You may have noticed, as I read, that there are two accounts of creation.  They are not identical.  The first account covers all six days and the whole creation process, including the creation of humanity.  The second account gives a more detailed reporting of the creation of us human folk.  In the first account male and female appear to be created in the very image of God at the same moment.  In the second account it appears that there is some time lapse between the creation of male and female.  It appears that the male is created first, and the female second.  Now, for many years people have referred to the book of Genesis as proof that males are superior to females.  Males were created first, and females were made as a kind of after-thought, to be a companion, a help-meet, since the animals were deemed to be unsatisfactory company for the man who was lonely. 

From this account, there have been arguments made that God has ordained a hierarchy of creatures, with man at the top, woman slightly lower, and all else far down the list.  It has also been suggested however, that God created things in a particular order, saving the best for last, building up, crescendo-like to the ultimate creation - woman! 

However, the creation story is not about male and female superiority or inferiority. It is not about establishing a hierarchy.  Those arguments miss the whole point of the creation story.  What the creation story tells us is that men and women were created in the image of God for a particular purpose, for which they need each other.  And what is that purpose?  To exercise dominion over the earth.  All those other arguments and debates concerning the 1^st 2 chapters of Genesis - including, by the way, the almost absurd debate over whether or not God created in six literal days of 24 hours each, or some longer period - are beside the point and detract from the central message.  The central message is that we have been made in God's own likeness, with something of God's nature within, so that we could become responsible stewards of the planet God had given us.

Out of God's own likeness, we have been created, and God's image is reflected in both male and female.  Male and female were created to form a community, united by a common purpose.   The image of community is an important part of the creation account.  In chapter 2, the man is alone, he is the only human inhabitant on the planet.  He has animals to keep him company.  He even names the animals and inhabits the same space - presumably without being in any danger.  It seems like an idyllic scene - African Lion Safari.  But it must have created problems for the man.  Since he was supposed to care for the garden, it must have been exhausting keeping the place neat and tidy - that's a lot of stooping and scooping!  God said, Ait is not good that the man should be alone.@   And so a companion is created, just like the man, sharing the man's nature and composition, Abone of his bone and flesh of his flesh@ - made of the same essence.  A community is formed, with both members sharing God's nature and standing equal before God.  

Both male and female were created for a purpose: to have dominion over the earth.  In other words, our existence as humans made in God's image, occupying the planet God has given us, is accompanied by responsibility.  We do not exist on our own, or for our own purposes.  God did not say to the man and the woman, Athere you go - trundle along, enjoy the garden, have a good life, catch you later!@  We have responsibilities and obligations that are related to the one who has created us and the environment in which we have been placed.

God lovingly fashioned our earth and God made it good - very good.  And God wants us to keep it Agood.@  And to help us to do that, God has placed the divine nature within us, so that we can emulate God's action.  God has created beauty and balance. We are to respect that beauty and preserve that balance.  God has set boundaries and limits that are designed to benefit all and we are to respect and honor those boundaries.  All things were created by God to exist together in harmony with adequate resources to make that possible and we are to use those resources wisely, taking the larger environment into consideration.  Everything appears to be connected, serving a function that benefits all and we too are connected, with our own functions and gifts and abilities which are intended to be offering in service to others and we are to work hard to maintain that harmonious inter-connectedness.  In the creation account, the animals and the humans have abundant plant life to eat and survive.  There is an ecological system created which has balance and order where maintaining a proper relationship brings health and wholeness.  And so the charge God has given us is to honor and protect this environment by exercising Adominion@ over the created order.  Note that the word used is Adominion@ not Adomination.@  Exercising dominion implies living up to the responsibility of caring for the creation of which we are a part, where our choices are made with the best interests of all in mind.  Exercising Adomination@ implies our rebellion against God for our own selfish purposes. 

