"Big Yellow Taxi"
Genesis 1:1-10
A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who’s dressed in sunglasses, a really loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans. St. Peter addresses this guy, “Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?” The guy replies, “I’m Joe Cohen, taxi driver, Noo Yawk City.” Peter consults his list, smiles, and says, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” The taxi driver saunters into heaven with his robe and staff, and now it’s the minister’s turn. He stands erect and booms out in a deep Southern accent, “I am Joseph Snow, pastor of the First Church of God for the last 44 years.” St. Peter consults his list and says to the minister, “Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“Just a minute,” says the minister. “That man was a taxi driver, and he got a silken robe and golden staff. Now how can this be?” St. Peter explains, “Pastor, up here we work by results. And while you preached, people slept; but while that taxi driver drove, people prayed.” So what are the real, live results of your work?
The first two chapters of Genesis show God as a creative worker who brings order out of chaos and makes things that are good. This vast galaxy is spinning at the incredible speed of 490,000 miles an hour. But even at this speed, it still needs 200 million years to make one rotation. And there are a billion other galaxies like ours in the universe. Some scientists say that the number of stars in the heavens is equal to all the grains of all the sands on all the beaches of the earth. And yet this complex sea of spinning stars functions with remarkable order and efficiency.
God worked like a cosmic craftsman as He made the sun and the moon, the land and the sea, the fish and the animals. And finally, He made humanity in His own image—according to His own likeness. We human beings turn out to be the Lord’s finest product, so much so that He gives us the responsibility to care for His creation. Of course, God didn’t need to create the universe; He chose to create it. Why? Because God is love and love is best expressed toward something or someone else. God created the world and its people as an expression of His love. Please don’t ever take that expression of love for granted. If we would only open our eyes and our ears and our mouth and our nose and our hands, we would see and hear and taste and smell and touch both the goodness and the love of our God!
When you read the whole creation story, you’ll notice that after humans are created they’re immediately given work to do—primarily both reaping from and caring for all that God had created. Contrary to what so many believe, work isn’t a curse-related activity; God intended it instead to be a blessing-related activity. Work need not be our enemy! We shouldn’t see it as something that we slug out forty hours a week—just waiting until we can retire so that we can then experience God’s creative intention for us.
It’s almost funny how so many of us tend to take the ability to work for granted—just as we take so many other things for granted. We take for granted the beautiful landscapes of our county, all the trees and the flowers and the grass and the river. We take for granted the loveliness of the wildlife living right around us, the deer and the raccoons and the birds and the skunks. (Skunks are beautiful even though they don’t smell good!) We take for granted the night sky, the phases of the moon, the stretched haze of the Milky Way, the vast designs of the stellar constellations. If we’re not careful, we’ll even go so far as to take life itself for granted.
That was in many ways the warning in Joni Mitchell’s song, “Big Yellow Taxi”: “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot / with a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot. / Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? / They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. / They took all the trees put ‘em in a tree museum, / and they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ‘em. / Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? / They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. / Late last night I heard the screen door slam, / and a big yellow taxi took away my old man. / Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? / They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Whatever happened to your sense of wonder? As children it was the fascination with a rotating musical merry-go-round or the marvel of a jet plane surging into the skies. As young adults it was the touch of a hand that made us wish that time would stand still or a breathtaking view of nature that gripped our soul. Don’t take that sense of wonder for granted; recapture it! It’s a blessing from God, given so that we would be continually amazed at His beauty and creation. That sense of wonder shouldn’t diminish over the years; it should increase! Our ability to experience an overwhelming sense of awe shouldn’t diminish over the years; it should increase! Our knack for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary shouldn’t diminish over the years; it should increase! An increasing sense of wonder at the work of God in us and through us and around us isn’t a sign of childishness; it’s a sign of growing spiritual maturity. And it is precisely that maturity that will inspire us to join hands with God in His creative work—to do the work He gives us to do as “unto the Lord” as the Bible calls it, or as the biblical admonition says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all your might.”
When God got to work in the beginning, He pulled together what the Latin calls creatio ex nihilo—which means creating from chaos: “The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.” The initial state of the universe before creation was chaotic; it wasn’t yet in harmony with God’s divine purposes. But then a wind from God swept over the face of the waters, a divine spirit worked in a creative way with the raw material of the deep, and God used this chaotic material to order His universe. With a word God flips on the first light, and then He splits the light from the darkness, and the earth has its first day.
All of us are created in God’s image, created to be creative creators ourselves. Like God, we’re to bring order out of chaos and make things that are good. We’ve been given dominion over this earth, not to abuse it and exploit it—for remember, God created it and called it good—but to use the resources around us to shine light into darkness and make things that will be life-enhancing for ourselves and others. So whether we roll tortillas or install satellite dishes, whether we teach students or write software, whether we manage finances or manufacture farm equipment, we have been given the opportunity to share in God’s creative efforts. Whether we make ax handles or tacos, whether we sell automobiles or teach kindergarten, whether we engage in investment banking or hold political office, our challenge remains to be creative along with God by putting in our best quality effort.
