This is a sermon summary of the sermon presented at Prairie Chapel (Fulton, MO) on February 9, 2014
We’re being followed by a generation of skeptics. Forty percent of 16 to 29 year-olds have rejected the Christian faith. They are fueled by a new breed of evangelical atheists who would like to rid the world of religion believing is the cause of all things bad: war, violence, hatred, bigotry, all in the name of religion. They make good arguments. Some that science has all the answers and they cringe when “creationists” claim the world is just 6000 years old and want to replace the science of evolution is the classroom with creationism.
I believe that science and religion can exist in harmony, side by side; that science does not have all the answers. Francis Collins, head of the human genome project, scientist, medical doctor, Christian (and believer in evolution), and author of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief says that science makes no attempt to answer how the universe got here (we have a Creator God), what is the meaning of life (we are called to love God and neighbor sometimes in sacrificial ways and that gives life meaning), or what happens after we die (Jesus tells he goes to prepare a place for us and that give us hope).
Rather that being a science book, the Genesis story tells about God (who created us, loves us, wants us to love him in return, to calls us to care for creation and our neighbor). And it tells us about us: “The Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” And it tells us about our relationship with God.
There is room for the Big Bang and evolution in our understanding. Wesley said “for those things that do not strike at the root of Christianity, think and let think.” Creator God, Jesus, and the Great Commandment are the roots of our faith. We can comfortably welcome the skeptic to explore that faith with us.
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