Reflection: Teach

May 31, 2026

LaSalle

“Teach”

10:15

OT – Genesis 1 (selected passages)  -- We will nibble at it in bits…

1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the 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.	What wonderful poetry.  Actually, it’s a song, this first story of creation, a liturgical chant at a time when they actually had priests to chant this.  Mindful that it’s a theological work, not an historical nor scientific thesis.  That frees us from cul-de-sac debates.  My church confirmation class once asked:  “Why did God create the world?” which is a far better question than asking “When or how?” We begin, as the song goes, with chaos, confusion, emptiness, formlessness, it’s a mess, darkness like a hurricane, whipping waters and wind.   The modern authors of Genesis weren’t writing how the material world came to be, they were writing why and what for?  That’s the job of theologians.  Scientists explain the how, but the job of theologians, Bible people, is to discover and relate what is the meaning of life and what are meant to do and be, especially considering what nuts we are and what messes we get ourselves into.  Another fine mess, Stanley… What is all of this meant to be?  We get an answer.  And the word repeated is “good.”  Tov in Hebrew My wife is a deep person.  Her concept of success? What she hoped for our children was that they’d grow up to be good people
3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.	Now comes creation like a sock drawer.  Huh?  God bringing sense to chaos.  You do the laundry, you dump the clean stuff on the bed, then you sort, you separate, you bring order.  So we begin with light separated from darkness. Light means freedom.  Light gives us a chance.  By the way, light happens before there is the sun.  Interesting.  Because:  God is the light, we are not meant to bumble around in darkness, groping, confused, scared.  And without electricity, they knew how dark dark could be.  We see by the light.
6And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.	Separation again.  Bringing order from chaos.  Their cosmos concept, lacking telescope  and Hubble and the newest telescope in obit, imagined the palms of God separating the chaos of the waters, above and below, to make room for life.  A small and precarious cosmos, constantly threatened.     We skip a bit…
9And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14And 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, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night — and the stars.  17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.	Here the Hebrews are tweaking Three Stooges style the pagan Babylonian noses who have enslaved them who viewed Sun and Moon as gods.  To the Hebrews, they simply are useful clocks, measuring day and night and months and seasons.  Okay, moving on again…
20And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”	Deep mystery.  Humanity separated into equal genders.  For out of the one humanity is separated ish (male) and isha (female) – the same word, just different genders.  Spanish gets closer than English.  Amiga – female friend.  Amigo – male friend.  In God’s image, not God in our image – God forbid -- but us given the godly capacity of creation, imagination, whereby we too can create goodness. Whereby all of creation is blessed.  To be a blessing.
29God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.	For us to be fed, for a world of abundance where no parent has to see their child shrivel by hunger or bloated by starvation. The blessing for us to cooperate with nature for mutual benefit.  We depend on nature.  That’s good.
2:1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2And 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. 3So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.	Saturday to the Hebrew.  Sabbath Rest but not indolence or just hanging about in your Lay-Z-Boy.  Re-Creation more than recreation.  Time reserved for God and God’s people to reflect on their work, to review: have we done good?  To reflect:  have we done what God wants us to do and be? To ready ourselves for the next week.
4These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

~~~

Faith is meant to be pragmatic, practical, sensible.  We seek to receive a faith that helps us live out this creation as creatures.  Day by day.  Week by week.  While we may. 

So how will we know what it means to be faithful, to have a reason to wake up?  Give us a purpose for making coffee, making love, raising kids, making a living… 

Reformed Protestantism believes a rogue lurks inside every saint, there’s a cannibal inside each of us, gluttonous enough to devour our neighbor.  We took a good creation and selfishly wanting to be like God, wanting control, and broke it.  We trust less in persons being virtuous and prefer to trust that they will act responsibly when there are sufficient goads, rewards, and restraints to insure that they will be held responsible.  Author James Fenimore Cooper explained:  “Responsibility is the substitute for virtue in a politician as discipline is the substitute for courage in a soldier.”  He added:  “Divide the trust to divide the abuses.” 

So better than regulations that force us to behave is if we are taught well the gospel so we will choose to live it as best as imperfect us can.  Teach your children well…So we are given the great commission.  Let make the world the way it was meant to be.  Good:  “in accordance with the practical moral or religious standards, beautiful.”

A creation that is good.  Relationships that remain good.  In Hebrew, Tov, because God is good and fills the world with God’s practical and moral and kindly and purposeful goodness.

Now, imagine if our diet depended on being fed not by steak and eggs, broccoli and apples, but nourished by actions, by creativity, by words and deeds that are good and true and beautiful.  We hope we’d never starve. 

Why are we here?  Tikkun olam There’s also this special phrase in Hebrew, called ‘Tikkun olam.’   A Rabbinical story describes how the light of creation suffered an accident.  The light of the world was shattered into thousands of shards of light which fell into the world and were hidden.    It is our responsibility as humans to learn how to find these shards of beauty and light hidden in all people, all events, all things and restore the wholeness.  ‘Tikkun olam’ means the repairing, the restoration of the world God intended, the world God created.

That’s the why.  How will we learn how?

NT – Matthew 28

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

All ethnics, universal.  The blessing of diversity.  Not as if Christianity belongs to one people, one race, one nation.  Quiz:  most Presbyterians?  South Korea, then Ghana, Kenya, Mexico.

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Title -- Teach

How?  By going, making disciples, baptizing them, teaching them.  Creating the new creation.

Teaching.  The hallmark of Christianity, certainly the hallmark of what it means to be Presbyterian.    

On one mission trip to Honduras, our church assisted the locals in building their schoolhouse in a remote and poor village. 

We addressed the young students.  We discussed how many of our Presbyterian ancestors in Scotland lived in the poorest country of Europe.  Sod huts, and for them, fine cuisine was haggis – oatmeal stuffed in a sheep’s stomach mixed with spices and innards. But these Presbyterian ancestors had something the other countries didn’t have.  John Knox, father of Scottish Presbyterianism, made sure public education was available to boys and girls.  Because of this Presbyterian emphasis on reading the Bible and becoming educated, 85% of Scots could read.  Literacy in England at the time?  35%. 

That’s why preacher types are called Teaching Elders.  It’s not our job to make decisions but to help decisions be made by you. 

Scotland became the most educated nation in the world resulting in the Scottish Enlightenment with poor us leading the world in science, natural philosophy, engineering, economics, literature, medicine. Most every Presbyterian Church started as a Sunday School, often establishing the first school in town.  Each university established in the American colonies was based upon the Scottish system of education supplied by Scottish teachers.  When Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence he liberally quoted Scottish philosophers. 

Imagine then these Honduran children hearing that as poor as they might be now, education, learning, literacy, is the key.  Would they imagine how they and their children could contribute to the world’s progress? 

Take a moment to remember those teachers – whether at school or coaches or parents or grands, or at work taking you under their wing -- who took time with you, helped you discover and grow into your gifts.  Teachers who appreciated how the word, education comes from the word ‘educare,’ meaning a leading out, a drawing forth.  Teachers whose questions encourage critical reflection, those who helped fashion you.  Helped you create who you are.  Where knowledge is more than cerebral, it is encounter, relationship, knowing yourself by how to know others, how you know God. 

In fact, the church herself is the best curriculum.  How else will the young or newcomers to faith learn about Christ except through us?  What is the purpose of Christian Education?  Life in the Risen Lord.  That makes really practical sense. 

Jesus himself was the master teacher, rarely giving answers, teaching on the go, teaching about forgiveness by practicing forgiveness, helping the disciples study prayer by praying, teaching about love not as an abstract principle but by practicing love. 

And that is good.  Really good.