Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
Our first story, Genesis chapter one: “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our own image, according to our likeness’..”
We were created in the image of God. Now there is much that we could say about that. Female and male were created in the image of God, but God is not a male or a female. We must resist the temptation to tread the path of fools, somehow thinking that we have God figured out. To make God male or female is to create God in our image. Humans have a special place in creation, God loves the world, all of creation, and God has entrusted the care of creation to the human ones. Humans occupy a special place in God’s heart, even though God probably finds dogs to be more faithful and easier to live with.
The gifts in the garden at the dawn of creation were abundant, trees and flowers, fruit and sunshine, water and oxygen, animals and birds, and a companion for the journey. The humans were also given the ability of higher critical thinking, though this gift is hidden in many politicians and citizens. Created in the image of God, the humans were given limited freewill.
We have been entrusted with limited free will. 500 years ago, Martin Luther taught that we are free to exercise this freedom in “things below.” Things below include the everyday choices that we make: what we eat, when we go to bed, what color shirt to put on, the books we read, how we treat loved ones and strangers. “Things above” are in a different category: the orbits of the planets, the movement of the stars, where we will spend eternity, the speed of light, the natural laws and the consequences that come from our exercise of our limited free will. Maybe this distinction will help illustrate the “things above” and the “things below: We are free to lower our head and run into the wall; we do not get to decide if we get a headache.
The exercise of free will, the choices we make large and small every day, will go a long way in determining the quality our life and relationships. Our free will decisions make a difference, not only to us but to those we live with. Now let me say up front that we can make wise, healthy, prudent choices and still be run over by a drunk driver, subject to the covid-19 virus, or financially ruined by conditions that are totally out of our control. Remember, other humans have free will too, and some tragedies are totally unavoidable or random in nature.
We have before us a New Year! 2022 is an empty canvas waiting to be painted. I do not live under a rock; I know that the world seems out of control right now. Many are suffering, the pandemic has left us weary, parents, students, and teachers are at wits end. We long for the good old days. Of course, in actuality, the good old days were not much different than today. The specific details of any season are different, but we humans have always lived with the uncertainty that a violent, broken world brings.
We have before us a New Year! 2022 is an empty canvas waiting to be painted. I want to encourage you to let go of the things that are out of your control and concentrate on your limited free will. Make choices every day that are healthy for you and your neighbors. Make the choice every day to look for good, to have an attitude of gratitude, to share smiles, to offer a helping hand, to be more patient with yourself and others. Kindness costs nothing. Kindness is free. You and I can make the choice to be kind. To a large degree the quality of your life in 2022, and in the years to come, will be determined by how you exercise your limited free will.
Choose love in 2022. Choose kindness in 2022. Make the choice to forgive and have the courage to seek forgiveness from others. I don’t expect you to make peace between Russia and the Ukraine, but I hope that you can learn to live in peace with your neighbors.
We were lovingly created in the image of God; in 2022 may we live into that reality.
One day closer,
Pastor Jim
