Noah: Walking with God
My grandfather, Pastor Victor Scalise, always told my dad that people don’t know what a pastor does so you need to educate the congregation about what you’re doing. Here are the highlights of some of the events and work I’ve been involved in from Saturday, September 10th through Saturday the 17th. This is by no means meant to be a complete or exhaustive list; this is part of what I did in the last week.
September 18, 2011
Genesis 6:5-9, Noah: Walking with God
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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Last Saturday morning we had the joy of baptizing four people in Cape Cod Bay in Eastham. After visiting with folks at Judy Turpin’s afterward I came home got changed and came down to BBC where that afternoon I officiated at the wedding of Todd Bohannon and Mary Wesp and then Jill and I had a great time at their reception that evening. I preached in worship and taught the Senior High class on Sunday morning and then led a New Member information session in the afternoon. On Monday I met with several staff members doing performance evaluations and I had a two hour Advisory Council meeting. On Tuesday I met with Molly from the Eddy Foundation for an hour and a half which was a blast. It was so fun showing her around the church so she could see all we’ve done thanks to the generosity of Mary-Louise and Ruth’s foundation and being able to share all that BBC is doing in the community. It went great.
After I met with Molly I went to Cape Cod Hospital to see Kent Sanders who was gravely ill. Walking out off the hospital I received a call telling me that BBC member Dan McConnell had died very unexpectedly at home at the age of 71. Dan, who along with his wife Betsy joined BBC this past May, was a bright, caring man who still had so much to contribute and, of course, his loss hit his family and friends very hard. Wednesday I was writing the cover of the Beacon for October, preparing for Bible Study on Wednesday evening, planning sermons for next month and got together with Betsy and some of her family. On Thursday, I received word that Kent Sanders had died at home after his lengthy illness. Kent was a true Cape Codder who was proud to say he hadn’t crossed the bridge in 25 years. That morning I met with Betsy McConnell and her family again at her home. Friday I met with Mary Ellen and her family for an hour and half at her home to talk about Kent and his service which will be this Tuesday at 11:00 am. Then Friday evening we had a lovely memorial service for Dan McConnell that all his children participated in. Saturday morning I did the committal service for Dan in Orleans, then went to Liberty Commons to visit three people, came home and picked up Jill and went to Cape Cod Hospital to visit Ron Sveden who is in Intensive Care. His wife Nancy and son Erik were there so we spent time with all three of them which was nice. Then last night we stopped by BBC for the UNITE Cape event that Sharon and Tim Kautz helped to organize and which many of our folks volunteered at and did a great job. There were around 100 middle and high school students from across the Cape. It was an excellent event well carried out. I am very proud of all our folks who helped make it a success. And here we are and it is Sunday morning again, how was your week?
Some folks who saw me during this week, we’re concerned with how I was coping with all of these things, as well as many other issues and work that needed to get done. I appreciate that. It’s nice to know that people care. I can tell you that part of how I cope with such full and emotional weeks is to try and practice what I preach. In this case, what I am preaching on today, walking with God. Seeking to please God, leaning on God’s strength, asking for and listening for divine guidance and insight, and trying to do what is right at all times. I find if I pursue those things, I can usually live with what comes.
The first two weeks of this series on Leadership in Critical Times from Genesis we looked at Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel and both those stories were more about human failures and God’s continued sovereign grace and concern for sinful humanity. I am happy to say that today we deal with a much more positive person from whom we can learn, Noah. When I am having a full or challenging week, I think of people like Noah and what the Lord asked him to do, and I am grateful I have it so easy. Maintaining an appropriate perspective and having a sense of humor is also helpful. I can’t think of Noah without hearing a piece that Bill Cosby did about Noah and the Lord.
Most people immediately associate Noah with building an ark. We might not quite as quickly remember why he, of all people, was asked to do this. It was not because of he had a background in ship building, carpentry, construction, zoology, animal husbandry, or veterinary medicine. Noah was asked to take on an incomprehensibly difficult and complex task because of his character. By Genesis 6, The Lord is regretting making human beings, unlike stripers, dolphins and whales, men and women were a disaster. God is so heartbroken, Genesis 6 describes the scene:
“5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord. 9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.”
