Hope In the Midst of a Flood
In life it sometimes seems that we’re either heading into a storm, in the midst of a storm, or coming out of a storm. A storm can be literally a meteorological event – rain and floods and mudslides have been causing terrible distress and loss of life in Australia and Brazil in recent weeks. In spiritual terms a storm or flood can be almost any challenge, circumstance, or situation that arises and threatens our health, our well being, our safety, our faith, our family. Some storms, such as a chronic physical condition, may last for years and require us to make permanent adjustments and changes. Others like a nor’easter come blowing in, dump all over us, and depart leaving us to clean up, clear out, and keep going. If we take a moment, many of us may be able to identify a storm we’re facing right now. A storm of grief has hit many families in our church in recent weeks and months. For others it is has been a financial storm, some are dealing with physical or relational storms and some folks are feeling queasy and almost seasick because they have all of them happening at once.
January 23, 2011
Genesis 7:11-17; 7:24-8:4; Psalm 104:24-30, 1 Peter 3:18-22
Hope In the Midst of a Flood
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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Whatever our definition of a storm, the only constant we will find in the midst of them is God. Anyone who has been in boat when a storm has arisen knows that they are unpredictable and we can be overwhelmed by the elements. Yet in the midst of any storm our focus needs to be on God, the one who doesn’t change, who remains the same no matter what is happening whatever the “content” of the storm. I take comfort from the fact that many people in the Bible also faced storms and a flood of troubles. Perhaps the most well-known of these biblical characters is Noah and his family. Listen to Genesis 7:11-17; 7:24-8:4.
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah with his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons entered the ark, 14 they and every wild animal of every kind, and all domestic animals of every kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every bird of every kind—every bird, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
And the waters swelled on the earth for 150 days.
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of 150 days the water had abated; and in the 7th month, on the 17th day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.”
If we are in a storm, one of the loneliest and worst feelings in the world is to feel forgotten. To feel like no one would notice or care if we simply ceased to exist is one of the most depressing thoughts imaginable. One measure of a life well-lived is how many people will mourn our passing and remember us when we are gone. Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps who dedicated most of his life to public service, died this last week and was buried yesterday here on Cape Cod. The reality for most of us is when we die, there won’t be a satellite truck in front of our house and it won’t be on CNN.. While virtually no one is universally admired, how sad it would be to live our life in such a way that we would not be missed nor remembered fondly by at least a few people when we die.
If it is painful to feel forgotten or forsaken by members of our family or our friends, how much more painful is it to feel forgotten by God. Believing that God has forgotten us is worse than God disciplining us, because if God is disciplining us, at least God still cares for us. Imagine being on the ark with Noah and his family in the midst of a terrible flood, trying to cope with the noise, mess, smells and the constant dampness. Someone had to shovel and clean out those lower, second, and third decks for months – that must have been a terrible job for a crew of eight. I try to imagine myself as one of Noah’s son’s cleaning out a stall, wondering aloud if God has forgotten us and abandoned us to our fate.
This is a theme that runs throughout the Bible.
The Israelites regularly asked if God had forgotten his people.
Psalm 10:11, laments the horrible deeds of the wicked who “think in their heart, ‘God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
Psalm 13:1 despairs, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”
At a time of tragedy, Lamentations 5:20 cries, “Why have you forgotten us completely? Why have you forsaken us these many days?”
Psalm 42:9 asks plaintively, “I say to God, my rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me?” This verse expresses both confidence in the character of God and exasperation at the inaction of God. Our thinking is, if God sees the condition we are in, if God cares, God would get us out of it or improve our situation. Often times though, the change comes not in a situation, which may be chronic, but in our perspective about it. A poor devout woman lived with her husband, their five children, and her mother in a one-room hut. The children were noisy, and the crowded conditions often produced loud arguments. There was never a quiet moment. Exasperated she went to see her Teacher.
“Rabbi, life is miserable. My husband, our five children, my mother and I are so crowded in our little hut that we argue and quarrel every day. I can’t stand the noise. I’ll do whatever you say.”
The rabbi pondered her request for several minutes. Then he asked, “Do you have any chickens?” “Certainly” the woman replied. “We have six chickens, a rooster, and a goose.” “Excellent,” said the rabbi. “Go home and bring the chickens, the rooster, and the goose into your hut to live with you.” The woman was surprised, but she immediately left for home, promising to move the poultry into the house.
A week passed and the woman returned to the Rabbi. “Life is worse than before. In addition to the crying and quarreling, we now have honking, crowing, and clucking. Yesterday we all had feathers in our soup. The hut seems smaller and the children seem larger. Please help!”
The Teacher considered the woman’s words before he spoke.
“Do you have a goat?”
“Yes,” she said slowly. “We have an old goat, tied to a pole behind our house.”
“Excellent,” said the Rabbi. “Untie the goat and let it live in the hut with you.”
“Teacher, we’re already crowded,” the woman cried.
“You did ask for my help, didn’t you?” the Teacher responded.
