Reflections for Creation-tide

It was a delight and a privilege last Sunday to be invited to preach on the liturgical season of Creation-tide and to celebrate the eucharist at the beautiful parish church of the Holy Trinity in the picturesque village of Drewsteignton on Dartmoor in Devon (see also its Facebook page). It is an extraordinary place, where the local community of residents purchased the centuries-old village pub to maintain the heart of their village, when it was about to be closed, the Drewe Arms, located in the open square next to the church (see also its Facebook page). In a similar way, they also maintain the Village Shop at the back of the church. The locals were all recovering and clearing up from a big bash in the square the previous evening with a barbecue and a Big Band playing on a stage like a Bouncy Castle! Despite any after effects, the faithful congregation gathered to celebrate communion and to listen to me preach and after sharing coffee and biscuits together, our communion continued with a lovely Sunday lunch and real ales in the community pub! This is how church should be – In My Humble Opinion!

In this most beautiful of surroundings with Dartmoor spreading into the distance in all directions and under a sunny blue sky, I was given two readings to preach upon: they were the opening chapters of Genesis and John’s Gospel, two of the most theologically rich passages in the Bible – opening a way into both the Old and New Testaments. They raise some of the most pressing questions facing human beings at the present time, such as

• Why is there anything rather than nothing?
• Who or what made the universe? How do its parts relate to each other?
• What about life on this planet – vegetation, fish, animals, humans?
• Why are we in two genders?  How are we supposed to view or relate to each other, the rest of the world, and to God, and what are we to do about it all?
• And why does it all go wrong so often, why is it a mess, causing pain and suffering?

And maybe Dartmoor with all its created beauty, and yet also the problems that it, like so much of our countryside, was an appropriate location to face these challenges. Faced with such a daunting list, and only 10-15 minutes to speak for, it was impossible to prepare a traditional sermon with a carefully structured argument to give answers to what Douglas Adams called the questions about “Life, the Universe, and Everything”. So as an experiment, being a biblical scholar, I decided just to make (highly selective) comments on those two amazing readings, to give some reflections for Creation-tide arising from the biblical text. I have therefore posted on my Sermons page a pdf of the sermon text notes to be downloaded here, or you can listen to a 15 minute recording by playing the video on that page.