Unlike Adam, Eve, and Cain, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Rather than being disobedient and hiding from God out of shame or fear, Noah was a righteous and blameless man because he walked with God. The image of walking with God conveys a closeness, a familiarity, an intimacy that is life altering. When we imagine Jesus and the disciples traveling together around Galilee and throughout the region, we know that they walked pretty much everywhere they went. The advantage of walking in terms of building relationships is that it provides time to engage in frequent conversation about many things. The pace of life has increased at an almost unimaginable rate in my lifetime. One of the things we’ve lost, unless we’re intentional about it, is the ability to walk and talk with God and other people. There is more to life than increasing its speed. While parents might see things like DVD players, iPods, and other tech devices as blessings that make long car trips more peaceful, something is lost from the days when all you had was conversation or other means to creatively pass the time. A typical American family spends far, far less time in meaningful conversation than in even the more recent past, much less, forty or more years ago.
If we want to find favor in the sight of the Lord, then we need to live righteous lives and walk with and talk with God. I used my time in the car this week to do this. I prayed out loud, sometimes I was quiet and other times I listened to several gospel CD’s by The Called Out Quartet that contain many songs about the hope of heaven and life after death to encourage my own heart.
We all need to find things that work for us that help us walk with God on a daily and weekly basis so that the challenges we face don’t overwhelm us, but simply serve to continue to deepen our relationship with God.
Anyone who has ever had a dog knows that it takes a while to train the dog to walk obediently. People are not much different in that regard. We also need to be trained to walk obediently. It is a fascinating thing when a baby begins to learn to walk. Babies are a lot of work, but at least most of the time you know where they are and you don’t have to worry about them leaving a pretty small area. As children learn to walk it opens up a much wider world but you also get much more nervous because with their greater freedom comes a greater likelihood of falling or getting hurt or lost. By the time a young person is walking well enough that you don’t have to worry anymore about if he or she is going to fall every ten steps or so, then you get more concerned about who they are walking with and where they are walking.
Walking with God is an image that is used throughout the Bible to describe being close to God and living the way the Lord wants us to. It is found in many passages all the way from Genesis to Revelation. The first person who walks with God is Enoch in Genesis 5:22-24, Noah is the second. Throughout the scriptures we are exhorted to walk with God all of our days.
The Book of Psalms is filled with advice about walking wisely and with integrity.
Psalm 15 begins, “O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors.”
Psalm 26:1-3 says, “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you.”
In the Book of Proverbs we read:
Proverbs 12:28, “In the path of righteousness there is life, in walking its path there is no death.”
Proverbs 10:9, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,”
Proverbs 13:20 “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.”
The prophet Isaiah says (2:3,5), “Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”
Paul writes in Romans 14:15, “If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.”
1 John 2:5-6 reminds us, “By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.” The path that Jesus walked was the path of self-giving love. There is a singing group Ron and Nancy Sveden like called The Four Freshman. One of the songs that group sings says, “In this whole wide world is there no one who loves me? In this whole wide world is there no one who cares?” God’s answer to that question is, “I do.” As God’s people the main thing we are called to do is to incarnate, to embody God’s love in the world as Jesus did.
It is staggering to consider all the issues that people in this church are wrestling with today. Among our church family we have people with spouses and children who are dealing with addictions. Some are watching children grow up and head out to college and adulthood and wondering where the years went and what happens now. Others are coping with the death of family members and friends. The death of those closest to us strikes at our own mortality. Some are dealing with serious illnesses, diseases, and surgery. Some of you are feeling pressed for time because there isn’t enough time to do everything you want and need to do with work and family and hobbies and friends. It is hard sorting out what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to when there are so many options competing for our time. Needless to say many are struggling financially to keep their heads above water.
One thing I know for a fact is that every person you see has burdens he or she is carrying around. Another thing I know for a fact is that the reason why the Bible tells us so frequently to love another and walk in the way of love is because we all need to know we are loved by God and by some family and friends.
There are many ways we all can walk obediently in love as Jesus did including through compassionate deeds, by forgiving others, being loyal, keeping a sense of humor, celebrating the small and large moments of life, being creative, honoring others, teaching others to care, and by really listening. These are things all of us can do throughout the week. Whatever faith struggles we may be having, whatever burdens we may be carrying, these ways of sharing and showing love can help us to keep walking even when we’re lonely, tired or we feel like our well has run dry.
Fats Domino wrote a song called I’m Walking. If you listen to it at a different level, it is a song that God could be singing to you. The lyrics are:
I’m walkin’ yes indeed I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me
I’m hopin that you come back to me
I’m lonely As I can be
I’m waiting for your company
I’m hopin that you come back to me
What you gotta do when the well run dry
You gonna run away and hide
I’m gonna run right by your side
For you pretty baby I’d even cry…
I’m walkin’ yes indeed I’m talkin’
’bout you and me I’m hopin
that you come back to me.”
Listen to those lyrics and think about Adam, Eve and Cain and Noah. Love multiplies and grows the more we share it and the more we give it away as we walk obediently in the way of Jesus.