Many people have made the assumption that  humanity was God's crowning creation.  We are supposedly the Ahighest@life form - I'm not sure what the dolphins think about that - but if that is true, if we claim that it is true, then we also bear the privilege and responsibility of contributing to the common good.  And by that it means not merely our good, but the good of all creation.  Male and female were created to establish a community who would accept the responsibility of taking care of what God had created: that which was good!  It's perhaps not surprising that we can get so easily sidetracked into those endless and ultimately unresolvable debates about gender and role and power - it all serves to distract us from looking at our primary role.  And when you look around you today at the state of our world, it is distressingly clear that we have failed miserably at the task God has entrusted to us.  We have done well trying to destroy what God has made - we have exercised domination.  We have been selfish and have assumed that God's creation is ours to manipulate in whatever ways we want to ensure our satisfaction.  I was reading in Macleans magazine that President George Bush has advocated the relaxation of quotas on lumber, paving the way for ever greater exploitation of our forests, justifying his decision by arguing that less trees mean less forest fires!  That is something of the leadership of this part of the world.  And of course, less trees means more land to erect shopping malls or amusement parks or sports stadiums.  Both Canada are the US have resisted implementing the very protocols agreed upon in the Kyoto accord, designed to reduce emissions and clean up our planet so there will be something left to hand on to our grandchildren's grandchildren.  And why are they holding back?  Greed.  Money.  Standard of living.  Politics and re-election.  But while it would be tempting for us to point fingers at politicians or corporations or immoral profiteers, the reality is that all of us bear some responsibility for the deplorable state of our world, for the price of our Awestern lifestyle@ has involved terrible violence on other parts of God's creation. 

God has charged us with the responsibility to seek harmony and balance in our relationships and communities and to recognize that we have a relationship to the whole of creation.  We need to get the message out that this is God's world, not ours, that the planet earth has been loaned to us and our prime task is to take care of it - that the needs of the larger world are just as important as our needs and that we should do all we can to co-exist creatively.  And that is where community enters into the scene, for while we each have our own obligation to live responsibly in our own small spheres, it is when we combine our energy and resources and faith through community that significant change becomes possible.  That's why God calls us to live in faith communities.  If we are to take seriously our calling to exercise responsible dominion over creation, then we need to rally the Christian community to get the message out and to make sure that we are living the message.  We need to demonstrate a united commitment to value the world, acknowledging that in the final analysis it does not belong to us.

Now I will say that don't know why God arranged things the way they are.  Why God would entrust the planet to us fairly boggles the mind, does it not?  But remember that we have been created in God's likeness - as female and male we carry something of God's essence within us.  I don't hold lot of store in my own goodness or cleverness.  I know myself a little too well for much over-confidence in my abilities or motives.  But I believe that because of my commitment to Christ, God dwells in me and moves through me. I believe that as I surrender to God, God's power and wisdom is released.  And that is the hope of the church - that we can help change the world for God as we believe in our God-given potential and allow God to work through us in life-affirming ways.  As we collectively acknowledge that we are merely stewards of this planet and surrender our actions and choices to God, seeking to model responsible and respectful living to others, good things will happen.   

What might that look like?  It can be reflected in a commitment to living simple lifestyles where we focus more on what we need rather than what we want, putting less strain on our limited and in many cases dwindling resources.  Recycling is another way that we can communicate how we value God's world.  We can speak out against corporations that abuse our planet in order to increase their profits.  We should invest in financial institutions that have mission statements that reflect their commitment to refrain from the exploitation of the land or the people on that land.  Even something as seemingly trivial as bringing your own coffee cup to work instead of using Styrofoam makes a difference. 

You know, a great deal of what we do that does not contribute to our planet's well-being is a result of laziness and greed.  And if the Christian community does not lead by example, reflecting that we follow different priorities then the world, who will communicate the message of whose world this really is?  We are stewards of this planet and we are accountable for our actions.  We are responsible as individuals and especially as faith communities, to live out our calling and treat the world and one another as God would have us.  For we will be evaluated not by what we say, but by how we live.  In this part of the world there is tremendous pressure to consume - to use much, much more than we need.  It is easy to get sucked in by the advertizing that urges us to accumulate more and more and to measure our worth by what we have and own and consume. 

God created each of us in the divine image, in God's own likeness so that we would be sensitive to the needs of the earth, which we are supposed to love and respect as the gift of God's love.  Anything less than responsible stewardship is an affront to the God who made us.  We have it within us to do much better.