you are seeing God in creation.
Offer each family to take home a seedling and care for it in their homes.
