Sermon Series: The Stories That Shape Us – July 13, 2014

Sermon Series: The Stories That Shape Us – July 13, 2014

July 13, 2014     Ordinary Time 

Sermon Series:  The Stories That Shape Us 

The Rev. Julie G. Hutson 

Psalm 65: 9-13               Genesis 8: 1-22

Open our ears to hear your word anew, O God of our ancestors.  Give us good courage, as you gave to Noah and his family.  Amen.

Do you know what folks do when a commercial airplane lands at its destination?  Think with me about this for a moment.  The flight attendant says something like:

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are making our approach into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Please return your seatback and tray tables to their full upright and locked position.  Be careful when opening overhead bins as some items  may have shifted during flight. The current weather is 60 degrees with light rain.  (It could be any time of year).  It is now safe to use your cellular telephones if they are in your possession.  Please remain seated until the captain has turned off the fasten seat belt sign and the plane has come to a full and complete stop.”

When that full and complete stop is a reality…no matter what else is happening….almost everyone stands up as if they are going to be the first one off of the aircraft when that jetway finally reaches the plane.  Even if they are seated in row thirty seven.  It is either the most optimistic act of air travel or a sign of desperation…it’s hard to tell.  But an entire jumbo jet full of people will STAND AS ONE and wait for however long it takes, even if they know departure from the aircraft might take awhile.

Imagine then, how it must have felt for Noah and his family.  Our reading from Genesis today finds Noah’s family and at least two of every creature and critter and insect that God created, on the ark.  The rains have finally stopped, the waters have subsided and at the end of at least 190 days afloat the ark finally found dry land again.

If I put myself in their shoes, I imagine that their eagerness to disembark puts any airline passenger to shame.  All of those days, on the ark, with all of those animals, not to mention your family.  That’s a lot of togetherness.

I am always fascinated that the story of Noah and his family and the great flood gets sanitized for our protection.  It has become a child’s story with really cute animals and toys and puzzles and accessories.  I have this beautiful stole, an ordination gift from a friend with this theme.  But when we stop to think about it, the story of Noah is the story of God’s abject disappointment with what God had created and the destruction of almost all life.  That’s something more than a children’s story.

The truth is it’s hard to know what to say sometimes in response to stories of great tragedy.  In the case of the great flood, we have the distinct advantage over Noah and his neighbors in that we know the whole story.  We know of God’s wrath and we know of God’s promise at the end of the story.   But imagine if you will being one of Noah’s sons or daughters or wives.  Imagine being on that ark and watching civilization disappear.  Imagine the confusion.  Imagine the anger at God.  Friends…gone.  Neighbors….gone.

How did Noah explain God’s command to him?  This is portrayed very well in the movie Evan Almighty and if you’re looking for a good summer film to watch, I recommend it.  Steve Carrell, who plays Evan, the Noah character, does a fine job of portraying the confusion that Noah and his family must have experienced in the face of what was happening in their lives.

If the purpose of the story of Noah and the flood is not to offer nightmares to children, what word does it speak to us, in 2014?

First, this is a story of obedience.  Ultimately, Noah builds the ark and gathers the animals and his family.  With no evidence to suggest rain,  Noah does as God commands.  It could not have been easy.  But Noah was obedient to God.  Being obedient to God isn’t something we talk much about in mainline Christianity.  It isn’t very exciting – and many of us chafe at the suggestion that we must obey anyone or anything.  But obedience to God is a mark of discipleship. Far from being a burden, it is a yoke that is light.  Like teaching our children not to run into the street or touch the stovetop, God’s requirements for us are designed for our own well being.  And we remember what those greatest commandments are….love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength….and your neighbor as yourself.

Second, this is a story about trusting God.  It took a great deal of trust for Noah to be obedient.  Those two are tied together.   And it’s not easy to trust a God we cannot see.  We are a people who do not trust easily.  We don’t trust the government or one another.  We don’t even trust ourselves at times.  So to trust this God we cannot see….that can be a hard thing.  And this is a part of why we read the stories of our faith over and over again.  These stories remind us of God’s steadfast love for us, they remind us that generation after generation has been obedient to God and have trusted God.  Over and over we hear the stories.  Over and over we meet the people…Abraham, Sarah, David, Ruth, Naomi, Esther, Mary, Peter, Paul….and yes, Noah.  Over and over we are reminded that God asked them to do some pretty outside the box things.

This is also a story about one of my least favorite traits…patience.  The old saying is that if you pray for patience you should watch out.  But Noah and his family were on that ark for so many days.  And even when the ark landed on Mt. Ararat, they still had to wait.  They had to wait for the waters to abate and the tops of the mountain appear.  They had to wait for the raven to fly over the earth and then for the dove to be sent out three times before it didn’t return again.  Even then they had to wait on God’s instruction that they leave the ark.  What a measure of patience it must have taken for everyone and every creature on board that ark to wait until the conditions were just right before disembarking.

Patience in the midst of urgent situations is a unique challenge.  Patience requires discernment, prayer, and steadfastness.  It requires that trust we were just talking about.

I also believe that the story of Noah and the flood reminds us of two holy and sacred practices.

The first is that Creation is holy to God.  This is the day and the ground and the trees and the flowers and the rivers and streams and mountains that the Lord has made.  We are charged with stewarding Creation.  Not dominating it, but partnering with it.  Tending it.  Caring for it.  This summer our congregation is seeking a designation from Earth Ministry as a “Greening Congregation” as public sign of our commitment to care for what God has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

The Psalm for today is a hymn to God’s Creation.  It speaks of God’s visitation upon the earth…of the abundance of waters and grain….of the way the ground is prepared for plentiful harvests.  It is a beautiful hymn of praise to God who is the artist that fashioned Creation.  May the hills be clothed with joy, the Psalmist writes, and the valleys cloak themselves with grain…let them shout for joy and sing. 

The second holy practice we find in the story of Noah is that of worship.  When Noah and his family were finally off of the ark and all of the animals were safely off as well, the first thing Noah did was build an altar and offer a sacrifice to God.  A burnt offering, which was the custom.

I am not sure how worship, coming together to praise and thank God, has become a chore for so many folks.  Oh we’ll be here if it’s not raining or if the sun isn’t shining or if we don’t have a substitute pastor.  But if we learn anything from Noah, perhaps it is that our first response to God is that of praise.  Of worship.   In worship we hear the promises of God spoken to us and to every generation.  In today’s story, promises that the ground will not be cursed and that humankind will not be destroyed again in this way.   For us, the promises present in the waters of baptism….that we are God’s beloved children and nothing will separate us from God’s love.  And the promises present in the holy meal…that because of Jesus and his sacrifice for us, we are free to live without fear, free to love one another as God loves us.

The concluding verse offers us both instruction and promise:  As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. 

God’s love for God’s creation…for all that God has made, for us and for all living and moving things…..that love was with Noah, it was in the Garden, it hung on the Cross….and that love reaches out to us…and that is the good news in this story that has shaped us.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.