“Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and all your household...Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals...and a pair of the animals that are not clean...to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth...I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights’... And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.”                                                                          (Genesis 7:1-5)

Most of you know something about the story of Noah. You may not know all the details, but you know the outline. You may not know exactly where to find it in the Bible, but you know it is in the Bible.  

Almost every child has played with some sort of a Noah’s ark toy (we have two in our home for the grandchildren). Countless puzzles and games around the story of Noah’s Ark have emerged as well. Most adults over the age of 30 know something of the Bill Cosby routine.  

God says to Noah, “Noah, I want you to build an Ark.” Noah says, “Right, what’s an Ark?” God says, “ I want it to be 300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30 cubits” Noah says, “Right, what’s a cubit?” then Noah says, “God I really don’t want to do this, everyone is making fun of me, I will look silly in the neighborhood.” And God responds, “Noah, how long can you tread water?” 

Many of you have heard some humorous story around Noah’s Ark. 

What kind of light did Noah have on the ark? Answer: “Flood Lights”

What was the Name of Noah’s wife? Answer: “Joan of Arc”

Which animal could Noah not trust on the Ark? Answer: “The  

     Cheetah”

Where did Noah keep the bees on the Ark? Answer: “In the Ark Hives”

Why didn’t Noah fish while he was on the Ark? Answer: “He only had    

     two worms”

Was Noah the first one out of the Ark when it landed on dry land?    

     Answer: “No, he came forth” 

I even came up with an alternate message title for this sermon—too late to make the deadline. It came from a deodorant commercial I heard on the radio this past week that is an obvious play on words. The commercial says that this particular deodorant “Keeps you in the wetness protection program” God place Noah in the “Wetness protection programs.” 

The story of Noah takes up with 5 chapters in the book of Genesis. It is a long story! I even suggest that you read them for yourself as soon as you have time. (Genesis 6-10) It is a good read. God is saddened by the unabashed sinfulness of humanity. Ten generations have come and gone and the grand experiment is a failure. God decides to destroy all life forms including human beings. But, he finds one man, one family who are trying to live righteous lives. God decides to preserve this family along with one pair of each life form.  

Noah builds an Ark according to God’s instruction. He creates this kind of three story zoo on the Ark. In the Bill Cosby routine, Noah is marching the Hippopotamuses onto the Ark. God says, “Noah, both of those Hippos are female.” Noah calls back in some frustration, “Oh God, why don’t you just change one of them?” The floods then come and subside. Noah and his family and his strange cargo leave the Ark and start over again. 

Almost every culture on earth contains an ancient flood story.  It is story of an angry god, a flood, a boat, and a survivor. None of the stories purport to be recorded history. But archeologists concur that something like a flood must have happened a long time ago. Yet only the Hebrews story of Noah anticipates the God who came in Jesus Christ. The message is an enduring one for all of us. 

GOD TAKES SIN SERIOUSLY 

The first part of the message is that God takes sin seriously. God is in pain when creation contradicts the intended purpose. The Genesis writer says, “And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Genesis 6:6) 

A little girl was explaining the story of Jesus to her younger brother. She said, “You see, it was Jesus’ job to die for our sins; and it is our job to sin.” Genesis tells us that people were doing a good job of sinning. 

Hugh Crocker (retired minister in the conference from the Baldwin Community United Methodist Church) told me one time about a sign outside a church that read: “If you are tired of sinning, stop inside.” Someone had scratched below: “If not, call 448-7715.” The story of Noah and his contemporaries suggest that too many people had called 448-7715. 

God simply calls us to the highest and the best that we see in him. Jesus came among us to show us that “Highest and Best.” Next Sunday, I will ask new members the timeless questions, “Do you promise according to the grace given you to try to live a Christian life?” 

Anything less than our best-especially our conscious best-grieves the heart of God. 

GOD NOTICES FAITHFULNESS 

The second thing in the story we find is that God notices faithfulness, or at least our best attempts to be faithful. Noah is a righteous man living in an unrighteous time. Noah is the one person who is able to make good choices. He is able to stick with God no matter what. And God noticed. Genesis writer says, “But Noah walked with God.”  (Genesis 6:9) 

Noah prayed, he worshiped, and he did what was right. I am increasingly convinced that when the Bible talks about righteousness, it is really talking about justice. Noah tried to be as faithful as he knew how. And God saw. 

