Evening and Morning
In the Beginning - Part 1
Sunday, August 22, 2021
Genesis 1:1-2:3
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Genesis 1:5
Listen to this week’s sermon here.
Note, the illustration at the end of the sermon includes two rubix cubes as seen at the bottom of this post.
There was morning and there was evening on the first day…
Wait..
As Willy Wonka says, "Strike that… Reverse It...”
There was EVENING and there was MORNING, the first day.
No, God didn’t get the days backwards. Neither did the writer of Genesis. We did.
What if, just for a minute, we imagine that the day doesn’t actually start in the morning? What if it actually starts at night? Not just at midnight either, when the calendar officially flips in the middle of the night, but actually starts the evening before we even change the calendar at all?
It’s just semantics, one might say. It doesn’t really matter. A day is a day. Twenty-four hours. The sun rise and the sun sets.
But what if it does matter. Imagine for a moment how different life could be… how different God intended life to be.
Morning
Jolted awake by an alarm clock
Often tired and groggy, maybe evening hitting the snooze button a few times.
Rushing to get ready and start the day
We are in control, or at least we are trying to be
Evening
Slowing down to relax
Relieved at the completion of a hard day
Resting and getting ready to end the day
Releasing control and going to sleep
If the day starts in the morning, we begin by hitting the ground running. The alarm is like a starting pistol in a race… and we’re off. We don’t stop until the sun sets, maybe not even then. At some point we collapse. Maybe we crossed the finish line and got everything accomplished but more than likely we feel like there is something we missed. We never seem to quite finish it all but we just can’t keep our eyes open anymore. We give into sleep, but often unwillingly, in fits and starts, worrying about all we still have to do tomorrow. Rest doesn’t come easy to an anxious and busy mind and soul.
But if the day starts in the evening, we begin not by running but by resting. We willingly give up 8 or 9 hours out of the first half of our day. For half a day, we are not in control and we are not even trying to be. When we wake up, we are not responsible to get the day started. It’s already half over. And guess what we find… The world is still here. It survived without us all night long. For half a day the earth kept spinning on its axis and we didn’t do a thing.
This is not to say we should be lazy and do nothing, but it does change our perspective. Instead of waking up feeling behind, like we have to get a handle on things and get the day going, we actually wake up to a day God has already created and sustained for the last 8 to 12 hours without our help. We remember that God’s mercies are new every morning. God isn’t waiting on us to get up like an angry boss who won’t tolerate us being late. God invites us to participate in the work God is already doing, alongside the Holy Spirit.
What if at the end of the day we didn’t feel the need to collapse into bed, but rather thankfully gave this new day to God.
There was evening and there was morning…
God, as the sun sets, thank you for this new day. Thank you for the gift of rest. Thank you for your all sustaining grace and love through the night. Thank you for what you are already preparing for me when I awake. Thank you for the invitation to be a part of your creative and restorative work. Thank you that I don’t have to be in control.
Beginning the day in the evening instead of the morning may not change the hours of light and darkness, but it will certainly change our perspective on the day. It will release us from our anxiety and invite us into holy rest. It will remind us that it is God, not us, who starts the day. It reminds us that the day is a gift to recieve, not a challenge to get through. The day is an invitation to the feast of grace that has already been prepared for us, not a to-do list of everything we have to accommplish before the feast can even happen.
What small habit can you put in place in the evenings this week to welcome the new day and recieve God’s gift of rhythm and rest? Perhaps it’s as simple as a candle and a prayer of thanksgiving at the dinner table. Or maybe a time of reflection or journaling about the ways God has been present with you in this day and a prayer for peace as we release the night to God’s sustaining hand.
Whatever it may look like for you, may we learn to celebrate the night and day with grace. May we learn to live into the rhythms of creation… evening and morning… rest and work… and through it all, joy in the presence of our glorious Creator who gives us the gift of both evening and morning.
Where does your Gospel story begin?