Made in the Image of the God with Dirty Hands --- A Sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost/Labor Day Weekend (Psalm 139)
The Psalmist invites us to sing God’s praises because we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Not only is God the creator of the universe, but God has formed our inward parts and knit us together in our mother’s womb. That means we matter to God.
The first creation account reveals that we are created in God’s image. Then in the second creation account, in Genesis 2, it’s revealed that God’s hands got dirty when God created the first human.
Jeremiah reinforces that message when he describes God’s relationship to Israel in terms of God the potter. While Jeremiah uses that image to speak of God’s judgment on Israel, we can also read into that imagery a sense of God’s intimate relationship with creation. So, it appears that God isn’t concerned about dirty hands! (Jer., 18:1-11)
All of this suggests that life is sacred. Just as the Psalmist speaks of God’s intimate relationship with God’s creation, the prologue to John’s Gospel reinforces that message. According to John, all things were created through the Word that is God and this Word took on flesh and dwelt among us. It is through this Word that God is made known to us (Jn. 1:1-18). That means God knows what it is to be human. That is, in my estimation, good news because it reinforces the message of the Psalm, that our lives matter to God.
This is a good word to hear on Labor Day Weekend as we get ready to enter the fall season. This weekend we honor all those who labor, whatever their vocations, but especially those whose work involves getting their hands dirty. That’s because the God of dirty hands can identify with them.
The Medieval Jewish commentator Rashi interpreted verse 14 of this Psalm, which reveals that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” in these terms: “I shall thank You for in an awesome, wondrous way I was fashioned; Your works are wondrous, and my soul knows it very well.” Yes, indeed, our souls know it very well!
This word about God fashioning us so that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” takes us back to those creation stories found in Genesis 1 and 2. In the first story, God speaks the universe into existence. It’s a very poetic and beautiful message, and according to this liturgy everything God creates, including humanity (Gen. 1), is very good. When we turn to the second story, which we find in Genesis 2, things get a bit earthier. According to this creation story, God fashioned the first human from the dust of the ground and then breathed life into this first human. Then God placed the human whom God made from the dust of the earth in the Garden (Gen. 2:7). God then fashions a companion for this human out of that first human’s body so they might share life together in the Garden. This suggests that God is a laboring God! In fact, according to the first creation story, God even takes a break after the work of creation is finished. That’s just a reminder that “all work and no play” makes one dull and that’s not good for anyone!
I started the sermon with words found in the middle of the Psalm, where the Psalmist gives praise to God because we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Now I want to go back to the beginning of the psalm, where the Psalmist speaks of God searching us and knowing us. There is in these opening words of the Psalm a sense of intimacy that reinforces the message that life is sacred. Yes, God knows when we sit down and rise up. God knows our paths and even what we’re going to say before we speak. According to the Psalmist, such knowledge is too wonderful to contemplate.
As I pondered this message, a familiar children’s book came to mind. It’s called the Runaway Bunny. In this book, Margaret Wise Brown tells the story of a bunny who decides to run away. At least that’s what the bunny tells his mother. The bunny goes through a series of scenarios, but each time his mother lets him know that wherever he goes she’ll be there to welcome him. To give you one instance, after he tells his mother he might become a bird and fly away, she tells him: “if you become a bird and fly away from me, I will be a tree that you come home to.” Finally, she tells him “If you become a little boy and run into a house,” then “I will become your mother and catch you in my arms and hug you.” So it is with God.
Since you and I are just getting acquainted, I don’t know how this Psalm speaks to you. But I have a few thoughts to share as we head into the fall season.
Maybe you’ve just headed off to school. Perhaps you’re excited but also a bit intimidated by the new school year. If so, remember that you are not alone and that you matter to God who knows you and is there with you.
Since this is Labor Day weekend, if you are one who labors, this might be a word of encouragement as well, because God knows what it means to labor. In fact, if you take a look at the verbs in Psalm 139, you’ll hear that God searches and knows and protects. God forms us and knits us. God makes us and weaves us. So, while Labor Day may be a secular holiday and not a feast day of the church since we serve and worship a God who labors, it’s fitting to celebrate this day. After all, most of us, will at some point in our lives be employed in some form of work. Therefore, it’s appropriate that we honor those who labor even as we remember that God is always laboring on our behalf.
Theologian Joerg Rieger and his spouse, the labor organizer Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger, speak to the centrality of labor to our lives. They remind us that because we spend “the bulk of our waking hours at work [this] influences who we are as individuals and communities, shapes the images of our cultures and faiths, and defines us in more ways than we can count.” [Unified We Are a People, pp. 16-17]
I think the Riegers are on to something because one of the first things we often ask a working-age adult when we meet them for the first time is: “What do you do for a living?” We ask this because we want to know who this person is. And what they do at work speaks to who they are. Just in case you’re wondering, I’m a retired pastor who enjoys preaching along with writing books.
So, if our labor helps define our identities, then, as the Riegers point out: “work is what allows people to use their abilities (as well as their disabilities!) in productive fashion for the common good, which increases the welfare of the community and of the planet as a whole” [Unified We Are a People, pp. 16-17].
When we read Scripture, we encounter a God who works for a living. We encounter a God who is a craftsperson, potter, garment-maker, gardener, farmer, shepherd, and tentmaker. In other words, Judaism and Christianity don’t lack images that can help us value work and workers.
Not only does Scripture speak of God as one who works for a living, but the Gospels remind us that Jesus himself was a laborer. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus’ hometown folks treated him with contempt because he was simply a carpenter, or more likely because he was a common laborer. Therefore, they weren’t inclined to listen to his spiritual wisdom (Mark 6:1-3). However, if we encounter God in Jesus then we encounter the God with dirty hands who is always present with us.
So, when we think about being “fearfully and wonderfully made,” it’s good to remember that we’ve been created in the image of the God with dirty hands! Therefore, as the people of God, let us celebrate this work of God by standing in solidarity with all who labor.
This morning, let us give thanks to the God with dirty hands, by honoring all those who labor, especially those persons who take on the most difficult jobs. During the height of the pandemic, we honored the first responders, especially nurses, doctors, EMTs, and police, people who put their lives on the line every day. As school starts, there are teachers who are often underpaid and underappreciated. I know this to be true because my wife is a retired school teacher. But there are all kinds of jobs, many of which can be difficult, dangerous, and even demeaning. We stand in solidarity with them as well. As we do this, we know that the God who labors stands with them as well.
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church
Warren, Michigan
13th Sunday after Pentecost/Labor Day Weekend
September 4, 2022
Image Attribution: Ring, L. A. (Laurits Andersen), 1854-1933. Potter Herman Kähler in his Workshop, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57049 [retrieved September 3, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herman_K%C3%A4hler_i_sit_v%C3%A6rksted.jpg.
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