God does not expect perfection. Yes, Jesus does say in the sermon on the mount, “Be you perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.” But the word really means to be mature. God expects you and me to grow. He expects maturing in the faith. 

There was a talk show on television one time where a Jewish mother was either divorced or separated. She said to the host, “I take my two boys to the synagogue because (a) I know it is right and (b) I see possibility for us there.” 

Noah walked with God or at least made a real effort. Some hymns of the church say it well: 

• “When we walk with the Lord in the Light of his word what a glory he sheds on our way”
• “O Master let me walk with Thee in lowly paths of service free”
• “I want to walk as a child of the light”

It is not easy all the time. It is very easy to be drawn into-if not the evil in the world-then at least the purely secular in the world. 

We have been fortunate to be on a Ocean going cruise the past three summers. Each time it has been with one or more our grandchildren. Elaine came up with this idea of the “Grand Adventure” a few years ago. It is an adventure with only grandparents and grandchildren. No parents are allowed. Each cruise has been highly enjoyable, but thoroughly secular. Two weeks ago on the last Saturday of our most recent cruise, there was a worship service announced at 11:30 a.m. in the “Chapel of the Sky.” I decided to go. Out of 4000 travelers on that particular cruise, six people showed up for chapel. It is not always easy to “Walk with God.” 

The late Harold Bosley once spoke of “a society of unpurchaseable men and women with a moral anchor.” That is exactly what Noah was trying to be in a wild and morally bankrupt time. It is also what a community of believers is called to be today: “a society of unpurchaseable men and women with a moral anchor.”  

GOD IS THE ONLY SUFFICIENCY 

Thirdly, this story reminds us that God is the only sufficiency in this life. Noah endured much ridicule. He heard the voices of skepticism, but his consistant response was always the same, “I am a child of God and God is my only sufficiency. I intend to trust and obey.” 

God is your only real sufficiency; and mine. You will remember various quotations that I have used over my years of preaching. One of them is from the French philosopher and mathematician, Pascal. It goes like this,” It is a marvelous thing to be on a ship on a storm-tossed sea when one knows that the ship will not sink.” 

Noah knew his strength and sufficiency was from God. He becomes a mentor for us on the faith journey. 

So what did Noah do? What did he do after the Ark landed? He built an altar. It was a crude altar and a simple one. But a place of worship. 

Actually Noah did two things. The other thing Noah did was he got drunk. After all those weeks on a boat with all those animals, he said, “I need a drink.” After weeks on a three story barn, he tied one on. Read it! It’s in the story! 

But, primarily he built an altar. In that worship he said, “God, You got me through this, so now I worship You.” 

Somewhere I saw a painting that showed the world in ruins. It showed the devastation of flooding. Perhaps it looked much like the 9^th ward in New Orleans still looks today after Hurricane Katrina, one year ago. In the midst of the devastation there is a small group of people clustered around a crude altar. Noah and his family gather around and worship. All that Noah now has is God. But God is sufficient, “When the Lord is my shepherd, I want for nothing.” 

WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE 

So what about the future? The questions always arises: Will God ever do this again? The message in the story is No, Never again. 

In 1963 during a period of racial turmoil in this country when there was much anger and violence in America, James Baldwin wrote a book of essays called THE FIRE NEXT TIME. It was written on the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The book was polemical and prophetic. It was also widely read.  Baldwin warned, that the words of a slave song may come true:”God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, the fire next time!” 

The rainbow in the story of Noah is God’s promise to humankind. Never again will God destroy living beings in fire or flood. We might do it to ourselves. We might do it by fire and a nuclear holocaust. We might do it by flood in the refusal to take global warming seriously. But, it will not come from God! “Never again,” the story says. 

Jesus is the continuum of that promise. Jesus once again shows us God’s way and design for this life. Jesus pulls us to higher ground. Jesus becomes our sufficiency in all things and Jesus is the incarnation of the  promises of God. 

So the story of Noah is still our story and it is still worth reading. It is a story for all the ages. And it is a story for this age. It is a story worth knowing, and worth knowing well.