Focus Texts:
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19, Psalm 31:1-8 Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28, (29-31) Matthew 7:21-29
Starting up
Today has been so full a day, I am not going to speak long.
We have heard a wonderful message already. A very inspired message! Thank you to the children and all of their hard work. And also to those who helped them—parents and families, Ed, Elizabeth, and Muriel. We can look forward to the fall, and the rest of the show!
I did receive an email this week from one of our Rock Spring parents:
Elizabeth & Hank --Given the unbelievable weather that we've been experiencing since 100% Chance of Rain rehearsals started, I'd like to suggest that we NOT go forward with the full performance in the fall... I think this "teaser" has generated quite enough rain, etc. already! :-) What's next? Locusts?
I did tell the children, “Whatever you put your mind to do, I know you can accomplish.”
As we all know, it just takes our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our spirits working towards the realm of God. I’m just hoping that they’ve not learned about the Ten Plagues just yet… frogs, boils, and locusts may be a bit too much.
Moving through Genesis
This story of Noah, his family, and the Ark is one that we teach every year, one that comes in all three cycles of the lectionary. We tell it for one reason: to remember God’s promise to keep the world a safe place for us all. While the violence in the flood story seems to point us in a different direction, I feel this comes from the eyes of the storyteller, and not from the Creator of the story.
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” we hear often. “How can God allow these things to happen?” Truly, the words of Genesis are harsh:
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.
This judgment comes through the mouth of that writer, an interpreter, retelling the stories that he had heard through time. But this story, the Flood Story, was told to him many times, and from many traditions.
Rev. Kate Huey, our current writer of weekly reflections for the UCC, reminds us all:
…this account is influenced, scholars say, by even more ancient stories from the cultures surrounding Israel, stories about floods that devastated not Israel but other parts of the world, including Mesopotamia (which means "between the two rivers," and is even now the focus of worldwide attention for a different kind of suffering and destruction, in Iraq). The ancient Israelites drew on the traditions of other cultures as they told the story of their own understanding and experience of God. Sometimes there are similarities between their story, and those of their neighbors. But there are important differences, too, among them, always, the image of a God who is not flighty or cruel or weak, but a One who is compassionate and moved to mercy.
A fast catastrophe indeed – and yet within the catastrophe are hope and mercy. The short version of the Great Flood story that we share today is perhaps frightening, as any story about sin and judgment should be, but it is also full of God's grace and compassion. Yes, things were bad, but God's mind is on saving humanity in spite of itself. Our Bible speaks of little things (mustard seeds and leaven) and people small in the eyes of the world (David as a young boy, Zacchaeus, the children coming to Jesus), and today's story reminds us that we all come from a broken, small but precious remnant of humanity, after violence and sin almost ended it all.
This belief, so essential to our Christian faith, may be the one to remember. From our saddest moments, comes our salvation. From our weakness, God will call us to amazing places. In the face of tragedies—small and great—we are called to remember a rainbow, where all things are set back to good, to God’s empowering order.
Sometimes, believing is all we have, and all that faith is all that we need. Sometimes, we just need to trust, to build the ark that will carry us through the rough times. When the rough storms come, the question thunders in our ears, “What are we to do with it?” Remember, whatever you put your mind to do, I know you can accomplish it.
Sandy Shores
Jesus grew up in the house of a carpenter. I would think he learned a lot about building. One day as he spoke to the people gathered, he put two houses in a parable, for he knew the tendency in human nature: he knew how easy it is to hear things, listen to them, agree with them and then go out and do not one thing about them.
And so Christ told the story to show the necessity of doing as well as hearing. It is not enough to know; it is not enough to agree. Every word is given that we may use it, put it into action and make it a part of the structure as we build a life.
The question that came to me in reading this scripture is how many of us can sing the song? Ed?
The wise one built his house upon the rock,
The wise one built his house upon the rock,
The wise one built his house upon the rock,
And the rains came tumbling down!
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the rock stood firm.The foolish one built his house upon the sand,
The foolish one built his house upon the sand,
The foolish one built his house upon the sand,
And the rains came tumbling down!
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the sand went SPLAT!
Our children and youth have showed us the wisdom of this. They want to give their best in service and worship. They want to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving. But not when they are not yet ready. We do not know how long it took Noah to complete his task, the construction of the ark, but we know it took him over six months of waiting on the boat to see the earth dry.
Looking back to see what’s coming up
I understand that it has been a while since our children and youth have led us in this kind of worship. I did hear that a couple of our members, including Elizabeth Kluegel-Niblock, shared in performance of this worship musical, 100% Chance of Rain. I am one who believes that we can look back, to look forward.
We remember the songs that we learned, the ones used to teach us how to talk about faith, and we pass them on to our children. We know from our own experience that these seeds of the faith were planted in us, and helped us to grow, to consider, to decide and affirm what we believe. Silly songs, like Zaccheus and The Wise One, teach us the basic stories. It is then for us to reflect, and to act on the teachings.
Our non-dogmatic, non-creedal United Church of Christ challenges us to extravagant welcome, for each person in God’s Realm. No matter who we are, or where on life’s journey, all are welcome here. Then the task falls to us, those already here, to pass on the stories of faith and meaning to those who are joining us on the journey.
Whatever we join in faith to do, God knows we can accomplish it.
It This Autumn Harvest
It’s the means that become the question! This autumn, our children and youth will revive a music ministry that guided our past generations. With the help of Elizabeth, Ed, and Muriel, with the guidance of parents and families, and with the loving support for us all, we will open our loving ears to hear our children sing praise to our Still-speaking God.
I am sure that it will not take 150 days to see the seed come to flower—more like forty days and forty nights of practice, rehearsal, and love. This teaser of rain that we’ve just experienced is just a refreshing shower of all that will come.
This is the mission to which we are called—to raise children, like Emmett, in the faith, and challenge them to help bring the Reign of God into our world.
Reign of God, rain of God. Okay, that’s just a bad play on words. Either way, it is the rainbow of God’s love for us all that brings us together as the church. May it always be so, in this life and beyond.
Thanks be to God!