Out of the Ground - sermon on Genesis 2-19 for pet blessing

 Have you noticed the sunflowers in our front flowerbox?  They were all planted at the same time, they all came from the same seeds and yet, they are still all different.  Some have been eaten by the deer and have stalks but no flowers.  They stopped growing once they were chomped and never grew any taller.  Some grew tall and didn’t make a flower bud at all.  Some bloomed two weeks ago, much to the delight of the bees, and now have heads so big and heavy with seeds that they tip over.  Some are small and still slowly opening.  It is a race between them and the frost.  So much difference between each plant even though they are all the same.

Our scriptures today talks about what we can learn from nature. Jesus said, look at the flowers and birds and learn from them. They do not worry about things they cannot control.  Today we also have with us some pets from different houses.  Did they worry as they came to church?  Did they wonder if they were going to the vet?  Did they expect they would be given shots or medicine for worms?  Did they think they were going for a haircut if they are shaggy critters?  If someone brought a snake today, would the car trip cause them anxiety?  Probably not!  Just like our sunflowers, they don’t worry, and they grow to the best of their ability given where they are and who they belong to.  Belonging, for our pets and for us, is very important.  I loved reading Dodie Smith’s “101 Dalmatians” as a child because she talked about the humans being the pets of the dogs! Pongo and Missus, the heroes of the adventure, were the ones who made sure their human pets got out for walks regularly, and even made sure that their human pets Mr. and Mrs. Dearly met each other and fell in love.  Clearly, the dogs were in charge of their pets and found it amusing to let the humans think it was the other way around!

I like to think our Genesis 2 passage is very similar to the flip side of 101 Dalmatians.  It too shows the diversity of scripture.  When I meet someone who is genuinely curious about my relationship with scripture, who tells me that they ‘know’ that scripture is infallible, I often ask them which came first, humans or animals?  In Genesis 1, God is referred to in Hebrew as ‘Elohim’, which we often translate as God plain and simple.  In Genesis 2 there is a switch from Elohim to Yhwh, often translated as The Lord.  Elohim makes the world in seven days, beginning with the chaos of creation and sorting out the light from the dark, first making day, then night, followed by seas and land, sun and moon and so on.  Humans end up being made last, like the cherry on top of the sundae, the finishing touch. 

Now, if you ask someone who ‘knows’ scripture is infallible, which came first, animals or humans, they will invariably say animals of course.  That’s when I spring the trap.  “Then how come in Genesis 2, it says that God made humans first, then plants, then animals?”  One person I asked this of said that I was obviously reading the wrong bible, because that wasn’t what was in her bible.  But it’s there all right.  And Yahweh God gets down on their hands and knees and plays in the earth, Adamah in Hebrew, to make human, Adam.  But a single mud creature is rather boring and rather bored, so Yahweh starts playing some more, making plants to pretty up the dirt.  That’s better, but still something is missing for the dirt creature.  Yhwh gets their hands even more muddy, pulling up animals the way I imagine a potter pulls up pots on a wheel.  This is no “Let there be Light” grand pronouncement by Elohim who sounds like a cross between a wizard and a magician and probably very clean and neat to boot.  Diversity is created.  But mud creature still is not quite able to relate.  Despite the diversity to choose from, mud creature needed something more.  So Yhwh pulled a piece out of earth creature and created Ish and Isha, or male and female.  Isha doesn’t get a name until Chapter 3, after the apple is eaten, and she is called Chavvah (pronounced hava), which means breathe or life, or even community or town.  So we have dirt and air from which all humanity comes.

I think there is a beauty in this story, the celebration of diversity, and the idea that possibly just possibly, earth creature was without gender at first.  Gender was created almost as an afterthought here, and even in Genesis 1, God created male and female in God’s own image so there’s a strong sense that God too is beyond gender.  Both stories celebrate the creation of diversity and variety.  Both stories see that diversity as a good thing.  Elohim saw creation as good, and Yhwh wanted good for the mud creature and so created companions. 

We humans struggle with diversity.  We often assume that all humans will have the same body parts, will have the same capabilities and the same potential.  But just like our sunflowers, some grow strong and big and beautiful and sturdy, and some do not. Some have tragedy that stunts their growth. Some grow to be independent adults, and some need community help to live their lives.  Blue Heron in Athabasca educates us in the broad diversity of human shapes and capacities.  As a church, how do we welcome those who look like us but do not have brains wired like ours?  With curiosity, gentleness, love, and empathy.  Meeting everyone, even the littlest ones as created in God’s own image, an image of amazing creativity and diversity.  And they are, we are all created as Good in God’s Eyes.  Thanks be to God!