Think about it this way. So many of us quite often say, “TGIF” (thank God, it’s Friday); but very few of us commonly say, “TGIM” (thank God, it’s Monday). Maybe it’s because of a crummy boss or mindless work or physically exhausting work or verbally abusive coworkers. Granted, these can be serious problems and may even require strong actions to bring about a remedy. But as serious as they are, they don’t alter the fact that God’s creative intention for us is that we have work for which we’re suited and which can serve as a channel of fulfilling His will for our lives. And that’s true for work outside the church as well as inside the church!
So even if we can’t joyfully shout “TGIM” when the alarm clock screams at the start of the week, we can agree that work is a good thing—even a godly thing. For if we don’t have a job to get up and do, there’s little point in getting a decent night’s sleep or in taking care of our health or in staying out of trouble! Picture those places (like many inner-city environments) where there are very few decent employment opportunities; it’s hardly a coincidence that areas like these grapple with more than their share of depression, out-of-wedlock births, and marital breakups—or even drug abuse and violence. So when it comes right down to it, work is good thing whether or not it inspires you to say “TGIM”!
God really has created for all of us a little bit of paradise in which to work and play and live. Anywhere on this earth you can find it if you’ll look hard enough. Don’t miss it! Don’t take it for granted! And don’t pave that paradise just to put up a parking lot! Jesus Himself has said to you, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” Live the life God has granted you! Don’t overlook the wondrous things He will show you. Read and talk and watch and listen and enjoy! Don’t be like the man this little poem is about: “There was a very cautious man / who never laughed or played. / He never risked, he never tried, / he never sang or prayed. / And when he one day passed away, / his insurance was denied. / For since he never really lived, / they claimed he never died!”
Your life is not a meaningless existence. The goal of Monday isn’t survival to the weekend, just as the goal of a career is not retirement. Trust God and do your best, and God will help you to bring order out of chaos and make something good.
Let us pray: God, who stretched the spangled heavens, infinite in time and place, / flung the suns in burning radiance through the silent fields of space: / We, Your children in Your likeness, share inventive powers with You; / great Creator, still creating, show us what we yet may do. / May our dreams prove rich with promise, each endeavor well begun; / great Creator, give us guidance, till our goals and Yours are one. In Jesus’ name we pray.
Genesis 1:1-10
A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who’s dressed in sunglasses, a really loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans. St. Peter addresses this guy, “Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?” The guy replies, “I’m Joe Cohen, taxi driver, Noo Yawk City.” Peter consults his list, smiles, and says, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” The taxi driver saunters into heaven with his robe and staff, and now it’s the minister’s turn. He stands erect and booms out in a deep Southern accent, “I am Joseph Snow, pastor of the First Church of God for the last 44 years.” St. Peter consults his list and says to the minister, “Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“Just a minute,” says the minister. “That man was a taxi driver, and he got a silken robe and golden staff. Now how can this be?” St. Peter explains, “Pastor, up here we work by results. And while you preached, people slept; but while that taxi driver drove, people prayed.” So what are the real, live results of your work?
The first two chapters of Genesis show God as a creative worker who brings order out of chaos and makes things that are good. This vast galaxy is spinning at the incredible speed of 490,000 miles an hour. But even at this speed, it still needs 200 million years to make one rotation. And there are a billion other galaxies like ours in the universe. Some scientists say that the number of stars in the heavens is equal to all the grains of all the sands on all the beaches of the earth. And yet this complex sea of spinning stars functions with remarkable order and efficiency.
God worked like a cosmic craftsman as He made the sun and the moon, the land and the sea, the fish and the animals. And finally, He made humanity in His own image—according to His own likeness. We human beings turn out to be the Lord’s finest product, so much so that He gives us the responsibility to care for His creation. Of course, God didn’t need to create the universe; He chose to create it. Why? Because God is love and love is best expressed toward something or someone else. God created the world and its people as an expression of His love. Please don’t ever take that expression of love for granted. If we would only open our eyes and our ears and our mouth and our nose and our hands, we would see and hear and taste and smell and touch both the goodness and the love of our God!
When you read the whole creation story, you’ll notice that after humans are created they’re immediately given work to do—primarily both reaping from and caring for all that God had created. Contrary to what so many believe, work isn’t a curse-related activity; God intended it instead to be a blessing-related activity. Work need not be our enemy! We shouldn’t see it as something that we slug out forty hours a week—just waiting until we can retire so that we can then experience God’s creative intention for us.