The poor woman walked home, untied the goat, and brought it into the hut. Five days later she returned. “Teacher,” she said desperately, “everything is worse. Now in addition to the crying, quarreling, honking, crowing, and clucking, we have a goat pushing and butting everyone with his horns. The hut seems even smaller.” The Rabbi asked, “Do you have a cow?”
“Yes,” the woman said fearfully, “we have a cow.”
“Go home and take the cow into your hut,”
“Oh, no, rabbi,” the woman cried. “My family will be angry.”
“Tell them I ordered it.”
The poor woman went home and told her husband to move the cow into the hut.
“Is the Teacher crazy?” he shouted. Still they moved the cow into the hut.
Three days later the woman returned. “Life is a nightmare. Now in addition to the crying, quarreling, honking, crowing, clucking, and butting, the cow tramples everything. We all argue and shout at one another. Help me, please!”
The Teacher smiled, “Go home and let the animals out of your hut.”
The woman turned and ran home as fast as she could run. As she ran she yelled, “Thank you, Teacher, thank you.”
As soon as she reached home the woman, and her husband let the cow, the goat, the chickens, the goose, and the rooster out of their hut. That night the poor couple and their family slept peacefully. There was no honking crowing, clucking, butting or trampling. There was also no arguing or fighting. The very next morning the woman and her husband came to the Teacher. “We wish to thank you for your help. We love our home. It is so quiet, peaceful, and roomy.”
I think Noah and his family, as they were crowded in the ark with all the animals, could relate to that story. As they bobbed around in the crowded ark, tripping over one another and the animals perhaps they wondered if God had forsaken them or forgotten them. At a later point in Israel’s history the prophet Isaiah proclaimed (Isaiah 49:14), “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” God’s reply is, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
The fear of being forgotten is very powerful. Faith asks us to believe that even the most terrible events that may occur are not the result of being forgotten or forsaken by God. Many such events are more likely the result of human sin, weakness, pride, evil, or wickedness. In other cases we may never discern a cause. In the Genesis flood narrative, human violence, wickedness, and corruption brought this catastrophe. God is like a grieving parent, and God has not forgotten the people and creatures God created. Noah and his family were in the ark rising above the flood precisely because God had taken note of and remembered them. They were not forgotten and that is why they were still alive.
The key verse is Genesis 8:1, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.”
God remembered Noah and his family. God remembered all the animals.
The good news is that we have a God who remembers us. We are not a “memory”- God remembers– that is in the present. Sometimes in the midst of a flood of troubles we may feel like no one cares – and no one understands what we are going through, but God’s love is unfailing. Our Creator provides love through others so the Lord works through our lives to encourage and support one another. Yet we all let one another down and hurt one another and even sometimes forget the flood or storm someone else is going through because we get focused on ourselves or other things. Human beings are limited in the amount of time, energy, and emotion we have to invest. God is infinite. God remembers us… no matter what… in every moment. God remembers us. That never changes. God doesn’t say “I forgot about you… how are you doing these days?” We worship a God who remembers each of us day by day and night by night
It is the remembering of God that gives us hope and makes new life possible. In 1 Samuel 1:11, 19, Hannah is a married woman who is deeply distressed because the years are passing and she and her husband have tried unsuccessfully to have a child. Hannah prays to the Lord, “O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as one consecrated until the day of his death.”
Verse 19 says, “And the Lord remembered her.”
In the Gospel of Luke 1:54-55, Mary is a young, not yet married woman who is going to have a child by the intervention of God’s Spirit when she wasn’t planning on it. In her song of praise Mary says, “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his great mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendents forever.”
When God remembers we are blessed. Job 14:13 begs, “Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!” I would guess that’s how the folks bobbing around in the ark probably felt.
“Appoint a time, remember us, and get us out of here!”
It is more likely that we forget God than God forgets us. A temporary Sunday School teacher was struggling to open a combination lock on her church’s supply cabinet. She had been told the combination, but couldn’t remember it. Finally she went to the pastor’s study and asked for help. The pastor came into the room and began to turn the dial. After the first two numbers he paused and stared blankly for a moment. Finally he looked serenely heavenward and his lips moved silently. Then he looked back at the lock, and quickly turned to the final number, and opened the lock. The teacher was amazed. “I’m in awe at your faith, pastor,” she said.
“It’s really nothing,” he answered.
“The number is on a piece of tape on the ceiling.”
Sometimes we may need “a piece of tape on the ceiling” to help us remember God. Psalm 105:5, “Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.” Reading the Bible, taking a walk and sharing our feelings and thoughts with God, letting God teach us through creation, through prayer, through conversation with a trusted friend or family member – these are all ways we remember God before the floods come and when we’re in the midst of them.
Just as it was important to Noah, his family, and the animals to be remembered by God, it is important for us to remember the impact we have on others. We can be the cause of a flood or storm that makes life perilous, or we can be a calming presence that helps a flood of troubles to subside and recede.
The story of Noah teaches us that our hope rests with God who remembers us. Those of us who are Christians know that God’s grief over humanity’s violence and corruption did not end with Noah’s generation. God continued to grieve over all human sinfulness, and emptying himself, the Jesus came among us and died for us. God’s last word in the story of Noah is (Genesis 9:15), “I will remember my covenant.” God will remember God’s people. God remembers you.