Hermetic Homiletics

29 May 2005: "Getting Perspecitve"

Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19, 9.9-15
These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said 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. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them." Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. …

And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days. ...

In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh--birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth--so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families. ...

[God said:] “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you… I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I will set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.


“Getting Perspective”

Perspectives and Stories
It’s really interesting what happens when we watch news reporters present their stories. Sometimes, you hear one reporter say one thing, and another one say something quite different. That doesn’t mean that one was present and one was absence when the event took place. Two reporters can be at the scene of the same story and see two completely different things. I think that such occurrences remind us of the importance of perspective. Our life experience and questions that we enter into an event with form lenses through which we interpret the event. It’s not a good thing, or a bad thing. It’s just a real life thing.

And it even remains the case when people engage religious classics, like the Bible.

The Story of Noah’s Ark as a Religious Classic
The category “Religious classic” sounds really spectacular and awe inspiring category. Perhaps so much that some stories in the Bible don’t quite seem to fit into it. Take, for example, the story of Noah’s Ark.

When we think of the story of Noah’s Ark, it’s so easy to think of it as a children’s story. When we hear it, we can almost see the mural on the wall with the rainbow and the animal heads sticking out the ark’s windows. This is unfortunate, because this text truly does earn the title “religious classic.” It’s not just a children’s story. It is a story for adults.

The basic rundown of the story goes something like this:

God gave humanity the responsibility of tending to the earth. However, humanity has chosen to immerse itself in an overabundance of wickedness. One day, God peers down from heaven and is aghast! “What happened!” God realizes that this whole program was a cosmic mistake and decides, “I have to take care of this once and for all.” God then makes plans to destroy all mortal creatures on the earth.

However, God decides to spare Noah and his family, for Noah alone was truly a just man. And God has Noah make preparations for repopulating the earth by gathering specimens for later breeding purposes.

Then the waters come. Doors in the heavens open and pour out the water above. The earth is flooded. Everything dies. Everything except that in the ark.

Eventually, the waters recede and the ark lands. God decides that this whole mass destruction thing was a terrible idea, and places a sign in the sky that reminds God not to make this mistake again.

An Adult Reading
There are a variety of ways to look at this story from an adult perspective. And, much as in the case of news reporters, our life experience and questions that we bring to the text form lenses through which we find it’s meaning for our lives.

Option #1: Family
Let’s say, for a moment, that I am a big family-oriented kind of person. Let’s say I have children and grandchildren running around the house on a regular basis. (Which I do not have, in case you didn’t know.) This whole family-orientation, because it is such a concern in my life, might guide my reading of this text. I might see that this is the story of Noah and his family. They all work together to build this ark. They all share in the ridicule of those who think they’re all wacked for building a ship in the middle of the desert. They strengthen each other when the insanity of it all challenges their faith.

Then they find themselves trapped together…for a very, very ,very long time…on a boat…with nowhere to run…from each other. And then they emerge and enjoy this new world together.

Yes, this is the story of a family. A family who pulls together in this really trying time. As they pull together, they learn to work as one, a unity that takes them to a whole new level of what it is to be community. They learn how to work with each other, sometimes despite themselves. Through it all, the word “we” takes on a whole new meaning.

What might this story tell us about what God intended for humanity? Maybe it tells us of the importance of community.

Question #2: God
Or maybe I might come to this text with a different question, wondering if I can find out more about who God is.

Okay, now I have to warn everyone, while this is an important and vital question that we need to bring to the Biblical texts on a regular basis, today’s text is throwing us a pretty wild curveball.

Typically, in Christian theology, we hear about how perfect God is, how God never ever makes mistakes. God always does the right thing. God always does the best thing. God is never in error. That’s typical Christian theology.

Today, however, we encounter a Bible story that starts with God recognizing that God has indeed made a mistake. God should have never invested that much responsibility into humanity. God accepts responsibility for this mistake by taking measures to fix the situation.

And then, as if one mistake wasn’t enough, God realizes that another mistake was made in dealing with the first one. And then, to help exercise a bit of self-control, God has to put a reminder in the sky that can’t be missed.

When I was in college, a friend of mine had this huge phone bill. To prevent herself from doing that again, she put this really big note on the handle of her phone that said “No.” She saw this whenever she went to make a call.

Same idea here. The rainbow isn’t up there for us to see. It’s a great big post-it in the sky that says “Don’t,” and it’s there for God to see.

This is a very different version of God than we’re used to in traditional Christian theology. In the book of Genesis, God makes mistakes, and God learns from them. Maybe that’s what this text reveals to us about God, that God is more complicated than traditional Christian theology often allows.

Option #3: The Divine-Human Relationship
Or maybe I could come to the text wondering what it might say about the relationship we have with God. In a situation like this, I could look at the story as a metaphor for the life of faith.

I could look at all the images that it presents. There’s a storm, chaos all around. Maybe that symbolizes uncertainty and vulnerability. We have the ark itself, a shelter that keeps the people from being pulled under. Maybe it’s of questionable durability, leaking, creaking. We can go back to that family imagery. There’s a sense of togetherness, common bond, community. And of course we have God, who proves to be a very confusing God. In one sense God is behind all the mess they’re in, and in another sense God is helping them through it. Is it divine presence or absence that drives this story?

When I step into these images with my imagination I see a family of faith that is being tossed and turned by the storms that rage around them. I see a people who are struggling with the extent to which God is actually with them, struggling with the meaninglessness of it all.

But then, in the midst of their struggle, they look around and they say, “Hey, look. We’re in an ark.” The ark itself, in that moment, becomes their primary symbol of faith. And it reminds them that whatever happens as a result of the journey that they are currently on, they can rest knowing that God is indeed with them.

That’s what religious symbols do. They keep us afloat during the stormy seasons of life. When life becomes a blur and feels intangible and uncontrollable, much like the wind, the symbols of faith are tangible things we can touch and hold.

We have them here with us today. We have the Font, the Table, the hymns, this pulpit, the Bible, we have this building. They all help us to remember that this too will pass. Our situations, or even our whole world might change in the near future, but God (though often confusing) remains a constant factor in our lives.

The Point Is…
So, what does this text mean? Well, it means that this is not a children’s story; it’s a story for adults. But I’d say that what it means for adults depends on where we are in life when we read it. So much of life, if not all of it, is a matter of perspective. So maybe sometimes it’s important for us to avoid asking the question “What is the ultimate meaning of this text?” and instead ask, “What does this text have to say to me today, right now, in this very moment?” And if that’s the question we need to be wrestling with, then don’t look at me, because only you can answer that one.

posted by irreverance @ 9:39 PM