What shall we do with the story of
Noah? I remember the way I learned
it one year in
We spent the first day making a boat
out of Popsicle sticks. Well, more like a raft. They let a few of us hammer
some nails into two by fours to show us how hard it was to build things. But
after a crushed thumb, they decided that wasn't such a good idea, so we looked
for boat pictures in old magazines instead. We didn't dwell much on God
obliterating the whole world; that's not kid's stuff! So we talked about rain
and thunderstorms and floods and went outside to look for clouds in the sky.
But it was summer in
That's one thing we do with the
story of Noah. We turn it into a children's story. Another thing we do is turn it into a test of
faith. Most of the sermons I've heard on Noah came from preachers who were
trying to prove that the Bible is literally true. They took on the geologists
and the biologists and the physicists who have found no scientific evidence
that the earth was ever covered by water. They talked about mysterious
sightings of something like a boat in the snows of
It seems to me, whether this story
actually happened or not is less important than what it's trying to say to us.
And whatever the story of Noah is trying to say to us, it surely isn't
about how we should read the Bible. Sometimes, taking the Bible literally is a
way of not taking it seriously.
So then, what shall we do with the story
of Noah? What is it trying to say? Maybe we turn it into a children's story
or argue about biblical historicity because there's something in the story
itself even the biblical literalists don't want to hear. I'm not sure that I
want to hear about this God who decides to give up on creation. "I made a
mistake!" God says. "This world didn't turn out the way I planned it.
It's too violent." That's God's complaint. That's the
symptom of corruption God abhors. It's not sexual sin. It's not
disbelief. It's not too much diversity that leads God to give up and
start over. God says to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all
flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am
going to destroy them along with the earth."
Well, that seems a little violent to me.
Doesn't it to you? The God I know is "a God merciful and gracious, slow
to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast
love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin." (Exodus 34:6-7). Who is this God that would wipe every living
creature from the face of the earth? Or maybe we should ask, what would make a
loving God so heartbroken … so angry … so frustrated that the only
recourse is eradication.
We find this God in several other places
in the Bible. Only, instead of docilely going along with the plan, the
people there argue with God about it. Noah just starts building the boat. But
when God gives up on
Look at today's headlines, right there
on the front page … frightening stories about the pollution of the planet
… war and terrorism … nuclear capacity in
If the rain that falls were the tears of
God for how his children treat one another, surely the earth would be
covered with water several times over today. We've heard a lot of how we feel
about what happened on September 11th, but how do you think God feels? How does
God feel about people dying in warfare on either side in
At a conference I attended in
God weeps
At love withheld, at strength misused,
At children's innocence abused,
And till we change the way we love,
God weeps.
God bleeds
At anger's fist, at trust betrayed,
At women battered and afraid,
And till we change the way we win,
God bleeds.
God waits,
For stones to melt, for peace to seed,
For hearts to hold each other's need
And till we understand the Christ,
God waits.
But according to the story of Noah -
and Abraham, and Moses, and Amos, and many others right up to the story of
Jesus - God does not wait forever. God is patient, but not forever. God is not impulsive, but according to the
Bible, God does eventually lose patience. A loving God cannot stand idly by
while evil and violence damage the people God loves. As Walter Brueggemann observes, this is not a "nice" God,
not a dear old uncle, not a warm and fuzzy but powerless observer of the human
scene, but a God who is sovereign and demanding, who expects something from us,
who is powerful and powerfully involved with us in the world.
Maybe that is the word from Noah's story
that we don't want to hear. We want to believe God will always be there for
us, no matter what. We want to believe God will wait until we're ready to call
… that it's okay to live as we please … to insulate ourselves from
other's troubles … to turn a blind eye to what is not right in the world
and even in our own nation. But the God of the Bible isn't like that. And the
point of having a relationship with God is the knowledge that God knows what is
right … and what is best for each of us … and for all of us. It's
about letting God shape and direct our ways in the world. It's not about pie in
the sky when we die, but being saved as we go by … staying grounded in
God.
I suppose we all have relationships we
have let go…friends with whom we've lost touch… family members
we've neglected…stuff we let get in the way of good connection with each
other. One day, we wake up and feel sorry for what we have missed. But isn't it
a tragedy when one of those neglected relationships is our relationship with
God? We don't pray and we don't obey and
we don't tend our spiritual houses like we should. And then when the rains
come, we are undone. We cough and sputter and scramble to make up for lost
time. We flail about looking for some lifeline and blame God for the rain. But
it is not God who has neglected us.
Mark Twain, once encountered a ruthless
businessman from
the town of
What is hard, but hopeful about
all these stories of God's judgment is that they are also a sign of God's
grace. For God also saves. The story of Noah is a story of resurrection and
renewal. When God has given us more than enough time, when God acts to
obliterate evil and violence and injustice and oppression, God saves what is
good and loving and righteous and true. That's
what salvation is. Paul says we are like a house built on Jesus Christ, the
firm foundation. What we build of worthy and strong materials will last
forever. What we build that is weak and worthless will all melt away (1 Cor 3:10-17). Jesus also speaks of a house built upon the
rock and a house built upon the sand. Then the rains come and one house stands
while the other falls. The most important thing in that story is to build your
house on the right foundation.
Because what the story of Noah and
Jesus' story of the two houses have in common is that the rain will fall.
Maybe in
In every life, sooner or later, the
rain does fall. Sometimes, we are the donkeys, we bring it on ourselves.
Sometimes, other people rain on us and there isn't much we can do to prevent it
because we are all connected with one another. Sometimes, the Bible says, even
God rains on us, because it's time and we need it. And all of us will suffer,
because even when we lose what is evil, we suffer. Ask any recovering addict:
sometimes the very thing that is killing us is the hardest to let go. But it's
also true, as Job said, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. So sometimes
we even get some rain we don't deserve which isn't from God. It's just a part
of the human condition. The rain will fall, and some of us are treading water
this very day. Yes, the rain will fall,
but what matters is that God has built a boat. What matters is that we build
our house on a strong foundation. What matters is that we keep touch with God
as we go so we will be ready when the rains come.
What shall we do with the story of Noah?
It isn't just a children's story. And it isn't a test of how we read the
Bible. It is a story about a God who loves us too much to let violence - even
our own violence - damage our souls and destroy all
creation. It is about a God who is sovereign and proclaims the good news - good
at least to some of us - that evil will not stand forever. The rain will fall,
my friends, but the word of the Lord endures forever. The rain will fall, but
God has provided a boat. The rain will fall, but the house will stand. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
May we pray?
God of the sunshine, God of the rain,
Be patient with us and with our world a little longer.
Forgive our addiction to evil, our love affair with violence, and show us the
way of peace. Help us to be the tigers and not the chickens, to be the lions
and not the donkeys. And let us build our own lives upon the strong foundation;
let us build this house, this lifeboat well in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mary Anne Biggs, Pastor
Nekoosa United
Nekoosa