Scripture: Genesis 1:1 - 2:4
Scripture Excerpts:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness was called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And it was so.
And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And God saw that it was good. And it was so.
And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. And it was so. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: And it was so. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.
Sermon:
We heard a shortened version of the creation story this morning, and I am wondering if one thing in this story sounded a little different to you. There is a phrase which is repeated six times in Genesis One; And there was evening and there was morning.
As I was reading this, it struck me that this was an interesting way in which the Bible breaks up our day. Most folks would start the day with the morning. So I was wondering about this, and perhaps it is written this way because the Jewish day starts in the evening. But I think there is much to learn from this concept of God’s day starting in the evening and ending in the morning. For many of us, our days go a little differently.
For many of us, evening is the end of the day, and not only the end of the day, the end of activity. It is when we shut down; when we end all thoughts when we end all accomplishments. For us, evening is the time to sleep, to rest, to wait for morning when we get to be active again. Everything in our lives is focused on the work that happens from morning till evening, even our sleep.
But in Genesis, we read about our God who is incredibly busy during the evening; working to create. In the way that we start with morning and work till evening, it appears that God starts with evening and finishes up in the morning.
I have to wonder, what do we learn about God through this repeated line in Genesis. What can we learn about the order of these words, or even about the stages of creation? And let us not forget that when God used energy to create the light, the darkness, the sea and skies, after the work was done, God said, it is good. With the completion of each evening’s work, God pronounced a blessing on all that had been shaped, formed, created on that evening.
God has a different workday from us. During the evening, God worked. On the evening of Day One, God created light and separated light from darkness. On the evening of Day Two, God divided the waters and separated the sea and the sky.
On the evening of Day Three, God created the land, vegetation, trees, plants and fruits. On the evening of Day Four, God created day and night, seasons and years. On the evening of Day Five, God created the birds of the air and all the creatures of the sea. On the evening of Day Six, God created all the creatures of the land, including humans.
And with each stage of creation, we hear, And there was evening and there was morning.
The picture that we get from this repeated verse is that God worked through the night, from evening till morning, so that all of God’s creation, including US, might celebrate during the day what had been created during the evening.
In a quiet but powerful way, God is saying something to each of us, something about the order of our nature, something about the order of our lives.
I think that God is demonstrating through the act of creation a theme that is consistent throughout the scriptures; God worked during the time that we were inactive so that we might be blessed.
That is the picture of Genesis One. God did it all for the first 6 days, And at the end of the six days of creation, God rested, and we were blessed and told to multiply.
In the evening of the creation of the world, God loved us into existence. When we came into the light of the world, we saw the morning, and we celebrated what God had done for us.
How can our response be anything but worship and praise? God worked while we could do nothing, so that when the morning came, we could see and know God’s love. This verse is also true for the very rhythm of our lives.
"And there was evening, and there was morning.
Evening and morning are the rhythm of our lives, but we forget this. We so often think that our lives are about the activities that engulf us from day to day; the things that happen between morning and evening. So often we lay awake at nights thinking of all the things that we have to do tomorrow, all our responsibilities, all the things that cause us to worry. And we forget the nature of God’s workday. God’s workday which goes from evening till morning.
As you go to sleep this evening, instead of worrying about all the things that tomorrow might bring, consider instead,” What is God working on tonight? What wondrous things is God doing in the hearts of the people? "What is God doing in places where I can do nothing?" What is God calling me to do?
There are many young adults here this morning, and there are many parents as well. For the parents, I suspect that many of you have lain awake at night wondering what your children who have moved away are doing. The distance can be frightening. Perhaps you have shared prayers of thankfulness that God works the night shift.
Knowing that God works the night shift has made a profound difference in my morning. When I awake in the morning, I try to awaken with a new sense of wonder. Morning is a celebration of a new day. Worries turn to wonder and watching to see what God has been up to. The conversation continues. Amen.
Queen Anne 
