Embody God
Stop.
Take a deep breath. As you breathe in say, “You have made me.” As you breathe out say, “You have made all things.” Repeat as many times as you need.
Listen.
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27
Reflect.
Humans are notorious for missing the point. It’s why the phrase “can’t see the forest for the trees” exists. We’re looking so hard for what we think we need to see that we miss what is right in front of us.
This verse from Genesis 1 does exactly that to so many believers. Since we’re hearing from the book of Genesis throughout worship this fall, it’s worth looking at some of the smaller details that we might not get to dive into. While we already heard Genesis 1, some people might have heard this one detail and wondered why we didn’t say more. We talked about how the creation story affirms that we’re made in God’s image, but not the roles of men and women in that work.
It’s because it’s a red herring – it’s missing the point. The story isn’t about gender and whether one is better than another or even whether there’s a set number of genders. It’s about how the fullness of creation, including humanity itself, is made by God – and that humans in particular bear God’s own image. Naming male and female as two extremes still containing God’s image doesn’t exclude anything else.
Austen Hartke, a Christian theologian who speaks on faith, gender, and identity, notes that creation doesn’t say that only water or land was made by God. We all know that there is a lot in between land and water: marshes, beaches, floodplains, lagoons, estuaries, and all the beautiful shades of grey in creation. The same can be true for humanity. The point isn’t the binary structure or any sense of supremacy in it. The point is that it all belongs to God.
Hartke says, “Genesis 1:27 doesn’t give us any new words to help us understand the reality of human gender, but it does provide us with a theological concept. We are told that humans are made in the image of God—the imago Dei.”* And this image of God is the important part. God has made all things in integrity and goodness, and humanity most of all. We are not only creation. We bear the image of our Creator.
Don’t miss the point. The point isn’t us – it’s God.
* Quoted from “Nonbinary gender and the diverse beauty of creation” in The Christian Century on 16 April 2018: https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/nonbinary-gender-and-diverse-beauty-creation
Pray.
God, it’s so easy for me to get distracted and caught up in what I think is important. Help me to see you instead. Show me how you’re at work in my life. Center me in your truth. Comforted that I am made in your image, send me to the fullness of your world. Amen.
Carry On.
How will you embody being made in God’s image today? How can you see that same image in others – especially someone you are not inclined to like?