What does it mean that creation is beloved? Drawing on Julian of Norwich's vision of the hazelnut — "it lasts and ever shall, for God loves it" — this sermon explores the creation account in Genesis 1 alongside the opening of John's Gospel, finding in both a portrait of a God who is not distant or dispassionate, but deeply, emotionally invested in what has been made.
Moving from the Trinitarian pattern of Creator, Logos, and Spirit woven through the creation story, the message turns to a question with real ecological weight: what did God actually intend by giving humanity "dominion" over creation? Drawing on the Hebrew wordplay explored in Eco Bible by Rabbis Yonatan Neril and Leo Dee, this sermon reframes dominion not as license to exploit, but as a responsibility to see creation the way God sees it — as good, sacred, and beloved.
The sermon closes by considering the Sabbath, not simply as rest from labor, but as an intentional pause from our own acts of creating and controlling — a chance to step back and notice the belovedness already present in the world around us.