It’s almost funny how so many of us tend to take the ability to work for granted—just as we take so many other things for granted. We take for granted the beautiful landscapes of our county, all the trees and the flowers and the grass and the river. We take for granted the loveliness of the wildlife living right around us, the deer and the raccoons and the birds and the skunks. (Skunks are beautiful even though they don’t smell good!) We take for granted the night sky, the phases of the moon, the stretched haze of the Milky Way, the vast designs of the stellar constellations. If we’re not careful, we’ll even go so far as to take life itself for granted.
That was in many ways the warning in Joni Mitchell’s song, “Big Yellow Taxi”: “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot / with a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot. / Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? / They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. / They took all the trees put ‘em in a tree museum, / and they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ‘em. / Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? / They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. / Late last night I heard the screen door slam, / and a big yellow taxi took away my old man. / Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? / They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Whatever happened to your sense of wonder? As children it was the fascination with a rotating musical merry-go-round or the marvel of a jet plane surging into the skies. As young adults it was the touch of a hand that made us wish that time would stand still or a breathtaking view of nature that gripped our soul. Don’t take that sense of wonder for granted; recapture it! It’s a blessing from God, given so that we would be continually amazed at His beauty and creation. That sense of wonder shouldn’t diminish over the years; it should increase! Our ability to experience an overwhelming sense of awe shouldn’t diminish over the years; it should increase! Our knack for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary shouldn’t diminish over the years; it should increase! An increasing sense of wonder at the work of God in us and through us and around us isn’t a sign of childishness; it’s a sign of growing spiritual maturity. And it is precisely that maturity that will inspire us to join hands with God in His creative work—to do the work He gives us to do as “unto the Lord” as the Bible calls it, or as the biblical admonition says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all your might.”
When God got to work in the beginning, He pulled together what the Latin calls creatio ex nihilo—which means creating from chaos: “The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.” The initial state of the universe before creation was chaotic; it wasn’t yet in harmony with God’s divine purposes. But then a wind from God swept over the face of the waters, a divine spirit worked in a creative way with the raw material of the deep, and God used this chaotic material to order His universe. With a word God flips on the first light, and then He splits the light from the darkness, and the earth has its first day.
All of us are created in God’s image, created to be creative creators ourselves. Like God, we’re to bring order out of chaos and make things that are good. We’ve been given dominion over this earth, not to abuse it and exploit it—for remember, God created it and called it good—but to use the resources around us to shine light into darkness and make things that will be life-enhancing for ourselves and others. So whether we roll tortillas or install satellite dishes, whether we teach students or write software, whether we manage finances or manufacture farm equipment, we have been given the opportunity to share in God’s creative efforts. Whether we make ax handles or tacos, whether we sell automobiles or teach kindergarten, whether we engage in investment banking or hold political office, our challenge remains to be creative along with God by putting in our best quality effort.
Think about it this way. So many of us quite often say, “TGIF” (thank God, it’s Friday); but very few of us commonly say, “TGIM” (thank God, it’s Monday). Maybe it’s because of a crummy boss or mindless work or physically exhausting work or verbally abusive coworkers. Granted, these can be serious problems and may even require strong actions to bring about a remedy. But as serious as they are, they don’t alter the fact that God’s creative intention for us is that we have work for which we’re suited and which can serve as a channel of fulfilling His will for our lives. And that’s true for work outside the church as well as inside the church!
So even if we can’t joyfully shout “TGIM” when the alarm clock screams at the start of the week, we can agree that work is a good thing—even a godly thing. For if we don’t have a job to get up and do, there’s little point in getting a decent night’s sleep or in taking care of our health or in staying out of trouble! Picture those places (like many inner-city environments) where there are very few decent employment opportunities; it’s hardly a coincidence that areas like these grapple with more than their share of depression, out-of-wedlock births, and marital breakups—or even drug abuse and violence. So when it comes right down to it, work is good thing whether or not it inspires you to say “TGIM”!
God really has created for all of us a little bit of paradise in which to work and play and live. Anywhere on this earth you can find it if you’ll look hard enough. Don’t miss it! Don’t take it for granted! And don’t pave that paradise just to put up a parking lot! Jesus Himself has said to you, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” Live the life God has granted you! Don’t overlook the wondrous things He will show you. Read and talk and watch and listen and enjoy! Don’t be like the man this little poem is about: “There was a very cautious man / who never laughed or played. / He never risked, he never tried, / he never sang or prayed. / And when he one day passed away, / his insurance was denied. / For since he never really lived, / they claimed he never died!”
Your life is not a meaningless existence. The goal of Monday isn’t survival to the weekend, just as the goal of a career is not retirement. Trust God and do your best, and God will help you to bring order out of chaos and make something good.
Let us pray: God, who stretched the spangled heavens, infinite in time and place, / flung the suns in burning radiance through the silent fields of space: / We, Your children in Your likeness, share inventive powers with You; / great Creator, still creating, show us what we yet may do. / May our dreams prove rich with promise, each endeavor well begun; / great Creator, give us guidance, till our goals and Yours are one. In Jesus’ name we pray.
