Noah’s
Ark, a story that even people with limited church background know.
You
can get Noah’s Ark toys, wall stickers and baby mobiles – and you don’t need to
get to a Christian shop to buy them. You would think this was a delightful
story of a fun sailing adventure one afternoon.
But
it isn’t a delightful story. It is a story full of death and destruction.
Someone
asked me a little while ago if the Bible is true. To me that always seems like
a trick question. The expected answer is yes; but does that mean everything in
the Bible happened exactly how it is written about. For me, every detail is not necessarily true.
The parables of the Gospels are unlikely to have actually happened. They are
stories to teach a truth.
Is
the story of the flood true – I don’t know
Does
it contain truth – yes, I believe it does.
So,
did this flood happen, quite possibly. Many cultures have ancient flood
stories.
The
whole world flooded – more likely the whole known world. Without TV and Radio
and telephone, people’s awareness of the world was much more limited.
A
more important question for me is not did this happen, but what is the point. What
does this story tell us about God and about people?
In one of the commentaries I read this week:
the biblical text uses the same root word (sh-kh-t) for the
“corruption” that human beings bring on the earth before the Flood (Genesis
6:11-12 [3x]) and the “destruction” that the Flood itself brings (Genesis
6:13).1 In other words, the destruction of the earth is the
direct result of the violence and corruption of human beings, the violence and
corruption that fill the earth long before the flood waters cover it.[i]
Basically,
we reap what we sow.
Reading
this passage, and looking at the first 11 chapters of Genesis, we have this
ongoing sense of people making bad choices.
We
see it with Adam and Eve in the garden, we see it when Cain kills his brother,
then the ongoing violence, and not just violence, but pride in being violent.
Then
after the story of the flood, there is the Tower of Babel. People had the
technology to make bricks, and decide to build a great city, with a tower that
reaches the heavens.
And
God saw this as a haven for evil. And dispersed people.
Why
does evil flourish, or why does God allow evil to flourish?
But
what if evil does not exist??
For
example:
Cold
does not exist, cold is the absence of heat.
Darkness
does not exist, darkness is the absence of light.
Maybe
evil is the absence of God’s love in the heart of people.[ii]
What
happens when people stop loving as God loves?
Selfishness
Violence
Greed
Pride
Amongst
other sins.
“This
is a story that teaches us that God takes sin seriously, their sin and our sin.
This story challenges us to look within ourselves and our communities for the
“wickedness” that causes God’s heart to hurt.”[iii]
Where do we see the consequences
of our lack of love – love for people and love for creation?
·
Climate
scientists are telling us, and have been for many years now, that our use of
fossil fuels is causing harm to the earth.
·
Scientists
who study waterways have been telling us that plastic waste is killing fish and
birds.
·
we
see news reports of what happens when people get impatient and selfish on our
roads
·
and
we know what happens when violence is used to try and solve problems.
·
Our
lack of love and concern for humans means some people lack food and medicine
and basic education, some don’t have anywhere to live.
·
What
other things might cause God’s heart to break?
o
Behaviour
of some businesses
o
Treatment
of asylum seekers
o
Domestic
and family violence
What do we allow to happen?
Sin is not only about what we
do, about the times we disobey God, the times we live as less than God calls us
to be. Sure, sin is when we are unkind, or gossip. But sin also allowing the
creation to be damaged,
Allowing people to be treated
as less than human.
What do we allow to happen,
in our relationships and our community and the world?
Often the consequences
for living in the fullness of God’s love,
the
consequences for living in a way that shows the fullness of God’s love, is that
we will have to give up something –
maybe pride,
or selfishness, or greed,
maybe acting
like you don’t need God
maybe
treating God’s good creation as expendable
What if “We are punished not
so much for our sins as by our sins.”[iv]
Maybe we get the society that
reflects our choices or reflects our hearts?
After
God despairs of the people, comes the flood, then comes a rainbow. A rainbow
looks like the bow of a bow and arrow. It
has been likened to God hanging up the instruments of violence. The rainbow is a sign of the promise of God
to never wipe out the world by flood. But notice it isn’t only a reminder to
us, but also to God.
I
have heard parents talk of how they like looking at their child when he or she is
asleep, because it reminds them of how much they love their child, especially on
those days when their child is testing every limit.
I
wonder if that is why God also needs to see the rainbow, to remember that even
though people continue to sin, God will not wipe us all out.
We
are a lot further ahead in the story than when Genesis was written.
God
has tried giving messages to the prophets, with limited success; and finally, Jesus
came to earth, to show us the way to live,
the
way to live in love,
the
way to share and
the
way to bless
I
think this story invites us to look past the pretty pictures of animals in the ark
and rainbows, to see the consequences of sin, and the way God will keep seeking
us out, prodding us and challenging us to live in the fullness of love, love
that drives out hate and apathy.
What
are you hearing anew about this story?
[ii]
http://www.integrity-authenticity-love.com/genesis-6-16-22-9-8-15-noah-and-the-flood/
[iii]
https://spiritandtruthpublishing.com/blog/noahs-ark-september-9-2018/
[iv]
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3780
